ELEUTHERA

• About Eleuthera
• Travel
• Weather

About Eleuthera

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is a constitutional parliamentary democracy. The Bahamas gained independence on July 10, 1973 from the United Kingdom. While the country still recognizes the British Monarch as the head of state, the country is self-governing. The two main political parties are the Free National Movement (FNM) and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

Tourism employs, directly and indirectly, much of the Bahamian labor force. The Island School is built upon the grounds of the Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina, which closed its doors in the early 1980’s.

Eleuthera is a Bahamian Family Island. The name comes from the Greek word for freedom, aptly named by the first European settlers. Eleuthera lies along the outer boundary of the Caribbean Sea, a gateway to the vast ocean that reaches east to Africa. The Island School is ideally situated to understand, serve, and explore this land and sea frontier. Cape Eleuthera is 210 miles (a 60 minute flight) from Miami, Florida.

Eleuthera Stats:

• Population: 8,114 (Preliminary statistics 2000 Census of Population and Housing)
• Area:: 200 sq. miles
• Highest Point: 190 feet
• Size: 110 miles long, 2.5 miles at widest points.

To learn more about The Bahamas you can visit:

• www.bahamas.com
• www.thenassauguardian.com.

For specific Eleuthera information you can visit:

• www.eleu.net
• www.eleutheraliving.com
• www.briland.com
• View of Island School on Eleuthera satellite map.     

For other interesting and useful information:

• Find all Bahamian telephone numbers here under "Telephone Directories".
• Check the news at the Nassau Guardian.
• Look into other conservation organizations in The Bahamas like BREEF, the Bahamas National Trust, CMRC, Friends of the Environment and the College of the Bahamas. Check out a pilot film on conservation at Fridays Films.

Travel

The closest airport to The Island School is Rock Sound International Airport (RSD). Governor’s Harbour Airport (GHB) is another airport about 1 hour north of the Cape. You can connect to these airports through Nassau or Fort Lauderdale.

**As of January 1, 2006, everyone traveling to and from The Bahamas must have a valid passport. Birth certificates are no longer accepted for identification.**

Student Travel: Students should make plans to travel on the first and last days of the semester program. All students will be met at Rock Sound Airport. Part of the beauty of our location lies in its inaccessibility. Flights may be difficult to come by, so we can not stress enough the importance of planning your travel well in advance of the actual departure. In the event you are unable to find a way to Rock Sound, you may opt to land at Governor's Harbor, which receives a larger number of commercial flights. You will need to take a taxi, normally $60, to Rock Sound where we will be waiting to pick you up. Once in Rock Sound, the School will provide transportation to and from the campus.

Weather

Want to find out what the weather is like here in The Bahamas?  Check out:

• NOAA real-time infrared loop and satellite images;
• The WeatherUnderground storm tracking and infrared images;
• CaribWX weather synopsis and forecasts;
• Intellicast's Caribbean image;
• The National Hurricane Center website at NOAA;
• Hurricane tracking from Unisys;
• The US Navy's storm tracking;
• A Western Hemisphere globe image from the Weather Channel;
• and for you sailors, tide tables and NOAA Radiofax forecasts.