Fantasy island: Kamalame Cay is one of those secret places in the Bahamas, a private island paradise where time is forgotten amidst sun, sand and personal luxuries

Upfront, I can tell you that I am not a person who knows how to relax. Call me type-A, hyper or driven, whatever the expression. I'm not in training to do nothing. So the idea of going to a small island in the Bahamas where the main sport is lying around, well, it didn't appeal. My husband insisted, however, and in the end the trip changed my outlook entirely.

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Our destination--Kamalame Cay (pronounced kom-e-la-may)--is a private, 97-acre, low-key luxury resort just off the coast of Andros Island in the Bahamas. Andros is the largest and least-explored piece of the Bahamian archipelago, a 2,300-square-mile island known as the bone-fishing capital of the world. It is also home to the second-largest reef in the Northern Hemisphere.

To get there we flew from Miami to Nassau, and from there on a 12-seater prop plane to Andros. A cabbie drove us to an apparently abandoned concrete pier; a few minutes later we heard the chug of a small ferry boat, which transported us to the dock at Kamalame. There we were met by a woman named Martina, who gave us a quick tour of the island by golf cart, the only form of transportation there. As we toured. I could already feel the layers of civilized stress peel away; here was a slice of paradise, with sun-dappled, rich foliage all around, stunningly clear waters stretching in every direction, and a series of handsome bungalows.

The centerpiece of the island is the "Great House," a cross between British Colonial and Hemingway style, which contained the dining room (and veranda), a comfortable sitting area, a bar and a library, all done in dark wood. Glass doors open to the sea, with the occasional bird flitting through, along with a few curly-tailed lizards. Nearby was a fresh-water swimming pool and a couple of clay tennis courts; in December a full spa will open. But the real treat was our one-bedroom villa.

There are only 11 accommodations on the island, a mix of different villas, all facing the Caribbean and all ensconced by groves of dwarf and fan palms. In ours, the bedroom was surrounded by open glass doors, filled with light and breezes. We knew that all kinds of activities awaited us--swimming, snorkeling, fly-casting, deep-sea fishing, kayaking, tennis--but my epiphany was this: I preferred the simple joy of lying in bed, reading one of the scores of books in the shelves, and sipping on an ice-cold Grey Goose vodka martini.

Possibly our most energetic activity for the three days we stayed was the daily walk at low tide. Shortly after high noon. the water recedes from Kamalame's 3-mile white sand beach, leaving an army of conch shells and sand dollars behind, which we collected as if they were booty. Our other activity was dining.

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While you can avoid human contact at Kamalame--meals can be brought to your room, for instance, or served by candlelight on the beach--dinner is served promptly at 8 pm each night at the Great House. There you can dine alone, or in "family style" at a larger table, and find out who your neighbors are (ours included a television producer, a vineyard owner and some bankers from the Midwest).

The food, by the way, is impeccable, combining island delicacies with with traditional cuisine. On our first night we had a choice of rack of lamb or lobster, which gave way in later meals to conch salad, shrimp casserole, a savory Bahamian chicken stew and spicy Bahamian sausage. My favorite was the Saturday night BBQ served directly on the beach, complete with a local calypso band for dancing. All the cooking is done by AJ. a local with the touch of a master chef who, it turns out, is also the lead singer in the band. He was pretty good at that, too.

The rest of the staff were also top notch, and excelled in the art of service without imposition. We were never disturbed in our villa as we lounged in semi-undress, but when we wandered about the island or went to the Great House for a meal, they surreptitiously tidied up our room and changed linens.

And so it went, my husband smoking cigars on the veranda, a parade of chilled Kalik beers his only interruption. There were no clocks anywhere, and with only classical music (played through our surround-sound speaker system) to disturb the blissful quiet. I lost track of the outside world. In the end, it was one of the most peaceful times in my adult life, and a true refresher course in the art of relaxation.

Single bedroom villas at Kamalame Cay start at $510 per night: two-bedroom suites start at $1,190. Both are double occupancy, all inclusive. More information: 242-368-6281 or www.kamalame.com.

COPYRIGHT 2004 CEO Publishing Group, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group