Around Great Island - July 12, 2026

Our new cottage

This is our 15th year taking a summer vacation on Great Island on Point Judith Pond. We had rented the same cottage on Horseshoe Point for the last 14 years, but the owner wasn’t renting it this year. Fortunately, we were able to find another cottage just down the beach.

Point Judith Pond, or the Great Salt Pond, is the second largest of Rhode Island’s South County salt ponds. Separated in the south behind sand dunes and barrier beaches, Point Judith Pond is connected to the ocean through the Breachway at Galilee.

Fishing boats in the harbor

I always start off my paddling adventures with a trip around Great Island. Great Island is the largest island on Point Judith Pond. It is about 2-miles long and 1/2-mile wide, and full of summer cottages. I paddled down to Frank’s Neck before heading into Bluff Hill Cove and paddling under the bridge into Galilee.

The fishing village of Galilee was developed in 1935 when the State of Rhode Island dredged out a harbor suitable for commercial fishing vessels. I paddled down into the harbor to snap a few pictures of boats going through the Breachway before paddling back to the cottage.

Back at the cottage

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