Arawak Cay
Known to Nassau residents as “The Fish Fry,” Arawak Cay is one of the best places to knock back a Kalik beer, chat with locals, watch or join in a fast-paced game of dominoes, or sample traditional Bahamian fare. The two-story Twin Brothers and Goldie’s Enterprises are two of the most popular places. Local fairs and craft shows are often held in the adjacent field.

Christ Church Cathedral
It’s worth the short walk off the main thoroughfare to see the stained-glass windows of this cathedral, which was built in 1837 when Nassau officially became a city. Don’t miss the flower-filled Garden of Remembrance.

Fort Montagu
The oldest of the island’s three forts, Montagu was built of local limestone in 1741 to repel Spanish invaders. The only action it saw was when it was occupied for two weeks by rebel American troops—among them a lieutenant named John Paul Jones—seeking arms and ammunition during the Revolutionary War. The small fortification is quite simple, but displays a lovely elevated view of Nassau Harbour. The second level has a number of weathered cannons. A public beach looks out upon Montagu Bay, where many international yacht regattas and Bahamian sloop races are held annually.

Government House
The official residence of the Bahamas governor-general, the personal representative of the Queen since 1801, this imposing pink-and-white building on Duke Street is an excellent example of the mingling of Bahamian-British and American colonial architecture. Catch the changing of the guard ceremony, which takes place every second Saturday of the month at 11 am. The stars of the pomp and pageantry are members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band. There is a tea party open to the public from 3 to 4 pm on the last Friday of the month from January to June as part of the People-to-People program.

Gregory’s Arch
Named for John Gregory (royal governor 1849–54), this arch, at the intersection of Market and Duke streets, separates downtown from the “over-the-hill” neighbourhood of Grant’s Town, where much of Nassau’s population lives. Grant’s Town was laid out in the 1820s by Governor Lewis Grant as a settlement for freed slaves. Visitors once enjoyed late-night mingling with the locals in the small, dimly lighted bars; nowadays you should exhibit the same caution you would if you were visiting the commercial areas of a large city.

Heritage Museum of The Bahamas
So many artifacts are on display in this small but interesting museum that you can easily spend an hour wandering. Opt for a guided tour, or use the audio tour to take in everything at your own pace. You’ll learn about Bahamian history from the days of pirates through the days of slavery to the present. One of the best exhibits is the life-size replica of the old Bay Street General Store. Quite by a series of coincidences, the collection box from the oldest church ended up in this museum—right across the street from the remains of the very same church.

John Watling's Distillery
The former Buena Vista Estate, which featured in the James Bond film Casino Royale has been painstakingly transformed and taken back to its glory days, emerging as the new home of the John Watling’s Distillery. Parts of the home date back to 1789 and the actual production of the line of John Watling’s artisanal rums, gins, vodkas, and liquors are handmade, hand bottled, and hand labeled just as they would have been in that era. Take a self-guided tour through the grounds and working estate to learn the fascinating history of the home and then walk out back to watch the rum production line from an overhead mezzanine. Sit in the Red Turtle Tavern with an internationally acclaimed Rum Dum or just a great mojito and pick up a unique Bahamian souvenir in the on-site retail store.

National Art Gallery of The Bahamas
Opened in 2003, the museum houses the works of esteemed Bahamian artists such as Max Taylor, Amos Ferguson, Brent Malone, John Cox, and Antonius Roberts. The glorious Italianate-colonial mansion, built in 1860 and restored in the 1990s, has double-tiered verandas with elegant columns. It was the residence of Sir William Doyle, the first chief justice of the Bahamas. Don’t miss the museum’s gift shop, where you’ll find books about the Bahamas as well as Bahamian quilts, prints, ceramics, jewellery, and crafts.

Parliament Square
Nassau is the seat of the national government. The Bahamian Parliament comprises two houses—a 16-member Senate (Upper House) and a 39-member House of Assembly (Lower House). If the House is in session, sit in to watch lawmakers debate. Parliament Square’s pink, colonnaded government buildings were constructed in the late 1700s and early 1800s by Loyalists who came to the Bahamas from North Carolina. The square is dominated by a statue of a slim young Queen Victoria that was erected on her birthday, May 24, in 1905.

Pirates of Nassau
Take a self-guided journey through Nassau’s pirate days in this interactive museum devoted to such notorious members of the city’s past as Blackbeard, Mary Read, and Anne Bonney. Board a pirate ship, see dioramas of intrigue on the high seas, hear historical narration, and experience sound effects re-creating some of the gruesome highlights. It’s a fun and educational (if slightly scary) family outing. Be sure to check out the offbeat souvenirs in the Pirate Shop.

Pompey Museum
The building, where slave auctions were held in the 1700s, is named for a rebel slave who lived on the Out Island of Exuma in 1830. The structure and historic artefacts inside were destroyed by fire in December 2011, but have been painstakingly re-created and new exhibits have been acquired and produced. Exhibits focus on the issues of slavery and emancipation and highlight the works of local artists. A knowledgeable, enthusiastic young staff is on hand to answer questions.

Pompey Square
This open space at the western end of Bay Street overlooks the busy Nassau Harbour and is the spot to catch local festivals and events, live music, and Bahamian craft shows. With 24-hour security, public restrooms, an interactive water feature that delights kids of all ages, and a host of small restaurants and bars nearby, this square, which pays tribute to a slave who fought for his freedom, is the start of a strategic redevelopment of downtown Nassau.

Prince George Wharf
The wharf that leads into Rawson Square is the first view that cruise passengers encounter after they tumble off their ships. Up to a dozen gigantic cruise ships call on Nassau at any one time, and passengers spill out onto downtown, giving Nassau an instant, and constantly replenished, surge of life. Even if you’re not visiting via cruise ship, it’s worth heading to Festival Place, an outdoor Bahamian village–style shopping emporium. Here you’ll find booths for Bahamian artisans; live music; vendors selling diving, fishing, and day trips; scooter rentals; and an information desk offering maps, directions, and suggestions for sightseeing. You can also arrange walking tours of historic Nassau here.

Queens Staircase
A popular early-morning exercise regime for locals, the “66 Steps” (as Bahamians call them) are thought to have been carved out of a solid limestone cliff by slaves in the 1790s. The staircase was later named to honor Queen Victoria’s reign. Pick up some souvenirs at the ad hoc straw market along the narrow road that leads to the site.

Rawson Square
This shady square connects Bay Street to Prince George Wharf. As you enter off Bay Street, note the statue of Sir Milo Butler, the first post independence (and first native Bahamian) governor general. Horse-drawn surreys wait for passengers along Prince George Wharf (expect to pay about $30 for a half-hour ride through Nassau’s streets). Between Rawson Square and Festival Place, check out (or perhaps stop inside) the open-air hair-braiding pavilion, where women work their magic at prices ranging from $2 for a single strand to $100 for an elaborate do. Often-overlooked is the nearby Randolph W. Johnston’s bronze statue,

The Retreat
Nearly 200 species of exotic palm trees grace the 11 verdant acres appropriately known as The Retreat, which serves as the headquarters of the Bahamas National Trust. Stroll in blessed silence through the lush grounds, and be on the lookout for native birds. It’s a perfect break on a steamy Nassau day. The Retreat hosts the Jollification—the unofficial start to the Christmas season—the third weekend in November. Carols, festive food and drinks, a kids’ holiday craft center, and local artisans selling native and Christmas crafts make this a must-do event.

Nassau
Nassau’s sheltered harbor bustles with cruise-ship activity, while a block away Bay Street’s sidewalks are crowded with shoppers who duck into air-conditioned boutiques and relax on benches in the shade of mahogany and lignum vitae trees. Shops angle for tourist dollars with fine imported goods at duty-free prices, yet you’ll find a handful of stores overflowing with authentic Bahamian crafts, food supplies, and other delights.
With a revitalization of downtown ongoing, Nassau is trying to recapture some of its past glamour. Nevertheless, modern influences are completely apparent: fancy restaurants and trendy coffeehouses have popped up everywhere. These changes have come partly in response to the growing number of upper-crust crowds that now supplement the spring breakers and cruise passengers who have traditionally flocked to Nassau. Of course, you can still find a wild club or a rowdy bar, but you can also sip cappuccino while viewing contemporary Bahamian art or dine by candlelight beneath prints of old Nassau, serenaded by soft, island-inspired calypso music.
A trip to Nassau wouldn’t be complete without a stop at some of the island’s well-preserved historic buildings. The large, pink colonial-style edifices house Parliament and some of the courts, while others, like Fort Charlotte, date back to the days when pirates ruled the town. Take a tour via horse-drawn carriage for the full effect.
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Paradise Island
The graceful, arched bridges of Paradise Island ($2 round-trip toll for cars and motorbikes; free for bicyclists and pedestrians) lead to and from the extravagant world of Paradise Island. Until 1962 the island was largely undeveloped and known as Hog Island. A&P heir Huntington Hartford changed the name when he built the island’s first resort complex. In 1994 South African developer Sol Kerzner transformed the existing high-rise hotel into the first phase of Atlantis. Many years, a number of new hotels, a water park, and more than $1 billion later, Atlantis has taken over the island. Home to multimillion-dollar homes and condominiums and a handful of independent resort properties, you can still find a quiet spot on Cabbage Beach, or Paradise Beach which west of Atlantis.
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Adelaide Village
The small community on New Providence’s southwestern coast sits placidly, like a remnant of another era, between busy Adelaide Road and the ocean. It was first settled during the early 1830s by Africans who had been captured and loaded aboard slave ships bound for the New World. They were rescued on the high seas by the British Royal Navy, and the first group of liberated slaves reached Nassau in 1832. Today, there are two sides to Adelaide—the few dozen families who grow vegetables, raise chickens, and inhabit well-worn, pastel-painted wooden houses, shaded by casuarina, mahogany, and palm trees; and the more upscale beach cottages that are mostly used as weekend getaways. The village has a primary school, a few small grocery stores, and a few restaurants serving native foods

Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Centre
Marching flamingos give a parading performance at Ardastra daily at 10:30 am, 2:15 pm, and 4 pm. Children can walk among the brilliant pink birds after the show. The zoo, with more than 5 acres of tropical greenery and ponds, also has an aviary of rare tropical birds including the bright-green Bahama parrot, native Bahamian creatures such as rock iguanas, the little (harmless) Bahamian boa constrictors, and a global collection of small animals.
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Clifton Heritage Park
It’s quite a distance from just about any hotel you could stay at, but for history and nature buffs, this national park, rescued from the hands of developers, is worth the drive. Situated on a prehistoric Lucayan Village dating back to AD 1000–1500, Clifton Heritage Park allows you to walk through the ruins of slave quarters from an 18th-century plantation. The site can claim ties to pop culture as well because a number of hit movies have been filmed on land and sea here. Book one of the many tours ahead of time—they offer snorkelling out to the Coral Reef Sculpture Garden, nature walks, bush medicine and bird-watching tours, and ATV and buggy tours. Be sure to walk the path from the main parking lot toward the west, where you can enjoy the peace and quiet of the Sacred Space and admire the African women carved out of casuarina wood by local artist Antonius Roberts. Naturalists will enjoy walking along the paths lined with native flora and fauna that lead to wooden decks overlooking mangrove swamps.
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Fort Charlotte
Built in 1788, this imposing fort features a waterless moat, drawbridge, ramparts, and a dungeon with a torture device. Local guides bring the fort to life (tips are expected), and tours are suitable for children. Fort Charlotte was built by Lord Dunmore, who named the massive structure after George III’s wife. The fort and its surrounding 100 acres offer a wonderful view of the cricket grounds, the beach, and the ocean beyond. On Wednesday and Friday enjoy fully regaled actors re-enacting life as it was in the Bahamas in the 18th and 19th centuries. An historic military parade and canon firing takes place daily at noon.

Junkanoo Beach
Right in downtown Nassau, this beach is spring-break central from late February through April. The man-made beach isn’t the prettiest on the island, but it’s conveniently located if you only have a few quick hours to catch a tan. Music is provided by bands, DJs, and boom boxes; a growing number of bars keep the drinks flowing. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; swimming.
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Cabbage Beach
At this beach you’ll find 3 miles of white sand lined with shady casuarina trees, sand dunes, and sun worshippers. This is the place to go to rent Jet Skis or get a bird’s-eye view of Paradise Island while parasailing. Hair braiders and T-shirt vendors stroll the beach, and hotel guests crowd the areas surrounding the resorts, including Atlantis. For peace and quiet, stroll east. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); water sports. Best for: solitude; partiers; swimming; walking.
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Adelaide Beach
Time your visit to this far-flung beach on the island’s southwestern shore to catch low tide, when the ocean recedes, leaving behind sandbanks and seashells. It’s a perfect place to take the kids for a shallow-water dip in the sea, or for a truly private rendezvous. Popular with locals, you’ll likely have the miles-long stretch all to yourself unless it’s a public holiday. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.
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Cable beach
Hotels, including the massive Baha Mar resort development, dot the length of this 3-mile beach, so don’t expect isolation. Music from hotel pool decks wafts out onto the sand, Jet Skis race up and down the waves, and vendors sell everything from shell jewellery to coconut drinks right from the shell. Access via new hotels may be limited, but join the locals and park at Goodman’s Bay park on the eastern end of the beach. Amenities: parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: partiers; sunset; swimming; walking.

Love Beach
If you’re looking for great snorkelling and some privacy, drive about 20 minutes west of Cable Beach. White sand shimmers in the sun and the azure waves gently roll ashore. About a mile offshore are 40 acres of coral reef known as the Sea Gardens. Access is not marked, just look for a vacant lot. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; snorkelling; sunset

Freeport
The working end of Grand Bahama, Freeport is convenient to the airport and harbour for visitors in transit. Rand Nature Centre and The Bahamian Brewery make the area worth a visit, although downtown looks depressed and forlorn as developers await economic recovery.
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Port Lucaya
Freeport’s beachfront counterpart is dominated by two of the island’s largest hotels and resorts and Port Lucaya Marketplace (the island’s best shopping).

Greater Lucaya
Lucayan Beach along Port Lucaya can get crowded, but Taino Beach, Coral Beach, and Fortune Beach are nearby for those who prefer more space and solitude; you’ll find additional hotels and restaurants here as well.

Greater Grand Bahamas
Farther out on either side of the Freeport–Lucaya development, the island reverts to natural pine forest, fishing settlements, and quiet secluded beaches. Heading west from Freeport, travellers pass the harbour area, a cluster of shacks selling fresh conch and seafood at Fishing Hole, a series of small villages, and Deadman’s Reef at Paradise Cove before reaching the historic fishing town of West End and its upscale resort at the very tip of the island. East of Lucaya lie long stretches of forest interrupted by the occasional small village, the Lucayan National Park, myriad bone fishing flats along the eastern end up to McClean’s Town, and the outer Grand Bahama cays: Sweetings, Deep Water, and Lightbourne.

Port Lucaya Marketplace
Lucaya’s capacious and lively shopping complex is on the waterfront across the street from the Grand Lucayan Hotel, and right in front of the Pelican Bay. The outdoor shopping centre, whose walkways are lined with hibiscus, bougainvillea, and croton, has more than 100 well-kept, colourfully painted establishments, among them waterfront restaurants and bars, water-sports operators, and shops that sell clothes, silver, jewellery, perfumes, and local arts and crafts. The marketplace’s centrepiece is Count Basie Square, where live entertainment featuring Bahamian bands appeals to joyful night-time crowds every weekend. Lively outdoor watering holes line the square, which is also the place to celebrate the holidays: a tree-lighting ceremony takes place in the festively decorated spot at the beginning of December and fireworks highlight New Year’s Eve, July 4, and Bahamian Independence Day, July 10.

Garden of the Groves
This vibrant, 12-acre garden and certified wildlife habitat with a trademark chapel and waterfalls, is filled with native Bahamian flora, butterflies, birds, and turtles. Interpretative signage identifies plant and animal species. First opened in 1973, the park was renovated and reopened in 2008; additions include a labyrinth modelled after the one at France’s Chartres Cathedral, colourful shops and galleries with local arts and crafts, a playground, and a multideck indoor and outdoor café and bar. Explore on your own or take a half-hour-long guided tour at 10 am (Monday–Saturday). Enjoy the garden under twinkling lights on Friday nights only, with dinner specials and sometimes live music.
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High Rock
About 45 miles east of Lucaya and 8 miles from Lucayan National Park, it’s worth the extra drive to visit an authentic, old-time island settlement affected only lightly by tourism. Its beach spreads a lovely white blanket of plump sand, with two beach bars for food and drink, including Bishop’s Place. Time spent at the bar with Bishop himself (aka Ruben “Bishop” Roberts) and his dog will make you feel like a local. Take a walk along the beach and its parallel road (rock outcroppings interrupt the sand in places) past the cemetery to the faux lighthouse that makes a nice photographic punctuation. Although the welcome sign identifies the village as “Home of Hospitality,” it holds just two small lodges and offers only simple fried Bahamian fare. The service is friendly and the beer is cold.

Lucayan National Park
Considered the crown jewel of the four national parks on Grand Bahama, Lucayan National Park is the only place to find all six Bahamian ecosystems in a single, 40-acre expanse of land: pine forest, black land coppice (ferns, bromeliads, orchids), rocky coppice (hardwoods), mangrove swamp, Whiteland coppice (rich plant life, poisonwood), and beach/shoreline. Because it is 25 miles east of Lucaya, booking a tour or renting a car is necessary in order to experience all the park has to offer. Explore two caves, hike around the nature trails, bird watch across the raised boardwalks through the mangroves, or stroll along the spectacular Gold Rock Beach during low tide as the shoreline sets out its “welcome mat”—sand ripples created by tidal pools as the water recedes.

Owl's Hole
Named for the mama owl who nests here every year, this vertical freshwater cave (a limestone sinkhole formed by the collapse of a section of a cavern’s roof) is a popular local swimming hole. It’s rimmed by a 24-foot cliff if you’re up for taking a plunge. The less adventuresome can climb down a ladder into the cool but refreshing water. Take snorkel gear down with you to experience the beauty at its full potential, and if you’re a certified cavern diver you can join local scuba diving excursions to explore even deeper. If your timing is right, you will see a nest full of fuzzy owlets (April and May) tucked under the ledge as you descend the ladder. The drive here feels a bit like a ride on a Bahamian bush roller coaster but it’s worth it—finding the hole is half the adventure.

West End
West End was nearly leveled by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and is slowly rebuilding. It still attracts small crowds on Sunday evenings for friendly, casual street gatherings, and small fish fry shacks on weekend afternoons, offering up some of the island’s best traditional Bahamian fare. Today’s visitors stop at Paradise Cove for snorkelling, and farther west at the bay-front conch shacks for conch salad straight from the shell.

William's Town Beach
When the tide is high, this 1.9-mile slice of relatively hidden beach (from East Sunrise Highway, take Coral Road south, turn right onto Bahama Reef Boulevard, then left on Beachway Drive) can get a little narrow, but there’s a wide area at its East End on Silver Point Beach near Island Seas Resort, where a food stand called Bernie’s Tiki Hut serves fresh local delicacies such as cracked conch, fried snapper, or grilled lobster tail. Bernie’s also hosts a bonfire on Tuesday nights. Just west of here, a sidewalk runs the length of the beach along the road and at low tide the beach expands far and wide for easy walking on the shore. Across the road, a number of forlorn roadside beach bars dot the landscape. Island Seas Resort has its own modern interpretation of the local beach shack, called CoCoNuts Grog & Grub. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Lucayan Beach and Coral Beach
his stretch of sand divides into separately named beaches at the intersection of Sea Horse Road and Royal Palm Way. The eastern end is Lucayan Beach, monopolized by the broad spread of the Lighthouse Pointe at The Grand Lucayan resort, where non-guests can purchase day passes from the hotel which include use of pools, nonmotorized water equipment, and access to restaurants. Feed jack fish, snorkel at Rainbow Reef, parasail, or take a WaveRunner tour. Near the long-standing Ocean Motion Watersports, there is no admission fee for the beach. Go west from here along Coral Beach, where the shore widens for easier strolling and the crowds thin considerably on the way to Coral Beach Bar. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); water sports. Best for: partiers; snorkelling; sunrise; swimming, walking

Taino Beach
A short walk down the long, gently coved beach takes you to Pirates Cove Water Park, where the kids can bounce to their hearts’ content on giant trampolines in the water. Rent kayaks, paddleboards, and jet skis, or beach chairs and umbrellas. A bar with a small food menu is also available. A few steps farther is Outriggers Beach Club, home to the popular fish fry held every Wednesday night. Plenty of green space edges the beach, and there’s also a playground. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; sunset; swimming; walking.

Fortune Beach
The secluded beach offers exceptional strolling, off-shore snorkelling, and swimming. The western end backs the Margarita Villa Sand Bar and the private homes along Spanish Main Drive, known as “Millionaire Row.” The eastern end is home to Banana Bay Restaurant, where at low tide a shallow lagoon forms alongside a drawn-out sandbar, allowing you to walk yards out to sea with cold drink in hand. Amenities: food and drink; parking near east end only (no fee). Best for: solitude; snorkelling; sunrise; swimming; walking.

Gold Rock Beach
Located just off the Grand Bahama Highway 26 miles outside town, this secluded beach is accessible via a lovely 10-minute walk through the Lucayan National Park, spanning for yards into the sea when the tide is low. The turquoise water is exceptionally clear, calm, and shallow. Occasional cruise-ship tours visit for a couple of hours around midday, but there is enough space that you will never feel crowded. The beach is almost non-existent when the tide is high and shade is sparse, so time your visit appropriately. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming, walking.

Lover's Beach
This beach on the island’s west side is relatively unknown and rarely visited by tourists, and its sand is far less fine and powdery than what’s found along the southern shores. However, it’s the only spot on Grand Bahama to find sea glass. Adding to its uniqueness is its view of the large tanker and container ships anchored at sea for the island’s industrial businesses, and the pastel-painted heavy-equipment tires planted in the sand for seating. Amenities: parking (free). Best for: walking.

Old Freetown Beach
This lightly visited beach will take you far from the tourist crowds and resorts. Considered one of the prettiest beaches on the island, with a wide scattering of sea biscuits, blinding white sand, and shallow turquoise water, you will most likely have the whole stretch of sand to yourself. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Paradise Cove Beach
A 20-minute drive from Freeport, this beach’s spectacular swim-to reef (called Deadman’s Reef) is its best asset. Close to shore, you’ll also find the longest man-made reef (composed of a long line of concrete reef balls) in the Bahamas, with spectacular marine life that includes various rays, sea turtles, and barracudas. Paradise Cove is a small native-owned resort with many different adventure packages, which all include return transportation. The beach is short but wide with scrubby vegetation and swaying palm trees. Snorkel equipment and kayaks are available to rent, and refreshments flow at the Red Bar. There is a $4/person fee just to hang at the beach. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: snorkelling.

Crystal Beach

Marsh Harbour
Most visitors to the Abacos make their first stop in Marsh Harbour, the Bahamas’ third-largest city and the Abacos’ commercial center. Besides having the Abacos’ largest international airport, it offers what boaters consider to be one of the easiest harbors to enter. It has several full-service marinas, including the 190-slip Boat Harbour Marina and the 80-slip Conch Inn Marina.
Marsh Harbour has a more diverse variety of restaurants, shops, and grocery items than other communities. Maxwell’s Supermarket and one of the larger liquor stores to stock up on supplies are standard stops on the way to other settlements or islands. The downtown area has several other supermarkets, as well as a few department and hardware stores. If you need cash, this is the place to get it; banks here are open every day and have ATMs, neither of which you will find on the smaller, more remote settlements or cays.

Treasure Cay
Technically not an island but a large peninsula connected to Great Abaco by a narrow spit of land. While Treasure Cay is a large-scale real estate development project, it’s also a wonderful small community where expatriate residents share the laid-back sun-and-sea vibe with long-time locals. The development’s centrepiece is the Treasure Cay Hotel Resort and Marina, with its Dick Wilson–designed golf course and a 150-slip marina that has boat rentals, a dive shop, pool, restaurant, and lively bar. Treasure Cay’s commercial centre consists of two rows of shops near the resort as well as a post office, self-service laundries, restaurants, a couple of well-stocked grocery stores, and BTC, the Bahamian telephone company. You’ll also find car-, scooter-, and bicycle-rental offices here.

Treasure Cay Beach
This beach is world famous for its expanse of truly powder-like sand and breath-taking turquoise water. In front of the handful of hotels lining the beach are bar and grill spots with a couple of shade-bearing huts. The rest of the beach is clear from development, since the land is privately owned, and almost clear of footprints. With a top-notch marina across the road and lunch a short stroll away, you have luxury; a walk farther down the beach gives you a quiet escape. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: sunrise; sunset; swimming; walking.

Little Harbour
Thirty minutes south of Marsh Harbour, the small, eclectic artists’ colony of Little Harbour was settled by the Johnston family more than 50 years ago. Randolph Johnston moved his family here to escape the consumerist, hectic lifestyle he felt in the United States and to pursue a simple life where he and his wife could focus on their art. The family is well known for their bronze sculptures, some commissioned nationally.

Cherokee Sound
Just to the south of Little Harbour is the seaside settlement of Cherokee Sound, home to fewer than 100 families. Most of the residents make their living catching crawfish or working in the growing tourism industry; many lead offshore fishing and bone fishing expeditions. The deserted Atlantic beaches and serene salt marshes in this area are breath-taking, and though development at Winding Bay and Little Harbour are progressing, the slow-paced, tranquil feel of daily life here hasn’t changed.

Sandy Point
A fishing village with miles of beckoning beaches and a couple of bone fishing lodges, is slightly more than 50 miles southwest of Marsh Harbour, about a 40-minute drive from Cherokee.

Schooner Bay
A new, by-design village just a bit farther south. Initially intended as a living, breathing community, it has turned into more of a second home and vacation destination, but it maintains a quaint island village feel.

Elbow Cay
Five-mile-long Elbow Cay’s main attraction is the charming village of Hope Town. The saltbox cottages—painted in bright colours—with their white picket fences, flowering gardens, and porches and sills decorated with conch shells, will remind you of a New England seaside community, Bahamian style. Most of the 300-odd residents’ families have lived here for several generations. For an interesting walking or bicycling tour of Hope Town, follow the two narrow lanes that circle the village and harbor. (Most of the village is closed to motor vehicles.)

Tahiti Beach
This small beach at the southern tip of Elbow Cay is a popular boater’s stop. The soft white sand is well protected from the close ocean cut by thick vegetation, a few barrier cays, and shallow water. This shallow area is popular for shelling, and, of course, simply relaxing and watching the tide rise. At low tide, the true beauty of this beach is revealed when a long sand spit emerges, perfect for picnics. It’s great for young children, as the water on one side of the spit is ankle deep, stays calm, and remains warm. During peak season the beach can become a bit crowded. Amenities: none. Best for: surfing; swimming.

Man O War Cay
Fewer than 300 people live on skinny, 2½-mile-long Man-O-War Cay, many of them descendants of early Loyalist settlers who started the tradition of handcrafting boats more than two centuries ago. These residents remain proud of their heritage and continue to build their famous fiberglass boats today. The island is secluded, and the old-fashioned, family-oriented roots show in the local policy toward liquor: it isn’t sold anywhere on the island. (But most folks won’t mind if you bring your own.) Three churches, a one-room schoolhouse, several boutique shops, small grocery stores, and just one restaurant round out the tiny island’s offerings.
A mile north of the island you can dive to the wreck of the USS Adirondack, which sank after hitting a reef in 1862. It lies among a host of cannons in 20 feet of water.
Man-O-War Cay is an easy 20-minute ride from Marsh Harbour by water taxi or aboard a small rented outboard runabout. The island has a 28-slip marina. No cars are allowed on the island, but you’ll have no problem walking it, or you can rent a golf cart. The two main roads, Queen’s Highway and Sea Road, run parallel.

Great Guana Cay
The essence of Great Guana Cay can be summed up by its unofficial motto, painted on a hand-lettered sign: “It’s better in the Bahamas, but it’s gooder in Guana.” This sliver of an islet just off Great Abaco, accessible by ferry from Marsh Harbour or by private boat, has both alluring deserted beaches and grassy dunes. Only 100 full-time residents live on 7-mile-long Great Guana Cay, where you’re more likely to run into a rooster than a car during your stroll around the tranquil village. Still, there are just enough luxuries here to make your stay comfortable, including a couple of small, laid-back resorts and a restaurant–bar with one of the best party scenes in the Abacos. The island also has easy access to bone fishing flats you can explore on your own.

Green Turtle Cay
This tiny 3-mile-by-½-mile island is steeped in Loyalist history; some residents can trace their heritage back more than 200 years. Dotted with ancestral New England–style cottage homes, the cay is surrounded by several deep bays, sounds, bonefish flats, and irresistible beaches. New Plymouth, first settled in 1783, is Green Turtle’s main community. Many of its approximately 550 residents earn a living by diving for conch or selling lobster and fish.

Abaco National Park
The Abaco National Park was established in 1994 as a sanctuary for the endangered Abaco parrot, of which there are fewer than 3,000. Many other birds call the park home, including the Bahama yellowthroat and pine warbler.
A 15-mile dirt track passes through the 20,500 protected acres, ending at the Hole-in-the-Wall lighthouse, a starkly beautiful and desolate location overlooking the ocean. The drive from the paved highway all the way to the lighthouse takes about 1½ hours, and can only be done in a 4x4 vehicle. The lighthouse is not technically open to visitors, but people still do climb the rickety stairs to the top where views of the island and the sea are mesmerizing. South end of Great Abaco Island, before you make the final turn on the main road leading to Sandy Point/

Morgan’s Bluff & Beach
Three miles north of Nicholl’s Town is a crescent beach, a headland known as Morgan’s Bluff, and a set of caves named after the 17th-century pirate Captain Henry Morgan, who allegedly dropped off some of his stolen loot in the area. The beach and park is the site of Regatta Village, a colorful collection of stands and stalls used in July when the big event, the All Andros & Berry Islands Regatta, takes place. Adjacent is the Government Dock and a safe harbor, with a small, popular island bar and restaurant.

Nicholl’s Town
Nicholl’s Town, on Andros’s northeastern corner, is a spread-out settlement with its eastern shore lying on a beautiful beach and its northern shore on Morgan’s Bluff beach. It is the island’s largest settlement, with a population of about 600. (Interestingly, the name used to be spelled Nicoll’s Town, without the h.) This friendly community, with its agriculture- and fishing-based economy, has grocery and supplies stores, a few motels, a public medical clinic, government offices, and more. Adorable cottages, a throwback from the town’s big resort era of the 1960s, house the island’s wintering population from the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Red Bay
Fourteen miles west of Nicholl’s Town, Red Bays is the sole west-coast settlement in all of Andros. The town was settled by Seminole Indians and runaway African slaves escaping Florida pre–Civil War and was cut off from the rest of Andros until a highway connected it to Nicholl’s Town in the 1980s. Residents are known for their craftsmanship, particularly straw basketry and wood carving. Tightly plaited baskets, some woven with scraps of colorful Androsia batik, have become a signature craft of Andros. Artisans have their wares on display in front of their homes (with fixed prices). Despite opening their homes to buyers, Red Bays locals don’t seem very used to visitors. Expect a lot of curious stares and occasional smiles.

Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole
Mystical and mesmerizing, blue holes pock Andros’s marine landscape in greater concentration than anywhere else on Earth—an estimated 160-plus—and provide entry into the islands’ network of coral-rock caves. Offshore, some holes drop off to 200 feet or more. Inland blue holes reach depths of 120 feet, layered with fresh, brackish, and salt water. Uncle Charlie’s Blue Hole is one of Andros’s most popular with a 40-feet diameter, lined with picnic benches and a ladder.

Conch Sound Beach
South of Nicholl’s Town’s eastern shore, Conch Sound is a wide bay with strands of white sand and tranquil waters where you can also find Conch Sound Ocean Hole, a sea-filled blue hole where you can snorkel around and see the rich marine life. The flats are a convenient wading spot for bone fishermen who can wade for hours. Commercial fishermen bring their catches to a little beach park nearby. You can buy fresh catch and dine at a couple of shacks. Amenities: only at nearby restaurants. Best for: solitude; fishing; snorkelling

Nicholl's Town Beach
Two-and-a-half miles east of Nicholl’s Town commercial centre, the settlement reaches the east-facing coast along beautiful and long Nicholl’s Town Beach, which catches the easterly breezes and is by far the preferred beach in this area. It adjoins Conch Sound to the south. You might be on your own except for guests at the renovated Andros Island Beach Resort with its tiki bar and restaurant, where you can rent kayaks or snorkelling gear. Amenities: resort nearby. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Captain Bill’s Blue Hole
One famous Andros sight that nature lovers should catch is Captain Bill’s Blue Hole, one of hundreds in Andros and in the Bahamas National Trust’s Blue Hole National Park. Blue holes are the top of extensive water-filled underground cave systems formed in the ice age. Located northwest of Small Hope Bay, the National Trust has made Captain Bill’s popular and comfortable with a boardwalk and a shady gazebo. Steps allow you to jump 30 feet down to cool off and there’s a nature trail around the hole’s 400-foot diameter. Accessible by car or bike, Captain Bill’s is included on most guided tours.

Central Andros
Those arriving in Central Andros by Bahamas Ferries from Nassau will arrive in the village of Fresh Creek; those arriving by plane will arrive in neighbouring Andros Town. Both Fresh Creek and Andros Town, joined by a small bridge over the creek, are found midland, on the east coast of North and Central Andros.
Heading north from Andros Town and Fresh Creek, Central Andros extends as far north as Stafford Creek, near Kamalame Cay, where the land officially becomes North Andros (though it’s debated exactly where Central ends). As you head south from Andros Town airport, scrub pine forests and brush give way to mangroves and hardwood coppice. Long beaches scallop the eastern shoreline and the sole road, Queen’s Highway, will bring you to the bone fishing villages of Cargill Creek and Behring Point. Here, along the bonefish sweet spot of Northern Bight, you’ll find nice homes with flowering gardens, palm trees, and sea grapes that overlook the ocean or the wide estuary.
Central Andros accounts for 60% of Andros’s entire hotel inventory. Those expecting the glitz and glamour of the Bahamas’ megaresorts and more touristy islands should look elsewhere. Here the glamour is the romantic, natural type with open vistas of the beaches, tidal estuaries, pine forests, and distant barrier reef. However rustic it may seem, you’ll find pockets of extraordinary excellence and success, notably the award-winning, luxurious private island resort Kamalame Cay, as well as the more homey, family-friendly, all-inclusive Small Hope Bay Lodge, and private villa KettleStone. This part of Andros has many simpler home rentals and bone fishing lodges with lodging, dining, and fishing packages. All lodging types attract many repeat visitors who come year after year (or a couple times every year) to savour Andros’s beautiful beaches, reefs, and world-class diving and fishing.
Central Andros’s famed and remote West Side is a national park that teems with mangrove estuaries, rich with marine life, including conch, lobster, bonefish barracuda, and small sharks. However, this uninhabited region is accessible only by private boat. Central Andros has several national parks, two marine parks offshore, Blue Hole National Park north of Fresh Creek and a Crab Reserve south of it.

Fresh Creek
Fresh Creek is an estuary, a hamlet, and a harbor, forming the north side of Andros Town and the south side of Fresh Creek settlement, both joined by a small bridge. The north Fresh Creek side is more built up with a few docks, stores, churches, motels, and restaurants, including Hank’s Place, a local hotspot. On the south Andros Town side, the ferry and mail boats offload at the dock next to the closed Andros Lighthouse Beach Club & Marina. You can still walk around the resort’s point to get close to the lighthouse, small beach, and shipwreck. The Andros Tourist Office and some shops are a short walk away. The creek itself cuts over 16 miles into the island, creating tranquil bonefishing flats and welcoming mangrove-lined bays that boaters and sea kayakers can explore. Upstream, there’s even a remote Sunset Point houseboat where you can stay surrounded by the flowing water and scintillating views.

Staniard Creek
Sand banks that turn gold at low tide lie off the northern tip of Staniard Creek, a small island settlement 9 miles north of Fresh Creek, accessed by a bridge off the main highway. Coconut palms and casuarinas shade the ocean-side beaches, and offshore breezes are pleasantly cooling. Kamalame Cove, part of nearby luxurious resort and private Kamalame Cay, are at the northern end of the settlement. Three creeks snake into the mainland, forming extensive mangrove-lined back bays and flats, good for wading and bone fishing.

Kamalame and The Saddleback Cays
East of Staniard Creek lies a series of serene cays, idyllic for beach drops or consummating the ultimate Robinson Crusoe fantasies. The first is Kamalame Cay, home to the luxurious resort of the same name. Just past Kamalame, uninhabited Big and Little Saddleback Cay boast sparkling, white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters. You’ll need a small, private boat to reach either (note that these cays are a regular drop point for guests of Kamalame Cay). Little Saddleback is tiny with no shade; so bring plenty of sunblock. Big Saddleback has a wider crescent beach, and plenty of shade from the pine trees. Also nearby is Rat Cay, which offers excellent snorkelling especially around the adjacent blue hole. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; snorkelling; swimming; walking.

Somerset Beach
Two miles south of Andros Town airport, off a long beaten-up bare road through an arch of Australia pines, is Somerset Beach, a stunning, long, and wide beach with offshore sandbars that let you walk offshore for half a mile. The pines offer shade and there’s a picnic table built by the workers from AUTEC, the nearby U.S. Navy’s submarine testing base. Bring a camera as this is one of the most beautiful beach sights in the Bahamas. Amenities: none. Best for: photography; shelling; swimming; walking.

Mangrove Cay
Home to 800 resilient, friendly locals, remote Mangrove Cay is sandwiched between two sea-green bights, separating it from Central and South Andros and creating an island of shorelines strewn with washed-up black coral, gleaming deserted beaches, and dense pine forests. Moxey Town, known locally as Little Harbour, is historically based on commercial fishing and conch and sponge harvesting and rests on the northeast corner in a coconut grove. Pink piles of conch shells and mounds of porous sponges dot the small harbour. Anglers come on a mission, in search of giant bonefish on flats called “the promised land” and “land of the giants.” A five-minute boat ride takes fly-fishers to Gibson Cay to wade hard sand flats sprinkled with starfish.

South Andros
South Andros’s road stretches 25 miles from Drigg’s Hill—a small settlement of pastel houses, a tiny church, a grocery store, the government dock, and the Emerald Palms Resort—to Mars Bay. Eight miles farther south, the Bluff settlement sprawls atop a hill overlooking miles of golden beaches, lush cays, and the Tongue of the Ocean. Here skeletons of Arawak peoples were found huddled together. A local resident attests that another skeleton was found—this one of a 4-foot-tall, one-eyed owl, which may have given rise to the legend of the mythical, elf-like chickcharnie. South Andros is laced with an almost continuous set of beaches on the northwest and east coast, and more than 15 boutique resorts, bone fishing lodges, inns, and rentals are scattered along the island’s many small settlements. It’s a magnet for serious anglers and divers alike.

Alice Town
Bimini’s capital, Alice Town, is at North Bimini’s southern end. It’s colourful, painted in happy Caribbean pastels, and by night and day is buzzing with golf-carting visitors from Resorts World and the marinas along the main road of King’s Highway. In a prominent location stand the ruins of the Compleat Angler Hotel, Ernest Hemingway’s famous haunt, which burned down in 2006. A short walk away on the west coast is Radio Beach (aka Alice Town Beach) and in the centre of town is the Bimini Native Straw and Craft Market, the tourist office, the government dock, the marinas, and many restaurants and bars.
In quick succession, Alice Town turns into Bailey Town, then Porgy Bay. Going north you’ll see conch stands, restaurants, and the pink-color government centre and clinic. The beaches here are less frequented. Beyond Porgy Town, the north third of the island is the expansive Resorts World Bimini development.

Bailey Town
Most of the island’s residents live in Bailey Town in small, pastel-colour concrete houses, just off King’s Highway, north of the Bimini Big Game Club and before Porgy Bay. Bailey Town has two of Bimini’s biggest grocery stores, where goods and produce come in by mail boat usually on Thursday, Friday is the best day to shop. It’s also a good place to find a home-cooked meal or conch salad from shacks along the waterfront. Don’t miss a bite at Joe’s Conch Stand; it’s a local institution.

Bimini Road
Avid divers shouldn’t miss a trip to underwater Bimini Roads, aka the Road to Atlantis. This curious rock formation under about 20 feet of water, 500 yards offshore at Bimini Bay, is shaped like a backward letter J, some 600 feet long at the longest end. It’s the shorter 300-foot extension that piques the interest of scientists and visitors. The precision patchwork of large, curved-edge stones forms a perfect rectangle measuring about 30 feet across. A few of the stones are 16 feet square. It’s purported to be the “lost city” whose discovery was predicted by Edgar Cayce (1877–1945), a psychic with an interest in prehistoric civilizations. Archaeologists estimate the formation to be between 5,000 and 10,000 years old. Carvings in the rock appear to some scientists to resemble a network of highways.

Radio Beach
Alice Town’s Radio Beach and Bailey Town’s Blister Bay form a continuous stretch of beach off Queen’s Highway, easily accessible in many places. Also called Alice Town Beach, its southern part is often busier and where spring breakers and the young like to party together. CJ’s bar and grill, among other stands, is the default HQ, serving affordable beers, drinks, burgers, and island dinners. Eat inside (away from the flies), on the deck, or on the beach.

Spook Hill Beach
North of Radio Beach and named for its proximity to the local cemetery and Bimini’s memorial park, Spook Hill Beach is quieter than Radio and Blister Bay beaches and caters mostly to families looking for quiet sands and calm waters. Shallow shores are ideal for wading and the crystal-clear waters make for great snorkelling. There is a permanent snack bar here and usually a few pop-up beach bars add to the fun. The beach is heavily lined with pine trees and is narrow at high tide. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: solitude; snorkelling; swimming

South Bimini
Bigger, with nicer beaches and higher elevation than low-lying North Bimini, South Bimini is nonetheless the quieter of the two islands. Home to the island’s only airport, it has a smattering of shops near the ferry landing where boats make regular crossings between the two islands, a short five-minute ride. Bimini Sands Resort is the biggest property on the island with its safe-harbour marina, condos, and nature trail. South of the main resort in Port Royal are 80-plus vacation homes, some docks, and a scalloped beach that’s a favourite of visiting boaters. The resort also helps preserve the island’s Eco focus by staying low-key and keeping much of its land undeveloped. It helps maintain the little Fountain of Youth Park, the Shark lab, and beautiful beaches.
Visitors do not need a car on Bimini, and there are no car-rental agencies. A taxi from the airport to Bimini Sands Resort is $3. Hitching a ride is common.

Bimini Biological Field Station Sharklab
The Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation’s Sharklab was founded more than 25 years ago by Dr. Samuel Gruber, a shark biologist at the University of Miami. Visitors can tour the lab at low tide. The highlight is wading into the bay where the lab keeps several lemon sharks. The hands-on presentation, done by the research assistants or researchers themselves, is entertaining and educational. Tours are offered daily but visitors must call in advance.

Bimini Nature Trail
Developed by Bimini Sands Resort on undeveloped property, this mile-loop trail is one of the best of its kind in the Bahamas. Its slight rise in elevation means a lovely shaded walk under hardwood trees such as gumbo-limbos, poisonwood (marked with “Don’t Touch” signs), and buttonwood. Check out the ruins of the historic Conch House, a great place for sunset-gazing. There is also a pirate’s well exhibit devoted to the island’s swashbuckling history. Excellent signage guides you through the island’s fauna and flora if you prefer doing a self-guided tour. However, for the best interpretation and learning experience, book a guided tour through Bimini Sand’s front desk. Kids always love petting the indigenous Bimini boa on the guided tour. The trail was recently improved by Bahamian bird-watchers such as Erika Gates of Freeport’s famous Garden of the Groves reserve

Bimini Sands Beach
Patrons of Bimini Sands Resort & Marina are not the only ones who love Bimini Sands’s mile-long beach. This gorgeous stretch of white-sand powder, with its offshore snorkelling, is so enticing that vacationers from North Bimini and even Floridians often take the quick ferry over or boat cross the Gulf Stream for the day.

Great Stirrup Cay

Great Harbour Cay
Most of the Berry islands’ 700 residents live on the tranquil, 10-mile-long Great Harbour Cay, the largest of the Berry Islands. Its main settlement, Bullock’s Harbour, aka “the Village,” has a couple of good restaurants, grocery and liquor stores, and small shops. A mile west, the Great Harbour Cay’s beach area was developed in the early 1970s. More homes, condos, and villas have been built or remodelled since. The 65-slip protected marina has also been renovated and is once again popular with yachties. There are no big resorts on Great Harbour; instead, there’s a delightful, world-class boutique hotel called Carriearl, a former house of a famous Hollywood star matchmaker who invited his guests here to party within their tight circle. There’s a small hotel at the marina, and homes and villas for rent on the marina and beaches. The GHC Property Owners Association is active and provides many fun activities and events, including the partial upkeep of 9 holes of the original golf course. Many private pilots have homes and fly in here. The Berries are reputed to have one of the world’s highest concentrations of millionaires per square mile, but, surprisingly, there are no banks or ATMs, so make sure you bring some cash with your credit cards.

Chub Cay
Chub Cay is close to a deep-sea pocket where the Tongue of the Ocean meets the North West Providence Channel—a junction that traps big game fish. Remote flats south of Great Harbour, from Anderson Cay to Money Cay, are excellent bonefish habitats, as are the flats around Chub Cay. Deeper-water flats hold permit and tarpon. Chub Cay is a popular halfway point for boaters crossing to and from Florida, and is experiencing a comeback with millions having been recently invested in the Chub Cay Resort & Marina, which is soon to become private, catering more to investors who own or build homes on the island.

Coco Kay

The Berry Islands
The Berry Islands start in the north at Great Stirrup Cay and Coco Cay where thousands of cruise passengers enjoy Bahama-island experiences and the Stingray City Bahamas attraction on neighbouring Goat Cay. The Berries end in the south at Chub Cay, only 35 miles north of Nassau.
Off these always secluded, immaculate beaches, the clarity of Bahamian waters is especially evident when you reach the Berry Islands. Starfish abound, and you can often catch a glimpse of a gliding stingray, eagle ray, barracuda, and needle fish. You’ll find ocean beaches with gentle lapping waves, sultry beaches with sandbar flats where you can walk half a mile, and private coves enclosed by cliffs for ultra private experiences.
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Great Harbour Cay Beach
On the south end of Great Harbour Beach near the airport, you’ll find The Beach Club, a popular daytime bar and grill with a gift shop. Play beach volleyball, or take a yoga class. (They may ask for a small donation.) At the extreme south are the shallow, simmering sandbars of Shelling Beach that let you wade out for yards. At low tide, you can cross the tidal Shark Beach Creek to the pristine Haines Cay that, hidden from the north by a hill, offers an even more splendid, long beach. Along Great Harbour Cay’s powdery 5-mile stretch, nearby reefs beckon snorkelers and gin-clear waters invite kayakers and paddleboarders.

Lover’s Beach, thinning out until Hotel Point Beach where the strand widens and you can see waves clash from two directions.

Sugar Beach
Sugar Beach is the northernmost of the island’s beaches, where rock bluffs divide the sand into romantic “private” coves of various lengths. Explore the caves or snorkel in calm waters. On top of one of the hills are the ghostly remains of the Sugar Beach Hotel, a 1950s lair built by the Hollywood Rat Pack—Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Female stars invited there included Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, Angie Dickinson, and Judy Garland. This was their scenic escape from paparazzi. The hilltop ruins are decrepit and surrounded by bush and cliffs, so explore with caution

Haines Cay Beach
At low tide, walk across from Shelling Beach estuary, round the point, and walk south a half mile and you’ll discover one of the Bahamas’ most unspoiled, beautiful beaches. It’s 2 miles long with excellent snorkelling on its north end and swimming all along. Wear some sturdy footwear for the land walk. It’s also reachable by kayak. There are no trees for shade, so an umbrella, lots of fluids, and sunscreen are advisable. Amenities: none. Best for: swimming; walking; snorkelling; solitude.

Gregory Town
Gregory Town is a sleepy community, except on Friday nights when people are looking for music, whether that is speakers blasting reggae or a local musician playing Rake ’n’ Scrape at a roadside barbecue. There’s action, too, at Surfer’s Beach, where summer and winter waves bring surfers from around the world. The famous Glass Window Bridge is north of town, and Preacher’s Cave, landing of the earliest settlers, is on the northern tip of the island. Gregory Town is home to a little more than 400 people, residing in small houses on a hillside that slides down to the sea. The town’s annual Pineapple Festiva

Hatchet Bay
“The Country’s Safest Harbour,” Hatchet Bay, which has one of mid-Eleuthera’s few marinas, is a good place to find a fishing guide and friendly locals, or to anchor sailboats and fishing vessels when storms are coming. Take note of the town’s side roads, which have such colorful names as Lazy Road, Happy Hill Road, and Smile Lane. Just south of town, the Rainbow Inn and restaurant is the hub of activity for this stretch of the island. Don’t miss James Cistern, a seaside settlement to the south.
Hatchet Bay is equidistant between the Governor’s Harbour and North Eleuthera airports. The taxi fare from either airport is about $50 for two people. Rent a car at the airport unless you plan to stay at a resort for most of your visit.

Governor's Harbour
Governor’s Harbour, the capital of Eleuthera and home to government offices, is the largest town on the island and one of the prettiest. Victorian-era houses were built on Buccaneer Hill, which overlooks the harbour, bordered on the south by a narrow peninsula and Cupid’s Cay at the tip. To fully understand its appeal, you have to settle in for a few days and explore on foot—if you don’t mind the steep climb up the narrow lanes. The town is a step into a gentler, more genteel time. Everyone says hello, and entertainment means wading into the harbour to cast a line, or taking a painting class taught by Martha’s Vineyard artist Donna Allen at the 19th-century pink library on Monday mornings. You can see a current movie at the balconied Globe Princess, the only theatre on the island, which also serves the best hamburgers in town. Or, swim at the gorgeous beaches on either side of town, which stretch from the pink sands of the ocean to the white sands of the Bight of Eleuthera. There are three banks, a few grocery stores, and some of the island’s wealthiest residents, who prefer the quiet of Eleuthera to the fashionable party scene of Harbour Island.

Rock Sound
One of Eleuthera’s largest settlements, the village of Rock Sound has a small airport serving the island’s southern part. Front Street, the main thoroughfare, runs along the seashore, where fishing boats are tied up. If you walk down the street, you’ll eventually come to the whitewashed St. Luke’s Anglican Church, a contrast to the deep-blue and green houses nearby with their colorful gardens full of poinsettia, hibiscus, and marigolds. If you pass the church on a Sunday, you’ll surely hear fervent hymn singing through the open windows. Rock Sound has the island’s largest supermarket shopping center, where locals stock up on groceries and supplies.

Bannerman Town
The tiny settlement of Bannerman Town (population 40) is 25 miles from Rock Sound at the island’s southern tip, which is punctuated by an old cliff-top lighthouse. Rent an SUV if you plan to drive out to it; the rutted sand road is often barely passable. The pink-sand beach here is gorgeous, and on a clear day you can see the Bahamas’ highest point, Mt. Alvernia (elevation 206 feet), on distant Cat Island. The town lies about 30 miles from the residential Cotton Bay Club, past the quiet little fishing villages of Wemyss Bight (named after Lord Gordon Wemyss, a 17th-century Scottish slave owner) and John Millars (population 15), barely touched over the years.

Harbour Island
Harbour Island has often been called the Nantucket of the Caribbean and the most gorgeous of the Out Islands because of its powdery pink-sand beaches (3 miles’ worth!) and its pastel-colour clapboard houses with dormer windows, set among white picket fences, narrow lanes, cute shops, and tropical flowers.
The frequent parade of the fashionable and famous, and the chic small inns that accommodate them, have earned the island another name: the St. Bart’s of the Bahamas. But residents have long called it Briland, their faster way of pronouncing “Harbour Island.” These inhabitants include families who go back generations to the island’s early settlement, as well as a growing number of celebrities, supermodels, and tycoons who feel that Briland is the perfect haven to bask in small-town charm against a stunning oceanscape. Some of the Bahamas’ most handsome small hotels, each strikingly distinct, are tucked within the island’s 2 square miles. Several are perched on a bluff above the shore, and you can fall asleep with the windows open and listen to the waves lapping the beach. Take a walking tour of the narrow streets of Dunmore Town, named after the 18th-century royal governor of the Bahamas, Lord Dunmore, who built a summer home here and laid out the town, which served as the first capital of the Bahamas. It’s the only town on Harbour Island, and you can take in all its attractions during a 20-minute stroll.
Access Harbour Island via a 10-minute ferry ride from the North Eleuthera dock. Fares are $5 per person in a boat of two or more, plus an extra dollar to be dropped off at the private Romora Bay Club docks and for night-time rides.
The best way to get around the island is to rent a golf cart or bike, or hire a taxi, since climbing the island’s hills can be strenuous in the midday heat. Staying in Dunmore Town puts you within walking distance to everything you’ll need.

Glass Window Bridge
At a narrow point of the island a few miles north of Gregory Town, a slender concrete bridge links two sea-battered bluffs that separate the island’s Central and North districts. Sailors going south in the waters between New Providence and Eleuthera supposedly named this area the Glass Window because they could see through the natural limestone arch to the Atlantic on the other side. Stop to watch the north-easterly deep-azure Atlantic swirl together under the bridge with the south-westerly turquoise Bight of Eleuthera, producing a brilliant aquamarine froth. Artist Winslow Homer found the site stunning, and painted Glass Window in 1885. The original stone arch, created by Mother Nature, was destroyed by a combination of storms in the 1940s. Subsequent concrete bridges were destroyed by hurricanes in 1992 and 1999. Drive carefully, because there is frequent maintenance work going on.

Preacher's Cave
At the island’s northern tip, this cave is where the Eleutheran Adventurers (the island’s founders) took refuge and held services when their ship wrecked in 1648. Note the original stone altar inside the cave, done by Captain William Sayles in the 1600s. Across from the cave is a long succession of deserted pink-sand beaches.

Gaulding’s Cay Beach
norkelers and divers will want to spend time at this beach, 3 miles north of Gregory Town. You’ll most likely have the long stretch of white sand and shallow aqua water all to yourself, and it’s great for shelling. At low tide, you can walk or swim to Gaulding’s Cay, a tiny rock island with a few casuarina trees. There’s great snorkelling around the island; you’ll see a concentration of sea anemones so spectacular it dazzled even Jacques Cousteau’s biologists.

Surfers Beach
This is Gregory Town’s claim to fame and one of the few beaches in the Bahamas known for surfing. Serious surfers have gathered here since the 1960s for decent waves from December to April. If you don’t have a jeep, you can walk the ¾ mile to this Atlantic-side beach—take a right onto the paved road past the Hatchet Bay silos, just south of Gregory Town. Look for a young crowd sitting around bonfires at night. Amenities: none. Best for: surfing.

Tay Bay Beach
Steps from historical Preacher’s Cave, this beach offers a long expanse of pink powdery sand. The area is remote, so you’re likely to have the beach to yourself. There are plenty of palmetto trees to relax underneath for a quiet afternoon. Just offshore is Devil’s Backbone, where the Eleutheran Adventurers shipwrecked and sought shelter in the cave. Amenities: parking. Best for: solitude; walking.

Hatchet Bay Cave
North of Hatchet Bay lies a subterranean, bat-populated tunnel complete with stalagmites and stalactites. Pirates supposedly once used it to hide their loot. An underground path leads for more than a mile to the sea, ending in a lofty, cathedral-like cavern. Within its depths, fish swim in total darkness. The adventurous may wish to explore this area with a flashlight (follow the length of guide string along the cavern’s floor), but it’s best to inquire first at one of the local stores or the Rainbow Inn for a guide.

Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve
Walk miles of scenic trails in this 25-acre nature preserve located on Banks Road. Funded by the Leon Levy Foundation and operated by the Bahamas National Trust, the preserve serves as an environmental education centre with a focus on traditional bush medicine. Follow the boardwalk over a small waterfall and take the path to the Observation Tower to see hundreds of indigenous trees, plants, and wildlife such as mangroves, five-finger plants, and bullfinches. Group tours are available, or if you’d prefer to tour the preserve on your own, the welcome centre will provide you with a map and a plant identification guide

Cocodimama Beach
Many necklaces and shell decorations come from Cocodimama, which, along with Ten Bay Beach at South Palmetto Point, is well known for perfect small shells. The water at this secluded beach, 6 miles north of Governor’s Harbour, has the aqua and sky-blue shades you see on Bahamas posters, and is shallow and calm, perfect for children and sand castles. Amenities: parking. Best for: sunset.

French Leave Beach
This stretch of pink sand was Club Med’s famed beach before the resort was destroyed by a hurricane in 1999, and is now home to the new French Leave Marina Village. The gorgeous Atlantic-side beach is anchored by fantastic bistros like the Beach House and Tippy’s. The wide expanse, ringed by casuarina trees, is often deserted and makes a great outpost for romantics. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Ocean Hole
A small inland saltwater lake a mile southeast of Rock Sound is connected by tunnels to the sea. Steps have been cut into the coral on the shore so visitors can climb down to the lake’s edge. Bring a piece of bread or some fries and watch the fish emerge for their hors d’oeuvres, swimming their way in from the sea. A local diver estimates the hole is about 75 feet deep. He reports that there are a couple of cars at the bottom, too. Local children learn to swim here.

Pink Sands Beach
This is the fairest pink beach of them all: 3 miles of pale pink sand behind some of the most expensive and posh inns in the Bahamas. Its sand is of such a fine consistency that it’s almost as soft as talcum powder, and the gentle slope of the shore makes small waves break hundreds of yards offshore; you have to walk out quite a distance to get past your waist. This is the place to see the rich and famous in designer resort wear or ride a horse bareback across the sand and into the sea. Amenities: food and drink; toilets. Best for: partiers; sunrise; swimming; walking.

Lone Tree
If you stroll to the end of Bay Street and follow the curve to the western edge of the island, you’ll find the Lone Tree, one of the most photographed icons of Harbour Island. This enormous piece of driftwood is said to have washed up on shore after a bad storm and anchored itself on the shallow sandbar in a picturesque upright position, providing the perfect photo op for countless tourists.

Little Exuma Island
Scenes from two Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed on the southern end of Little Exuma—only 12 square miles—and on one of the little cays just offshore. The movies’ stars, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, often roamed around the island and ate at Santana’s open-air beach shack, the island’s best-known restaurant. But that’s just one of the many reasons people are drawn to this lovely island, which is connected to Great Exuma to the north by a narrow bridge. Rolling green hills, purple morning glories spilling over fences, small settlements with only a dozen houses, and glistening white beaches make this a romantic afternoon escape. Near Williams Town is an eerie salt lake, still and ghostly, where salt was once scooped up and shipped away. You can hike old footpaths and look for ruins of old plantation buildings built in the 1700s near the Hermitage, but you’ll have to look beneath the bushes and vines to find them. Little Exuma’s best beach is Tropic of Cancer Beach (also known as Pelican’s Bay Beach); it is a thrill to stand on the line that marks the spot. You’re officially in the tropics now.

THE EXUMA CAYS
A band of cays—with names like Rudder Cut, Big Farmer’s, Great Guana, and Leaf—stretches northwest from Great Exuma. It will take you a full day to boat through all 365 cays, most uninhabited, some owned by celebrities. Along the way you’ll find giant starfish, wild iguanas, swimming pigs, dolphins, sharks, and picture-perfect sandbars. The Land and Sea Park, toward the northern end of the chain, is world-renowned.
Most people visit the cays with their own boats; you’ll need one to island-hop, although you can fly into Staniel Cay. The channels are confusing for inexperienced boaters, especially at low tide, and high tide can hide reefs and sandbars just underneath the surface. If this sounds intimidating, look into booking a boat tour. Once on a cay, most are small enough to walk. Golf carts are popular on Staniel Cay.

Norman's Cay, Exuma
North of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is Norman’s Cay, an island with 10 miles of rarely trod white beaches, which attracts the occasional yachter. It was once the private domain of Colombian drug smuggler Carlos Lehder. It’s now owned by the Bahamian government. Stop by Norman’s Cay Beach Club at MacDuff’s for lunch or an early dinner and that it’s-five-o’clock-somewhere beach cocktail.

George Town
George Town is the capital and largest town on the mainland, a lovely seaside community with darling pink government buildings overlooking Elizabeth Harbour. The white-pillared, colonial-style Government Administration Building was modelled on Nassau’s Government House and houses the commissioner’s office, police headquarters, courts, and a jail. Atop a hill across from it is the whitewashed St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, originally built around 1802. Behind the church is the small, saltwater Lake Victoria. It was once used for soaking sisal used for making baskets and ropes. The straw market, a half dozen outdoor shops shaded by a huge African fig tree, is a short walk from town. You can bargain with fishermen for some of the day’s catch at the Government Dock, where the mail boat comes in.

Fish Fry
Fish Fry is the name given to a jumble of one-room beachside structures, such as Charlie’s and Honeydew, about 2 miles north of George Town. They’re favoured by locals for made-to-order fish and barbecue. Some shacks are open weekends only, but most are open nightly until at least 11 pm. There’s live Rake ‘n’ Scrape Monday nights and DJs on Friday and Saturday. Eat at picnic tables by the water and watch the fishing boats come into the harbour. This is a popular after-work meeting place on Friday night, and a sports bar attracts locals and expats for American basketball and football games.

Rolle Town
Rolleville overlooks a harbor 20 miles north of George Town. Its old slave quarters have been transformed into livable cottages. The Hilltop Tavern, a seafood restaurant and bar, is guarded by an ancient cannon.

Stocking Island
lightly more than a mile off George Town’s shore lies Stocking Island. The 4-mile-long island has only 10 inhabitants, the upscale Hotel Higgins Landing, lots of walking trails, a gorgeous white beach rich in seashells and popular with surfers on the ocean side, and plenty of good snorkelling sites. Jacques Cousteau’s team is said to have travelled some 1,700 feet into Mystery Cave, a blue-hole grotto 70 feet beneath the island. Stocking Island is the headquarters for the wildly popular George Town Cruising Regatta.

Tropic Of Cancer Beach
This is the beach most visitors come to the Exumas for, although don’t be surprised if you’re the only one here at noon on a Saturday. It’s right on the Tropic of Cancer; a helpful line marking the spot on the steps leading down to the sand makes a great photo op. The beach is a white-sand crescent in a protected cove, where the water is usually as calm as a pond. A shady wooden cabana makes a comfortable place to admire the beach and water. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 were filmed on nearby Sandy Cay. Have lunch at the cast’s favorite place, the open-air Santana’s in Williams Town, a 10-minute drive from the beach. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; snorkelling; swimming;

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
Created by the Bahamas National Trust in 1958, the 176-square-mile Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was the first of its kind in the world—an enormous open aquarium with pristine reefs, an abundance of marine life, and sandy cays. For landlubbers there are hiking trails and birding sites. At Shroud Cay, jump into the strong current that creates a natural whirlpool whipping you around a rocky outcropping to a powdery beach. On top of the hill overlooking the beach is Camp Driftwood, made famous by a hermit who dug steps to the top, leaving behind pieces of driftwood

Staniel Cay
This is the hub of activity in the cays, and a favourite destination of yachters thanks to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Shack up in one of the cotton candy–colour cottages and visit the club’s restaurant for lunch, dinner, and nightlife. The island has an airstrip, one hotel, and paved roads, and everything is within walking distance.

Little Farmer's Cay
If you’re looking for a little civilization, stop off at Little Farmer’s Cay, the first inhabited cay in the chain, about 40 minutes (18 miles) from Great Exuma. The island has a restaurant and a small grocery store where locals gather to play dominoes. But don’t expect too big of a party; just 70 people live on the island. A walk up the hill will reward you with fantastic island views.

Pig Beach
Just north of Staniel Cay, Big Major’s Cay is home to the famous swimming pigs. These guys aren’t shy; as you pull up to the island they’ll dive in and swim out to greet you. Don’t forget to bring some scraps; Staniel Cay restaurant gives guests bags before they depart.

Thunderball Grotto
Just across the water from the Staniel Cay Yacht Club is one of the Bahamas’ most unforgettable attractions: Thunderball Grotto, a lovely marine cave that snorkelers (at low tide) and experienced scuba divers can explore. In the central cavern, shimmering shafts of sunlight pour through holes in the soaring ceiling and illuminate the glass-clear water. You’ll see right away why this cave was chosen as an exotic setting for such movies as 007’s Thunderball and Never Say Never Again, and the mermaid tale Splash.

Cat Island
Cat Island is made up of exquisite pink-sand beaches and sparkling white-sand-ringed coves, as calm and clear as a spa pool. Largely undeveloped, the island has the tallest hill in the Bahamas, a dizzying 206 feet high, with an historic tiny stone abbey on top. The two-lane Queen’s Highway runs the 48-mile length of the island from north to south, mostly along the western gorgeous sandy coastline, through quaint seaside settlements and past hundreds of abandoned stone cottages. Some are 200-year-old slave houses, crumbling testaments to cotton and sisal plantation days, while others, too old to have modern utilities, were abandoned. Trees and vines twist through spaces that used to be windows and roofs and the deep-blue ocean can be seen through missing walls. In 1938 the island had 5,000 residents and today only about 1,500. Many of the inhabitants left the cottages long ago out of necessity, to find work in Nassau and Florida, but the houses remain because they still mark family land.
Cat Island was named after a frequent visitor, the notorious pirate Arthur Catt, a contemporary of Edward “Blackbeard” Teach. Another famous islander is Sir Sidney Poitier, who grew up here before leaving to become a ground-breaking Academy Award–winning movie actor and director.

Crooked Island
Crooked Island is 30 miles long and surrounded by 45 miles of barrier reefs that are ideal for diving and fishing. They slope from 4 feet to 50 feet, then plunge to 3,600 feet in the Crooked Island Passage, once one of the most important sea roads for ships following the southerly route from the West Indies to the Old World. If you drive up to the Cove settlement, you get an uninterrupted view of the region all the way to the narrow passage at Lovely Bay between Crooked Island and Acklins Island. Two lighthouses alert mariners that they are nearing the islands.
The tepid controversy continues today over whether Columbus actually set foot on Crooked Island and its southern neighbor, Acklins Island. What’s known for sure is that Columbus sailed close enough to Crooked Island to get a whiff of its island herbs. Soon after, the two islands became known as the “Fragrant Islands.” Today Crooked and Acklins islands are known as remote and unspoiled destinations for fishermen, divers, and sailors who value solitude. Here phone service can be intermittent, Internet access can be hard to find, and some residents depend on generators for electricity. Even credit-card use is a relatively new development. The first known settlers didn’t arrive until the late 18th century, when Loyalists brought slaves from the United States to work on cotton plantations. About 400 people, mostly fishermen and farmers, live on each island today. Two plantation-era sites, preserved by the Bahamas National Trust, are on Crooked Island’s northern end, which overlooks Crooked Island Passage that separates the cay from Long Island. Spanish guns have been discovered at one ruin, Marine Farm, which may have been used as a fortification. An old structure, Hope Great House, has orchards and gardens.

Great Inagua Island
nagua does indeed feel like the southernmost island in the Bahamas’ 700-mile-long chain. Just 50 miles from Cuba, it’s not easy to get to—there are only three flights a week from Nassau, and you must overnight there to catch the 9 am flight. At night the lonely beacon of the Inagua Lighthouse sweeps the sky over the southern part of the island and the only community, Matthew Town, as it has since 1870. The coastline is rocky and rugged, with little coves of golden sand. The terrain is mostly flat and covered with palmetto palms, wind-stunted buttonwoods, and mangroves ringing ponds and a huge inland saltwater lake. Parts of it look very much like the Florida Everglades, only without the alligators and poisonous snakes.
Matthew Town feels like the Wild West, with sun-faded wooden buildings and vintage and modern trucks usually parked in front.
It’s obviously not a tourist mecca, but those who do visit witness the great spectacles of the Western Hemisphere: the 60,000-some West Indian pink-scarlet flamingos that nest here alongside rare Bahama parrots and roseate spoonbills. If you’re not a bird lover, there’s extraordinary diving and fishing off the virgin reefs. Although there are few tourists, this remote island is prosperous. An unusual climate of little rainfall and continual trade winds creates rich salt ponds. The Morton Salt Company harvests a million tons of salt annually at its Matthew Town factory, where most of the 1,000 Inaguans work.

San Salvador
Located on one of the largest reefs in the world, the tiny island’s crystal-clear waters are a scuba diver’s dream. The beach at Club Med is gorgeous, with soft white sand and dazzling turquoise water.
The island is 14 miles long—a little longer than Manhattan Island—and about 6 miles wide, with a lake-filled interior. Some of the most dazzling deserted beaches in the country are here. Most visitors come for Club Med’s unique blend of fun and activities; others for the peaceful isolation and the diving. There are more than 50 dive sites and world-renowned offshore fishing and good bone fishing. The friendly locals have a lot to be proud of for their special island and their warmth shows it.

Long Island
Long Island lives up to its name—80 gorgeous miles are available for you to explore. The Queen’s Highway traverses its length, through the Tropic of Cancer and many diverse settlements and farming communities. The island is 4 miles at its widest, so at hilly vantage points you can view both the white cliffs and the raging Atlantic on the east side, and the gentle surf on the Caribbean side.
Long Island was the third island discovered by Christopher Columbus, and a monument to him stands on the north end. Loyalist families came to the island in support of the Crown, and to this day there are Crown properties all over the island, deeded by the king of England. Fleeing the Revolution, their attempt at re-creating life in America was short-lived. The soil and lack of rainfall did not support their crops, cotton being their mainstay. Today you can see wild cotton growing in patches up and down the island, along with the ruins of the plantations.
Fishing and tourism support the 3,000 residents of Long Island. Farms growing bananas, mangoes, papaya, and limes also dot the landscape. Boat-building is a natural art here, and in the south you can always see a boat in progress as you travel the Queen’s Highway.
Progress has come to the island slowly. There is now high-speed Internet and cell-phone service, but shops and modern forms of entertainment are still limited. People who come to Long Island don’t seem to mind; they’re here for the beauty, tranquillity, and the friendly people. Deep-sea fishing and diving are readily available, and bonefishing flats attract sportfishermen from all over the world. The beaches provide breathtaking views, shelling, exploring, and magnificent pieces of sea glass. The laid-back lifestyle is reminiscent of a slower, gentler time.