Bahamas Travel Guide

GALLERY

Made up of 700 islands—some busy and bustling, some isolated and inhabited by no one but hermit crabs and seagulls—the Bahamas offers an alluring mix of land and sea activities. From Nassau to Eleuthera, you can play golf on a seaside fairway, dive dramatic wrecks and reefs, and sail in crystal clear water. Accommodations run the gamut from simple inns to sophisticated retreats, from practical fishing lodges to romantic honeymoon hideaways. And for those who look a little closer, there's a fascinating and diverse culture to be explored.

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New Providence and Paradise Islands

An incongruous mix of glitzy casinos and quiet shady lanes, splashy megaresorts and tiny settlements that recall a distant simpler age, land development unrivaled elsewhere...

The Abacos

The attitude of the Abacos might best be expressed by the sign posted in the window of Vernon's Grocery in Hope Town: "If you're looking...

Eleuthera and Harbour Island

You haven't experienced a real escape until you've vacationed in Eleuthera. Simple luxury resorts are the norm, deserted expanses of white- or pink-sand beaches are...

The Southern Out Islands

Wild and windswept, the southern Bahamian islands are idyllic Edens for those adventurers who want to battle a tarpon, dive a "wall" that drops thousands...

Andros, Bimini, and the Berry Islands

Legends loom large (and small) on these northwestern Bahamas islands. On Bimini, you'll hear about the lost underwater city of Atlantis, Ernest Hemingway's visits, and...

Grand Bahama Island

Natural beauty conspires with resort vitality to make Grand Bahama Island one of the Bahamas' most well-rounded, diverse destinations. In its two main towns, Freeport...

The Exumas

The Exumas are known for their gorgeous 365 cays—most uninhabited, some owned by celebrities. Get the wind and sea salt in your hair as you...

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...

Andros

The Bahamas' largest island (100 miles long and 40 miles wide) and one of the least explored, Andros's landmass is carved up by myriad channels...

Harbour Island

Harbour Island has often been called the Nantucket of the Caribbean and the prettiest of the Out Islands because of its powdery pink-sand beaches (3...

Great Exuma

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...

Port Lucaya

On Grand Bahama's southern coast, Lucaya was developed after western neighbor Freeport as another resort center, this one on the beach and harbor. Colorful Port...

Paradise Island

The graceful, arched Paradise Island bridges ($1 round-trip toll for cars and motorbikes; free for bicyclists and pedestrians) lead to and from the extravagant world...

Bimini

Bimini has long been known as the Bahamas' big game-fishing capital. Bimini's strong tourist season falls from spring through summer, when calmer seas mean the...

Elbow Cay

Five-mile-long Elbow Cay's main attraction is the charming village of Hope Town. The saltbox cottages—painted in bright colors—with their white picket fences, flowering gardens, and...

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...

Cat Island

You'll be purring on Cat Island's exquisite pink-sand beaches and sparkling white-sand-ringed coves, as calm and clear as a spa pool. Largely undeveloped, Cat Island...

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...

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...

Gregory Town and North Eleuthera

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...

San Salvador

On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus disrupted the lives of the peaceful Lucayan Indians when he landed on the island of Guanahani, which he renamed...

Freeport

Freeport, once an attractive, planned city of modern shopping centers, resorts, and other convenient tourist facilities, took a bad hit from the 2004 and 2005...

The Berry Islands

Discovered by a lucky few and pristine in beauty, the Berry Islands consist of more than two-dozen small islands and almost a hundred tiny cays...

Greater Grand Bahama

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...

Rock Sound and South Eleuthera

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...

Spanish Wells

Off Eleuthera's northern tip lies St. George's Cay, the site of Spanish Wells. The Spaniards used this as a safe harbor during the 17th century...

Devil's Point

The small village of Devil's Point, with its bright-walled, thatch-roof houses, lies at the southern tip of the Queen's Highway 9 miles southwest of Old...

Little Exuma

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...

Crooked and Acklins Islands

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...

Inagua

Inagua 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...

Eastern New Providence

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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...

North Bimini

Bimini's capital, Alice Town, is at North Bimini's southern end. It's colorful, painted in happy Caribbean pastels, and by night and day is buzzing with...

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...

Arthur's Town and Bennett's Harbour

Arthur's Town's claim to fame is that it was the boyhood home of actor Sidney Poitier, who wrote about growing up here in his autobiography...

Mangrove Cay

Remote Mangrove Cay is sandwiched between two sea-green bights that separate it from Central and South Andros, creating an island of shorelines strewn with washed-up...

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...

Elsewhere on San Salvador

Sometimes you just don't want to stay put at the resort. San Salvador's off-the-beaten-path places require some work, but make interesting sightseeing. The Gerace Research...

North Long Island: Cape Santa Maria to Gray's

In the far north you will find two large resort communities: Cape Santa Maria and Stella Maris. Scattered between are the small settlements of Seymour's...

New Bight

Yachts large and small anchor off the coast of Regatta Beach, and boaters dingy in to the Custom House, located in a small collection of...

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...

North Andros

The northern part of Andros spreads from the settlements of Morgan's Bluff, Nicholl's Town, and Red Bays and ends at Stafford Creek. North Andros consists...

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...

Hatchet Bay

Hatchet Bay, which has one of mid-Eleuthera's few marinas, is a good place to find a fishing guide and friendly locals. Take note of the...

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...

Spanish Cay

Only 3 miles long, this privately owned island was once the exclusive retreat of millionaires, and many visitors still arrive by yacht or private plane...

Great Abaco Island

If arriving by air, your trip will begin on Great Abaco, the main island. It's bordered on its eastern side by a chain of cays...

Port Howe

At the conch shell–lined traffic roundabout at the southernmost end of the Queen's Highway, you must turn either east or west; head east out toward...

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'...

South Long Island: Deadman's Cay to Gordon's

The most populated area on the island is Deadman's Cay. This umbrella central settlement covers all the communities stretching from Gray's to the north to...

South of Marsh 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...

Fernandez Bay to Riding Rock Point

In 1492 the inspiring sight that greeted Christopher Columbus by moonlight at 2 am was a terrain of gleaming beaches and far-reaching forest. The peripatetic...