Bahamas Destination Guide

Hundreds of Islands That Have Almost Nothing in Common

The Bahamas is an archipelago of roughly seven hundred islands and cays spread across an area larger than most people imagine, sitting on shallow banks that give the water its particular colors. Fewer than thirty of those islands are inhabited in any meaningful way, and the difference between them is enormous. Nassau is a working capital with cruise ships, casinos and traffic. Harbour Island is a village of pastel cottages and golf carts. The Exumas are a chain of largely empty cays reached by boat. Treating the country as a single destination is the mistake that produces disappointing trips, and it happens constantly.

The planning decision: which island, and only then which hotel

Nassau and Paradise Island are the easiest, the busiest and the right answer for a short trip, a family who wants a water park, or anyone flying in for a weekend from the East Coast. The Exumas are for boats, sandbars and quiet, with Great Exuma and the Staniel Cay area as the two bases. Harbour Island, off north Eleuthera, is a small social scene with a pink sand beach and a strong repeat crowd. Abaco is a sailing and fishing world of cays and settlements. Andros is bonefishing and almost nothing else. Pick the island honestly against what you actually want to do all day.

Season, and the storm exposure worth stating plainly

The high season runs December through April, dry, sunny and cooler, with the peak at Christmas, New Year and the spring holiday weeks. May and June are warm, quiet and excellent value. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November and peaks from August into October, and this archipelago is genuinely exposed. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 devastated Abaco and Grand Bahama, and while both have rebuilt substantially, the pace has been uneven and the current state of specific properties and settlements should be confirmed rather than assumed. Many hotels on the smaller islands close for part of the autumn.

Where to base, and how you actually get there

Nassau's international airport is thirty to forty minutes from Miami or Fort Lauderdale by air, which is the shortest hop to the Caribbean from the United States and the reason weekend trips work here. Paradise Island sits across a bridge from downtown Nassau. Harbour Island is reached by flying to North Eleuthera and taking a short water taxi, which is simple but adds a step. Exuma has its own international airport at George Town, with the northern cays reached by boat or charter. Abaco flies into Marsh Harbour. On most of the out islands a boat, not a car, is the useful vehicle.

Stay strategy from big resort to small inn

The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort on Paradise Island remains the reference for polished service near Nassau, with Atlantis and Baha Mar covering the large resort and casino end. On Harbour Island the properties are small inns, with The Dunmore, Coral Sands and Pink Sands the established names, and the whole island runs on that scale. In the Exumas, the resorts around Emerald Bay and the private island properties are the two options. Abaco and Andros are lodge country. Private islands and whole island buyouts are a real part of this market and worth asking about for a group.

When to begin

Six months for winter. Christmas, New Year and Easter want nine to twelve, and Harbour Island in particular has so few rooms that the good ones go a year out. Summer can be booked shorter. Boats are the thing to secure early on any out island, since a week in the Exumas without a reliable captain is a week looking at water from the shore. Interisland flights and charters are booked with the hotel because the schedules are thin and a missed connection here costs a day.

Four experiences worth building the days around

• A boat day through the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, with the sandbars, the swimming pigs at Big Major and the blue holes.
• Bonefishing on the flats of Andros or Abaco with a local guide, which is world class and completely unlike any other fishing.
• A golf cart evening on Harbour Island, moving between Dunmore Town's restaurants with the pink sand beach a walk away.
• Diving or snorkeling the walls and blue holes, which drop off very close to shore across much of the archipelago.

Who this trip suits

The Bahamas suits anyone on the East Coast who wants Caribbean water without a long flight, and it does short trips better than almost anywhere. It suits boaters, fishermen and divers. It suits families, whether at the big Paradise Island resorts or in a house on a quiet cay. It suits groups who want a private island. And it suits travelers who will do the work of choosing the right island rather than booking the country.

When another plan may fit better

Travelers who want one exceptional beach and simple logistics will do better in Turks and Caicos, and those wanting a quieter, more restaurant driven island should look at Anguilla. Nassau in cruise season is busy and commercial in a way that surprises people, and if that is the whole trip, a few days in Miami may serve better. Late summer carries real storm risk on these islands.

Plan it with one accountable advisor

Start by telling us how you want to spend the days, because that decides the island and the island decides everything else. We handle the interisland air, the boats and the houses as a single plan. Our luxury leisure travel planning covers the routing, and our group travel planning handles buyouts and multi family weeks.