Highlights
Nassau and Paradise Island
The capital on New Providence has pastel colonial buildings, Fort Charlotte, the Queen's Staircase cut into limestone, and a busy harbour. Paradise Island, across a bridge, is home to large resorts and Cabbage Beach.
The Exumas
A chain of more than 300 cays and islands with sandbars, turquoise channels and the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Boat trips visit Thunderball Grotto, an underwater cave, and the famous swimming pigs.
Eleuthera and Harbour Island
Eleuthera is a long, narrow island with pink-sand beaches and the Glass Window Bridge, where the dark Atlantic meets the calm turquoise bight. Harbour Island has a pink-sand beach and colourful clapboard houses in Dunmore Town.
Andros
The largest island is mostly wild, with pine forest, mangroves and inland blue holes. Offshore, a long barrier reef offers diving and some of the best bonefishing in the world.
The Abacos
A boating paradise of cays and settlements in the north, with the red-and-white striped lighthouse at Hope Town on Elbow Cay, one of the last kerosene-burning lighthouses in the world.
Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island
One of the deepest known blue holes, a near-circular sinkhole dropping around 200 metres beside a sandy beach. It is a centre for freediving and good for snorkelling at the edge.
Bimini
The closest islands to Florida, known for sport fishing, diving on reefs and wrecks, and associations with Ernest Hemingway.
Interesting facts about Bahamas
- Christopher Columbus's first landfall in the Americas in 1492 is believed to have been in the Bahamas, most likely on San Salvador.
- Only a small fraction of the archipelago's hundreds of islands and thousands of cays are inhabited.
- The Bahamian dollar is pegged one-to-one with the US dollar, and both are used interchangeably.
- Junkanoo, a street parade with costumes, cowbells, goatskin drums and brass, is held on Boxing Day and New Year's Day.
- The Bahamas lies in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea, though it is usually grouped with the Caribbean.
Best time to visit
The dry season from mid-December to April has the most pleasant weather and is the busiest. May and June are warmer and quieter. Hurricane season runs from June to November, with the greatest risk from August to October, and some Out Island businesses close in September and October. Water temperatures are warm enough for swimming all year, though winter cold fronts can bring cooler, windier days.
Practical information
| Capital | Nassau |
|---|---|
| Currency | Bahamian dollar (BSD); US dollars accepted everywhere |
| Languages | English |
| Plugs | Type A, B |
| Voltage | 120 V, 60 Hz |
| Emergency | 911 or 919 |
| Driving | On the left |
| Tipping | Around 15 per cent in restaurants is usual, and many add a gratuity to the bill, so check before tipping. Tip taxi drivers, guides and boat crews. |
Getting around
Domestic flights and mail boats link Nassau with the Out Islands, and fast ferries run to several islands such as Eleuthera and Harbour Island. On New Providence, jitneys (minibuses) serve the main routes during the day, and taxis are widely available. On larger Out Islands, a rental car is often needed, while small cays are explored on foot, by golf cart or by boat. Driving is on the left.
Staying connected in Bahamas
Mobile coverage is good on New Providence and Grand Bahama and in the main settlements of the populated Out Islands. Away from settlements, and on many smaller cays, coverage is patchy or absent, and on boat trips between islands it can disappear for long stretches. Wi-Fi is standard in hotels and common in restaurants in Nassau but can be slower on remote islands. Download offline maps, install an eSIM before you fly and switch it on when you land.
See Bahamas eSIM plans · How to install an eSIM
Useful apps for Bahamas
- Google Maps: Driving directions and offline maps for the Out Islands where signal is limited.
- WhatsApp: Widely used to arrange taxis, boat trips and guesthouse check-ins.
- Windy: Wind, wave and weather forecasts, useful before boat trips and during hurricane season.