Half Moon Cay Bahamas: Carnival’s Private Island, Cruise Lines, Activities and Boarding Documents

On the morning of a port day, passengers crowd the rail with coffee and sunscreen, watching a low, green island slide into view with a pale rim of shoreline. That is Half Moon Cay, a private island owned by Carnival Corporation & plc and used as a stop for its cruise ships. It now carries the name RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, and it is a place for a beach day rather than a town to wander.

What is Half Moon Cay?

Half Moon Cay is a private island in the Bahamas, owned by Carnival Corporation & plc, which uses it as a port of call for its cruise ships. Its older, formal name is Little San Salvador Island, and you will still see that name on maps and in histories of the place.

Nobody checks in here the way they do in Nassau or Freeport. You arrive from the ship and spend the day on an island set up for cruise guests.

The island sits about 100 miles southeast of Nassau, which places it well away from the capital and its harbor. That distance is part of the appeal.

Instead of a city with traffic, shops and a long list of choices, you get a single stretch of land arranged around a day at the water. Cruise travelers who like to step off the ship and know exactly what the day holds tend to like this kind of stop.

How big the island is and how much of it is used

Little San Salvador covers 2,400 acres in total. Only a small part of that, 50 acres, has been developed for visitors. The rest stays as it is, which helps explain why the activity list includes nature walks and hiking on nature trails alongside the beach pursuits. A visitor spends the day in the developed corner, while most of the island remains undeveloped land.

For a sense of proportion, think of the developed area as the stage and the larger island as the backdrop. You see the beachfront, the sports courts and the water-sports area, and the trails lead toward the quieter interior. How far you roam depends on your day, your ship and what you came to do.

A short history of ownership and the new name

Holland America Line bought the island in December 1996 for US$6 million, and it has served cruise guests as a private stop ever since. That purchase is why older cruisers remember the island under a Holland America banner. Today the owner is Carnival Corporation & plc, the same company that operates the island as a port of call for its ships.

On December 10, 2024, Carnival announced that Half Moon Cay would be renamed RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, as part of a massive expansion and renovation. The name on your cruise itinerary may therefore read either way, and both mean the same island. If you are comparing older trip reports with current plans, expect the island to have changed along the way.

Which cruise lines go to Half Moon Cay?

Half Moon Cay belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc, and the company uses it as a port of call for its cruise ships. That ownership is the one fact that decides who stops here. Because the island is private, it is the owner’s ships that anchor the schedule, and a traveler picking a cruise should read the itinerary for the island’s name, old or new.

Carnival Corporation & plc and its ships

The company describes the island as a port of call for its cruise ships, which means it sits on the itineraries of the fleet rather than being an add-on you book separately. For a traveler, the practical reading is simple: look for Half Moon Cay or RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay in the list of ports when you compare sailings. If it appears, your day on the island is part of the cruise.

A private island changes the rhythm of a cruise. After a day in a busy port like Nassau, with its streets and shops and a long list of things to see, this stop is a different kind of day. You trade a town for a beach and a set of activities that the owner arranged for guests, and many travelers plan their cruise around the mix of the two.

The Holland America chapter

Holland America Line was the buyer when the island entered the cruise business, purchasing it in December 1996. Older guidebooks and cruise reviews therefore tie Half Moon Cay to that line, and you will meet that history in the stories of long-time cruisers. The ownership today is Carnival Corporation & plc, so the history and the present are two different chapters of the same island.

If you are reading a review that praises or criticizes the island, notice which period it describes. A write-up from before the renovation describes an island that has since been renamed and expanded. The name RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay is the way to tell the newer story from the older one, and it helps you match what you read to what you will find.

What can you do at Half Moon Cay?

Half Moon Cay offers a full day of beach and outdoor activities, from swimming and sunbathing to horseback riding and nature walks. The list is long enough that two travelers on the same ship can spend the day in completely different ways. One stays under an umbrella at the water’s edge, while another is out on a sailboat or on a trail.

On and in the water

The water list is the longest. Activities include swimming, sunbathing, scuba diving, snorkeling, jet-skiing, deep-sea fishing, parasailing and glass-bottom boat rides. A glass-bottom boat suits anyone who wants to see what lives below the surface without getting wet, while snorkeling and scuba diving put you in the water with it.

You can also rent your own water toys. The rental list includes Hobie catamarans, Sunfish sailboats, windsurfing sailboards and kayaks. That gives sailors and paddlers a way to spend the day moving rather than lying still, and it gives anyone who has never tried sailing a name to look for when they ask what is on offer.

Hobie catamarans, for a fast sail with a companion.
Sunfish sailboats, small boats for a quieter day on the water.
Windsurfing sailboards, for travelers who already know the sport.
Kayaks, for paddling along the shore.

On land: courts, trails and horses

Dry-land options start with sports. The island has volleyball and basketball courts, horseshoes and shuffleboard, which suit a group that wants a friendly game after lunch. There is also a fitness trail with exercise stations, a good choice for a morning workout before the sun climbs.

Beyond the courts, the activity list includes cycling, horseback riding, nature walks and hiking on nature trails. Those take you away from the beach and toward the undeveloped part of the island, the large share of the land that has been left as it is. Horseback riding and trail hikes suit travelers who want a break from the sand, and nature walks fit a slower pace.

Planning a day that fits you

A balanced day might start with a trail walk or the fitness trail while the beach is still quiet, move to snorkeling or a glass-bottom boat ride around midday, and end with an afternoon on the sand. A family might mix a volleyball game with swimming. Travelers who prefer to do nothing can simply sunbathe, which is also on the list.

Because the activities cover water, land and sport, you can decide the day the evening before. Pick one big thing, such as parasailing or a sailboat rental, and fill the rest of the time with the beach. The island is built for that kind of unhurried plan.

What do you need to know before you go ashore?

Before you go ashore, the main thing to know is which travel document you carry on a cruise to the Bahamas. Travelers on a cruise to the Bahamas may use another Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative compliant document, such as a U.S. passport card. That is the rule for the cruise itself, and it differs from the rule for flying.

Passport or passport card on a cruise

The U.S. Department of State goes further than the minimum. It strongly recommends that travelers obtain a passport before travel, in case of an unforeseen emergency that requires disembarking and returning by air. A medical problem or a missed ship could be that kind of emergency, and in it the plane rules apply instead of the cruise rules.

So a passport card can get you aboard and ashore, but a passport covers more situations. If you are choosing which document to carry, the State Department’s advice points to the passport. Keep the document with you and not packed away in a suitcase that stays in the cabin.

If you have to fly home

Customs and Border Protection says U.S. citizens entering the United States by air must present a valid U.S. passport, a Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST), a U.S. military identification card when traveling on official orders, or a U.S. Merchant Mariner document when traveling in connection with official maritime business. A passport card is not on that list.

Children are also required to present their own passport when traveling by air. That matters for families, because a child who sailed on a card or another cruise document needs a passport of their own if the trip home turns into a flight. It is the reason the State Department’s recommendation is worth taking seriously.

What the island’s setup means for your day

Half Moon Cay is a private island, so your day is arranged around the cruise rather than around a town. It has no Customs and Immigration building waiting for you the way an airport does. You step ashore from the ship onto an island owned by the cruise company, and the same company runs the day.

Because the island is renamed and expanding, the details of what is on offer can move with the renovation. The activity list in the sections above describes what Half Moon Cay has offered, and the new name tells you the island is changing. When you plan, rely on your ship’s own port information for the final word on your day.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates the Bahamas Level 2, “Exercise increased caution”, and says most crime occurs in Nassau on New Providence and in Freeport on Grand Bahama.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, so a cruise in those months passes through it. A ship’s route can change when a storm is in the area, and a stop at a private island is one of the things that can shift. If your sailing falls in those months, keep that in mind when you picture your beach day.

Sources

Wikipedia, Half Moon Cay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moon_Cay), checked October 10, 2026
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Cat Island (https://www.bahamas.com/islands/cat-island), checked October 10, 2026
U.S. Department of State, The Bahamas Travel Information, Entry and exit requirements (https://travel.state.gov/), checked October 10, 2026
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative), checked October 10, 2026
U.S. Department of State, The Bahamas Travel Advisory, Level 2 (https://travel.state.gov/), checked October 10, 2026
NOAA National Hurricane Center, Climatology (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/), checked October 10, 2026