A small boat idles over water so clear that its shadow seems to float above the sand, and then a pig paddles out from the shore to meet it. That is a normal morning in the Exumas, a chain of islands strung out across shades of blue that Bahamians have a word for in every one.
Days here are built around boats, sandbars, grilled seafood and long evenings on a dock. The place suits travelers who would rather spend a vacation on the water than in a museum.
What are the best things to do in the Exumas?
The best things to do in the Exumas happen on or beside the water: meeting the swimming pigs, floating into a sea cave, walking a long white beach and eating lobster that was in the sea that morning. The district is a scattering of islands and cays, so most plans involve a boat at some point.
- Visit the swimming pigs of Big Major Cay, the best-known animal encounter in the Bahamas and a reason many people come to the Exumas at all.
- Snorkel Thunderball Grotto near Staniel Cay, a cave with a small, almost hidden entrance and reef fish all around you.
- Walk Tropic of Cancer Beach on Little Exuma, a long crescent of white sand where the line of the tropic crosses the shore.
- Take a boat to Stocking Island from Elizabeth Harbour for white beaches, coral gardens and blue holes.
- Stand on a dock with the gentle nurse sharks at Compass Cay and Staniel Cay.
- Explore the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a protected area that is a no-take reserve.
- Eat grilled lobster at a seaside stop on Little Exuma such as Santanna’s, and cracked conch and conch salad wherever you find them.
- Stroll George Town, with its pastel Government Building and the busy anchorage of Elizabeth Harbour.
If you have only a few days, pair one big boat day (pigs, grotto, sharks, a sandbar) with one slow day on Great Exuma and Little Exuma, where you can drive from beach to beach and end at a lobster shack. Longer stays let you add the park, the quieter cays and the snorkeling spots that visiting yachts anchor beside.
The district is spread out by nature. Great Exuma alone stretches for a long way, and beyond it the cays run on like stepping stones. Think of the Exumas less as one destination than as a base plus a set of outings, and choose the base (George Town on Great Exuma, or Staniel Cay among the cays) according to which outings appeal most.
Sights and landmarks in the Exumas
The landmarks of the Exumas are modest in size and big in atmosphere: a harbor town with a colonial-style government house, a long island linked by a little bridge, and a protected park that is a landmark in the history of marine conservation. There are no grand museums here. The sights are places where you wander, look and sit down.
George Town and Elizabeth Harbour
George Town is the capital and largest town of the Exumas, on Great Exuma, founded in 1793. The Government Building is the landmark most visitors photograph, a pastel civic building inspired by the architecture of Government House in Nassau.
The harbor is the real show. Deep water in Elizabeth Harbour draws sailors from all over, and in the evening the masts and anchor lights give the bay the feel of a floating village. The Exuma Sailing Club trains local boys and girls here, and watching small dinghies tack back and forth gives the harbor a youthful energy. It teaches discipline, problem solving and teamwork, and the friendly competition peaks at the annual regattas.
The best time to be in town is late afternoon, when the light softens, boats come back to the dock and people drift toward the waterfront for a drink. Pair it with a lunch of fresh conch and you have an easy, local half day.
Little Exuma and the Tropic of Cancer
A small bridge joins Great Exuma to Little Exuma, and crossing it feels like moving into a quieter, older version of the island. Along the Queen’s Highway you pass settlements, salt-sweetened scrub, small churches and views over water that changes color with every cloud. The tropic itself crosses Pelican Beach, which is why the beach goes by the name Tropic of Cancer Beach.
Little Exuma is a place for slow driving with frequent stops: a beach, a roadside lunch, a lookout. It suits travelers who like to see how an island lives rather than tick off sights. The southern end holds Santanna’s, a seaside stop that grew from one man’s grilled lobster into a destination people seek out.
Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
Established in 1958, the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was the first land and sea park in the world, and it protects a huge sweep of cays and clear water. It is a no-take reserve, so all fishing is prohibited, and wardens and Defence Force officers stationed at Warderick Wells patrol it constantly. What you see is what protection looks like: abundant fish, healthy coral and a quiet that is hard to find elsewhere.
Most visitors reach the park on a boat tour or their own vessel, since the cays are islands. Come with an eye for small details: the shape of a sandbar at low tide, the way water layers from pale green to deep blue, the birds working the shallows. The park office keeps set hours.
| Site | Open |
|---|---|
| Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park office | Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 9am to 12pm |
Staniel Cay and Highbourne Cay
Staniel Cay is tiny, home to fewer than 118 full-time residents, and its small settlement is a hub for boats heading to the pigs, the grotto and the sharks. It also has an airport with Customs and Immigration, which makes it a gateway for visitors arriving by air straight into the cays. A stroll through the village takes little time and shows you a very small, close-knit island world.
Highbourne Cay, farther north, is described as a must-stop on journeys through the Exumas and points south, and a favorite outpost of seasoned yachtsmen. For a landlubber it is a glimpse into the cruising life, with a marina that welcomes everything from small boats to large yachts.
Beaches and outdoor things to do in the Exumas
The beaches and outdoor pleasures of the Exumas are about white sand, shallow clear water and a lot of time on boats. The district counts over 365 islands and cays, so there is always another beach around the next point. Some are reached by road, most by boat, and the difference shapes how you plan your days.
Tropic of Cancer Beach
This is the longest beach on Little Exuma, a graceful crescent of white-powder sand with translucent blue-green water. It is also known as Pelican Beach, and its wide curve invites a long barefoot walk at the water’s edge. The color of the shallows shifts through the day as the sun climbs, and early or late light turns the sand a soft gold.
Bring a towel, a book and a slow attitude. It is a beach for lying down, wading and wandering rather than for activities, and it pairs naturally with lunch at a roadside lobster stop on the way. Sea conditions change from day to day, so look at the water before you decide what to do in it.
Stocking Island
Stocking Island lies across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town and is easily reached by boat. It has some of the finest white sand beaches in the Bahamas, and on its ocean and harbor sides you find beach bars, quiet coves and long stretches where you may have the sand mostly to yourself. A short boat hop takes you from town life to a castaway feel.
Snorkelers and divers explore the island’s blue holes, coral gardens and undersea caves. The blue holes drop into deep, dark water, ringed by pale shallows, and give the island a dramatic underwater landscape beyond the beach. Stocking Island suits anyone who wants beach time and snorkeling in the same outing.
Thunderball Grotto
Thunderball Grotto sits just west of Staniel Cay, a limestone cave on the western coast that was the setting of the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. The entrance is small and almost hidden, which adds to the sense of discovery. Inside, light pours through openings in the ceiling and picks out the water and the fish below.
Visitors snorkel, dive and wade in the underwater cave system. The grotto is full of exotic marine life, including yellow-tail snappers, angelfish and sergeant majors, along with brilliantly colored coral reefs. It is one of the spots visitors stop at while island hopping, and the most atmospheric snorkel in the district.
Boating, diving and the rules of the water
The Exumas can be explored by boat, either by chartering your own or hiring a local guide. A day on the water might include a sandbar, a snorkel stop, a beach picnic and a swim with the pigs. Local guides know where the water is deep enough and where the best light falls.
Fishing and spearfishing have rules. Spearfishing with scuba gear is prohibited in the Bahamas, while free-diving spearfishing is permitted with a valid permit. Inside the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, all fishing is prohibited, so the reserve stays full of fish for snorkelers to watch.
Day trips in the Exumas
The day trips in the Exumas are boat days, and they are the reason many people come. From Nassau or from the Exumas themselves, you can join a tour or go with a chartered or private vessel through the Exuma Cays, stopping at the famous pigs, the sharks and a sandbar or two. Staying in the Exumas puts you much closer to the action.
Pig Beach on Big Major Cay
The famous swimming pigs of the Bahamas live on Big Major Cay, also called Pig Beach, near Staniel Cay. About twenty pigs and piglets share the sandy beach, and they wander into the shallows to greet boats. The cay is reachable only by boat, either private, chartered or on a booked boat tour, and day trips from Nassau or the Exumas include a boat tour through the cays.
Visitors can swim with the pigs in shallow water, which makes for the photographs everyone brings home. The cay also has three freshwater springs, which explains how the animals live on a small island.
From Nassau, Pig Beach is 89 miles away, so a trip from there is a long day on the water, while from Staniel Cay it is a short hop.
Nurse sharks at Compass Cay and Staniel Cay
At Compass Cay, visitors can hang out at the dock and share a moment with gentle nurse sharks that live at the protected marina. The sharks glide under the pilings, nudging close to people on the wood. It is a calm, almost meditative stop, and a very different animal encounter from the pigs.
At Staniel Cay Marina, visitors are allowed to swim with nurse sharks at their own risk. Nurse sharks can bite if you put your hands near their mouths, so the rule is simple: look, do not touch. It suits curious travelers who want a close look at marine life and are willing to follow instructions.
Norman’s Cay plane wreck
In the lagoon of Norman’s Cay, in the northern Exumas, lies a crashed cargo plane in shallow water. It can be reached by a tour from Staniel Cay or Nassau if you do not have your own boat. The wreck sits half-covered by coral and sea life, and the clear shallows make it easy to see from the surface.
It suits snorkelers and photographers who like a bit of mystery with their water. Tours often fold it into a longer route that also includes other stops in the cays, so a single boat day can hold several very different scenes.
Smaller outings
- Stocking Island, an easy boat hop from Elizabeth Harbour, for white sand and blue holes.
- Thunderball Grotto, a snorkel stop that fits naturally into a pig and shark day.
- Highbourne Cay, a stop for anyone interested in the cruising world.
- The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, for a look at protected water.
What to eat in the Exumas
Eating in the Exumas means seafood, cooked simply and often within sight of the water where it came from. Conch, lobster and fresh fish dominate menus, served at harborside restaurants, beach bars and roadside stands. The pace is relaxed, and a meal tends to stretch into the afternoon.
Lobster and conch
At Santanna’s, on the southern end of Little Exuma along Queen’s Highway, Mr. Rolle caught and grilled fresh lobster, the signature dish that made the seaside stop a destination. The place is named after Mrs. Rolle’s granddaughter, and it has the family feel of a small island business. Grilled lobster arrives smoky, sweet and a little charred at the edges, usually with sides of peas and rice or coleslaw.
Conch is the national shellfish, and it comes in many forms. Conch salad is raw, chopped with onion, tomato, pepper and citrus juice, bright and sharp. Cracked conch is pounded, battered and fried, crisp outside and tender within. Conch fritters, chowder and stewed conch round out the repertoire.
Island sides, breads and sweets
Peas and rice, often cooked with pigeon peas, thyme and tomato, is the staple that comes with almost everything. Baked macaroni and cheese, plantains and coleslaw fill out the plate. Johnnycake, a dense, slightly sweet bread, appears at breakfast and sometimes at dinner, and it suits soaking up chowder or stew.
For dessert, look for guava duff, a rolled, boiled pastry filled with guava and served with a warm, buttery rum sauce. Coconut tart, pineapple and rum cake also show up. Locals sip Kalik, the Bahamian beer, and rum punch comes cold in plastic cups at beach bars.
Where you eat
The kinds of places are as important as the dishes. Small shacks by the road serve whatever came in on the boat, harbor bars in George Town mix local food with a sailors’ crowd, and resorts on the beaches offer a more polished meal. On the smaller cays, a single restaurant at the marina may be the only choice, and that suits the setting.
A boat day often ends with a meal on a dock, and a beach picnic can be lunch on a sandbar. Eating in the Exumas is as much about where you sit as what you order, so look for tables with a view of the water.
Things to do in the Exumas at night
Nights in the Exumas are quiet and unhurried, built around sunsets, dock bars, dinner and the sky. Most evenings revolve around where you are staying and eating, rather than a town center with a long list of venues. People gather at harborside spots and beach bars as the light fades, and the evening unfolds slowly.
Sunset and harbor evenings
In George Town, evenings gravitate toward the waterfront. Boats drop anchor in Elizabeth Harbour, anchor lights come on, and the water goes silver and then black. A drink at a harborside bar, with music drifting over the water, is the classic way to end the day.
Sunset is the nightly event wherever you are, and the open horizon over the water makes it a good one. Sit on a dock or a beach and watch the color move from orange to pink to deep blue. Afterward, dinner is usually the next stop, with grilled fish and cold beer.
Music, bars and island socializing
Live music in the Bahamas often means a band with guitar, drums and a steel or goatskin drum, playing calypso, soca and island classics. Rake-n-scrape, the traditional music made with a saw scraped with a screwdriver, shows up at festivals and in some bars. Bars on the beach and on the water sometimes host music, and the atmosphere is friendly and casual.
Nightlife here is not a club scene. It is more likely a sailor’s bar, a resort lounge or a barbecue, and the mix of locals, boaters and visitors makes for easy conversation. On the smaller cays, evenings are even quieter, often just dinner and the stars.
Stargazing and quiet options
Away from big towns, the sky is dark, and on a clear night the stars are dense and bright. A dock or a beach is a natural spot to look up. Staying on a cay, with little artificial light, gives the best views.
A resort villa with a private terrace and an ocean view, as at Grand Isle Resort on Emerald Bay, makes a pleasant place to end the night with a glass in hand. Many travelers simply watch the water, listen to the waves and call it a day.
Things to do in the Exumas with kids
Children in the Exumas find their entertainment in animals, boats and sand, and the pigs on Big Major Cay are the headline. Everything revolves around the water, so a family trip here is a week of boat rides, beach days and snorkel masks. Nothing is built as a theme park, and the appeal is the real thing.
Pigs, sharks and boat days
The swimming pigs are the obvious draw, since a pig paddling toward a boat is irresistible to most children. Visitors can swim with them in the shallows, and a boat tour through the cays turns the outing into an adventure. The ride itself, with islands passing by and clear water below, often entertains as much as the destination.
At Compass Cay, standing on the dock and watching the gentle nurse sharks glide below is a memorable moment for curious children. At Staniel Cay Marina, swimming with nurse sharks is at your own risk, and nurse sharks can bite if hands go near their mouths, so adults should decide for themselves whether it suits their family.
Beaches, snorkeling and sailing
Long white beaches such as Tropic of Cancer Beach give children room to run, dig and collect shells. Shallow, clear water is made for wading and looking for small fish. Snorkeling at Thunderball Grotto or around Stocking Island opens an underwater world, with brightly colored fish and coral.
Local children learn to sail with the Exuma Sailing Club, which has trained boys and girls on Elizabeth Harbour since 2013 and offers sailing at all levels free of charge for children of Exuma. Watching the little boats on the harbor gives visiting kids a sense of local life.
Keeping the day comfortable
Distances matter in an island chain. A boat day can be long, and a Nassau-based trip to the pigs is a big commitment for little ones, so staying in the Exumas shortens the travel. Sun and open water are constant, with little shade on a sandbar or a boat, so hats, sun shirts and plenty of water help.
Children also need supervision around the water and around the animals, which are wild or semi-wild even when they look friendly.
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 Exumas are reached through Exuma International Airport on Great Exuma, a few miles from George Town, or through Staniel Cay Airport, an official Port of Entry in the Exuma Cays. Great Exuma is long and joined to Little Exuma by a small bridge, while the cays beyond are reached by boat. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, so keep it in mind when planning around those months.
A trip here rewards a loose schedule, since boat days depend on the sea and the wind, and the pleasure is in the pace of the islands.
Sources
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), The Exumas (https://www.bahamas.com/islands/the-exumas), checked October 10, 2026
- Wikipedia, Exuma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exuma), checked October 10, 2026
- Wikivoyage, Exuma travel guide (https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Exuma), checked October 10, 2026
- Wikipedia, George Town, Exuma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Bahamas), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Exuma Sailing Club (https://www.bahamas.com/experiences/exuma-sailing-club), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Protecting The Exumas (https://www.bahamas.com/experiences/protecting-the-exumas), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Santannas Exuma (https://www.bahamas.com/experiences/santannas-exuma), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Official Home Swimming Pigs (https://www.bahamas.com/experiences/official-home-swimming-pigs), checked October 10, 2026
- Wikipedia, Big Major Cay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Major_Cay), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Exuma Cays Land And Sea Park (https://www.bahamas.com/natural-wonders/exuma-cays-land-and-sea-park), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas National Trust, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park (https://bnt.bs/explore/exuma/exuma-cays-land-sea-park/), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Thunderball Grotto (https://www.bahamas.com/natural-wonders/thunderball-grotto), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Highbourne Cay (https://www.bahamas.com/natural-wonders/highbourne-cay), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Stocking Island (https://www.bahamas.com/natural-wonders/stocking-island), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Tropic Of Cancer Beach (https://www.bahamas.com/natural-wonders/tropic-of-cancer-beach), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), travel blog, reasons to visit the Exumas (https://www.bahamas.com/blog/top-5-reasons-to-visit-the-exumas), checked October 10, 2026
- Wikipedia, Staniel Cay (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staniel_Cay), checked October 10, 2026
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (bahamas.com), Things to do (https://www.bahamas.com/plan-your-trip/things-to-do), 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
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit the Exumas: Weather, Sea Temperatures, Hurricane Season and Festivals
- Where to Stay in the Exumas: George Town, Little Exuma, Staniel Cay and How to Choose
- The Exumas from Miami: Flights, Connections, Boats and Making a Day of It
- Know Before You Go to the Exumas: Entry Rules, Money, Getting Around and Sun