Early on Great Exuma, fishing skiffs knock gently against the docks of George Town while the harbor turns from pewter to turquoise. Two islands away, the day starts with a swimming pig on a sandy beach and a boat engine warming up at the Staniel Cay marina.
The Exumas stretch over a long chain of islands, so where you sleep decides what your mornings look like. The choice comes down to a lively harbor town, a quiet bridge-linked island or a small cay built around the water.
What is the best area to stay in the Exumas?
For a first visit, George Town on Great Exuma is the easiest base. For a beach holiday with a family focus, Great Exuma’s long shoreline and Little Exuma suit best. For a boat-and-pigs trip, Staniel Cay is the place. Budget travelers tend to look at guesthouses and vacation rentals on Great Exuma. For nightlife, George Town is the only area of the group with the harbor-side bustle to offer it.
The Exumas are a district of the Bahamas made up of over 365 islands and cays, and nobody sleeps on most of them. The practical choice is between two very different worlds.
Great Exuma, joined to Little Exuma by a small bridge, is the larger and more settled island, with a town, shops, restaurants and the main airport. The cays to the north, with Staniel Cay as their center, feel more like a string of outposts where days are organized around boats, tides and the next sandbar.
George Town gives you the most variety in one place. You can wander to the market stalls and the pastel Government Building in the morning, eat conch at a harborside table at lunch and come back to a lively evening scene.
The setting is a working Bahamian town, so you see school children in uniform, church doors open on Sunday and fishermen cleaning the catch. That local life is the main reason to choose it over a resort bubble.
Great Exuma outside town is the beach choice. The island is long and lightly built, and its coast is a run of pale-sand coves, low scrub and pastel houses. Little Exuma, over the bridge, is quieter still, with sandy tracks, salt-pond country and a feeling of being at the end of the road. Those who want a house with a view and a kitchen usually end up on one of these two stretches.
Staniel Cay is for the traveler who wants the Exumas as they appear in photographs. The island is small, the marina is the social hub and the outings leave from the dock: the pigs, the nurse sharks at the marina, the northern cays and the wreck of a plane in a shallow lagoon.
You give up the shops and the choice of restaurants you find on Great Exuma. In return, the water is at your door from the moment you wake.
A last point about how the areas differ is how you arrive. Exuma International Airport sits on Great Exuma, a few miles from George Town, so a stay on that island starts almost as soon as the plane lands.
Staniel Cay has its own airport, an official Port of Entry with Customs and Immigration, which makes it a real second gateway rather than a place you reach only by long boat rides. That shapes the whole trip, whichever of the two bases you pick.
The best areas to stay in the Exumas
George Town and Elizabeth Harbour
George Town is the capital and the largest town of the Exumas, founded on Great Exuma in the late eighteenth century. It wraps around Elizabeth Harbour, whose deep water draws sailors who anchor for weeks, and around Lake Victoria in the middle of town, where there is a boat rental company, a boat ramp and a dock next to a grocery store. The streets are small, the Government Building is a favorite photo stop and the town has an iconic hotel of its own.
It suits first-time visitors, couples, sailors and anyone who likes to be near restaurants, bars and shops. Lodging here runs from a long-established hotel to guesthouses and apartments, and in the surrounding settlements you also find vacation houses. The airport is only a few miles away, so the transfer is part of the pleasure of arriving rather than a hurdle.
The one time George Town changes character is regatta week. The National Family Island Regatta is held here each year, and it brings the town its sailing sloops, music and crowds on the waterfront. If you want that atmosphere, stay in town. If you want a calm week, pick another stretch of the island.
Great Exuma’s beaches and settlements
Great Exuma is the largest island in the district and runs for 37 miles, which leaves room for a lot of coastline away from town. Along it you find small settlements, roadside shacks selling fish and cracked conch, and beaches that open between houses and palms. This is the area for a vacation rental with a porch, a family looking for space or a couple who wants a quieter base.
The kind of lodging you find here leans toward villas, apartments and small inns. If you rent a private house, stay alert in vacation rental properties, especially where private security is not present, as the travel advice for the Bahamas says. It is a sensible habit rather than a reason to avoid the idea.
The former Sandals Emerald Bay property also sits on this island. It closed in August 2024 and is being turned into a Beaches Resort, with the same beach and golf course. A tip: when you scan listings for this stretch, remember that this large resort is closed to guests for now.
Little Exuma
Little Exuma is reached from Great Exuma over a small bridge, and crossing it feels like leaving the busier part of the island behind. The landscape is drier and more open, with salt ponds, low hills and quiet shores. Evenings are about sunsets and slow dinners, and mornings about a walk on the sand.
It is the right base for a couple, honeymooners or anyone who values silence over activity. Lodging here is small in scale: a few boutique-style inns, guesthouses and rental houses. Nightlife is mostly a cold drink on a terrace, and for a lively dinner you head back across the bridge toward George Town.
Because this part of the Exumas is spread out, it works best when you accept that your days will be built around where you stay. Pick a place with a kitchen or a restaurant on site, and treat the bridge as your connection to the rest of the island.
Staniel Cay and the central cays
Staniel Cay is the center of the Exuma Cays, a small island with a marina, a few houses and its own airport. From here, boat outings reach Pig Beach, a sandy shore occupied by pigs, and the marina, where visitors are allowed to swim with nurse sharks at their own risk. Nurse sharks can bite if you put your hands near their mouths, which is worth remembering before you lean over the water for a photo.
The northern cays are reached by boat, and the wreck of a crashed cargo plane lies in shallow water in the lagoon of Norman’s Cay. If you have no boat of your own, a tour from Staniel Cay can take you there. Further along the chain lies the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, where no fishing, shelling or conching of any kind is permitted, so you come to look rather than to collect.
Lodging on Staniel Cay is small: cottages, an inn or two and rental houses beside the water. It suits couples, friends and boaters who want the cays at their feet, and it is not a place for shopping or nightlife. Think of the stay as a quiet base for days on the water.
The Exumas areas compared
| Area | Best for | Feel | Getting around |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Town and Elizabeth Harbour | First visit, sailors, regatta, nightlife | Lively harbor town with shops, restaurants and Lake Victoria | A few miles from Exuma International Airport, with boat rental on Lake Victoria |
| Great Exuma beaches and settlements | Beach stays, families, vacation rentals | Long, lightly built coastline of small settlements | Along the island, which is 37 miles in length |
| Little Exuma | Couples and quiet | Open, dry and peaceful | Reached over the small bridge from Great Exuma |
| Staniel Cay and the central cays | Boat days, Pig Beach, nurse sharks | Small cay centered on the marina | Own airport with Customs and Immigration, outings by boat |
The main trade-off is between local life and the water at your door. George Town gives you a town to walk around, people who live there and a harbor scene that changes by the hour, but the best sand sits a little farther out. Great Exuma’s beaches and Little Exuma give you sand and space, and you travel into town for dinner or a market stop.
Quiet against nightlife follows the same line. Evenings in George Town are the liveliest in the district, with music at harbor-side bars and the buzz that comes when sailors are in port. On Little Exuma and Staniel Cay, the entertainment is the sky, the stars and a table on a terrace. Choose according to what you want from the end of the day and not only from the daytime views.
A third trade-off is convenience against atmosphere. Great Exuma puts you close to the airport and to everything else the island offers.
Staniel Cay asks you to give up that variety for a stay centered on boats and the cays, and the reward is the pigs, the sharks at the marina and the lagoon of Norman’s Cay. Many travelers split the trip, starting on Great Exuma and finishing on the cay, which lets them have both moods without choosing between them.
How to choose your hotel in the Exumas
All-inclusive or not is the first question, and in the Exumas it is a question about what is on offer. The all-inclusive on Great Exuma, the former Sandals Emerald Bay, closed in August 2024 and is becoming a Beaches Resort.
It will be family-friendly, with the same beach and golf course, kids and teen clubs, a water playground and new dining options, but no reopening date has been announced. Until the company gives one, plan a trip as if it did not exist.
For an all-inclusive of the Sandals kind in the meantime, the sources point to Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau, recently renovated and with an offshore island. That is on a different island, a flight away from the Exumas, so it only makes sense if you are building a trip around more than one place. For the Exumas themselves, most stays are room-only or in a house where you cook some meals yourself.
Beachfront or lagoon side matters most on the cays and on Little Exuma. A room facing the open water gives you the long views, the sound of waves and the sunrise. A room on the sheltered side gives you the marina, the boats and the harbor’s activity. Look at a map of the property before you decide, and ask which side of the island the room is on.
In George Town, the choice is between a room near the harbor and one near Lake Victoria, or one farther out along the shore. Near the harbor you hear the town and the boats. Farther out you hear the sea. Neither is better, but a light sleeper should think about where the evening music and the early morning engines will reach.
Think about the calendar when you plan. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, so a trip in those months deserves a flexible mindset and a look at the forecast before you go.
The regatta week in George Town is the one event that shapes demand on Great Exuma, and if you want to be part of it, stay in or near town. If you want an empty beach, choose another week.
Families should think about space and sand. A house or apartment on Great Exuma with a kitchen suits a group that likes to set its own schedule, and a stay near George Town puts shops and a grocery store within reach.
The future Beaches Resort will add a resort option for families once it opens. For travelers who need step-free access or other support, speak to the property directly about its layout, because the cays and the older buildings in town vary a great deal.
Before booking, check three things. First, noise: ask whether the room faces the harbor, the road or a bar. Second, where the property sits on the island and which beach it fronts, since the coastline changes from place to place.
Third, how you get from the airport to the door, because Great Exuma and Staniel Cay each have their own airport and the cays beyond are reached by boat. If you rent a private house, remember the advice to stay alert where private security is not present.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is not a place to stay, but it shapes many trips. It covers 112,640 acres of land and sea, was established in 1958 and has wardens on patrol.
The park office is open on weekdays and on Sunday morning, and inside the boundaries no fishing, shelling or conching is allowed. Plan your lodging around the days you want to spend on the water and not around the park itself.
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.
Most visitors land at Exuma International Airport on Great Exuma, a few miles from George Town, where daily domestic and international flights arrive. Staniel Cay Airport, an official Port of Entry with Customs and Immigration, is the second gateway for the cays. Wherever you sleep, a hotel by the water on a small island often means the sea is the way to dinner, so plan your evenings around that.
Sources
- Sandals Emerald Bay Exuma (official site) (https://www.sandals.com/emerald-bay/), 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
- Wikipedia, George Town, Exuma (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Town,_Bahamas), checked October 10, 2026
- 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
- Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Hotels (https://www.bahamas.com/hotels), checked October 10, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, The Bahamas Travel Information, Travel Advisory (Level 2) (https://travel.state.gov/), 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
- Things to Do in the Exumas: Swimming Pigs, Thunderball Grotto, Beaches and Fresh Lobster
- 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