AUGUSTA BAY

Exuma does not resemble the rest of the Bahamas. No towers, no casino, no wristband: a long chain of cays, water of a clarity that disorients, and a handful of small addresses where they use your first name after two days.

Augusta Bay is one of them. Eighteen oceanfront rooms in George Town, a restaurant and bar on site, a small pool guests love, and a continental breakfast included. It is classed as an inn rather than a hotel, and that is exactly what it is.

Two honest caveats to know before booking, and we come to them.

The beach, said exactly

Here is the first caveat. The beach in front of the hotel is small, and at high tide the water covers much of it. This is not a hidden flaw: it is simply how the ground lies.

The compensation is immediate. Very fine beaches begin a few steps away, immediately to the left of the property, on the leeward side where the water stays flat and clear. Walk two minutes and you have white sand to spare. But if your image of a vacation is stepping down from your room and sitting in the sand, know it in advance.

The kitchen closes some evenings

Second caveat, and it is the one that surprises most people. The on-site restaurant does not open every evening. One traveller reported a Wednesday and Thursday closure without notice.

In George Town this is manageable: the village has tables, and you are a few minutes away. But you need to know it and arrange a way to get there, especially at night. Ask your advisor to have the kitchen's schedule confirmed for your dates at 1 866 628-6241, and you will never be caught out.

The rooms and the pool

Eighteen rooms according to the property, sixteen according to the platforms, all recently refreshed. Oceanfront suites and ocean view rooms, with air conditioning, a flat-screen television, a coffee maker and a private balcony for some. There is no full kitchen: a coffee maker and a kettle, that is all.

One point travellers raise: a gap between the advertised and actual size of some rooms. Have the exact category specified when you book.

The small pool, for its part, draws unanimous praise. It is the kind of place where you end your day without anyone having claimed the next lounger at seven in the morning.

What there is to do in Exuma

Nothing is included beyond the beach and the pool, which is normal for an address this size. Exuma is lived through excursions.

The swimming pigs of Big Major Cay are the image everyone knows, and they really are there. Add the caves, the iguanas of Bitter Guana Cay, the nurse sharks of Compass Cay, the sandbars that surface at low tide, and water that makes snorkelling memorable even without experience. Operators leave from George Town, a few minutes from the hotel.

Getting to Great Exuma

George Town airport sits about ten kilometres from the hotel. A nonstop service exists from Toronto in season, November through April. From Montreal a connection is required, whether through Toronto in season, through South Florida, or through Nassau, the best-served Bahamian hub for Exuma.

Outside the winter season, a connection becomes necessary from Toronto too. Your advisor knows which combinations work and which cost you a day.

The other addresses on Great Exuma

Three properties complete the picture, and they answer different needs.

Grand Isle Resort offers large villas with full kitchens on a peninsula, about twenty minutes northwest, in a distinctly more upscale register. Hideaways, close to George Town, offers cottages and villas with a very active flow of reviews.

As for Sandals Emerald Bay, it has been closed since August 2024 and is being converted into a Beaches property. Its page explains where the file stands.

The island overview sits on Great Exuma travel, and the archipelago on Bahamas travel.

Who this address suits

It suits couples and independent travellers who want Exuma without resort formality, those who come for the water and the excursions, and those who like an address where the staff end up recognizing them.

It suits less well anyone who wants an all-inclusive, a big beach outside the door, evening entertainment or guaranteed daily food service. For space and the upscale end on the same island, see Grand Isle.