Freeport occupies Grand Bahama, the island closest to Florida: only ninety kilometres separate its north coast from West Palm Beach. The town is not old. It was created outright in 1955, when the government granted a private developer a vast territory with free-trade-zone status. Hence its grid plan, its wide avenues and its lack of a historic centre.
The essentials in four lines
- Fly into Grand Bahama (FPO) with a connection from Montreal, usually via Florida or Nassau.
- The Bahamas keep Eastern time, like Montreal, all year. The Bahamian dollar equals one US dollar.
- The hurricane of September 2019 hit the island hard and part of the hotel stock never reopened: the supply remains smaller than before.
- December to April is the dry season. Hurricane season runs June to November.
Lucaya, the real tourist centre
Freeport proper is a town of services and industrial estate. What interests visitors is at Lucaya, on the south coast: a marina lined with restaurants and shops, a square where bands play in the evening, and two adjoining beaches.
Taino Beach and Fortune Beach, a little further east, offer pale sand and calm water, with seafood restaurants at the water’s edge. The area is walkable.
Lucayan national park
Forty minutes east, this park protects one of the longest known underwater cave systems in the world. Two of the caves are visited from wooden stairways: one holds a bat colony, the other yielded Taíno remains that gave the site its name.
A boardwalk then crosses mangrove and opens onto Gold Rock Beach. At low tide the sea withdraws several hundred metres and reveals a vast expanse of rippled sand, one of the most striking sights in the Bahamas. Check the tide times before setting out: at high tide the beach almost disappears.
The water
Grand Bahama has a long diving tradition. Walls, blue holes and wrecks on the shelf are minutes away by boat, and the island was one of the first places in the world to run supervised dives with reef sharks.
Excursions to sandbars and empty cays leave from the marina. Snorkelling is also possible from shore on several southern beaches.
The gardens and the rest
The Garden of the Groves, fifteen minutes away, gathers waterfalls, a chapel, shaded paths and a flamingo aviary across five hectares. The Rand nature centre, in town, protects pine forest and a population of endemic birds.
Otherwise, Freeport lends itself to a quiet beach week with two or three outings. Anyone wanting activity, restaurants and excursions in abundance will find Nassau more complete.
Where the island stands
It needs saying plainly: the hurricane of September 2019 stalled over Grand Bahama for days and caused considerable damage. Several large hotels never reopened, and the hotel supply remains appreciably below what it was.
That does not make the destination uninteresting, but it changes the calculation: less choice, less price competition, and online information that is often out of date. Have your advisor confirm what is genuinely open before booking.
All-inclusive in Freeport
The all-inclusive supply is small: a few mid-size properties in the Lucaya area. Most accommodation sells by the room, with independent restaurants within walking distance around the marina.
Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help judge what the plan actually covers, and our file on value for money places the Bahamas against other Caribbean destinations.
When to go
From December to April the air holds around 25 °C and rain is rare. It is the most pleasant period, and also the coolest: the water drops to 23 degrees in February, and Grand Bahama, further north than Nassau, sometimes takes cold fronts from Florida.
May, June and the first half of December offer the best compromise. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing calendar.
To plan this trip, see also our Bahamas page, Nassau, Columbus Isle and how to choose an all-inclusive hotel.
