The Exumas form a chain of three hundred and sixty-five cays strung two hundred kilometres southeast of Nassau. Great Exuma is the main island, with seven thousand residents, a single settlement, George Town, and an airport. It is not a destination for activity: it is the part of the Bahamas where the water is clearest and where sandbars emerge for kilometres at low tide.
The essentials in four lines
- Fly into Exuma (GGT) with a connection from Montreal, via Nassau, Toronto or Florida.
- The Bahamas keep Eastern time, like Montreal, all year. The Bahamian dollar equals one US dollar.
- The swimming pigs are in the northern cays: that is a full-day boat trip, not a two-hour excursion.
- December to April is the dry season. Hurricane season runs June to November.
George Town and the main island
George Town fits into a few streets around Elizabeth Harbour: a grocery, a bank, two or three restaurants, a craft market under the trees. Across the water, Stocking Island closes the harbour and holds a beach where a sand-floor bar prepares conch to order, with stingrays coming into the shallows. The shuttle takes ten minutes.
Great Exuma continues into Little Exuma, joined by a bridge. That is where Tropic of Cancer Beach is: a kilometre and a half of white sand facing turquoise water, with no buildings and almost always empty.
A rental car is useful: the island is fifteen kilometres long, the beaches are scattered and there is no public transport.
The northern cays
This is what made the Exumas famous. A day out by boat to the north strings together three genuinely unusual stops.
The first is a beach where some twenty pigs swim out to meet the boats. They were brought there by fishermen a few decades ago and adapted; rules now govern how close you get and what you feed them.
The second is a half-submerged cave visited by snorkel at low tide, when light comes through the openings in the ceiling. It served as a film set in 1965 and the place has not changed.
The third is a dock where nurse sharks gather. They are harmless to anyone who does not touch them, but they are wild animals: follow the guide’s instructions.
Allow eight to ten hours for the whole thing, with two hours of sailing each way. The sea can be lively: it is not an outing for every stomach.
The marine park
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, created in 1958, was the first of its kind in the world. Since 1986 all taking has been banned, which has made it a breeding reserve benefiting the whole archipelago. Its reefs are among the best preserved in the Caribbean, with grouper and lobster of a size rarely seen elsewhere.
Accommodation
The supply is limited: one large couples-only resort with a golf course, a more conventional hotel beside it, and a scattering of small addresses and villas across the island. Independent restaurants outside George Town can be counted on one hand.
So it is a destination for anyone seeking quiet, the sea and boat trips, accepting few services and little choice. If you want activity, varied excursions and a wide choice of hotels, Nassau will suit better. Our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help decide.
When to go
From December to April the air holds around 26 °C and rain is rare. The water stays cooler than the southern Caribbean, around 24 degrees in February.
The National Family Island Regatta, in late April, brings Bahamian-built wooden sloops to George Town and transforms the town for a week. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing calendar.
To plan this trip, see also our Bahamas page, Columbus Isle, Freeport and judging value for money.
