Marsh Harbour is the main town of the Abacos, a chain of islands and cays running two hundred kilometres in the northern Bahamas. Its reason for being is geographic: a barrier of cays shelters an inner body of water, the Sea of Abaco, where you sail protected from Atlantic swell. It is the archipelago’s premier sailing ground and one of the busiest charter bases in the Caribbean.
The essentials in four lines
- Fly into Marsh Harbour (MHH) with a connection from Montreal, 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 Abacos head-on: rebuilding continues and the hotel supply remains reduced.
- December to April is the dry season. Hurricane season runs June to November.
The Sea of Abaco
Between the main island and the string of cays along its eastern side lies a stretch of water some twenty kilometres wide, shallow and well sheltered. Distances between anchorages are measured in hours rather than days, the bottom is sandy and the cuts are well marked: rare learning ground for sailing.
Charter bases offer boats with or without a skipper. A week is enough to tour the inhabited cays without ever sailing more than three hours at a stretch.
The cays, one by one
Elbow Cay
Its village, Hope Town, is built around a horseshoe harbour dominated by a red-and-white striped lighthouse of 1864. It is one of the last three lighthouses in the world still burning kerosene and wound by hand by a keeper. You can climb the hundred and one steps and watch the mechanism work at dusk.
Man-O-War Cay
A boatbuilding community for two centuries, where hulls are still made by hand and sailcloth bags are sewn. The island is dry: no alcohol is sold.
Great Guana Cay
Eleven kilometres of beach on the Atlantic side, a reef a few hundred metres offshore, and a beach bar turned institution where a pig is roasted on Sundays.
Green Turtle Cay
New Plymouth was founded by loyalists in 1783. Its lanes of wooden houses and its sculpture garden, honouring the founding families, tell that story better than any museum.
The beaches
Treasure Cay, forty-five minutes north of Marsh Harbour on the main island, runs five kilometres of white sand in a crescent before shallow turquoise water. It appears regularly in lists of the finest Caribbean beaches, and it is almost always empty.
On the cays, the Atlantic beaches are longer and wilder, with reef within swimming distance; those on the inner side are calmer and suit young children better.
Where the Abacos stand
It needs saying frankly: the hurricane of September 2019 struck the Abacos with rare violence and destroyed much of the built fabric of Marsh Harbour and the cays. Rebuilding is advancing, hotels and restaurants have reopened, but the supply remains below what it was and online information is often out of date.
Have your advisor confirm what is genuinely open before booking. That applies particularly to accommodation on the smaller cays.
Accommodation
There is no all-inclusive resort in the Abacos. Accommodation consists of small hotels, rental houses and marinas with rooms, sold without meals, and the trip is often built around a boat rather than a hotel.
If you want an all-inclusive plan with entertainment and buffets, Nassau or other Caribbean destinations will suit better; our criteria for choosing an all-inclusive hotel help compare.
When to go
From December to April the air holds around 25 °C and rain is rare, but the Abacos sit at the northern end of the archipelago: cold fronts from the mainland can bring wind and a few grey days. The water drops to 23 degrees in February.
May, June and the first half of December offer the best sailing conditions. Our guide on when to travel south from Montreal sets out the pricing calendar.
To plan this trip, see also our Bahamas page, Great Exuma, Harbour Island and how to choose an all-inclusive hotel.
