Why should you travel to the Exumas? Despite having some of the most beautiful turquoise-blue water, you have ever seen, it’s easy to get to, everyone speaks English, you can use US dollars, and it’s just pure bliss!
How to Get to the Exumas
We flew out of San Diego on Delta on a red-eye to Atlanta. We had a long layover (about 5 hours), but by the time we got breakfast and took a quick nap, we were on our way on our next leg of the flight, which was only 2 hours from Atlanta to the Exuma International Airport. Another option would be to fly during the day, get a hotel for one night in Atlanta, and then get on a morning flight to the Exumas. If traveling from the east coast the flight time from Miami to the Exumas is just over one hour. There are smaller airlines like Bahamasair and Silver Airlines that have flights to the Exuma International Airport (GGT) so always check to see what option works best.
Exuma Car Rental
We rented a car for the entire stay. As we traveled over the Christmas holiday, we felt having a car at the ready versus hiring a taxi during the holidays would be a better option for us. Our other friends who traveled over the summer rented a car for only two days – the other times, they walked, hung out at the property, or took a taxi to locations nearby.
But it does depend on where you stay. If your accommodation is at either end of the island, you will need a car to explore each day. If you stay closer to George Town (which is in the middle of the island), you could probably get by renting a car for just a couple of days.
We rented from Berlie’s car rental, and it was super easy. They met us outside the Exuma International airport and drove us to their car rental agency just a few blocks away. If you want a car for the week, this is the way to go as it’s easy to pick up and drop off right by the airport. If you prefer to rent a car for just one or two days, there are a few car rental locations closer to George Town.
They drive on the opposite side of the road, so it takes some time to get used to it. There are also TONS of potholes. We quickly learned by day four to drive in the middle of the road so you don’t hit a pothole. But make sure you get in your lane when another car comes the opposite way!
Fun Fact: there are no stoplights at all on the island. So you can drive from one end of the island to the other in about 1.5 hours total without hitting a single stoplight!
Places to Stay in the Exumas
Exuma has two larger-scale luxury resorts, both located on the north part of Great Exuma island. Sandals Emerald Bay, which is an all-inclusive adult-only resort, and the luxurious Grand Isle Resort. We ate one night at the Grand Isle Resort, and it’s gorgeous, but to stay there, will be much pricier than the other hotels or Airbnb options. Both are also very far north, so if you want to explore the beaches around George Town or in the southern part of the island, it will be a bit of a drive each day.
We stayed on Great Exuma island in an Airbnb vacation rental, just south of George Town and loved it! The home had a small beach and a marina nearby, but you did need a car to get anywhere.
Another option would be to stay at Hideaways at Palm Bay. You can book directly through their website or via Airbnb as they have some private villas. While it’s not the fanciest of hotels, it does have a beach, pool, activities for the kids, and a restaurant onsite. And it’s also very central.
My Recommendation: I would recommend staying close to George Town as you can then drive to the north or south side of the island within 45 minutes. The restaurants and grocery stores of George Town are easily accessible, and you can catch the water taxi to Stocking Island here. Next time we return, I will either stay at Hideaways or an Airbnb home on Hooper’s Bay. The beach there is gorgeous and calm and still very central.
When to Travel to the Exumas
The weather in the Exumas is generally quite mild with that warm tropical climate you can come to expect when visiting the Bahamas. We traveled in December and the weather in the Exumas was in the 70s every day. Not too hot that you were sweltering but not too cold that you couldn’t go in the water. I thought the water would be chilly being December and that it isn’t too far from the US, but it was quite warm! We did get a couple of showers one day and some clouds, but it was still absolutely blissful!
My friends went in July and had beautiful weather in the 80s. July can be risky because it’s the start of hurricane season, but accommodations are much less expensive. In talking with the locals, they said April is a fantastic time to visit.
Things to Do in the Exumas
Figuring out what to do in the Exumas is my favorite part. Besides just staring at the stunning crystal-clear turquoise water – and trust me, you will do that a lot – – there are actually a lot of things to do on the island.
For some reason, I thought I would be sitting on the beach all day reading a book. While that sounds heavenly to me, my husband and two kids would have gone stir-crazy. The Exumas have the perfect mix of do-nothing beach time sprinkled in with adventurous playtime. Here’s a quick overview of what we did each day:
Day 1 – Arrival Day to the Exumas
We arrived midday, got our rental car, stopped by the Exuma grocery store to stock up on food for breakfast and easy dinners, and drove to our vacation rental home for the week. We relaxed during the afternoon and that night headed to Shirley’s for dinner. Shirley’s is one of the most reviewed places to eat in Exuma, and for a good reason. It’s simply superb! Not too pricey, but it gets crowded. If you have to wait, grab a drink and hang outside until your table is ready or even order to-go! I ordered the grouper plate, and it was delicious!
Notes on Shirley’s: From all the reviews I read on the Exumas, Bahamas, all the talk was about going to Shirley’s on a Friday for the fish fry. I assumed Shirley’s and the other restaurants nearby would all have an outdoor fish fry set up, and it would be more of a local scene. Of course, we checked it out (us and every other tourist staying in Great Exuma that night). I think everyone thought the same as me. There weren’t fish fry’s outside, but Shirley’s was packed. Maybe in the summer, it’s different. But in our experience, going on a Friday night wasn’t any different than going on another night – just more crowded on a Friday.
Day 2 – Tropic of Cancer Beach
We drove our car about 30 minutes from our vacation rental to Tropic of Cancer Beach. Oh my! The water is absolutely stunning here. It’s the most brilliant turquoise blue. And the sand is heavenly, especially for kids. As Tyler exclaimed, “This was by far the best beach to play football on!”
We had a late lunch at Santanna’s, which is right on the water. Just order from the bar area and enjoy your delicious meal. Steve and I ordered a plate of lobster, and the kids had the crack chicken.
Then, you must go next door to Mom’s Bakery and buy her famous rum cake, yummy loaves of bread, and fabulous cookies (or all of the above) from Mom herself. Her food was divine!
We tried to go back another day to Santanna’s and Mom’s Bakery, but it was closed. I think they only close on Sundays, but make sure you check their hours before you go because you don’t want to miss out!
Day 3 – Coco Plum Beach
Today we drove our car to the opposite side of the island (the north side) to Coco Plum Beach. This drive took a bit longer, maybe 45 minutes, but boy was it worth it. The water was just as insane blue as the other beaches, but it was very calm here, shallow, some shade, and this is where you will find the over-water swings. We had so much fun playing on those, and if you want that perfect Instagram picture, this is where to do it!
There is also a sandbar you can walk out along for at least a mile deep, with beautiful sand dollars along every step. Some people we met even walked to those islands in the distance. Just make sure you check the Exuma tide chart before you go because you MUST go at low tide. We got lucky the day we went because it was low-tide in the afternoon. I had wanted to return another day, but low tide was either at 4 a.m. or 7 p.m. for the rest of the week. Before you plan which day to go to Coco Plum Beach, check the tide charts!
And you can even wade out further all the way to the islands in the distance
We brought lunch to eat on the beach (there isn’t much around here), but we read great reviews about the Lighthouse Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour for snacks and ice cream.
Notes: Supposedly the swings at Coco Plum Beach were destroyed by a storm. Hopefully they are reconstructed soon. In the meantime, there is another set of swings closer to Sandals Resort Beach which is accessible for Sandals and Grand Isle Resort guests.
DAY 4 – Chat ‘N’ Chill, Stocking Island
Our Exuma island excursion to Chat ‘N’ Chill was one of the days I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. It’s a “drop me off on a small island and let me chill all day” kind of place. We took a water taxi from George Town, which cost about $15 per person round trip. We parked in the lot by the Elvis Water Taxi sign. No one was in their office, so we called the number on their office sign, and they showed up within minutes.
It’s only a 10-minute boat ride to Stocking Island. They drop you off and let you know what times the water taxi returns to George Town (every hour), and then you walk along the beach for just a few minutes to Chat ‘N’ Chill. Chat ‘N’ Chill is the restaurant/bar located right on the beach, where you will hang out all day. It’s so fun! They have music playing, a volleyball court, cornhole, tons of picnic benches to sit at, or the beach to enjoy. And they have stingrays!
The first thing we did was wander to where we saw some people in the water. There swimming amongst everyone were stingrays. So cool!
And the best part is they were friendly, and you could feed them. Nothing like grabbing some conch guts in your hand, holding it in the water as the stingray floats over your hand to slurp it up. I was addicted to this and thought it was the most exciting thing ever. To get this stingray food, walk over to where the ceviche owner is preparing the conch and take a handful of the left-over guts. It sounds disgusting, but it isn’t that bad.
If you don’t want to feed the conch to the stingrays, but want to eat the conch, then head on over to the conch stand. If you like ceviche, this is a must! I think being here over Christmas was a bit more crowded than other times of the year as I had to wait a very long time for my ceviche, but it was SO worth it!
You can get regular or tropical with fruit – delicious! Everyone just stands around and watches while he prepares it.
Ceviche Stand Tip: He prepares 8-10 orders at a time, and many people in line will order for multiple family members. So the number of orders ahead of you can be deceiving. Once you place your order, grab a drink, and come back in a little bit. Don’t stress and enjoy the island vibe while you wait.
Chat ‘N’ Chill is a bar/restaurant where you can order yummy conch burgers, ribs, fries, etc. Again, once you put in your order, grab a drink (can you see a theme here), sit out on the beach, and wait until they call your name. Plan to spend the entire day here on this island! Many people arrived in their private boats, and I’ll admit, we did get a bit envious. If your budget allows, I would recommend hiring a boat for a day and make this one of your destinations for the day.
Day 5 – Exuma Swimming Pigs Tour
Ah – the reason most people come to the Exumas, Bahamas is to swim with the famous pigs. Lots of stories out there on how the pigs came to be on the island. Regardless of how they got there, it’s such a fun experience to swim with them. I read SO much about this, scoured all the reviews, saw all the photos, and thought I would be under-impressed. But having a pig swim out to you on your boat is one of the coolest things!
You can opt to go on an Exuma half-day or full-day excursion boat tour. Definitely do the full-day excursion as you get to see so much more besides the pigs. If you are not staying in the Exumas, you can opt to fly into Staniel Cay to experience the Exuma swimming pigs on a day trip.
Also, make sure the tour company you select takes you to “Big Major Cay” as this is the original pig beach (located on one of the cays to the north of Great Exuma Island). A few years ago, some people brought some other pigs to a closer beach on Exuma, and some tour companies claim this is where the real pigs are. It’s not, and in fact, our tour guide told us many of the pigs on that beach are not as friendly.
We went with the tour company Aquaquest Escapes and loved them. They picked us up at our Airbnb and drove us to the island’s northern tip to set off on our adventure. About 12 of us were on the boat, and I believe the max this company takes is 17. Our first stop was to see the endangered Bahamian iguanas in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. You can sit among these unique creatures while they crawl all around. After visiting with the iguanas, we sped around the gorgeous cays to our next destination. There are 365 cays in the Exumas, and many famous people have homes on these outer islands.
Our next stop was to swim with turtles. We only saw one turtle, and it was in an area between two docks versus in the open ocean. In my opinion, it wasn’t worth it, but if you haven’t swum with a turtle before, then it would be a fun experience.
Then we were off to Pig Island, Big Major Cay. Upon approaching the shore, our guide stopped the boat, and almost immediately, we had this cute little piggy swimming out to us. Instantly Tyler and Riley jumped in to swim with them.
Unfortunately, the pigs are accustomed to having food thrown to them from the boats, so they swim out when they see a boat approaching. But once the food is gone or a new boat arrives, they will quickly be on their way. Make sure you have your camera ready and jump into the water as soon as you can so as not to miss the opportunity of swimming with them.
We swam back with the pigs to the shore, where so many more pigs surrounded us. Some even as large as small cows – no kidding. And some piglets too! Just wading in the water with them or on the beach was such an experience!
Our next stop was to snorkel Exuma’s Thunderball Grotto. Our tour guide was the best because he switched our itinerary to get there before the other boats did, so we had it all to ourselves. Depending on the tide, you may have to hold your breath for 15 seconds to swim under the cave wall, but once inside, it’s gorgeous.
Other stops on the day trip included a photo stop on a gorgeous sand bar, swimming with nurse sharks if you chose to do so (additional cost of $10 per person), snorkeling a sunken plane, and enjoying a fantastic lunch overlooking the water.
Tip: I would book this excursion for one of the earlier days on your trip. We originally had it booked for our Day 1 but moved it out because we thought we would be too tired that first day and didn’t want to wake up too early! There was also rain in the forecast on that first day, so we didn’t want to risk it. In hindsight, the weather was great the day we didn’t go, and the day we did end up going, it actually rained on us during the latter half of the excursion. They will only cancel the tours if it’s too windy or rainy to start, so make sure you book it for one of the first days of your trip in case you need to reschedule. You don’t want to miss doing this – it was such a fun day out!
Day 6 – Hooper’s Bay
We got a VERY late start this day and stumbled upon Mike’s Pizza on our way to Hooper’s Bay. Kids were ecstatic as they were getting a little tired of fish, and the pizza was fantastic. We met Mike himself, who gave us brilliant tips (I wish we had met him sooner). Then we headed to Hooper’s Bay. Everyone says it’s super hard to find the path that leads to this beach, but look for the blue house and the Beach Access sign, and you will see the path. Wear shoes, though, because you have to walk along some pretty beat-up wooden planks.
Once you get onto the beach, you will want to walk right (it’s a bit of a walk) towards the piers. In between the first and second piers is where you will see the turtles swimming. You can swim out to them or stay on the beach, and they will swim to you. We had heard you can bring lettuce to capture their attention. We didn’t feel right feeding them, but we still saw some, and they were not afraid to swim right up to us.
Hooper’s Bay was so peaceful and stretched on forever. I wish we had motivated earlier to spend the entire day here as it was so tranquil, but glad we got to experience it, if even for a short while.
Day 7 – Relax Day
We had done everything on our list, so this day we had no plans. We each had our favorite place we wanted to return to, but we decided to go back to Tropic of Cancer Beach because we loved the beach so much here. Mike from Mike’s Pizza had told us we must try Blu on the Water, a new restaurant which had the most unbelievable view he said. Blu on the Water sits between George Town and Tropic of Cancer Beach. We made it there in the late afternoon, but unfortunately, they were closing between the lunch shift and dinner, so we couldn’t get in for a late lunch and had to return at 6 p.m. for dinner. By far, this was my favorite “fancy” meal in Exuma.
The food was outstanding! Though we didn’t get the opportunity to sit outside and enjoy the view, enjoying dinner inside was a phenomenal experience on its own.
TIP: I would recommend coming here for lunch or a late lunch if you want to see the view (Blu doesn’t open until 1 p.m. and closes around 4 p.m. to get ready for dinner). During lunchtime, you can sit outside, enjoy a casual menu, play some cards, and gaze out to the most beautiful sandbar view. If you can swing it, come back a different day for dinner as the dinner menu is very different from lunch.
Day 8 – Day to Return Home
We packed up, dropped off the car at the rental agency, and arrived at the airport about 2 hours before our plane departure. I had read that if you arrived within less than two hours of departure, you might not be able to get on the flight or get your luggage on the plane.
When I ask my kids what day was their favorite, they can’t decide. Every day was so unique and different and just unforgettable in its own way.
Exuma is blissfully wonderful – just go and experience it!!
This is so informative. Thank you for sharing your trip. My family of 4 (similar to yours) is trying to decide the best Bahamas trip for us. Would you mind sharing the Vacation home info that you all stayed in? Thank you for all of these amazing details.
Hi Anne – I’m so excited you are planning a trip to the Bahamas – it’s such a great location for a family trip. I will email you the link to the Airbnb we stayed in. And my apologies for just seeing this message now – for some reason it just popped up for me!