Exuma

Exuma is a district of the Bahamas made up of more than 360 islands and cays strung out across roughly 130 miles (209 km) of impossibly clear, shallow water in the central Bahamas. The largest island, Great Exuma, runs about 37 miles (60 km) end to end and is joined by a short bridge to Little Exuma; together they hold almost all of the district's permanent population and its only airport. Everything else — the famous northern cays — is a scattering of mostly uninhabited islets, private islands, and protected wilderness reachable only by boat or charter plane.

What defines Exuma as a destination is the water itself: a band of turquoise so vivid it is visible from space, draped over white sandbanks that shift with the tide. This is one of the Caribbean's premier recreational cruising grounds, and much of the island chain is best experienced from the deck of a sailboat or yacht. The district splits neatly into two characters. Great Exuma, anchored by the harbour town of George Town, is laid-back and lived-in — fishing settlements, beach bars, and a handful of resorts along Queen's Highway. The northern Exumas, hubbed at Staniel Cay, are the wild, postcard half: swimming pigs, James Bond grottoes, nurse sharks, iguana beaches, and the protected Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park.

Exuma also trades on exclusivity. Alongside modest guesthouses and yacht-club rooms sit some of the most expensive private-island resorts on Earth — Musha Cay hosts just one group of up to 20 guests at a time, and Fowl Cay rents by the week into five figures. It is a place that accommodates both the cruiser dropping anchor for a free night and the traveller chartering a seaplane to a deserted beach.

The reliable high season is December through April, when the weather is driest, humidity is lower, and steady trade winds keep things comfortable — this is also peak sailing and cruising season, so book ahead. Daytime temperatures sit pleasantly in the high 70s to mid-80s °F (mid-to-high 20s °C), and the sea stays warm enough for snorkelling year-round.

A few weather quirks are specific to the Exumas. The open-water crossing from Nassau to the northern cays is only about 40 miles but can turn choppy whenever it's windy, so day-trippers should pick calmer-forecast days. Summer (roughly June–September) is hot, humid, and prone to afternoon squalls, and the official Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1–November 30, with the highest risk from August into October — worth weighing for any trip in that window. Spring is the sweet spot for combining good weather with the district's marquee event, the National Family Island Regatta in George Town in late April.

Great Exuma and Little Exuma are connected by road and are the only part of the district you can explore by car. Rental cars and boats are available in George Town and at the airport; you'll need a valid international or US driver's licence. Remember that Exuma, like the rest of the Bahamas, drives on the left — rental cars come in left- or right-hand-drive depending on availability. Exuma International Airport sits about 10 miles (16 km) north of George Town and receives flights from Nassau, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, and Charlotte; George Town itself is roughly a mile from the airport's resort strip at Jolly Hall Bay.

Beyond Great Exuma, there are no roads between islands — the northern cays are reached only by boat, charter, or private aircraft. The northernmost islands are under an hour from Nassau by speedboat, and many operators run day trips. By far the best way to experience the chain is on your own (or a chartered) sailboat or yacht; this is a classic point-to-point cruising route, with marinas and yacht-club restaurants serving as the natural waypoints.

For a short, cheap hop, a water taxi runs twice daily from the Peace & Plenty in George Town Harbour across to Stocking Island, the barrier island that shelters Elizabeth Harbour. Within George Town, distances are walkable or a quick taxi ride; everywhere else, plan your movements around boat schedules and the tides.

• George Town — the district capital and main hub on Great Exuma, set on sheltered Elizabeth Harbour; base for car/boat rental, dining, the BTC store for SIM cards, and the water taxi to Stocking Island.
• Great Exuma — the largest cay and the only road-connected one (with adjoining Little Exuma); where most visitors stay, with beaches, resorts, and the airport.
• Staniel Cay — the small-town transportation and tourism hub of the northern Exumas, and the jumping-off point for Pig Beach, Thunderball Grotto, and the swimming nurse sharks.

Exuma's kitchen is pure Bahamian, and it begins with conch (pronounced "konk"): conch salad chopped fresh to order with lime, onion, and bird pepper; cracked conch (battered and fried); conch fritters; and conch chowder. Fresh-caught fish, snapper, and — in season — Bahamian spiny lobster (locally "crawfish") round out the menus, usually served with peas 'n' rice, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. Note that lobster season is closed in the summer months, so availability is seasonal.

Restaurants are concentrated where the people are — George Town and a few settlements — plus the public yacht-club restaurants at most marinas. Standouts include Chat and Chill on Stocking Island (reachable by water taxi from Great Exuma), a beloved beachside spot famous for its garlic coleslaw and fresh conch salad; Splash! Beach Bar & Grill at Hideaways at Palm Bay near George Town, known for its conch chowder; and, for cruisers in the northern cays, the locally owned Farmer's Cay Yacht Club. To drink, look for Bahamian staples like Sky Juice (gin and coconut water) and Switcha (a tart lime-or-lemonade), alongside Kalik and Sands, the national beers.

A practical note: outside the towns, dining options thin out fast, and many island restaurants want a call ahead — provisioning your own galley is wise if you're cruising the chain.

The signature Exuma event is the National Family Island Regatta, held in George Town's Elizabeth Harbour in late April. It's the most important wooden-sloop sailing regatta in the Bahamas — locally built Bahamian sloops race while George Town fills with onshore festivities, food stalls, music, and crowds. If you want to see Exuma at its liveliest, this is the week.

The wider Bahamian festival calendar also lands here. Junkanoo, the national street parade of costumed "rush-outs," drumming, cowbells, and brass, is celebrated around Boxing Day (December 26) and New Year's Day (January 1), with community celebrations on the islands. Musically, the islands keep alive rake-and-scrape, the traditional Bahamian sound built on a carpenter's saw, goatskin drum, and accordion.

• Swim with the pigs at Pig Beach — near Staniel Cay, a beach colonised by feral pigs that swim out to meet boats. It's the Exumas' most famous photo op; the pigs are hungry and occasionally pushy, so it's best worked into a boat tour rather than visited for its own sake.
• Snorkel Thunderball Grotto — the natural sea cave off Staniel Cay where the James Bond film Thunderball was shot. Half-filled with seawater and tropical fish and lit through openings in the rock, it's entered by swimming in — easiest by snorkel at low tide, by dive at high tide. Reachable by tour from Staniel Cay.
• Explore the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park — a protected stretch of pristine islands near the chain's northern end, headquartered at Warderick Wells Cay. Highlights are Shroud Cay's crystal mangrove channels (with sea turtles, stingrays, and baby sharks) and Hawksbill Cay's beaches and hiking trails.
• Swim with nurse sharks at Compass Cay — north of Staniel Cay, this marina lets you wade in with the resident bottom-dwelling nurse sharks for around B$10 per person (the Bahamian dollar is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar). Keep hands away from their mouths, and heed local advice — more dangerous bull sharks are occasionally drawn to marinas.
• Hike Stocking Island from George Town — a short water-taxi ride across Elizabeth Harbour, Stocking Island has over 10 km of marked trails, a climb up Monument Hill for a panorama of the harbour and cays, and a long ocean-side beach. Pair it with lunch at Chat and Chill. (Pick up a trail map at the George Town tourist office.)