Introduction
There are over 700 islands in The Bahamas, lying southeastward from the coast of Florida;
many of them have escaped the notice of tourists. The islands offer clear warm water and sandy beaches. All the larger islands offer a high standard of accommodation and leisure facilities. Sunbathing, scuba diving, fishing and boating are the main daytime amusements. The capital of The Bahamas, Nassau, stands on New Providence Island. In the capital, tourists can shop in the bustling ‘straw market’, where local vendors create unique straw goods on the spot.
The Water Tower is the highest point on the island, 85m (216ft) above sea level. An elevator takes visitors to an observation deck for panoramic views. Freeport, the second city located on Grand Bahama, is excellent for golf and diving. Long Island certainly lives up to its name, being almost 100km (60 miles) long but rarely more than 5km (3 miles) wide. The landscape consists of rugged headlands dropping sharply down to the sea, fertile pastureland, rolling hills and sandy beaches washed by surf.
At Conception Island, scuba divers can explore over 30 shipwrecks, and tours are arranged from the Stella Maris resort complex at the north end of the island. Blue Lagoon Island features an exotic lagoon where visitors can enjoy close encounters with friendly bottle-nosed dolphins. Local delicacies include conch, grouper cutlets, baked crab and red snapper fillets in anchovy sauce. Local drinks are rum based and the local liqueur is called Nassau Royal. Beach parties and discos are organised regularly by hotels. Live entertainment includes calypso, goombay music and limbo dancing.
Facts for Travellers
Full country name: Commonwealth of The Bahamas
Area: 5,380 sq km
Population: 294,982
Capital City: Nassau
People: African descent (85%), European descent (12%), Asian & Hispanic (3%)
Language: English
Religion: Baptist (32%), Anglican (20%), Roman Catholic (19%), other Protestant (24%), other (5%)
Government: independent state within the British Commonwealth
Time Zone: GMT/UTC -5
Dialling Code: 242
Electricity: 120V ,60Hz
Currency: Bahamian Dollar
Vacation Deals
We constantly update vacation deals and flights + hotel packages for The Bahamas and the Caribbean. You can also check out some of the
best hotels and resorts in the Bahamas with exciting attractions like golf, casino, scuba diving and other water sports. Popular hotels & resorts for scuba diving in The Bahamas are Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino and Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino.
Passport & Visas
US citizens do not need a passport or visa for stays of less than eight months but must show proof of citizenship. Visas and passports are not required of citizens of Canada or the UK and Commonwealth who stay three weeks or less. Visitors from most other European countries need passports but not visas for stays up to three months. Air passengers must have a return or ongoing airline ticket.
More Information About Visa Requirements
Getting There & Around
The Bahamas is well served by plane from north America. Its proximity to Florida means regular, relatively inexpensive flights from Miami, Ft Lauderdale and Orlando, as well as other East Coast gateways like New York and Boston.
Travelling around by bus in The Bahamas will cost a bomb, except for Nassau and Freeport, where private 'jitneys' (minibuses) operate within the city (but not to the airport), and there is no public transport on any of the Family Islands. This leaves car rental as the best transportation option.
Intra-island flights offer the only quick and convenient way to travel between islands.
When to Go
The Bahamas is a year-round destination. Incessant trade breezes ensure pleasant temperatures, so unless you're visiting the southern isles, which get infernally hot in summer (June to August), weather isn't a major factor in determining when to go.
The so-called 'peak season' runs from mid-December to mid-April, when hotel prices are highest.
Best Beaches
Cable Beach (New Providence Island, easy access to shops, casinos, restaurants, watersports, and bars),
Cabbage Beach (Paradise Island),
Xanadu Beach (Grand Bahama Island),
Tahiti Beach (Hope Town, the Abacos),
Pink Sands Beach (Harbour Island),
Ten Bay Beach (Eleuthera), Cat Island's Beaches and Saddle Cay (the Exumas).
Best Scuba Diving & Snorkeling
New Providence Island: Many ships have sunk near Nassau in the past 300 years, and all the dive outfitters here know the most scenic wreck sites. Other attractions are underwater gardens of elkhorn coral and dozens of reefs brimming with underwater life. The most spectacular dive site is the Shark Wall, 16km (10 miles) off the southwest coast of New Providence; it's blessed with incredible, colorful sea life and the healthiest coral offshore. You'll even get to swim with sharks (not as bait, of course).
Grand Bahama Island: The island is ringed with reefs, and dive sites are plentiful, including the Wall, the Caves (site of a long-ago disaster known as Theo's Wreck), and Treasure Reef. Other popular dive sites include Spit City (yes, that's right), Ben Blue Hole, and the Rose Garden (no one knows how this one got its name). What makes Grand Bahama Island a cut above the others is the presence of a world-class dive operator, UNEXSO (the Underwater Explorer's Society; tel. 800/992-3483 or 242/373-1250).
Andros: Marine life abounds in the barrier reef off the coast of Andros, which is one of the largest in the world and a famous destination for divers. The reef plunges 1,800m (6,000 ft.) to a narrow drop-off known as the Tongue of the Ocean. You can also explore mysterious blue holes, formed when subterranean caves fill with seawater, causing their ceilings to collapse and exposing clear, deep pools.
Bimini: Although Bimini is most famous for its game fishing, it boasts excellent diving, too. Five kilometers (3 miles) of offshore reefs attract millions of colorful fish. Even snorkelers can see black coral gardens, blue holes, and an odd configuration on the sea floor that is reportedly part of the lost continent of Atlantis (a fun legend, at any rate). Divers can check out the wreck of a motorized yacht, the Sapona (owned by Henry Ford), which sank in shallow waters off the coast in 1929.
Harbour Island (Eleuthera): In addition to lovely coral and an array of colorful fish, divers can enjoy some unique experiences here, such as the "Current Cut," an exciting underwater gully that carries you on a swiftly flowing underwater current for 10 minutes. Four wrecked ships also lie nearby, at depths of less than 12m (40 ft.), including a barge that was transporting the engine of a steam locomotive in 1865, reportedly after the American Confederacy sold it to raise cash for its war effort.
Long Island (The Southern Bahamas): Snorkeling is spectacular on virtually all sides of the island. But experienced divers venturing into deeper waters offshore can visit underwater cages to feed swarms of mako, bull, and reef sharks. Dive sites abound, including the Arawak "green hole," a blue hole of incomprehensible depth.
Attractions
Cable Beach: Cable Beach has a lot more splash and excitement than Nassau, its neighbor on New Providence Island, and wandering around Cable Beach is also much safer than exploring the back streets of Nassau at night. The main attraction is the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino.
Paradise Island: Paradise Island has the flashiest nightlife in all of The Bahamas, hands down. Not even nearby Nassau and Cable Beach can come close. Nearly all of the action takes place at the incredible Atlantis Paradise Island Resort & Casino.
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