Harbour Island
Three miles of island off the tip of Eleuthera, a beach tinted pink along its eastern shore, a town the Loyalists would still recognise, golf carts instead of cars, and a five-minute boat from the airstrip.
- Arrival
- North Eleuthera · ELH
- To the island
- About 5 minutes by water taxi from the wharf
- Private jets
- Into ELH, customs on the field by day
- Best time
- November to April
The city
Pink sand and clapboard.
Harbour Island lies just off northern Eleuthera, about three miles long, with no cars to speak of: people get about by golf cart. Dunmore Town was the first capital of the Bahamas more than three centuries ago and still looks much as the Loyalists left it. Along the east coast runs the beach, its sand coloured pink by the shells of a microscopic sea creature.
Most visitors come in winter and spring, between November and April, when afternoons reach 25 to 27 °C, showers are few and the water, at about 24 °C, is at its coolest. The wet months begin in May, and from August to October the tropical-storm risk is at its height.
Arriving
An airstrip, a taxi, a boat.
Harbour Island has no runway. Flights land at North Eleuthera, three miles from Three Island Wharf, where water taxis make the crossing through the day in about five minutes.
- Palm Beach 50 min
- Washington 2 h 15
- Las Vegas 5 h 15
- Marrakech 8 h 50 long-range jet
- Ibiza 9 h 40 long-range jet
When to go
November to April.
There is no cold month. November to April brings the driest weather and the gentlest heat; the summer is hotter and wetter, and October is the rainiest month, at the tail of the storm season.
- 25° J 46 24°
- 25° F 36 24°
- 26° M 28 24°
- 27° A 36 25°
- 29° M 117 26°
- 30° J 160 28°
- 31° J 84 29°
- 31° A 112 29°
- 31° S 137 29°
- 29° O 198 28°
- 27° N 69 26°
- 26° D 46 25°
What to see and do
Days in and around Harbour Island.
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Landmark
The pink beach
Rose-tinted sand on the eastern shore, a colour found nowhere on the western side.
-
Landmark
Dunmore Town
The first capital of the Bahamas, little changed since the Loyalists, explored by golf cart.
-
Landmark
Spanish Wells
A fishing settlement on its own cay off the northern tip of Eleuthera, reached from the same airport.
-
On the water
Current Cut drift dive
Divers ride the tide through the channel between Eleuthera and Current Island, covering about a kilometre in under ten minutes.
-
On the water
Devil's Backbone
Barely submerged coral ridges run along the northern edge of Harbour Island and Eleuthera, where dozens of ships have foundered, among them a Civil War era train.
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Culture
St John's Anglican Church
Founded in 1768 on Dunmore Street, this pink and white church is the oldest religious foundation in the Bahamas.
Official site -
Nature
Preacher's Cave
The island's first settlers sheltered in this cave after wrecking on the Devil's Backbone, and the beach beside it suits a swim, snorkelling and a picnic.
-
Nature
Glass Window Bridge
At Eleuthera's narrowest point a bridge spans the gap between the dark blue Atlantic and the turquoise shallows of the Bahama Bank.
Where to stay
Dunmore Town, the pink shore and the wharf.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- The Cove Eleuthera The MICHELIN Key hotel nearest the airport, with fifty-seven rooms facing a calm inner shore.
- Pink Sands Resort Twenty-five rooms in gardens scented with jasmine, opening onto the pink beach, with a pool and tennis court.
- Coral Sands Rooms, cottages, bungalows and four-bedroom residences on the pink sand, five minutes from the town.
Where to dine
Dinner in Dunmore Town.
No MICHELIN Guide covers the Bahamas. These are in Fodor’s top price band, two of them Fodor’s Choice.
- The Landing Fodor’s Choice Southeast Asian-influenced $$$$ Bay Street, Dunmore Town
- Rock House Restaurant Fodor’s Choice Continental $$$$ Rock House, Bay Street, Dunmore Town
- The Dunmore Fodor’s Seafood $$$$ Gaol Lane, Dunmore Town
- Runaway Hill Inn Restaurant Fodor’s Bahamian, global $$$$ Colebrooke Street, Dunmore Town
Elsewhere in Bahamas
More reasons to come.
Flying to Harbour Island?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.