Exuma
Three hundred and sixty-five islands strung across shallow turquoise water, George Town on Great Exuma, and a 7,000-foot runway a short drive from its harbour.
- Arrival
- Exuma International · GGT
- To George Town
- About 18 km from the airport
- Private jets
- Odyssey Aviation at GGT, customs on site
- Best time
- November to April
The city
A chain of cays, run by boat.
The Exumas are counted at 365 islands and cays. George Town, the capital, gathers the larger hotels along its harbour, and water taxis cross to the beaches of Stocking Island. Further up the chain, around Staniel Cay, the days are planned by tide: a swim into a cave at low water, a run out to a sandbar, a mooring in the national park.
Visitors gather between November and April, with highs of 25 to 28 °C, sparse showers and a sea of 24 or 25 °C. May turns wet, and from August to October the region is in its storm season, with October the rainiest month of all.
Arriving
Into Great Exuma, then by sea.
Exuma International, on Great Exuma, is the gateway, around eighteen kilometres from George Town. For the northern cays there is also the airstrip at Staniel Cay, itself a port of entry with customs and immigration.
- Nassau 40 min
- Punta Cana 1 h 35
- Montreal 3 h 30
- Lima 5 h 25
- Amsterdam 9 h 45 long-range jet
When to go
November to April.
Winters are mild and dry, and the water seldom falls under 24 °C. Summer brings more heat and more storms, with the rain at its heaviest in October.
- 25° J 36 24°
- 25° F 29 24°
- 27° M 22 25°
- 28° A 39 25°
- 29° M 131 26°
- 30° J 152 28°
- 31° J 78 29°
- 32° A 98 29°
- 31° S 120 29°
- 30° O 168 28°
- 28° N 69 27°
- 26° D 48 25°
What to see and do
Days in and around Exuma.
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Landmark
Thunderball Grotto
A cave west of Staniel Cay, entered by swimming under the rock at low tide, named after the Bond film.
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Landmark
Big Major Cay
The beach where pigs paddle out to meet the boats, a colony grown from five piglets in the early 1990s.
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Landmark
Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park
A marine reserve founded in 1958, the first of its kind, inside nearly 130,000 protected acres.
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Racing & sport
National Family Island Regatta
First held in March 1954, the regatta brings Bahamian wooden sloops, crewed only by Bahamians, to race in Elizabeth Harbour each April.
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Nature
Moriah Harbour Cay National Park
Established in 2002 and enlarged in 2015, the park covers 22,833 acres of dunes, mangrove creeks and reefs, with trails, kayaking and bonefishing.
Official site -
On the water
Mystery Cave, Stocking Island
Snorkellers and divers drop into this blue hole grotto under Stocking Island, which Jacques Cousteau's team reportedly followed for about 1,700 feet.
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Nature
Tropic of Cancer Beach
A marker on the steps down to this sheltered crescent of white sand on Little Exuma shows where the Tropic of Cancer crosses.
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Culture
Hermitage plantation ruins
Loyalists from the Carolinas built this cotton plantation after the American Revolution, and its house foundations and tombs from the late 1700s survive.
Where to stay
On Emerald Bay.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Where to dine
Two tables worth the trip.
No MICHELIN Guide covers the Bahamas. Both are Fodor’s Choice; Hill House is a flight or boat ride north in the Exuma Cays.
- Hill House Restaurant Fodor’s Choice Modern Bahamian $$$$ Fowl Cay Resort, Exuma Cays, about 100 km north-west
- Blu on the Water Fodor’s Choice Asian-Bahamian $$$ George Town harbour
Elsewhere in Bahamas
More reasons to come.
Flying to Exuma?
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.