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Destination Guide

The Exumas: Everything You Need to Know

September 1, 20269 min readDestinations

The Exumas are 365 cays — one for every day of the year, according to the locals — stretching 130 miles southeast of Nassau through some of the most extraordinary water in the Atlantic. Shallow tidal flats shift from jade to electric blue as you move, sandbars appear and disappear with the tide, and the fish life here is simply abundant in a way that feels increasingly rare. If there is one place in the Bahamas that genuinely lives up to its photographs, it's the Exumas.

Here's what to know before you come.

Catamaran sailing through the Exumas chain
Geography

A Chain Built for Slow Travel

The Exumas chain divides neatly into three zones. The northern cays — closest to Nassau — include Allan Cay (iguanas), Norman's Cay (a notorious plane wreck in 15 feet of water), and Shroud Cay with its mangrove creek system that flushes you out onto a pristine sandbar. The central Exumas are anchored by Staniel Cay, the social hub of the chain and home to the world-famous Thunderball Grotto and swimming pigs at Big Major's Spot just a short dinghy ride away.

The southern section opens into the vast protected anchorage at Elizabeth Harbour near George Town — the traditional end point of a north-to-south passage, and one of the best anchorages in the entire Caribbean. Our Island Hopper charter threads all three zones over five nights.

Swimming pigs at Big Major's Spot, Staniel Cay
The Highlights

What People Come For

Big Major's Spot (Pig Beach): The swimming pigs are feral, friendly, and genuinely strange in the best way. They swim straight out to visiting boats looking for snacks. Go early or late to avoid tour boats from Nassau.

Thunderball Grotto: A partially submerged limestone cave near Staniel Cay, swimable at low or slack tide through an underwater tunnel. Sunlight pours in through ceiling holes and the fish life inside is extraordinary. One of the best 20 minutes of snorkeling most guests ever do.

Exuma Land and Sea Park: A no-take marine reserve protecting a 176-square-mile corridor of reef and seagrass. Sea turtles, eagle rays, and some of the healthiest coral in the Bahamas. No fishing, no collecting — the difference in fish density is immediately obvious.

Wardwick Wells & Boo Boo Hill: The park headquarters and a trail that leads to a hilltop covered in driftwood signs left by visiting boats. Walk it at sunset and you'll understand why people keep coming back.

Snorkeling in the clear waters of the Exumas
Practical Notes

What to Know Before You Go

Best season: November through April. The water is warm year-round (78–84°F), but trade winds are most consistent and reliable for sailing in the winter months. June through October is hurricane season.

Provisioning: Stock up in Nassau before departure. Staniel Cay Yacht Club has a small bar and restaurant. George Town (for southern itineraries) has the best grocery options in the chain. In between, it's largely what you brought with you — which is part of the appeal.

Tides matter: Several of the best spots — Thunderball Grotto, the mangrove creeks at Shroud Cay, the sandbars at Musha Cay — are strongly tide-dependent. An experienced captain times these visits so you get the right conditions. It's one of the biggest reasons to have a knowledgeable local crew rather than chartering bareboat.

"The Exumas don't reveal themselves all at once. They unfold slowly, one cay at a time, and you keep thinking the last one was the best one until the next one."

A Word on the Water

Photos of the Exumas genuinely do not prepare you for the color of the water in person. The shallow sandbars create shifting patterns of turquoise, aquamarine, and a particular shade of electric blue that doesn't quite have a name in English. The visibility on a calm day can be 80 feet or more. When you're anchored in 12 feet of water and you can see every grain of sand on the bottom — and then a spotted eagle ray glides underneath the boat — you understand what makes this place different.

It's also worth saying that the Exumas are not a party destination. There are no beach clubs, no jet ski rentals, no all-inclusive resorts. The appeal is exactly the absence of those things. This is one of the few places left where you can genuinely get away from everything, and the silence at anchor is a kind of luxury that you can't buy anywhere else.

Ready to Sail the Exumas?

Our Island Hopper charter covers the best of the Exumas chain — swimming pigs, Thunderball Grotto, the Land and Sea Park, and the quiet anchorages in between.

See the Island Hopper Plan My Charter
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