17 Best Sights in Andros, Bimini, and the Berry Islands, Bahamas

As you enter Fresh Creek Harbour, you’ll see this historical lighthouse built circa 1892 to navigate boats into the southern entrance of Fresh Creek Channel. No longer in use, the lighthouse, with a brace of rusty cannon near a delightful small beach, is an island landmark and offers a picturesque view, including a large, rusty old shipwreck.

If you enter Fresh Creek by boat or ferry, you'll see this old white lighthouse (circa 1892) east of the Andros Lighthouse Yacht Club & Marina. Walk through the marina and you'll see that the tower overlooks two rusty cannons and big shipwreck. To the east lies a quiet beach.

The Androsia Batik Works Factory in Andros Town is home to the famous Androsia batik that has been adopted as the official fabric of The Bahamas. Small Hope Bay Lodge’s Birch family established it in 1973 to boost employment in Andros. The brightly colored hand-dyed cotton batik has designs inspired by Andros’s flora, fauna, and culture. You can prearrange a batik lesson ($30) and make your own design on a choice of fabric, garment, or bag. Self-tours are free. The unique brand is seen and sold throughout The Bahamas, the Caribbean, and online. The outlet store (with different opening times) offers bargains on shirts, skirts, wraps, fabric, jewelry, books, crafts, and souvenirs.

One famous sight that nature lovers should catch is Captain Bill’s Blue Hole in Blue Hole National Park. Blue holes are the top of extensive water-filled underground cave systems formed in the ice age, and there are hundreds on Andros. Located northwest of Small Hope Bay, the National Trust has made Captain Bill's popular and comfortable with a boardwalk and a shady gazebo. Steps allow you to jump 30 feet down to cool off, and there’s a nature trail around the hole’s 400-foot diameter. Accessible by car or bike, Captain Bill's is included on most guided tours.

South of Nicholls Town's eastern shore, Conch Sound is a wide bay with strands of white sand and tranquil waters where you can also find Conch Sound Ocean Hole, a sea-filled blue hole where you can snorkel around and see the rich marine life. The flats are a convenient wading spot for bonefishers, who can wade for hours. Commercial fishermen bring their catches to a little beach park nearby. You can buy fresh catch and dine at a couple of shacks. Amenities: only at nearby restaurants. Best for: solitude; fishing; snorkeling.

Fresh Creek is an estuary, a hamlet, and a harbor, forming the north side of Andros Town and the south side of the Fresh Creek settlement, both joined by a small bridge. The north Fresh Creek side is more built up, with a few docks, stores, churches, motels, and restaurants, including Hank’s Place, a local hot spot. On the south Andros Town side, the ferry and mail boats off-load at the dock next to the closed Andros Lighthouse Beach Club & Marina. You can still walk around the resort's point to get close to the lighthouse, with its small beach and shipwreck. The Andros Tourist Office and some shops are a short walk away. The creek itself cuts over 16 miles into the island, creating tranquil bonefishing flats and welcoming mangrove-lined bays that boaters and sea kayakers can explore. Upstream, there's even a remote Sunset Point houseboat, where you can stay surrounded by the flowing water and scintillating views.

East of Staniard Creek lies a series of serene cays, idyllic for beach drops or consummating the ultimate Robinson Crusoe fantasies. The first is Kamalame Cay, home to the luxurious resort of the same name. Just past Kamalame, uninhabited Big and Little Saddleback Cays boast sparkling, white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters. You'll need a small, private boat to reach either (note that these cays are a regular drop-point for guests of Kamalame Cay). Little Saddleback is tiny with no shade, so bring plenty of sunblock. Big Saddleback has a wider crescent beach, with plenty of shade from the pine trees. Also nearby is Rat Cay, which offers excellent snorkeling, especially around the adjacent blue hole. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; snorkeling; swimming; walking.

Three miles north of Nicholls Town is a crescent beach, a headland known as Morgan's Bluff, and a set of caves named after the 17th-century pirate Captain Henry Morgan, who allegedly dropped off some of his stolen loot in the area. The beach and park serve as the site for Regatta Village, a colorful collection of stands and stalls that set up in July when the big event, the All Andros & Berry Islands Regatta, takes place. Adjacent is the Government Dock and a safe harbor, with a small, popular island bar and restaurant.

This one-third-mile-long crescent beach is a place to relax when touring North Andros. You might see a few locals enjoying it and the adjacent park with its colorful stalls that only come alive in June when the All Andros & Berry Islands Regatta is held. Nearby is the government dock, a public marina, and a bar and restaurant popular with the locals and boat captains. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude, swimming, walking.

Nicholls Town, on Andros's northeastern corner, is a spread-out settlement with its eastern shore lying on a beautiful beach and its northern shore on Morgan's Bluff beach. It's the island's largest settlement, with a population of about 600. This friendly community, with its agriculture- and fishing-based economy, has grocery and supplies stores, a few motels, a public medical clinic, government offices, and more. Adorable cottages, a throwback from the town's big resort era of the 1960s, house the island's wintering population from the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Two-and-a-half miles east of Nicholls Town's commercial center, the settlement reaches the east-facing coast along beautiful and long Nicholls Town Beach, which catches the easterly breezes and is by far the preferred beach in this area. It adjoins Conch Sound to the south. You might be on your own except for guests at the renovated Andros Island Beach Resort, with its tiki bar and restaurant, where you can rent kayaks or snorkeling gear. Amenities: resort nearby. Best for: solitude; swimming; walking.

Fourteen miles west of Nicholls Town, Red Bays is the sole west-coast settlement in all of Andros. The town was settled by Seminoles and runaway enslaved Africans escaping Florida pre–Civil War and was cut off from the rest of Andros until a highway connected it to Nicholls Town in the 1980s. Residents are known for their craftsmanship, particularly straw basketry and wood carving. Tightly plaited baskets, some woven with scraps of colorful Androsia batik, have become a signature craft of Andros. Artisans have their wares on display in front of their homes (with fixed prices). Despite opening their homes to buyers, Red Bays locals don't seem very used to visitors. Expect a lot of curious stares and occasional smiles.

Small Hope Bay Lodge is planted squarely on this long, coved beach where the near-shore snorkeling is excellent and the sand is white. Sign up for a resort course, a dive excursion, or simply enjoy a $55 beachside lunch buffet (with advance notice). A full day of beach fun with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and all drinks and water sports included, is $199. Nonguests can also enjoy the dinner buffet with its open bar and music. Amenities: food and drink; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; swimming; walking.

Two miles south of the Andros Town airport, off a long, beaten-up bare road through an arch of Australian pines, is Somerset Beach, a stunning, long, and wide beach with offshore sandbars that let you walk offshore for half a mile. The pines offer shade, and there's a picnic table built by the workers from AUTEC, the nearby U.S. Navy submarine-testing base. Bring a camera as this is one of the most beautiful beach sights in The Bahamas. Amenities: none. Best for: photography; shelling; swimming; walking.

Sand banks that turn gold at low tide lie off the northern tip of Staniard Creek, a small island settlement 9 miles north of Fresh Creek, accessed by a bridge off the main highway. Coconut palms and casuarinas shade the ocean-side beaches, and offshore breezes are pleasantly cooling. Kamalame Cove, part of nearby luxurious resort and private Kamalame Cay, is at the northern end of the settlement. Three creeks snake into the mainland, forming extensive mangrove-lined back bays and flats, good for wading and bonefishing.

Mystical and mesmerizing, blue holes pock Andros's marine landscape in greater concentration than anywhere else on Earth—an estimated 160-plus—and provide entry into the islands' network of coral-rock caves. Offshore, some holes drop off to 200 feet or more. Inland blue holes reach depths of 120 feet, layered with fresh, brackish, and salt water. Uncle Charlie's Blue Hole, with a 40-feet diameter, is one of Andros’s most popular and is lined with picnic benches and a ladder.

On an island known for magical blue holes, the Victoria Point Blue Hole is Mangrove Cay's superb ocean hole for snorkeling and diving. Just ask the folks at Swain's Cay Lodge or Seascape Inn—or any local—where to find it.