4-5 days Bahamas - Need Help with Itinerary! Please Help
Jul 19th, 2018, 09:08 AM
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4-5 days Bahamas - Need Help with Itinerary! Please Help
Hello all - I'm planning a trip for myself and my significant other to visit the Bahamas islands in August. I don't want to just visit Nassau or stay on the large island the whole time - I want to explore, snorkel, hike/see beautiful terrain next to the ocean, etc. I've heard about the wild swimming pigs in Abacos (where in Abacos?), the raw beauty of Andros, Eleuthera (snorkeling/hiking?), Harbour Island, Long Island and Crooked Island. Is there a way to easily island hop or are these several hours apart by boat or plane? Is there an easy itinerary for hitting these spots (even if we have to initially land in Nassau and/or go back to Nassau to fly back to the US mainland?)
Please help - any insight or previous itineraries would help! As for budget I'm not penny pinching - so it's not an issue but I also don't expect to spend tens of thousands. Thanks all
Please help - any insight or previous itineraries would help! As for budget I'm not penny pinching - so it's not an issue but I also don't expect to spend tens of thousands. Thanks all
Jul 19th, 2018, 09:31 AM
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Distances make traveling between those islands by boat very time consuming and not very practical to do with only 4 or 5 days. You can spend the better part of each day “just getting there”. If you fly you really only have time to visit 2 islands (day 1 - getting from home to first island, day 2 - on that island, day 3 getting to next island, day 4 on that island, day 5 going back home). Recognize too that inter-island airfares aren’t going to be cheap.
Pick the 2 islands that interest you most and concentrate your efforts there.
Pick the 2 islands that interest you most and concentrate your efforts there.
Jul 19th, 2018, 09:40 AM
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Hopping from island to island during a 4-5 day trip will consume all of your available time with travel. Unless you can afford to charter, commercial flights with a hub in Nassau are the only real choice. While the flights themselves aren't long, the checking in and out of airports and taxi rides to where you're going will take up time.
I would suggest you either expand your time significantly, or choose a single destination which checks most of your boxes. I typically suggest the Abacos for Bahamas beginners. That island group combines basic tourism infrastructure with the laid-back charm of the Out Islands. You'll have a variety of lodging types, a choice of restaurants and bars, and some minimal shopping. If you are handy with a boat, you can rent one and hop between the Abaco cays (if not, there are regularly scheduled ferries). There are beautiful beaches and candy-colored settlements. And there is regular commercial air service from the mainland US to Marsh Harbour, saving you the trouble of going through Nassau.
Bear in mind that August is the beginning of peak hurricane season, and the Abacos are hurricanes' favorite targets. September is worse, but that's not a promise, so I recommend trip insurance.
Finally, about those damn pigs.... The original pig attraction was Big Majors Spot in the Exumas, which is reachable by excursion boat from Great Exuma (costly and time-consuming) or Nassau, or by rental boat from Staniel Cay. Seeing how popular they are, lots of other operators placed their own pigs throughout the Bahamas, so you can probably get to some pigs from a variety of bases. However, these are very large, feral animals (sometimes there are piglets, but that is only when they are born, and their mothers will protect them). You will not be swimming with them as you might with dolphins. They only want whatever food you're bringing. They defecate in the water and on the beach, and they can be rather strong -- the occasional popped inflatable dinghy on the beach at Big Majors is testament to that. Unless you happen to end up in an area where the local swimming pigs are convenient, I personally thinks it's not worth the time, effort and expense. (I grant you that I've seen the pigs many times, but it was always incidental to another reason I was in the area; in fact, my first time at Staniel Cay 10 years ago, I didn't even know about them.)
I would suggest you either expand your time significantly, or choose a single destination which checks most of your boxes. I typically suggest the Abacos for Bahamas beginners. That island group combines basic tourism infrastructure with the laid-back charm of the Out Islands. You'll have a variety of lodging types, a choice of restaurants and bars, and some minimal shopping. If you are handy with a boat, you can rent one and hop between the Abaco cays (if not, there are regularly scheduled ferries). There are beautiful beaches and candy-colored settlements. And there is regular commercial air service from the mainland US to Marsh Harbour, saving you the trouble of going through Nassau.
Bear in mind that August is the beginning of peak hurricane season, and the Abacos are hurricanes' favorite targets. September is worse, but that's not a promise, so I recommend trip insurance.
Finally, about those damn pigs.... The original pig attraction was Big Majors Spot in the Exumas, which is reachable by excursion boat from Great Exuma (costly and time-consuming) or Nassau, or by rental boat from Staniel Cay. Seeing how popular they are, lots of other operators placed their own pigs throughout the Bahamas, so you can probably get to some pigs from a variety of bases. However, these are very large, feral animals (sometimes there are piglets, but that is only when they are born, and their mothers will protect them). You will not be swimming with them as you might with dolphins. They only want whatever food you're bringing. They defecate in the water and on the beach, and they can be rather strong -- the occasional popped inflatable dinghy on the beach at Big Majors is testament to that. Unless you happen to end up in an area where the local swimming pigs are convenient, I personally thinks it's not worth the time, effort and expense. (I grant you that I've seen the pigs many times, but it was always incidental to another reason I was in the area; in fact, my first time at Staniel Cay 10 years ago, I didn't even know about them.)
Jul 20th, 2018, 04:24 AM
#4
I love the swimming pigs at Big Major's Spot (the original) and hate the other pop ups!
You have no time to go anywhere from Nassau, sorry. Even in a week you'd only have time for 1 day trip. Out Islands, any of them, require it's own separate trip, sorry
So I suggest, a day trip to Sandy Toes Rose Island, or skip Nassau and fly somewhere, 1 destination, but again you'll end up with only 2 days out of it, 3 days wasted in connections and transfers
Really not like backpacking through Europe where it's Tuesday it must be France kind of destination
You have no time to go anywhere from Nassau, sorry. Even in a week you'd only have time for 1 day trip. Out Islands, any of them, require it's own separate trip, sorry
So I suggest, a day trip to Sandy Toes Rose Island, or skip Nassau and fly somewhere, 1 destination, but again you'll end up with only 2 days out of it, 3 days wasted in connections and transfers
Really not like backpacking through Europe where it's Tuesday it must be France kind of destination
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