wehateBush

Hi...My husband and I are going to be flying into Nassau in December on our way back from Eleuthra. Our flight gets into Nassau at 8am and we depart back to the states at 1:15 pm. So, what could we do for the five hours? Is an hour and a half plenty of time to be back for the flight? Is the airport near anything? I get the impression that Nassau is pretty lame but maybe there is some cool, close by place to explore for the morning?
Thanks in advance!

travelbuff

If you are flying Bahamas Air, don't presume the flight will be anywhere near ontime, or you might get lucky and it might be close to ontime. The Bahamas Air as we say is on "island time". I took a group to Nassau a couple of years ago and booked the whole trip through Senior Staff at Bahamas Air. The flight was to leave at 7:30 so we were at the airport (all 42 of us) a little after 6am. The flight time was changed to 6:30 am and BA filled the flight and took off. They did not bother to let me know, but luckily they were able to find another plane and within an hour we were on our way to N. Eleuthera and Harbour Island.

All that said, you might check with your airline and see if you can check your luggage and take a taxi into Nassau for a bit of site seeing and shopping. You do have to go through Customs at the Airport, so you may have a problem leaving the airport and you would have to go through Customs again.

Have a great time on Eleuthera.

blamona

We had a layover going down from Nassau to Eleuthera. We decided to go to Compass Point for lunch. We checked in our bags, then came back an hour before our flight. We had plenty of time, and allowed us to relax and not feel like all we did was travel all day. Plus spending all that time at a small airport is no fun. Compass Point is only 10 minutes away by taxi. You can have an excellent breakfast and relax by the beach instead. Here are my pictures of Comapass Point lunch:

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...t=IMG_9149.jpg

Scubagirl

Please keep in mind that for most outgoing flights back to the states or Canada, you need to arrive at the departure terminal at least 2.5 to 3 hours.
You will need to go thru Bahamian Customs and US Pre-clearance.

In this case, you will have to collect your luggage and then take it to the airline counter in the International Departure terminal and start the process all over again.

You can't drop your bags at the departure terminal and leave.

caribtraveler

I also recommend going to Compass Point for breakfast, but as mentioned already, you won't really have 5 hours. We got to the airport 2 hours and 15 minutes before our flight. We made it to the waiting area 15 minutes before actual boarding.

From my trip report:
LEAVING NASSAU: Make sure you get to the airport a MINIMUM OF 2 HOURS before your flight since you'll go through U.S. Customs and Immigration there. The line is slow and they won't let you jump it if you're late for your flight. We witnessed quite a few people who learned that the hard away. The departure tax ($15/person) and security fee ($7/person) have to be paid in CASH at the airport.

Enjoy your trip.