After a short stopover in Nassau we went further south today – to the archipelago of the Exumas. We have been told by many that if you want to experience the “real Bahamas”, you have to travel to one of the many islands away from New Providence. That’s why we put together a nice combination with Exuma and Long Island, which we will report to you in the following articles 🙂
Table of contents
Things to know about the Exumas
The Exumas are an island chain of 365 islands of different sizesthat belong to the Bahamas. The islands are best known for their turquoise blue crystal clear waters, fine-puddles sand and the famous floating pigs. The largest Exuma island is Great Exuma with a length of 60 kilometers. About 7,300 Bahamians live on Great Exuma and the sister island of Little Exuma, which is connected by a bridge. For some stars and asterisks (such as Johnny Depp or David Copperfield) or wealthy businessmen, the Exumas are luxurious second homes. There are many private islands here, where there are glamorous villas on palm-covered beaches.
Great Exuma is home to the largest city in the archipelago, George Town. We were able to experience for ourselves that the city is known as a regatta and sailing metropolis during our stay, because it was here that the annual Family Island Regatta took place – a tradition that has existed since 1954. This makes it the oldest regatta in the Bahamas.
A map of the individual islands of the Exumas in the Bahamas
How to get to the Exumas?
When planning our island hopping in the Bahamas, we also wondered how best to get to the Exumas. The following options are available:
By plane: The exumas are the quickest and most convenient by plane. The main airport of Exumas (Exuma International Airport) is located on the island of Great Exuma in George Town. Several major national and international airlines such as Air Canada (from Toronto), American Airlines (from Charlotte and Miami), Bahamasair (from Nassau) and Delta Airlines (from Atlanta) offer daily or weekly flights. There is also a small airport on Staniel Cay Island. Staniel Cay is reached from Nassau with Flamingo Air or from Fort Lauderdale with Makersair.
By ferry: From Nassau you can also take the ferry (Bahamasferries) to Great Exuma. However, the crossing takes 13 hours!
With the speedboat: If you only want to take a day trip to the floating pigs, you can – besides the plane – also take the speedboat from Nassau (e.g. Powerboat Adventures). The journey takes about 2.5 to 3 hours.
And if you have the necessary small money, you can of course also treat yourself to a charter flight or a private boat 🙂
Our flight from Nassau to George Town
We chose a flight with Bahamasair, which cost 100 € per person. In the morning at 8.40 am our plane went from Nassau to George Town to the island of Great Exuma. The flight was quite short with 40 minutes, but there was a time delay in landing. The great thing about the flight is that you can admire the beautiful island worlds of the Bahamas from the air. So don’t forget the camera on the flight!
Arriving at George Town airport, we’ve seen the funniest baggage claim ever. A trolley with all the suitcases was placed at the exit and everyone could get their own luggage. It was a bit messy, but in the end everyone got their suitcase 😉
At the exit we quickly got a taxi, because we had not booked a transfer to the hotel in advance. It all worked out wonderfully and 30 minutes later we were at the hotel. The taxi ride from the airport to George Town has cost 30 USD. Unfortunately, there are no buses or anything like that on the island. As an alternative, you can of course also rent a car. There are some small car rental providers right at the exit of the airport. Prices start at around 60 USD per day. We would have liked to get a rental car, but because of the Easter weekend and the Family Island Regatta all rental cars were fully booked.
The Peace and Plenty Hotel & Beach Club
One thing has to be anticipated: the Bahamas are very expensive, especially the Exumas, because here – besides Nassau – most tourists come here. This starts with moon prices for hotel stays and ends at horrendous prices for excursions. With the Peace and Plenty Hotel and Beach Club we could still find a very nice hotel in George Town, which was still within the price of the Bahamas for this hotel category (230 EUR per night). The Peace & Plenty Hotel was opened in 1958 on the site of an old cotton plantation by Lawrence Lewis, the great-nephew of railway magnate Henry Flagler. In 2017, the hotel was taken over by investors who gave the 32 rooms a new look.
We had booked a nice double room overlooking the pool and the sea and were very pleased with our choice. Rooms at Peace & Plenty Hotel are newly renovated and make a very modern, clean impression. In addition to the normal room rate, you have to pay a so-called resort fee per night in the hotel, for this you get free drinking water, bath towels and can use the Beach Club.
The Beach Club of our hotel on Stocking Island
The Hotel Peace and Plenty is located directly on the sea, but unfortunately has no direct beach access. To cool off there is at least a small pool. For beach lovers, the hotel has its own beach club,located about 2 kilometers away on Stocking Island. To get there, it is best to use the hotel’s free shuttle boat. It operates every hour between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The last boat will return to the hotel from Stocking Island at 5 p.m. The Beach Club offers free sun loungers and parasols, as well as drinks & snacks for a fee. Really a little paradise 🙂
The Beach Club of Peace and Plenty Resort
All travelogues from the Bahamas
The Bahamas have been on our bucket list for a really long time. And this year we had found a relatively good and cheap flight offer to combine the Bahamas with a few days in Florida afterwards. On our trip we visited different islands on the Bahamas in 9 days and these are our travel reports:
» Travel Planing: The Bahamas and Florida & our flight to Nassau
» New Providence: Tourist Attractions, Things to Do & Photo spots in Nassau
» New Providence: Hotel Atlantis & Paradise Island
» Exumas: Flight to Great Exuma Island & Hotel in George Town
» Exumas: Beaches & Sting Rays feeding on Stocking Island
» Exumas: The swimming Pigs of Big Major Cay
» Exumas: Swimming with the nurse sharks of Compass Cay
» Long Island: The Stella Maris Resort & our Kayak Tour
» Long Island: Self guided tour around the island by car
» Long Island: The swimming Pigs at Dove Cay
» Long Island: Diving in the underwater world of the Caribbean