The cays are the whole point of being in Abaco. Each one is reachable by water taxi or ferry from Marsh Harbour, and most make an easy half-day or full-day trip.
Little Harbour is a favourite for those with a boat or a ride. The harbour is tiny and crystalline, with Pete's Pub — an open-air beach bar run by the Johnston family — on one side and their art foundry on the other. A short walk across the island brings you to a rocky Atlantic cliff with a sliver of beach at the base, scattered with sea glass. It's about a 45-minute drive from Marsh Harbour if you prefer to come by road.
Hope Town on Elbow Cay is the most visited day trip: a small loyalist village with a candy-striped lighthouse (built 1862, still hand-cranked) that you can climb for views over the cays. The town is walkable, unhurried, and largely car-free.
Man-O-War Cay has a boatbuilding tradition stretching back generations and a more local feel than Hope Town. It's a dry island — no alcohol sold — and gives a sense of what the Abacos were like before tourism arrived.