The Exumas are a chain of 365 islands and cays stretching southeast from Nassau across some of the clearest water in the Caribbean. Most of the chain is uninhabited — just low limestone, scrub, and sand surrounded by water that shifts between impossible shades of turquoise and blue. This is the Bahamas at its most elemental.
Great Exuma and Little Exuma are the main populated islands, connected by a bridge and home to the town of George Town. George Town is small and unhurried, the kind of place where the grocery store doubles as the social hub. Every April it fills up for the National Family Island Regatta, when traditional Bahamian sloop racing takes over Elizabeth Harbour.
North of Great Exuma, the Exuma Cays stretch for over 60 miles. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, protects a spectacular stretch of reef, mangrove, and sand. The swimming pigs of Big Major Cay became a global phenomenon, and the Thunderball Grotto — a sea cave you swim into at low tide — lives up to its James Bond name. Allen's Cay is home to the endangered Bahamian rock iguana, surprisingly unbothered by visitors.
Getting here is straightforward. Exuma International Airport near George Town has direct flights from Nassau, Miami, and several other US cities. From Nassau, you can also take a fast ferry or a mailboat. Once on the island, you will need a car — George Town is walkable, but the beaches and best spots are spread across the length of Great Exuma.
