When I travel, I love to get tips from insiders or people who really know where they’re going so I can have a truly authentic experience. Nothing beats hearing from the people who experience it firsthand. Here are all the things you need to do and places you need to go in the Bahamas from people really in the know.
Celene Albury, Sales and Operations Manager at Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club
Places To Visit In Abaco:
- Albury’s Sail Shop on Man-O-War Cay
- Hope Town Lighthouse
- Snorkel at Mermaid Reef in Marsh Harbour
- Swim at Tahiti Beach in Great Abaco Island
- Find sand dollars on Treasure Cay’s sand banks
- Swimming pigs at No Name Cay
- Sharks and stingrays at Lincoln Park
- Bone Fishing at the Little Harbour
- Blackfly Lodge at Schooner Bay
- Swim in the blue holes
Where To Eat In Abaco:
- Firefly in Hope Town
- Abaco Inn in Hope Town
- Dock n Dine in Man-O-War
- Treasure Sands in Treasure Cay
- Pete’s Pub in Little Harbour
- Wrecking Tree in Green Turtle Cay
- Pineapples in Green Turtle
Lulu deKwiatkowski, Owner of Lulu DK Lifestyle
Lulu’s Places To Visit Include:
- Cocoplum Bistro for yummy French fare with a St. Tropez vibe.
- Blue Sails Bar and Grill for great food – lunch and dinner – with relaxed beachside dining. Great with kids day or night.
- Sip Sip at The Cove for adults only daytime and beach side.
- Dune by Jean Georges Vongerichten at The Ocean Club has live music on Fridays and is relaxed, islandy and great.
- Also for day trips contact Stuart’s Cove to snorkel, swim with the sharks and for other excursions.
Paula Bacardi
I love tea at The Library in the Rosewood at Baha Mar. It’s also a great place for a low-key, laid back lunch, and they make an amazing gazpacho. Also, conch salad at the Cricket Club Restaurant & Pub!
Honorable Dionisio D’Aguilar, Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Minister
Exumas is, an absolute gem. You start at the north and work your way to central, to Staniel, and it’s just absolutely the most breathtakingly beautiful. Then obviously you speak to local marina operators or the locals at the restaurants where you may stop. They can tell you a lovely spot to go through here. I mean, I remember cruising through the Exumas, and would stop in a place, and they say, “Oh, yeah. Definitely go and dive over there or snorkel over there or look at this place over here.” They’ve got Thunderball Cay or the washing machine or places where the water mixes, and obviously where the tide goes down, and you create these sandbars.
Sam Nazarian, sbe Founder, Chairman and CEO
Relax. Walk on the beach, and don’t forget to enjoy the spectacular moments under the sun and experience all that Baha Mar resort destination has to offer.
Saskia D’Aguilar, The D’Aguilar Art Foundation Director
Art in the Bahamas:
- The National Gallery of The Bahamas
- The D’Aguilar Art Foundation
- The Current Gallery & Art Center at Baha Mar
- Doongalik Studios
- Antonius Roberts’ Studio & Gallery at Hillside House.
Charlotte McKinney, Actress and Supermodel
I love vacationing at the Ocean Club. I love visiting my family’s high-end stores Hublot, Versace and Yves Saint Laurent at Atlantis.
Chloe Gosselin, Founder & Designer of Chloe Gosselin
My favorite things about the Bahamas… the blue water of course like nowhere else on Earth. I love the chain of the Exumas. If I would come to the Bahamas for the first time, I would probably sail along the coast and stop on all these pretty deserted islands with beautiful pink sand beaches. The fauna is also incredible here, love to observe sea turtles or nurse sharks. It is very peaceful.
We are on a private island, Musha Cay, so everything is very curated. We love making pizzas on the beach – the more time spent outside, the better.
My favorite house on the island is called Beach house. Only the bedroom is inside. The shower and bath are outside, and the beach is your backyard, so special.
Lucas Bacardi Shriftman
I love the beautiful, calm, blue oceans. I love going to the beach at Lyford Cay, wakeboarding and spear fishing in Nassau with my cousin.
I love playing golf at Baker’s Bay. It’s a beautifully designed course and a lot of fun to stop at Sip Sip for lunch on the 16th hole.
I love the sand bars on the Exumas near Copperfield Bay.
Dasha Valdez
My favorite hidden spot on the island is Sivananda Ashram for a nice 90 minutes of yoga on the outdoor platform with an ocean view followed by a simple lovely vegan diner.
My Ocean for the best handmade soaps, also great gifts. Coincidentally, they are also at the Nassau airport.
Lady Eugenie Nuttall, Designer of Jeannie McQueeny
Lady Eugenie Nuttall’s Favorite Spots:
- Ocean View Club – Harbour Island – prettiest, massively chic, on the beach, yummy foodThe Blue Note Lounge at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar has the best vodka martini ever (truly!) and best jazz
- Sip Sip on Harbour Island is my favorite island restaurant.
- Sapodilla has the best garden.
- Aquafire has the best fresh fish and best local atmosphere.Bahama Handprints in Nassau
- Baker & Sons in Nassau on Bay Street is an original, eccentric shop
- Miss Mae’s on Harbour Island
- Clifton Heritage Park for snorkeling at the Sir Nicholas Nuttall coral reef sculpture garden Shelling on Pelican Cay
- Buying fresh fruits from Flo’s Fruit Market across from Arawak Cay
Amber Nuttall
My perfect day in Nassau:
There is no excuse not to wake with the sun in the Bahamas. Dawn is my favorite time to escape the house and head out on my paddle board to the reefs, running almost the full length of the northern shore of Nassau. The marine life is also beginning its day, and if you are lucky, you can swim with dolphins hunting between the coral heads and turtles seeking out their next tasty morsel. One of our favorite stretches of reef is across the water from Compass Point so sneaking in for a large breakfast after our swim at a table overlooking the water rounds it off nicely.
Catching one of Stuart Cove’s dive boats later in the morning for a shark dive or visit to the Coral Nursery and beautiful underwater memorial statue by… for my late father, Nicholas Nuttall at Clifton Bay Park. This is where the Spielberg Jaws movies were filmed. The waters are crystal clear and marine life abundant, though I often find myself glancing over my shoulder in case the fictional great white is behind me!
When the kids are with us, a compulsory trip to Albany for riotous fun in their magical swimming pool is unmissable, followed by lunch at Sands… Alternatively it can be simply too tempting to adventure further. After a swift boat ride west, we can be at the legendary Kamalame Cay in Andros where the stone claw crab is second to none, or east, with a homemade picnic, to Rose Island or indeed southeast to the magical shores of the Exumas.
An afternoon siesta is ‘de rigueur,’ and happiness is following it up at the Bamford Spa at The Island House .
On the rare occasion we are ‘boated out,’ then my lifelong passion of a set of tennis at Lyford Cay Club followed by a rum-dum at the Little Club and a fiercesomly fought game of backgammon.
An evening in Nassau town where the swing and sway of the island pace matches the breeze in the never ending coconut palms, my life long favorite is an evening at Greycliff or strolling through the ‘food stalls’ at Awarak Cay on the shore of the harbour for more local fare.
Christy Nichols, Director of the Discovery Land Company Foundation
I love the Bahamas and visit Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club when I’m there. Baker’s Bay has supported local charities for the past decade, including Every Child Counts, Friends of the Environment, Bahamas National Trust and BREEF through internship opportunities. We collaborate with local citizens, Baker’s Bay employees and members. I speak with individual members and employees frequently, and they share candid information that helps our assistance to them. With Baker’s Bay, our support is all-inclusive in giving to children and families in Abaco. The Discovery Land Company Foundation gives designated funds productively and is often matched with donations from Baker’s Bay members in addition to volunteering and working with Baker’s Bay employees. Many individuals and diverse groups participate enthusiastically in local giving.
