Bahamas

Where to Stay in the Exumas

If you’re looking for paradise on earth, you’ll find it in the Exumas. The Exuma Cays are a chain of 360+ islands in the Bahamas just southeast of Nassau. They’re famous for their white sand beaches and having some of the bluest water in the world. They’re also famous for those adorable swimming pigs! The Exumas are becoming a popular Caribbean vacation spot and are attracting quite a few visitors (read up on 15 Things to Do in the Exumas and 20 Things to Know Before You Go to the Exumas). If you’re in the beginning stages of planning a trip, here’s a breakdown of where to stay in the Exumas:

While the Exumas are made up of a lot of islands, not many of them are inhabited (the majority are private) and there are even fewer places to stay.

Great Exuma: Great Exuma is the main island of the Exumas and home to Georgetown (where the airport is). You’ll find the most options of places to stay here. You’ll also have the biggest variety of restaurants and shopping (although still limited). There are a couple of resorts on Great Exuma but it’s mostly small inns and vacation rentals.

The Swimming Pigs in The Exumas (Bahamas)

So I’m not going to lie, sometimes when deciding where to go on vacation, I let one little things sway my entire trip. This was the case when trying to narrow down the locale for my most recent trip to the Caribbean with some girlfriends.

Have you seen these adorable swimming pigs in the Bahamas? A few minutes into scrolling through that feed and I was sold on a trip to the Exuma Cays. Read up on 20 things you should know before visiting and also 15 things to do there but this post is all about those pink little cutie patooties!

The swimming pigs call Big Major Cay in the Exumas (Bahamas) home. Local legend goes that the island’s owner released a few pigs on the island and with no natural predators, they just took over! The pigs soon became well known and when boats sailed up near the island, out the pigs would come swimming looking for food. Well as you can imagine, the sight of these pink piggies swimming through the bluest waters in the Caribbean quickly became something of a local spectacle and is now one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Exumas.

15 Things to Do in the Exumas

It’s highly probable that you’ve never heard of the Exumas and you’re thinking…what are they? Where are they? My thoughts exactly. The Exumas are an island chain in the Bahamas and until a few months before this trip, I’d never heard of them either!

The Exumas are made up of 365 cays that stretch just south of Nassau (the most famous Bahamian destination). The Exumas are famous for their dazzling blue water, sparkling white sand beaches, and ahem…interesting aquatic life. That’s right…the Exumas are home to those adorable swimming pigs that you’ve probably seen on Instagram. That’s what drew me to the Exumas but more on that later!

When researching this trip it was hard to find much info, so if you’re planning a trip, here are 15 things to do in the Exumas (on Great Exuma and the outer islands):

1.Be a beach bum. This is the whole point of going on a beach vacation, right? We spent the first couple of days just lounging around the pool and beach at the house we rented (with views like this it was hard to want to leave!). Plus, the Exumas aren’t super easy to get to so it’s likely that you’ll have spent an exhausting day trying to get there and you’ll want to rest up! None of the islands (even Great Exuma) are very crowded so it’s not unusual to have a beach completely to yourself!

20 Things to Know Before You Go to the Exumas

Planning a trip to the Exumas? Haven’t heard of the Exumas?? I know where you’re coming from…I didn’t either until a few months ago, but let. me. tell. you…you’ve got to get to the Exuma Cays! This little island chain in the Bahamas has some of the prettiest water in the world and still feels very “undiscovered.” Because it’s not a super common vacation destination (yet!) here’s 20 things that you should know before you go:

1.It’s not the easiest place to get to. Though located just off the coast of Miami, there are only a few flights coming into Georgetown each day. Chances are that you’ll be connecting through Miami (where American Airlines offers one flight each day) but Delta has just added a direct flight from Atlanta and Air Canada has a direct flight from Toronto. If you’re needing to make one (or more) connecting flights before flying out of Miami, you might consider flying in a day early and spending the night so there’s no chance that you’ll miss that flight.

Bahamas

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