Bahamas Vacation: Things to Do, Where to Stay

When there are 700 tropical islands to explore and 1,200 cays (pronounced ‘keys’), where do you begin? It’s The Bahamas, and that means the choices are endless, though I have my favorites. Give me Nassau for history and culture, Freeport City for limbo in the town square, Exuma for glorious aquamarine waters, Bimini for tales of Atlantis and San Salvador for scuba diving. That covers five islands—only 695 to go. I guess that’s the reason it’s “better in the Bahamas,” as locals say, because you never run out of options for a tropical vacation.

Bahamas Beginnings

The Bahamas is an archipelago of islands just east of Florida, first inhabited by Arawak Indians centuries ago. The Arawak fled when the cannibalistic Caribe Indians pursued them, and the lands were then mostly deserted until the British colonized the islands in the late 1600s. British colonists and their slaves settled mostly on the island of New Providence at first, with Nassau as its capital, as pirates like Blackbeard and Calico Jack roamed area waters. Blackbeard even ruled Nassau for a few years until the British took firm hold, eventually declaring the islands a crown colony in 1718.

The Bahamas gained independence in 1973 and today represent a lively blend of British, African, West Indies, European and other cultural influences all rolled into one. It’s a land of smiles and friendly faces, of thousands of white sandy beaches and secret coves. And plenty of islands to explore.

 

• The Nassau Straw Market is full of a wealth of products made of straw.

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Nassau

Attractions

The most populated island in the Bahamas is New Providence, which is often referred to as its capital city Nassau. The city has a bustling downtown center on Bay Street, where the pink and sunset colors of the city’s colonial architecture are interspersed with restaurants and duty-free shops. One of the biggest tourist draws in the area is the enormous open-air straw market, featuring everything imaginable that can be made out of straw (beware of overly aggressive salespeople).

I love the Pompey Museum of Slavery and Empancipation next door, which covers the course of slavery and its abolition, the slave trade having seeded a large part of the Bahamian population and integral to the islands’ culture.

 

• Fort Fincastle on Nassau overlooks a port busy with cruise ships.

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For kids, Pirates of Nassau is a must-see museum. Here, a swarthy-looking pirate look-alike helps bring me back to the days of Blackbeard as we meander among reincarnated pirate villages.

Dining

Throughout downtown are various historical points of interest like Parliament Square, Fort Fincastle and the Queen’s Staircase, 65 steps carved out of limestone by slaves to commemorate the years of Queen Victoria’s reign. And some of the Bahamas’ finest restaurants are located near Bay Street like Graycliff, situated in a 260-year-old grand estate, and Chez Willie, where Bahamian and French cuisine is complemented by weekend limbo shows.

Beachside Lodging

But the Bahamas is, after all, mostly about beaches, and some of Nassau’s finest are just minutes from downtown. My favorite is Cable Beach, a beautiful sandy stretch with an assortment of luxury resorts. An especially good one for families is the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort. The resort has a new Love Your Family program with daylong activities that encourage family fun. At any given time you might encounter a hula-hoop contest, butt volleyball (try sliding on your bottom while hitting an oversized ball!), family feud and more crazy fun. (Love Your Family rates start at $299 per night, and include a $100 resort credit per day.) The Sheraton’s more than 400 rooms were just redone, and its next-door sister property, the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino, features reciprocal resort privileges. (Wyndham rates start at $125 per night.)