Great Exuma, Bahamas Beach Vacation - 2

Lounging with the Locals

But what’s really nice about Exuma is that I can bask in such luxury and then experience the opposite extreme at a Sunday pig roast at Chat ‘N Chill, a funky bar on a mostly deserted island where the wind whistles through the haphazardly placed clapboard. Chat ‘N Chill owner KB Bowe says, “We have some of the richest people in the world, and they say the day I change this, paint it, they’re not coming back.” The unassuming restaurant is so popular that during one big cruising week, hundreds of boats tied up their dinghies to one another so you could walk across them from the bar to the mainland a mile away. Or so the tale goes.

And Exuma has many tales. I visited ruins of homes built by British loyalists who fled America’s independence and settled on Exuma with their slaves. Many of the island’s towns are named after those slaves who were given the lands when their former masters gave up on cotton farming. A tiki bar, Santana’s, at the very tip of Great Exuma, served as a launching pad for Pirates of the Caribbean movie scenes.

Nor is that the Exumas’ only Hollywood connection. Thunderball Grotto, a hollowed out island near Staniel Cay, was featured in a pair of James Bond films—its namesake and Never Say Never Again—as well as the Tom Hanks mermaid film Splash.

Diners may also want to check out Iva Bowe's Central Highway Inn, on Queen’s Highway in George Town, which is well known for its local cuisine, particularly its conch, a local delicacy.

Catch Some Wind

There are, of course, activities for the adventurous traveler. Exuma Kiteboarding, a new school on Tar Bay, offers lessons and guided Kiteventures, half-day tours that combine sightseeing and launches at some of the islands’ best kiteboarding sites, starting at $230. The school also rents out its three-bedroom Tar Bay beach house for three to seven-night stays that can be paired with in-depth instruction by Gary Sweeting, the school’s owner, who has instructor certifications from the International Kiteboarding Association and Professional Air Sports Association.

Sails Up

Although Exuma has in recent years become more known to a wider range of travelers, it has for some time been a noted destination for sailors. Home to a number of boating competitions, including the high-profile Family Island Regatta, The New Year’s Day Cruising Regatta and National Out Island Regatta, Exuma’s island cays and many coves make it a great sailing destination.

Swim With Pigs or Lounge on Sandbars

The highlight of a trip to Exuma is still about beaches and boats. Visitors up for a daylong boating excursion can head north to the Exuma Cays such as Big Major Cay, where wild pigs eagerly swim up to boats in search of apples; to this day, no one knows how the pigs got to these outer reaches. And there are opportunities to feed the particularly large iguanas on Allan’s Cay, swim with docile sharks and visit still more beautiful beaches.

 

• The Chat N’ Chill Restaurant on Exuma.

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The Four Seasons sometimes arranges for Captain Ray to drop guests off with nothing more than an umbrella, lunch and towels at a nondescript sandbar in the middle of the ocean, retrieving them before the tide makes the sandbar all but disappear. And on Exuma, that’s what is so special. Visitors disappear into the calm of the tranquil days.   

Getting There

Exuma International Airport can be reached via Bahamasair from Miami or Nassau, on American Eagle from Miami, and on Continental/Gulfstream International Airlines and on Lynx Air International from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Additional reporting by Leo Jakobson.