General: Bahamas

In July 2001, I went in search of THAT beach - you know the one – the white sands, crystal clear waters, palm trees, secluded – the one that appears in any brochure for the Caribbean. A few years ago I went in search for it in the Dominican Republic but came home disappointed. This time I struck lucky! Anyway before I rant on about the beaches I had better give you some background info!

Basics
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The ...
...and consist of more than 750 islands – obviously most of these are tiny and uninhabited. The busiest island is that of New Providence, home to the capital; Nassau. I actually stayed on the island of Grand Bahama which is the second most popular destination in the Bahamas after Nassau.

The flight from Gatwick direct to Freeport (the airport of the Grand Bahama) took just under 9 hours. The Bahamas themselves have a very distinctive ... more

In July 2001, I went in search of THAT beach - you know the one – the white sands, crystal clear waters, palm trees, secluded – the one that appears in any brochure for the Caribbean. A few years ago I went in search for it in the Dominican Republic but came home disappointed. This time I struck lucky! Anyway before I rant on about the beaches I had better give you some background info!

Basics
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The Bahamas lie about 40 miles off the coast of Florida and consist of more than 750 islands – obviously most of these are tiny and uninhabited. The busiest island is that of New Providence, home to the capital; Nassau. I actually stayed on the island of Grand Bahama which is the second most popular destination in the Bahamas after Nassau.

The flight from Gatwick direct to Freeport (the airport of the Grand Bahama) took just under 9 hours. The Bahamas themselves have a very distinctive American feel to them – many Americans use the Bahamas as their weekend getaway and ‘boat’ it across. As an English person on the island I felt quite in the minority – other Europeans are a rarity, probably about 90% of tourists were American.

The Bahamas gained independence in 1973. However there are some very distinctive things left over from the time when the Bahamas belonged to the British empire. They still drive on the left – which is quite weird as they have mainly left hand drive cars. English is the official language but is pronounced with a Bahamian ‘twang’! (this can be quite difficult to understand!).

The most important part for me was the weather! The Bahamas enjoy a hot year round climate. I visited in the (potential!) hurricane season (June – November), and despite it raining virtually every day, the temperature was about 90 degrees throughout the two weeks. It seems to rain for about an hour then you will get very hot sun – it was also quite stormy but again these cleared up very quickly. The heavy rainfall did mean that everything on the island was very green and lush – colourful flowers were everywhere. I was slightly hesitant about going in the wet season but whilst being quite humid, most days gave about 7 hours of sun (so I still got my tan!). One word of warning though – the sun is VERY strong – so much so I didn’t drop below SPF 12 sun tan lotion.

Money
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The Bahamian Dollar is the local currency but just as widely accepted is the American Dollar. If you are travelling to the Bahamas I would strongly recommend that you take US $ rather than Bahamian $. Despite both being worth exactly the same amount and being fully interchangeable – it is far easier to change any left over US $ than it is Bahamian $.

I would also strongly recommend taking US $ travellers cheques (as opposed to sterling). Quite worryingly, these are taken in the same way as cash in any restaurant, shop or bar. You don’t even need your passport or to countersign in front of someone! This leaves your cheques very susceptible to be used if you lose them, so make sure that you keep a copy of their numbers in case you have to telephone for replacements. Often you aren’t charged commission to cash travellers cheques in shops or bars (the maximum I was charged was 50 cents) so don’t bother cashing them in at a bank where you will probably pay more in commission.

Credit cards are widely accepted and you can even use debit cards (Switch) to withdraw money from some cash machines.

Getting Around
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Hiring a car is quite expensive compared to hiring one in a European country but petrol is much cheaper than in the UK. On the island of Grand Bahama I would recommend KSR as they seem to be doing the cheapest deal. It cost us $165 for 3 days rental plus you have to pay a mandatory $11 a day for insurance (all companies charge this or more). The likes of Avis and Hertz sometimes charge up to $100 a day so steer clear of the big names if you can.

The cars are much bigger than in the UK – we got the smallest car available (a Nissan Sentra) which is about the same size as a Ford Orion. Air conditioning is a standard, and very necessary feature! Most cars are left hand drives which is a bit strange considering they also drive on the left (I kept feeling myself swerve towards the centre of the road much to the horror of several Bahamians!!!).

I would thoroughly recommend getting a car as opposed to going on the trips organised by package tour reps. Not only do you get to go where YOU want to go it also works out better value. You also get to stop off at some fascinating villages and sights. The roads are very safe in the Bahamas (unlike most other Caribbean countries), and the top speed is 45mph throughout the island. Grand Bahama island is only about 60 miles long so you don’t have to travel far – the roads are also very quiet.

Another way to get around is by jitney (local buses). These are very cheap but you may be kept waiting as they try to fill the bus, and they don’t obviously travel everywhere on the island.

The Resort Area
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The main place to stay is around the Port Lucaya area. I stayed at the Port Lucaya Hotel & Yacht club which was a 160 room 3 star hotel located beside the port. The area can get quite busy with American tourists as many ‘park’ their yachts alongside the hotel. The main source of entertainment was Count Basie square. Every night there is a band and performers such as limbo dancers – all free to watch. There are several shops, bars and restaurants encircling the square.

The shops and markets are pretty poor – either selling touristy crap (which strangely the American tourists love!) or designer labels (Gucci etc) that are probably cheaper in the UK! So unfortunately I didn’t get to do much shopping. I would also recommend that you spend all you cash/travellers cheques before you get to the airport. I passed through both Nassau and Freeport airport, hoping to pick up some duty free perfume/booze and was completely disappointed. The Bahamas has to have the WORST airport shopping around!

Located a few miles from the port is the International Bazaar – the Bahamas version of a shopping centre but again I found this quite disappointing. It contains 90 shops and is divided into sections representing different parts of the world. It is worth a quick trip to look at the style of buildings but again it is full with overpriced touristy rubbish.

Eating & Drinking
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Eating out can be quite expensive in the Bahamas – even a 2 course meal in a ‘pub’ type establishment can cost around £25 per person. The food was cheaper in the Port Lucaya area than it was around Freeport. The local delicacy is Conch – a local fish (they live in those really spiky shells that many people put plants in!). I cannot tell you what it is like as I am vegetarian but I am told it is an acquired taste!

Being vegetarian is a nightmare in the Bahamas. Most of their vegetables are imported so salads are quite minimal – you usually have to pay extra for cucumber! I basically lived off Greek salad, pasta and pizza for the duration of my stay!

Drink is also quite expensive. Even though apparently the water is safe to drink, I preferred bottled water which isn’t cheap (about £2 for a 1.5 litre bottle). Soft drinks are reasonable – about 70p for a can in a bar/shop. All of their fizzy drinks are 100% artificial and very sugary – the people who slated Sunny Delight for being too artificial would have a field day with Bahamian soft drinks!!! The local Beer is called Kalik and is very similar to Heineken in taste and UK price – it goes down far too easily! Cocktails are mainly rum based and again, about the same as you would pay in the UK.

A few places that I would recommend if you are staying on Grand Bahama:

The Pub – located in the Port Lucaya market place. Owned by an Englishman – very similar to a Weatherspoons, reasonably priced and good choice (the only place I found in the Bahamas that did a veggie burger!).

Dolce Vita – located next to The Pub, owned by the same person but distinctively different. Quite expensive pasta dishes but excellent service.

Dominoes Pizza – my Godsend! Apparently this branch has the highest sales of any Dominoes outlet – not surprising when you see what’s on offer in the rest of the Port Lucaya area! They also thought I was a bit strange requesting sweetcorn on my pizza!! (unfortunately they didn’t do it anyway!).

Subway – Another Godsend! Delicious rolls and salads from 7.30am!! The most reasonable place to eat/takeaway.

What to do
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Beaches, beaches, beaches – and some looking exactly like the brochure! The ones near the hotel areas are nothing special – pretty much like the ones I saw in Crete earlier this year. But you get a car and you can travel just a few miles down the road and have your very own idyllic private tropical beach! I cannot describe just how beautiful some of the beaches were that I saw. Crystal clear waters, white soft sand, shallow, warm – perfect for a beach lover like myself!

One of my favourites was Gold Rock beach where at low tide the white sand had the imprint of the waves. This is quite isolated, about 30 miles from Freeport and you have to walk through the Lucayan National Park to get to it. Take insect repellent as the mossies are out in force big time!! Another favourite was Crabbing Bay beach – to get to this beach which is off the beaten track (but you can be sure to have it completely to yourself!), you need to go to the tiny McLean’s town which is the most easterly town on the island and pop into the Cardi’s bar and ask the owner (Cardi!) about it. Mclean’s town is very much worth a visit just to see all the Conch shells that line the waters edge.

Another priority for me was to swim with dolphins. UNEXSO, located in the Port Lucayan area offers 3 levels of interaction with their dolphins at Sanctuary Bay (these are dolphins held in captivity who have been rescued from other countries – they are taken out into the ocean and allowed to interact with one another so I did approve!). At $109 swimming with dolphins for 40 minutes doesn’t come cheap but I really cannot recommend this enough! It is truly a wonderful experience with such intelligent creatures – you will know what I mean if you have experienced this.

The Lucayan National Park is also worth a visit – there are acres of tropical parkland with 2 caves that were used by the Lucayan Indians. Now they are home to loads of bats who use the caves as maternity wards!!! It is really quite a sight! I was a little confused about whether I had to pay or not as some booklets say there is a cost and some don’t (the rep’s tours charge you entrance fee unsurprisingly!!). But when we turned up there was no one around to pay so I would say don’t bother pre-paying and only pay the park warden if you see him (certainly do not add to the tour company’s profits by paying unnecessarily!).

One final place I would recommend, especially if you have children is Garden of the Groves. As well as a well kept tropical garden with loads of plants and flowers there is also several animal attractions. Being the big kid that I am, I actually enjoyed feeding the fish and goats!!! It costs $9.95 admission, and without children you can ‘do’ the whole park in under 2 hours.

Snorkelling is also BIG on the island. The Bahamas has 5% of the World’s Coral Reef. One of the best places to do this is at Paradise Cove – where for $3 you get some advice beforehand (more if you want to borrow equipment). I would advise most people (unless they haven’t snorkelled before) to plan their own snorkelling trip without paying for an expensive organised snorkelling tour – most of what you want to see is just a short way from shore and you can sometimes get the best advice (free!) from the locals. You MUST respect the reef eco-system though by not touching or standing on it. Scuba diving is quite expensive in the Bahamas as you have to take the training sessions first before you dive – only recommended to the rich amongst you!

Conclusion
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Phew! Think I have covered most things and probably bored you all silly! I will update if I think of more (if you do intend on visiting please feel free to e-mail me for more snippets!). Anyway, I cannot really detail just how beautiful the Bahamas can be if you escape your resort. I had a completely stress free holiday with great weather. For me the beauty and seclusion of the beaches really made my holiday (call me sad but I am a real beacholic!).

My holiday cost me £539 room only (I did pay for half board initially but that’s another opinion!) – this is what you would pay to sit like sardines on a European beach. Whilst I am not criticising that kind of holiday (and I have done it and will do it again!), this time I wanted something a bit different. I wanted my idyllic beach and to sit back without a care in the world (obviously as cheap as I could get it too!!!). The Bahamas gave me a chilled out and completely relaxing experience – the people were great (speaking English helped no end!) and all in all I had a fantastic time.

© moose
 

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