The Bahamas

The Bahamas 2022 Trip Summary

West

East

The home we rented (via VRBO) near Hooper’s Bay had 2 master suites separated by the Living Room/Kitchen area which was excellent for our 2 adult couples. The air conditioning worked perfectly and the kitchen more or less had what we needed to cook a handful of meals at the home. The only problem was…the running water turned off every night at 10pm, and didn’t turn on again until 6am. Apparently this wasn’t unusual as every local we mentioned it to, along with the home owner said essentially “yeah, that happens here sometimes!”.

The rental car situation is well documented in online forums and although we weren’t surprised, we did get a few laughs with our rental from Thompson’s Rental Car. The first thing we noticed was the the top half of the windshield was tinted to help protect from the blazing sun…but not the bottom half. So it created a visual interference depending on where your line of sight was. There was also a very large sticker in the middle of the window saying “keep left” with an arrow pointing left - to remind the driver that in Exuma, they drive on the left side of the road! Next we noticed that only 3 of the 4 windows rolled down…so one person in our party always got the “hot seat”. The door lock button function didn’t work, so the driver had to manually lock all the doors from the inside, before getting out of the car to lock his/her own door. Finally, there was no spare tire in the vehicle (thankfully we didn’t need it!). That said, the car functioned to get us all around the island, and we were able to find gas (although locals warned us to go early in the day in case it ran out!) before returning it to the rental center.

Almost all of the local workers we interacted with seemed to fall somewhere between despondent and disinterested.

The food at all but 1 restaurant was disappointing (mostly fried, not unique). The one restaurant we would HIGHLY recommend is Cocoplum Bistro - but be sure to make a reservation because it’s tied to a small resort and resort guests have priority: https://www.cocoplumbistroexuma.com/. We also enjoyed our drinks and the view at Blue on the Water, although we didn’t make it back down there for a meal.

There were 3 very small markets nearby, and each seemed to have something that the other was lacking. For example, one had a much bigger selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, and another had a large selection of meat. So although we made multiple stops on multiple days, we were able to find everything we needed for our pre-planned meals at home which included things like vegetable pasta w marinara, chicken quesadillas, breakfast burritos/omelets, lunch sandwiches, meat & cheese appetizers, and cocktail ingredients!

For this visit to the Bahamas, Covid tests were required to enter the country, and the US was still requiring tests to return home. There was no problem upon entry, and I had an email confirmation from a local clinic saying that walk-in Rapid Covid tests were available on the day we needed them for $10 per person. Flash forward 2 weeks and we realized the day we needed the tests was Good Friday. When we reached out to the clinic to confirm they’d be open, they said “No!”. However, they offered an in-home service for $50 per person.

Now, if we haven’t turned you off to this island yet, there are some “must-do’s” we should mention!

First and foremost - rent a boat from Minn’s Water Sports. You can reserve Boston Whalers or Power Cat’s (between 17 and 26ft long) for the day (or for multiple days if you’re interested). You’re allowed to explore completely on your own within Elizabeth Harbor (about 8 miles long by 2 miles wide area). This includes the western side of stocking island (where Chat N Chill bar is located), as well as numerous Cays and a particular Sandbar which gets covered with high tide, but is walkable during low tide! Spend your day(s) hopping from beach to beach, google the best snorkel spots (or follow one of the MANY snorkel tour boats), or see what cool shells you can find (and, of course, leave for the next explorer to discover) - the day is yours! This was the highlight of our trip and (as long as you’re comfortable driving a boat) we’d highly recommend it!

Next, enjoy a beach day at Tropic of Cancer Beach, about 30 min south of George Town. Supposedly the Tropic of Cancer runs right through the beach BUT, with the earth’s tilt changing over time, it may be off by just a little bit. Either way, wear your sunscreen! And enjoy this beautiful white sand beach and stunning turquoise water. Shade is minimal (you’ll have to tuck yourself up under some small shrubs to find it), so bring an umbrella if you’ve got one handy. When we were there, Brea’s Delights Seaside Bar was operating right at the top of the set of stairs down to the beach. Also just a few miles away, are 2 restaurants highly recommended on Trip Advisor - Tropic Breeze or Santannas. We ended up at the latter for a late afternoon fried food snack and a few drinks.

Finally, take a water taxi (or your rental boat from Minn’s Water Sports) over to Chat n Chill located on Stocking Island, across the harbor from George Town. From our research, there were 2 water taxis available - A1 or Elvis. It seemed as if A1 departs from the end of Government Dock (the large dock where big ships can come into, and has room for parking at the end of it). Elvis appeared to leave from the wooden docks a couple hundred yards south of Government Dock. They both say they make regular trips out to Stocking Island, so you just have to wait for them to return when you’re ready to depart. Both were charging between $10 and $15 round trip per person. This is a popular tourist destination, especially on Sundays when they do a pig roast. You can also watch them create their famous conch salad (ceviche) - it doesn’t get any fresher!

Summary

Although we had a great time with our family on this trip, the island itself wasn’t what we had hoped it would be. Perhaps a different island would have been better for us, but the lack of infrastructure and an un-welcoming vibe from locals here was disappointing. Also, due to the time zone change between Colorado and Florida, and flight availability, we had to spend an extra night in FL in order to catch a flight to Great Exuma. Given the difficulty in getting here from Colorado, it’s not likely we’ll return to the Bahamas again soon, given all the other places in the world we want to travel.