What to do and see in Little Exuma, Out Islands: The Best Things to do

Reviewed By 746brooke

Have you ever wanted to see beautiful blue waters and walk along sandy beaches for miles? Then Exuma in the Bahamas the place for you! Flying into the island you can see the beautiful sand flats that surround the island and a wide ranging golf course near the Sandals hotel. The airport is a little run down, but right away you are greeted by friendly customs agents and locals. Housing is very easy to find on the islands of Exuma, there are condos in February Point, hotels such as Sandals on Emerald bay, and beautiful houses all throughout the island. More private houses tend to be near William’s Town and Tropic of Cancer Beach, but there are also many right in the heart of Georgetown which makes the stay very easy if you aren’t renting a car or scooters. Home rentals can cost anywhere from $200 a night to $3,000 per night which makes it accessible to a wide range of families. Restaurants on the island are limited; however, small resorts tend to have good restaurants, there are also several cute local restaurants, and amazing chefs to hire.The island is decently small so that many times if you ask for recommendations on a place to get food the locals will point you to a place where they know all of the workers. Often, you will hear them recommend Santana’s, which is a small beachfront restaurant with sharks nearby to feed, or Tropic Breeze, a stir-fry restaurant with an amazing ocean view. Another place that is recommended is The Rusty Anchor, which is an indoor-outdoor restaurant nestled into February Point which is one of the most well known resort estates in Exuma. Also, if you are interested in staying in your house for the night, there are wonderful chefs throughout the island that you can hire. While my family was there, we had a chef come and cook 5 of the 10 nights. They made everything from jerk chicken, a spicy caribbean chicken dish, to conch soup and salad. Although there may not be as many restaurants as there may be on more developed caribbean islands, Exuma gives a large variety of caribbean foods at every restaurant. There are 365 islands in Exuma’s chain; however, the main islands including: Great Exuma and Little Exuma, are centralized around Georgetown, which is the largest city, and are connected by the Queen’s Highway, which is the major thoroughfare on the island. When I say highway, it is not like a highway in the US, the top speed is about 60 mph. You will also not be seeing tons of giant semi’s or even that large of cars on the highway, normally you will see scooters, and smaller cars or jeeps. In order to get from William’s Town, the southernmost point on the island, to Emerald Bay, the northmost point on the island, it will only take about 57 minutes via Queen’s Highway. With Georgetown nestled nearly in the middle of these two towns, just a short drive in your car or scooter will take you to Georgetown for any necessities. In Georgetown, there are tons of booths at the market during the week. There is also the main grocery store in Georgetown, along with several banks. Many places in Exuma run on cash only, which means that you might need to stop at those banks to get more cash if you are running low. Activities are also abundant on the islands, with snorkeling, hiking, boating, swimming, and history throughout the Exuma Cays. There are tons of sand flats, blue holes, and reefs that make great family snorkeling trips. Boat rentals are also very easy to book. If you take a short walk through Georgetown you will see Minn’s water sports which has boat rentals. Our family booked through Robert’s Island Adventures, which is a smaller private boat rental place where either Captain Robert or Captain Muffin will take you around to many sandflats, reefs, cays, and blue holes around the islands. You can book half day or full day tours with many of the boat tour companies. Costs depend on who you choose to book your boat with; however, if there are other groups on the tours it can make the cost less expensive. The Exuma islands are also very safe islands, the smaller population compared to other caribbean islands is also a bonus because it brings an extra sense of relaxation and safety. Even compared to Turks and Caicos, which is a very popular and safe island in the caribbean, Exuma wins in safety. In Turks and Caicos we have had a bodyguard around the house to make sure nothing went wrong due to being on a more populated beach, but in Exuma there was no need to have one because of how safe of an island it was. The Exuma islands are the place to vacation. They have everything you could ask for when it comes to adventures, restaurants, and vibrant towns while also being a safe group of islands where you don’t have to worry about crime. The range in pricing for housing on this island also makes it open to vacationers of all budgets.