Bahamas Overview | View a sample itinerary for this location

Perhaps the happiest way to start a holiday is to take the one hour Chalk’s fight over from Fort Lauderdale. Yes, it would be quicker to take a regular commercial jet, or even your own plane. The advantage to flying Chalk’s is the watery landing as the plane bellies into the channel of Nassau Harbor and chugs up the driveway to it’s small pad by the immigration office on Paradise Island. With very few seaplanes still in service, best to take this ride while you still can. Plus, checking in through Bahamian Customs and Immigration will take about 5 minutes here, perhaps less. Step outside the minute facility and into a waiting cab (there are always cabs waiting with friendly, smiling Bahamian drivers) for the two minute trip over to Atlantis, where your charter yacht is waiting.

You will want to quickly settle into your stateroom on the yacht, as Atlantis beckons you to explore its many wonders. The only question is, what to do first? The Dig? Water slides and water rides? The Casino? Best to make a plan. Let’s see, it will probably be hot outside, so how about viewing The Dig first, then into the water? The path to fun will certainly lead you through the impressive casino on your way. The casino at Atlantis links the towers and spans a seven acre lagoon. Sky lights and expansive windows bring the outdoors inside, and enormous sculptures of brilliant glass, designed by Dale Chihuly, infuse the casino with light. Energy abounds as you walk through the cacophony of sound from the 78 table games and 980 state-of-the-art slot machines. Hmmm, better to save the casino for this evening, let’s visit The Dig first.

An imposing exhibit, The Dig is reminiscent of an Indiana Jones adventure, taking you through a series of subterranean tunnels and rooms filled with artifacts left behind by the former residents of Atlantis. The Atlanteans, you will soon discover, were extremely innovative scientists, leaving behind many beautifully preserved items to marvel over. By the time you exit, you will be convinced that this hallowed place really IS where the ancient city of Atlantis has been re-discovered.

Water is what defines Atlantis. The eleven exhibit lagoons that comprise the waterscape surrounding Atlantis include a staggering 11 million gallons of water and 50,000 sea animals, which represent over 200 species. A couple of the most spectacular are the Predator Lagoon and The Ruins Lagoon. The Ruins Lagoon is a 2.7 million gallon aquarium with over 20,000 deep reef and pelagic fish, including a variety of tuna, jacks, snapper and spiny lobsters. The Predator Lagoon features just that: the underwater predators that one always associates with Sea Hunt, only without the giant squids! Sharks, barracudas, rays, sawfish and giant grouper live alongside a myriad of brilliant schooling fish in a natural environment complete with beautiful corals in every imaginable color.

Now, it’s time to GET WET! Are you up for some gentle, lazy fun, or a thrilling splashdown? Or both? Thrills first: head for the six story Mayan Temple that dominates the park-like setting of the interior ground of Atlantis. Five water slides are located there, varying from fast to you-have-to-be-nuts. For the daredevils of the group, try out the Leap of Faith: an almost vertical 60 foot drop taking you from the top of the Mayan Temple through a clear acrylic tunnel submerged in a shark filled lagoon. Of course, you are probably going so fast you won’t see the sharks anyway!

Once you have your heart racing, it’s time to slow down for the Lazy River Ride. Float your cares away as your inner tube slowly bumps its way around the quarter mile loop.
The next morning, you leave Atlantis behind and head for the Exumas Cays. The Bahamas offer a myriad of possible activities. You have already experienced the upscale, no-holds-barred splendor of Atlantis, and now are heading to the quiet serenity of the Exumas where the most glittering colorful show you will see will be put on by the tropical fish as you snorkel over them and not the sights and sounds of the casino.

Beginning a mere 50 miles from Nassau and sweeping in an almost unbroken chain for 90 miles, the Exumas form one of the most exquisite cruising grounds in the world. Local lore has it that there are 365 cays in the Exuma Group, with some of the most beautiful anchorages and harbors anywhere. Settlements are few and far between, and tend to be small, picturesque and a bit on the primitive side, with the local people friendly and courteous. Varying in size and topography, most are low and barren, while others, like Highborne Cay, have rolling hills covered with dense vegetation and small trees. But they all have one thing in common…they are surrounded by crystal clear waters that shimmer between the colors of azure and sparkling turquoise. At night the stars will spangle a black sky. With the absence of any large cities, there is no ambient loom of city lights, so stars seem abnormally bright to city dwellers and suburbanites alike. On moonless nights, the stars seem so brilliant you feel you could almost read by them. A feeling you probably haven’t had since you were in camp when you were about 10 years old, right?

Highbourne Cay is one of the more northern cays in the chain and the perfect place to start your Exuma adventure. A private island, this is the favorite outpost of seasoned yachtsman. There is a small marina there, and guests registered at the marina are allowed full access to the cay. The eastern shore of Highborne Cay is one of the loveliest beaches in all of The Bahamas, the perfect place for a beach picnic.

Continuing further south, you will come to Warderick Wells, which is perhaps the most popular cay in the Bahamas, certainly in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. The Land and Sea Park is one of the twelve parks managed by the Bahamas National Trust. In 1959 an Act of Parliament established the Bahamas National Trust in response to an effort to save the West Indian Flamingo from extinction. It is a statutory, non-profit, non-government organization devoted to the conservation and management of the country’s natural and historic resources. Volunteers make up a large part of manpower needed by the organization to keep up with the work entailed in maintaining such a vast undertaking. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was established as the first marine fishery reserve in the wider Caribbean area. So when you are snorkeling and admiring the variety of fishes and corals, you can thank the foresight of early conservationists in preserving the beauty of Warderick Wells for generations. And, just in case you were wondering what the fate of the flamingos was: they were brought back from the very brink of extinction to a thriving colony of over 60,000 birds in the Inauga National Park. If you want to see flamingos, perhaps you should ask your captain to head south to Inauga!

Warderick Wells deserves its place as “most popular cay”. And you will probably remember it as that one particular harbor that you will long to return to, if only in your memories. Over four miles of nature trails on the cay lead to rare plants, caves, wells, and the ruins of a small Loyalist Plantation. Discovery of the ruins lead to a search of the files in the National Archives in Nassau, revealing a land grant given to a family named Davis around 1785, so the plantation ant to visit. And to preserve its integrity, remember that fishing or taking of any wildlife within park limits is strictly forbidden.

Next stop: Staniel Cay. Another popular stop for yachtsmen, and you will soon see why. Boasting two marinas, two restaurants, three stores (The Pink Store, The Blue Store and the General), plus a post office and library, Staniel Cay practically buzzes with activity compared to most of the other islands. The general rule here is: Don’t Share Your Beach. There are too many of them to have to share you piece of sand with anyone else! Hollywood discovered the beauty of Staniel Cay years ago, the James Bond thrillers of Thunderball and Never Say Never were filmed here, as was Splash. In fact, one of the most popular sites to visit is the Thunderball Grotto. There is also a cave just north of the island that can be entered through a passage underwater by snorkeling. The place to hang out on Staniel Cay is the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, but then again, your captain will probably have your charter yacht docked there anyway. Make sure you try out one of the restaurants for some great local food.

Just be warned: the cuisine of The Bahamas is never, ever bland. Usually flavored with local peppers or limes, the tastes that result are often new and delicious to visitors.

Great Exuma Island is home to George Town, the largest settlement in the Exumas. At one time, several large plantations established by Loyalists flourished here, as the rolling countryside is fertile for crop cultivation and livestock, the ruins of these plantations, long abandoned, can still be seen. George Town is actually a village with one street circling Elizabeth’s Harbor. The hub of the town centers on Government Wharf where locals wait for the mailboat that arrives on a daily basis, and the catch of the day from arriving fishing vessels. You will often meet cruisers, people who have left their regular life behind to live onboard their boat, cruising the islands. Used as a “jumping off” point for the journey down to the Caribbean, George Town is ideally suited for both cruiser and charter yacht because of its excellent anchorages and the local business carry the most complete stock of supplies in the Exumas and the local airport has frequent air connections to Nassau and South Florida.

Club Peace and Plenty serves delicious Bahama food, there is a cozy, friendly bar, and live music on the terrace on “dance” nights. After a night of dancing at Peace and Plenty, Flamingo Bay is the perfect antidote. Located about two miles south of George Town, it boasts a beautiful beach to relax on and an excellent bone fishing area to fly fish.

Time to head back up to Nassau, with perhaps just one more stop at Warderick Wells. One last chance to soak up serenity, snorkel among the colorful fish and corals, spend time gazing at a black velvet sky studded with diamonds. Time to catch your breath. The Bahamas: where the casino at Atlantis never closes, where there is always another sugary white sand beach around the corner, where the water is so beautiful it almost hurts your eyes. The Bahamas; they mean it when they say it: “It’s Better in the Bahamas”. Time to find out for yourself.

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