Everything You Need to Know About This Hidden Gem!
Exuma is a very small island in the Bahamas, made up of two connecting islands; Little Exuma and Great Exuma. It's not a very well known destination, but it's becoming more popular among travel bloggers and influencers. It's also very close to where the infamous "Fyre Festival" was held.
There are a few great resorts on the main island, including the Grand Isle Resort and Spa, & the Sandals Emerald Bay Resort. We stayed at a private villa which we rented in a manner similar to an AirBnB. This was a great option for my family as it had plenty of space, we had our own private beach and a large deck. Not staying at a resort allowed us to experience the island like a local. The owner of the villa was able to provide great advice on where to go and what to do.
Our beach villa was in Little Exuma which was about a 15-20 minute drive from the airport and town centre. It was also a 45-60 minute drive from the opposite end of Big Exuma where most of the tours depart from.
There are lots of tour companies you can book full day tours through, we booked with Sugar Adventures and had a great experience! They took us to all of the must see spots, including the swimming pigs, the iguanas, the sandbar, thunderball grotto & swimming with the sharks at Compass Cay!
We also did a jet ski tour which was one of the highlights for us, we had a private tour guide for the 5 of us. We got to drive our own jet skis and follow the tour guide as he led us to some small islands with great views. While I loved this tour I would recommend it only for those with experience driving jet skis. These can be especially difficult to drive in the ocean and docking them on the shore required some skill.
This is a restaurant on an even smaller island just off the coast, you can take a ferry from Exuma town centre to here. It was a hidden gem with great food & drinks, we spent a whole day here.
It had an amazing beach where you can swim with the stingrays that come right up to people near the shore! These gentle giants can be scary at first but the locals assured us that they are actually very playful.
Be sure you bring cash to pay with, as few places will accept card & ATM's aren't very common on the island. There are only a handful of restaurants on the island that are located outside the town centre. We went to Tropic Breeze and Santana's after the locals all recommended these two restaurants. Both had somewhat limited menus that mainly consisted of seafood. This might be an issue if you had an allergy, but all of the food we ordered was great! You can also go to resorts to eat at their restaurants, we did this at February Point. Just call & check ahead of time that they accept guests who aren't staying at the resort.
Restaurants are a bit different than what you would expect in Europe or North America. They're typically open-air cabanas or patios and the service is much more laid back. The "Our Hours" section of this sign about sums it up.
Another option is to hire a private chef for a night! This may sound quite fancy but it's definitely worth it. You can choose how much you want to spend as you will generally be given a menu ahead of time. The chef will have you tell them a few days in advance what you would like to eat that night. Ours caught all of the seafood the day of so it was very fresh, this was the best meal we had the entire week!
I decided to dedicate a whole section to these since they are all amazing but often hidden & very difficult to find. I would recommend you ask the locals or research the locations ahead of time. Unlike most islands these beaches were never crowded, sometimes we were the only people there. The best beach by far was the Tropic of Cancer beach which was located in Little Exuma.
Some other beaches worth looking into include Rolltown beach (pictured below), Jolly Hall, Cocoplum, & Shoreline.
Exuma did not have much of a nightlife in terms of bars and clubs, I would not recommend going out alone at night in the town centre. If you are staying at a resort then they will likely put on their own activities or entertainment. However if you are staying in a private beach villa you might be best to stay in, watch the sunset & enjoy the island breeze.
While there were no major cultural differences in terms of language or clothing, there were a few minor differences worth noting. As with most island life the locals are much more laid back so expect things to run a little more slowly than you might be used to. The island also doesn't have the strongest infrastructure, the roads are generally small & unpaved. Furthermore, there are very few recognizable brands or chains, it's mainly locally owned shops & businesses. Finally, be sure to look holidays beforehand, as almost everything will be closed on a holiday. We unknowingly arrived on their Independence Day and almost everything was going to be closed for two days, which made buying groceries almost impossible!
If you're looking for more info check out their official website or follow them on Instagram!