Things to Do in Nassau: Tours, Tickets & Boat Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the Nassau island highlights tour, 2) the rum-tasting and food walking tour, 3) the swimming pigs, snorkel and beach-club day on Rose Island, 4) an ATV tour with a beach stop, 5) the Exuma powerboat adventure to the original swimming pigs and iguanas, 6) swimming with turtles, 7) a reef snorkel trip, 8) the KINDWalk history and culture walk, 9) Atlantis Aquaventure and its aquarium and 10) the Fish Fry at Arawak Cay for conch salad.

Plan three to four days. Day one: the highlights tour or a walk from the port up the Queen’s Staircase to Fort Fincastle, the Pirates of Nassau museum, lunch and a rum tasting downtown, sunset at Junkanoo Beach. Day two: the swimming pigs, turtles and snorkelling on Rose Island with a beach club. Day three: Atlantis Aquaventure, or Cabbage Beach and the free walk through Atlantis, then the Fish Fry. Day four: an ATV or Jeep tour west to Clifton Heritage Park and Jaws Beach, Compass Point for sunset. Cruise passengers usually pick the pigs or Atlantis.

Junkanoo Beach and Cable Beach, Cabbage Beach via the public path beside the Riu on Paradise Island, the 66 steps of the Queen’s Staircase and Fort Fincastle’s water-tower view, Fort Charlotte, the Straw Market, Bay Street’s colonial buildings and Parliament Square, the John Watling’s distillery tour and grounds, the Cloisters at the Ocean Club (public garden), Atlantis’s Marina Village and lobby aquarium views, Baha Mar’s flamingos and art collection and the free Junkanoo parades on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Rose Island’s swimming pigs and beach clubs (30 minutes by boat; about $133–145), Blue Lagoon Island for a beach day or dolphin encounter (20-minute ferry), Pearl Island’s lighthouse beach, the original Exuma pigs, iguanas and Thunderball Grotto by powerboat ($329) or a flight to Staniel Cay, Harbour Island’s pink sand and Eleuthera by fast ferry (two hours) or flight, Andros’s blue holes by flight and the western tip of New Providence — Clifton Heritage Park, Jaws Beach and Compass Point — by ATV or Jeep.

The Fish Fry at Arawak Cay for conch salad, fried snapper and rake-and-scrape music on Fridays, the casinos and shows at Atlantis and Baha Mar, a sunset dinner cruise, cocktails at Graycliff after a cigar-rolling demonstration, Compass Point’s colourful bar at sunset, Señor Frog’s and the bars around Junkanoo Beach, Bon Vivants in Palmdale, Marina Village at Atlantis and, over Christmas and New Year, the Junkanoo parades that start after midnight.

Winter is peak season — dry, breezy days around 77°F, calm seas for the pig and snorkel boats and the cruise ships at their busiest. Junkanoo, the Bahamas’ carnival of drums, cowbells and costumes, parades through downtown on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day; the sea is a touch cooler (75°F) but perfectly swimmable. Book Rose Island and Exuma trips ahead over the holidays and on days with several ships in port.

Atlantis Aquaventure’s slides, lazy river and the Dig aquarium, Blue Lagoon Island’s calm beach and dolphin encounters, the swimming pigs on Rose Island (the pigs paddle right up to the boat), the Pirates of Nassau museum, the Queen’s Staircase, a glass-bottom or semi-submarine reef cruise, Junkanoo Beach’s shallow water, Baha Mar’s flamingos and the Junkanoo Beach food trucks. Sea turtles and stingrays at Blue Lagoon suit children who can snorkel.

December to April — dry, warm and calm, with the highest prices and most cruise ships. May, June and November are warm, quieter and cheaper. July to October is hot and humid with the hurricane season peaking in September; many hotels discount heavily and the sea is at its warmest.

Yes, with a caveat: the Rose Island pigs are 30 minutes from Nassau and the day (about $133–145) adds snorkelling, turtles and a beach club, which makes it the best-value boat trip from the capital. The original Exuma pigs at Big Major Cay are a three-hour powerboat run or a flight away ($329 and up) — worth it for the iguanas, sharks and Thunderball Grotto if you have a full day and a strong stomach.