The Bahamas, one boat day at a time.
Which pig beach is worth the crossing. What a day in Exuma really costs. Whether the reef off Rose Island beats the one at Pearl. Every tour in the Bahamas, reviewed.
The days people fly to the Bahamas for.
Pigs in the shallows, green turtles at knee height, a reef twenty minutes out of Nassau harbour and a sandbar that only exists at low tide. The handful of days most trips get built around.
Swimming pigs: pick the crossing that fits.
All 67 swimming pig tours →
Nassau boats reach the Rose Island herd in half an hour. Exuma is ninety minutes of open water or a short flight north, and that is where the postcard pigs live. These three carry the most travellers.
Rose Island, back by lunch
Twenty minutes out of the harbour, pigs in waist-deep water, a snorkel stop over the reef edge and a beach club to sit out the afternoon in.
Exuma by powerboat, pigs at Big Major
Ninety minutes across open water to the sandbar the postcards use, with iguanas at Allen Cay and a swim through Thunderball Grotto on the way home.
Fly in, swim, fly home
A morning flight turns the crossing into twenty minutes and hands you the whole day for sandbars, nurse sharks and lunch with your feet in the water.
Nassau is a lot more than the cruise pier.
Conch cracked to order at Arawak Cay, the Queen’s Staircase cut by hand out of limestone, rum poured where it is aged, and a straw market that was trading long before the resorts. Most of it fits into one afternoon ashore.
The Bahamas tours travellers book most.
Every review →The days more people take than anything else in the islands, and what each one actually gets you.
1
Bites of Nassau Food and Walking Tour
Taste Bahamian food, rum cocktails, and Nassau history on a three-hour small-group walking tour with five local stops.
From · $99
Read our review →
2
3 Islands Tour, Snorkel, Pig Beach, Turtles & Lunch
from $136
3
Nassau Island Highlights Sightseeing Tour
from $80
4
Pirate Jeep Sightseeing Adventure!
from $165
5
Swimming Pigs and Private Beach Club Escape
from $149
6
Sandy Toes The Original Rose Island and Swimming Pigs Tour
from $258
7
Pigs, Snorkel, Turtles, Lunch, Private Beach Club
from $139
8
Rum Tasting and Food Walking Tour in Nassau Bahamas
from $98
Turtles at Green Cay, reef at Rose Island.
The water off New Providence runs clear for twenty-five metres on a calm morning. Green turtles come in to the boats at Green Cay, the reef edge holds sergeant majors and the odd ray, and a clear-bottomed kayak shows you the lot without getting your hair wet.
- 13 Islands Tour, Snorkel, Pig Beach, Turtles & Lunchfrom $136
- 2Pigs, Snorkel, Turtles, Lunch, Private Beach Clubfrom $139
- 3Snorkeling, Pig Beach, Swim with Turtles, and Lunchfrom $165
What a day in the Bahamas costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by what it actually costs. The cheapest days on the water come in under a resort lunch.
Walking tours, rum tastings, an hour on a jet ski and the beach days you reach by ferry.
The standard Nassau boat day: pigs, a snorkel stop, turtles and lunch, back by mid-afternoon.
Exuma by powerboat or plane, private charters, and the days that take in a whole island group at once.
Past New Providence the water gets emptier.
Grand Bahama runs at half the speed of Nassau and keeps its beaches to itself. Exuma has the pigs, the sandbars and the nurse sharks. Pearl Island is a lighthouse, a stretch of sand and very little else. All three are a boat ride or a short flight away.
All 15 Exuma day trips →
Things that only happen in the Bahamas.
Reef and rum turn up all over the Caribbean. Pigs that swim out to meet the boat, turtles that arrive at knee height and a sandbar that appears at low tide belong to these islands.
The Swimming Pigs
Nobody agrees how pigs reached an uninhabited cay in the Exumas. Sailors left them, a wreck delivered them, a farmer gave up on them: pick a version. What is not in doubt is that they now swim out to meet arriving boats, that they are far stronger swimmers than they look, and that the feeding happens in waist-deep water with a crew member keeping everyone honest.
- 13 Islands Tour, Snorkel, Pig Beach, Turtles & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 2,585 reviews
- 2Swimming Pigs and Private Beach Club Escape★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,238 reviews
- 3Sandy Toes The Original Rose Island and Swimming Pigs Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,232 reviews
Bahamian Rum
Rum made Nassau rich twice, once under sail and once during Prohibition, and the trade never really left. A tasting here means aged pot-still rum in a stone cellar, a coconut chaser you did not order, and a guide who will tell you exactly which bottle survives the flight home.
- 1Rum Tasting and Food Walking Tour in Nassau Bahamas★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,030 reviews
- 2Rum Reggae and Rhythms Tour: Dancing and Cocktails★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 651 reviews
- 3Rum Tastings and Culinary Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 200 reviews
The Turtles
Green turtles gather in the shallows off Green Cay and Rose Island and come in to the boats because generations of them have been fed there. You stand waist-deep and they arrive at knee height, entirely unbothered. No cage, no tank, no wetsuit, and one firm rule about keeping your hands off the shells.
- 13 Islands Tour, Snorkel, Pig Beach, Turtles & Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 2,585 reviews
- 2Pigs, Snorkel, Turtles, Lunch, Private Beach Club★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,116 reviews
- 3Snorkeling, Pig Beach, Swim with Turtles, and Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 790 reviews
A north wind cancels the boats. It does not cancel the day.
Between December and March a cold front can flatten the boat schedule for two days at a stretch. The answer is ashore: rum poured in the cellar where it ages, conch cracked on the seawall at Arawak Cay, forts and staircases cut out of limestone, and an ATV convoy that does not care what the sea is doing.
The best hour in Nassau happens on the water.
Every boat trip out of Nassau →
All Inclusive Sunset Dinner Cruise in Nassau Bahamas
Read our review →
Pigs Beach Trip by Boat with Swimming and Feeding
Read our review →Book these before you land in the Bahamas.
Most of Nassau can be arranged from a hotel lobby the night before. These cannot. They run on small boats, one departure a day and flight seats that fill weeks out.
- 01Exuma Elite Escape: Luxury Fly-In Pig Beach Adventure – 7 StopsOne flight a day and a handful of seats: it is the only way to reach Big Major and be back for dinner.
- 02Exuma Powerboat Tour from Nassau with Swimming PigsThe Exuma powerboats leave Nassau once each morning and fill first in cruise season.
- 03Bites of Nassau Food and Walking TourSmall-group food walks cap at a dozen people and run on set days of the week.
- 04Sandy Toes The Original Rose Island and Swimming Pigs TourThe private beach clubs cap day passes, and a four-ship port day takes the lot.
Five days out of Nassau, in the order that works.
Nassau
Paradise IslandBy island
Nassau274 tours
Grand Bahama23 tours
Exuma15 tours
Rose Island29 tours
Paradise Island6 tours
Pearl Island7 tours- Every tour in the Bahamas →
The newest Bahamas tour reviews.
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Half-Day Private Rose Island Party Yacht Getaway
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Sea-nic, Sip N’ Snorkel on a Semi-Submersive Seacraft
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Graycliff Chocolatier Chocolate and Spirits Tasting in Nassau
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Hire Photographer, Professional Photo Shoot – Nassau
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Athol Island Swimming Pigs Half-Day Boat Tour with Lunch
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Ride Paradise Live Adventure and ATV Tours at Nassau Bahamas
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Half-Day at Green Cay Bahamas Snorkeling with Turtles
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Beach Day and Clear Kayak Photoshoot in Bahamas
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