Things to Do in Bahamas

From swimming with pigs in Exuma to diving Andros's barrier reef - the essential sights, and how to keep your own record of them.

Travel guide - last updated September 2026

The Bahamas is a chain of over 700 islands, and most visitors only ever see one or two - Nassau and Paradise Island as the resort-heavy standard, or the quieter, more scattered Out Islands for a completely different pace. Exuma's swimming pigs have become one of the most shared single images to come out of the Caribbean in recent years. Here are 5 places worth building a trip around.

Top attractions

The sights most first-time visitors build an itinerary around.

🐷

Swimming Pigs, Exuma

Feral pigs that swim out to greet boats on Big Major Cay, now one of the most recognizable images associated with the Bahamas - reached by a boat tour from George Town or a chartered flight from Nassau.

📍 Big Major Cay, Exuma

🚉 Big Major Cay has no scheduled service: boat tours run from Great Exuma and Staniel Cay, and most visitors fly to George Town or Staniel Cay first - day trips from Nassau are a long boat ride or a short charter flight.

⚓

Nassau & Paradise Island

The Bahamas's capital and its connected resort island, with historic Fort Charlotte, the pastel-colored Queen's Staircase, and Atlantis resort's marine habitats and water park.

📍 Nassau & Paradise Island

🚉 Nassau's jitney buses cover New Providence for a couple of dollars, and the water taxi crosses from Prince George Wharf to Paradise Island in 10 minutes.

🤿

Andros Barrier Reef

The third-largest barrier reef in the world, off the largest and least-developed of the main Bahamian islands, with some of the region's best bonefishing and blue hole diving.

📍 Andros Island

🚉 Andros is a 15-minute flight or a mailboat trip from Nassau; the reef is dived from the island's lodges, and the blue holes inland are reached by 4x4 track.

🏖️

Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island

A three-mile beach with genuinely pink-tinted sand, caused by crushed coral and shell fragments, on a small, laid-back island reached by ferry from Eleuthera.

📍 Harbour Island

🚉 Take the fast ferry from Nassau to North Eleuthera, then a water taxi to Harbour Island - golf carts are the transport once ashore, as the island is only 5km long.

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Shark Diving, Tiger Beach

A shallow sandbank off Grand Bahama known as one of the most reliable places in the world to dive with tiger sharks and lemon sharks in open water.

📍 Grand Bahama

🚉 Tiger Beach is a dive site off West End, Grand Bahama, reachable only by liveaboard or day boat from West End or Freeport, weather permitting.

Mark Bahamas, get the stamp

🇧🇸BAHAMASVISITED

🇧🇸BAHAMASLIVED

🇧🇸BAHAMASWISHLIST

In MyPassportStory, every country you mark - visited, lived in, or still on the list - becomes a stamp like these in your own travel passport. Add the cities you stopped in, draw the route between them, and turn the whole trip into a shareable passport-style image.

Open MyPassportStory

Planning questions

How many days do you need in the Bahamas?

4-5 days suits Nassau and Paradise Island well. A week lets you add an Out Island excursion like Exuma's swimming pigs or Harbour Island's pink beach.

What's the best time to visit the Bahamas?

December-April is the dry season and the most popular (and most expensive) time to visit. Hurricane season runs June-November, peaking August-October.

Is the Bahamas good for a first-time visit?

Yes - Nassau is well set up for tourism and a short flight from much of the US, and English is the official language throughout the islands.

Do I need a visa to visit the Bahamas?

Many nationalities, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and most of the EU, can visit visa-free for short tourist stays; other nationalities need a visa arranged in advance. Check the official visa information for your nationality: bahamas.gov.bs.

What are some things to do in the Bahamas on a tight budget?

Nassau's public beaches and historic Queen's Staircase cost nothing, local Bahamian food (conch fritters, peas and rice) is cheaper than resort dining, and joining a shared boat tour to Exuma costs considerably less than a private charter.

Can I rent a car in the Bahamas, and what licence do I need?

You can on the larger islands, though the Out Islands mostly run on golf carts and boats. A foreign licence is valid for visitors for up to three months, and an International Driving Permit is only needed if yours is not in English. Minimum age is usually 21 to 25 with a credit card. Traffic drives on the left, even though most cars are American imports with the steering wheel on the left too, which takes some adjustment at junctions. Official visitor information is published by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism at bahamas.com.