Bahamas Vacation: How to Choose an Island

Thinking about a vacation in the Bahamas but don'tis Bimini Road, a highway of stone in twenty feet of
know which island to visit? This article will introducewater that some believe is a remnant of the lost city
you to each island's unique character and theof Altantis.
mysteries and adventures it has to offer.With sixty miles of beaches and only a few dozen
New Providence Island is home to Nassau, the capitalhotel rooms, Eleuthera is a paradise for beach lovers
of the Bahamas and by far its largest city. Nassauwho enjoy privacy and unspoiled natural beauty.
was first settled in the 1600's and is rich with history,Eleuthera is an island of rolling green hills and sleepy
including plenty of genuine pirates. Nassau has somevillages. The guidebooks are fond of noting that
beautiful colonial architecture, and on the outskirts, aEleuthera has not a single traffic light, but that isn't
strip of high-rise hotels and casinos along Cable Beach.surprising when you consider that most of it has only
Paradise Island, connected to New Providence by aone road. Needless to say, there is little need for a
bridge, is home to the gargantuan Atlantis resort withmap, and on an island less than a mile wide for long
its shark pools and water slides. New Providencestretches, you're never far from the beach.
offers golf, tennis, diving, fishing charters, gambling,Andros is by far the largest of the Bahamian islands,
night life, sight-seeing, and cultural activities.with an area of 2300 square miles. The interior, said
Half a century ago, Grand Bahama Island, whereto be the largest still-unexplored landmass in the
Freeport is located, was almost uninhabited. Today,world, is home to six-foot iguanas and the rare
its port is one of the largest in the hemisphere, andBahamian boa constrictor. Sasquatch has not been
the city of 50,000 is well known as a resort andsighted, but only because no one has braved the
cruise-ship destination. The tourism center is Portiguanas and boas to look for him. The east coast of
Lucaya, which features a large marina, high-rise beachthe island, the only populated area, has scattered
resorts, shopping, and dining. Unlike New Providence,villages and miles of beautiful beaches. Just offshore
the island of Grand Bahama has less populatedis Andros's other great attraction, a vast barrier
regions as well, with deserted beaches and tropicalreef-the second largest in the world.
pine forests. The Lucayan National Park includes aLong Island is one of the few Bahamian islands which
nature preserve and vast underwater cave system.does not depend primarily on tourism. Fishing, and to
The Abacos, the acknowledged sailing capital of thea lesser extent agriculture, still predominate. The
Bahamas, are among the world's most beautifulisland was settled by American Loyalists from the
cruising grounds. Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco is aSouth, who came with their slaves and established
major boat-charter center as well as a base forplantations. The soil would not support large-scale
diving and deep-sea fishing. The Abacos were settledfarming, however, and the plantations were gradually
by Loyalists who fled New England after theabandoned. Their ruins can still be seen. Long Island is
Revolutionary War, and the islands are known foralso home to Dean's Blue Hole, one of the deepest in
their Cape-Cod-style houses with clapboard siding andthe world and a spectacular sight with its high cliff
picket fences. To contrast its quaint villages, Abacowalls.
has several major resorts complete withFifty miles long and with a population of 1600, Cat
championship golf courses and acres ofIsland is a place for people who want to get away
condominiums.from the hustle and bustle of, for example, rural
The Exumas are a chain of over 300 islands andNorth Dakota. Cat has many miles of deserted,
cays. Aside from Great and Little Exuma, which arepink-sand beaches, and a central ridge that reaches
the two largest, most are uninhabited-and that's half200 feet, the highest elevation in the Bahamas. A
the fun. Like the Abacos, the Exumas are wonderfulmonastery known as the Hermitage, hand-built by an
cruising grounds. The largest settlement is GeorgeAnglican clergyman turned Catholic priest, is located
Town on Great Exuma, a village of 1000 soulsatop the peak. Aside from heaven itself, a hermit
with a fine harbor. The Exuma Cays Land and Seacould hardly have found a better place for peace and
National Park, at the north of the chain, is popularquiet.
with divers, and even has a few nature trails forColumbus made his first landfall in the new world on
landlubbers. Exuma also has several major resorts,the Bahamian island of San Salvador. There are four
including the Four Seasons at Emerald Bay.monuments to the event scattered about this lonely
Hemingway's famous "Island in the stream," Bimini liesisland of 1000 souls. The interior of San Salvador is
in the Gulf Stream, just 50 miles from the east coasttaken up largely by salt lakes and marshes, and the
of Florida. Hemingway helped make it famous as aonly road follows the circumference of the island. San
center of deep-sea fishing, and it remains so to thisSalvador is almost entirely surrounded by a reef and
day. Bimini-which is actually two islands and a numberhas some of the best diving in the Bahamas, including
of cays--is also a popular cruising ground, and thecave diving and wreck diving. The beaches are also
main settlement, Alice Town, caters to the yachtingexcellent. The island is home to the Bahamas' only
crowd. Bimini has one major resort, Bimini Bay, but isClub Med, a vast resort of 200 rooms, one of the
otherwise still very rustic. Bimini's other claim to famemost luxurious in the Club Med chain.