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