Holidays To The Bahamas

Getting To, From And Around The Bahamas

When flying internationally from the UK, you'll most likely land in Nassau. Direct flights with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly from London into Nassau, taking around 9 hours 30 minutes, where you can pick up a regional flight if staying on one of the other islands. Alternatively, you can fly indirect via the US to Nassau, Freeport on Grand Bahama, George Town on Great Exuma, or a number of other islands.

Once in Nassau, you can pre-book your airport transfers or hire a car. Alternatively a taxi can be just as easy and if you want to explore, day trips and organised excursions will allow you to do so.

Bahamasair offer the regional flights between the islands, so if you're booking a twin centre holiday, or simply want to discover other areas of The Bahamas on a day trip, this can be the quickest and easiest way to do so. Ferries are also an option but will take longer.

Tour Operators

For a package holiday to The Bahamas, both BA Holidays and Virgin Holidays offer ABTA and ATOL protected flight and hotel packages, along with TUI (using British Airways flights), helping you to save and protect your cash when you book. You can also book through other tour operators like loveholidays, Kenwood Travel and Travel Republic, who can help you with a tailormade option, such as a stopover in Miami, Florida, or island hopping amongst the various islands of the Bahamas.

Things To Do

There's of things to do in The Bahamas, whether you simply want to spend time in the stunning turquoise sea, or try every watersport available. If you love shopping, you'll love it here too, with places like the Port Lucaya Marketplace. International visitors can also take advantage of the duty free shopping on offer here, allowing you a tax refund before you head back to the UK.

Beaches

The beaches here are certainly one of the biggest attractions. The soft white sand and clear water are an iconic part of the islands. Cable Beach, rated one of the beautiful on New Providence Island is situated on the west of the island and is certainly worth a visit. The other place you must visit is on Harbour Island. Here you'll discover Pink Sand Beach, made famous by the creatures whose pink bodies and shells leave traces on the sands.

Day Trips & Attractions

While you might want to spend most days by the pool or at the beach, you've got to head out and discover more. From day trips around New Providence to find more great beaches, or duty-free shopping, to jumping on a flight to another one of the islands to discover more about the area. There is so much to see and do.

Watersports

With such clear water, you'll no doubt want to be out on it and there's no better place to enjoy the wide variety of watersports than The Bahamas. One of the biggest attractions here is the scuba diving and snorkelling where the clarity of the sea water makes observing the marine life here some of the best in the world.

Eating Out

Many hotels and resorts will want to you stay in the hotel, however, one of the best things you can do is head out and enjoy some of the local cuisine at one of many restaurants. Seafood is very popular here, and you should certainly try the local delicacy Conch, while you're on holiday.

Where To Stay

While North Andros Island is the largest, it's general not where most people stay when visiting. Most people will fly into Nassau on New Providence Island and spend most of their time here. 7 nights is a good period to relax and unwind, however, you can easily spend 2 weeks here. And with plenty of other islands to enjoy, here's where to stay:

Nassau

Many of the big resort hotels are in Nassau, being easily accessible to the international airport. Resorts like Sandals Royal Bahamian, the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and Breezes Bahamas are located here, are affordable and mean you can also enjoy all the other activities that New Providence has to offer.

Paradise Island

Just a short hop across the water is Paradise Island. It's here that you'll find the iconic Atlantis Bahamas and her sister hotels, The Reef at Atlantis and The Cove at Atlantis. While pricier, this iconic Atlantis resort is also home to the Aquaventure waterpark and Dolphin Cay, as well as stunning beaches just waiting to be enjoyed.

The Exumas

Over half of the islands in The Bahamas are in The Exumas and this is where you'll find the famous swimming pigs. From Nassau, you can take a 14 hour ferry or jump on a 40 minute flight to the largest of the islands, Great Exuma, before heading out to explore Little Exuma and the Exuma Cays. Within the Cays is Big Major Cay where you'll find Pig Beach.

Andros

Despite being the largest island in the Bahamas, Andros is not really a big tourist destination. There are only a few places to stay here. The island itself is vast and offers some incredible activities like scuba diving and hiking through the Blue Holes National Park. Expect to pay a premium to visit but you can also expect to escape many of the tourist crowds too.

Weather In The Bahamas

While the weather can be generally warm year round in the Bahamas, there are a couple of notable seasons to be aware of.

Winter

The winter months of November to March are generally considered the best time to visit the Bahamas. Rainfall is at its lowest and average temperatures are generally around the mid 20s, making it ideal for enjoying a tropical sunny holiday. Because of this, especially around Christmas and New Year in December and January, holiday prices can be much higher, making it a bit less affordable as a holiday destination.

Summer

The summer months are generally hotter than winter, however, June to November is also hurricane season, with regular short sharp downfalls. Hurricanes actually only occur a few times a year (on average about 7 times a year), so isn't generally much of a concern to most holidaymakers, however it can put a dampner on your holiday in paradise when you've spent all that money. The School Summer holidays can come at a premium because of what it is, but generally the months of May, June and September and October can be relatively cheap as they are outside of school holidays and there is a higher chance of downpours.