Nassau starts at the water.
Swimming pigs off Rose Island, sea turtles on the reef, rum and conch down Bay Street, and the powerboat run out to the Exuma cays. What each trip is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
The ones that book out first.
These are the trips a Nassau calendar gets built around: the swimming-pigs run to Rose Island, the reef snorkel with the sea turtles, the rum-and-conch walk down Bay Street, and the jeep loop past the harbour forts.
Nassau Island Highlights Sightseeing Tour
Nassau highlights in 2.5 hours with pickup, Atlantis time, Queen’s Staircase photos, and rum cake, chocolate, and pina colada tastings.
From $80 per person
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★ 4.5Boats fill earlySandy Toes The Original Rose Island and Swimming Pigs TourFrom $2581,232 reviews
★ 5.0Harbour classicRum Tasting and Food Walking Tour in Nassau BahamasFrom $981,030 reviews
★ 4.5Worth the alarmATV Island Tour with Beach Break (Everyone Drive their Own ATV)From $100906 reviews
★ 4.8Half-day easySnorkeling, Pig Beach, Swim with Turtles, and LunchFrom $165790 reviews
★ 4.5Full sea dayNassau Swimming Pigs: Snorkeling, Lunch & Private Beach ClubFrom $140783 reviews
★ 4.5Bay Street stapleRum Reggae and Rhythms Tour: Dancing and CocktailsFrom $73651 reviews
Yes, the pigs really swim out to you.
Boat out past the moored yachts, drop anchor off a sandbar, and a dozen pigs come paddling for lunch. Rose Island keeps it close to Nassau; the Exuma cays make a full day of it. Either way it is the photo the whole trip gets planned around.
Which swimming-pigs trip is yours?
Everyone wants the pigs. Which boat you want depends on how much of the day you are willing to give the sea. Three routes out of Nassau, with the trips behind each one priced and written up.
Close to Nassau
The half-day off Rose Island
from $258 · 1,232 reviews
Twenty minutes out of the harbour to Sandy Toes and Rose Island. Pigs, a turtle snorkel, a private beach with loungers and lunch, back at the dock by mid-afternoon. The easy win when the calendar is tight or the sea is running high.
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The famous ones
The full day out to Exuma
from $750 · 504 reviews
The pigs from every postcard live at Big Major Cay, south down the chain. It is a long powerboat run or a short flight, with iguanas, nurse sharks and swimming pigs in one day. Worth every early alarm; pack for open water and a full day at sea.
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Everything at once
The three-island combo
4 hours · from $136 · 2,585 reviews
One boat, three stops: swimming pigs, a reef swim with the sea turtles, and a private beach club with lunch and a bar. The most-booked shape on the island, because it packs the whole highlight reel into a single ticket.
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The sea does not stop at sunset.
Catamarans slip out of the harbour as the light goes gold, sails up for the run past Paradise Island. Rum punch, dinner on deck, and the lights of Nassau coming on behind you. The calmest hour of a Bahamian day is the one after the sun sets.
Conch, rum, and a fork in hand.
Cracked conch at the harbour stalls, a rum flight at Graycliff, fish fry down at Arawak Cay. The walking-food tours string the best of Bay Street into one very good afternoon.
Take the wheel yourself.
Everyone drives their own on the ATV island loops, and the pirate jeeps run the coast road past the forts and the old plantation walls. Bring a licence and closed shoes, then let someone else navigate.
Bay Street still tells the story.
Pastel colonial facades, the straw market, the pink government house and the harbour forts above it. Three hundred years of pirates, loyalists and rum-runners are still standing downtown. A good guide walks you through all of it before the cruise crowds land.
Pick your patch of the Bahamas.
The island works in pockets, and the cays fan out from the harbour. Rose Island for the quick pig run. Exuma for the famous ones. Pearl Island for the reef. Bay Street for the rum and the forts.
Choose the kind of day.
Twelve shapes a New Providence day can take, from a reef swim to a rum tasting. Every trip under each one is written up and priced.
A boat away for the day.
The cays are the day trips here. Powerboat out to the Exuma pigs, sail across to Rose Island, snorkel the Pearl Island reef, and be back at the dock before dinner.
Three days from the harbour.
You cannot see all of the Bahamas from one island, but three days out of Nassau covers the best of it. This is the order that works when you land at Lynden Pindling with a week ahead of you.
Day 1
Find your feet downtown
Bay Street and the straw market, the harbour forts, cracked conch at Arawak Cay, and an easy first swim off Cabbage Beach. Gentle pace, maximum Bahamas.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The big water day
The three-island boat: swimming pigs, a reef swim with the sea turtles, a private beach club with lunch. Book it for a settled-weather morning and let the day run long.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Out to the cays
Powerboat or a short flight south to the Exuma pigs, the iguanas and the sandbars. Check the forecast two days out and move this one to the calmest sea.
Plan the cay day →
Just written up.
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★ 5.0Nassau, Private Swimming Pig, Island Hopping, Snorkeling, TurtlesFrom $79923 reviews
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