Summary: Whether you're searching for the best things to do in the Bahamas, planning a private villa escape, or deciding which Bahamian island to call home for your stay, answers are rarely simple and that is the whole point. The Bahamas is not a single destination so much as a world unto itself with more than 700 islands and 2,400 cays scattered across a vast sweep of the Atlantic. Each place has its own character, pace and shade of turquoise water. From the cosmopolitan energy of Nassau and Paradise Island, where Michelin-caliber restaurants and world-class casinos draw a global set, to the extraordinary solitude of uninhabited Exuma cays where swimming pigs wade out to greet arriving boats, this archipelago contains multitudes. Harbour Island's legendary pink sands beach, the artisan villages of the Abacos, the bone-white flats of Staniel Cay, the dramatic limestone cliffs of Eleuthera — nowhere else in the Caribbean delivers this breadth of experience within such effortless reach of the Eastern Seaboard.

LVH's curated portfolio of private estates spans all 10 of the archipelago's defining areas: Abaco, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, Harbour Island, Lyford Cay, New Providence, Old Fort Bay, Paradise Island, Staniel Cay and the Exumas. The journey begins with a flight of as little as one hour from Miami, three hours from New York or nine hours from London and from the moment of arrival, the Bahamas makes good on every promise.

There is a particular quality of light in the Bahamas painters and photographers have spent careers trying to capture. There is a luminous, saturated clarity born of shallow water over white sand, where the ocean shifts from pale jade at the shore to deep cobalt at the reef edge. It is the kind of light that makes the world feel freshly made.

A trip to the Bahamas has always attracted those who demand something beyond the ordinary. Nassau's Bay Street carries the legacy of Loyalist colonists and Caribbean pirates, of Junkanoo revelers dancing before dawn and of rum distillers perfecting recipes kept secret for generations. The Out Islands hold the quieter story of communities that have lived in near-complete self-sufficiency for centuries, where the rhythms of tides and fishing still govern daily life. Both versions of the Bahamas are real and both are extraordinary in their own ways.

What distinguishes the archipelago from every other Caribbean destination is the almost theatrical variety of its geography. Guests who charter a seaplane on a single afternoon can move from Nassau's gleaming resort complexes to an uninhabited cay where endangered iguanas approach from the undergrowth, to a shallow sandbar where a colony of semi-wild pigs swims out to meet them. No other island nation on earth offers anything quite like it. This guide navigates the full breadth of the things to do in the Bahamas island by island, experience by experience.

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The Islands: A Geographical Guide

Understanding the Bahamas means understanding each island rewards a different temperament and a different kind of journey. Among the islands in the Bahamas, no two are quite the same and the choice of where to stay is as important as the decision to visit the Bahamas at all.

New Providence Island & Nassau

Nassau Bahamas is the archipelago at its most layered and alive. The capital sprawls across New Providence Island with a confident vitality that can surprise first-time visitors expecting a sleepy Caribbean outpost. Fort Fincastle and the Queen's Staircase where 66 steps carved by enslaved Africans in the 18th century anchor the city's colonial heritage, while Bay Street pulses with commerce, color and the scent of rum from the century-old John Watling's distillery. Guests who spend meaningful time in Nassau quickly discover the city rewards deeper exploration far beyond the cruise port waterfront. The city's two premier residential enclaves represent a quieter register of Bahamian luxury. Albany, the private oceanfront community on the island's southwestern tip, is home to a marina, an 18-hole Ernie Els-designed golf course and some of the Caribbean's most architecturally striking private residences. LVH's Illawarra House Albany is among Albany's finest private estates, a 7-bedroom oceanfront house that sits at the convergence of resort-level amenity and genuine domestic privacy. Lyford Cay, at the island's western tip, is a different expression of the same exclusivity with a gated, golf-cart-paced community that has hosted heads of state, financiers and artists since the 1950s, with all LVH homes here available on a private, bespoke basis.

Illawarra House Albany

Illawarra House Albany is a palatial seafront residence reconciling unfettered luxury and laid-back Island living. This three-story vacation rental features seven bedrooms, each with ensuite bathrooms, assuring guests utmost comfort.

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Paradise Island

Linked to Nassau by a bridge over the harbor channel, Paradise Island operates as its own self-contained universe. The island is home to the Atlantis resort complex with its casino, waterpark, celebrated restaurants and the extraordinary Aquaventure as well as the Four Seasons Ocean Club, set within the grounds of a Versailles-style garden that remains one of the most quietly spectacular settings in the Caribbean. For guests seeking private villa life within reach of all that resort-scale infrastructure, Paradise Island delivers. Soft white sands of Cabbage Beach stretch for nearly two miles just outside, and the dining and nightlife concentrated in this small area rivals many world capitals. All LVH properties on Paradise Island are arranged on a private, discreet basis.

Harbour Island

Harbour Island is among the most fiercely beloved addresses in the entire Caribbean and its devotees, a mix of international artists, old-money families and quietly influential figures from finance and film, tend to return yearly without needing much persuasion. The island's eastern shore is home to Pink Sands Beach, the extraordinary three-mile stretch of blush-colored sand gracing the cover of travel magazines for decades. The pink hue comes from microscopic organisms called foraminifera, whose red-tinted shells crush and mix with the white sand over millennia. Dunmore Town, the island's only settlement, is a gallery of pastel-painted colonial architecture with shuttered wooden cottages in lemon and coral and sky blue navigated almost exclusively by golf cart, which sets the tone for everything. The history here is rich. Harbour Island was settled in the early 1700s and was once more prosperous than Nassau itself. The Beacon Hill Estate is LVH's premier Harbour Island property, a statement estate that captures the island's rare combination of beauty and restraint.

The Beacon Hill Estate

Eleuthera Island

Eleuthera is a revelation for those who arrive expecting something like the other Bahamian islands and find instead a 110-mile-long sliver of land so slender in places it can be crossed on foot in minutes, framed by the Atlantic on one side and the calm Caribbean sea on the other. The Glass Window Bridge marks the island's narrowest point, where a single strip of road separates dark blue ocean from turquoise sea is a sight that has to be witnessed to be believed. Governor's Harbour, the island's main town, moves at an unhurried tempo that feels earned rather than performed. Surfer's Beach draws wave riders from across the region; the Queen's Highway offers a cinematic road trip through plantation ruins and dramatic coastal scenery. The island's legendary Lighthouse Beach requires a four-wheel drive to reach but rewards the effort with near-absolute solitude. Snaresbrook Manor, a beachfront estate within Governor's Harbour, is one of the most beautifully positioned private villas in the Bahamian archipelago with eight bedrooms of West Indian colonial elegance set directly on the sand.

Snaresbrook Manor

Snaresbrook Manor is a captivating beachfront estate located in the prestigious Governor's Harbor on Eleuthera Island, Bahamas. Seven exquisitely appointed bedrooms feature sumptuous bedding, fine linens, and en-suite bathrooms designed with both style and serenity in mind.

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Old Fort Bay

Old Fort Bay is New Providence's best-kept secret among those who know Nassau well. A gated residential enclave on the island's northern coast, it carries an atmosphere of understated, old-money discretion that distinguishes it from Albany's more architectural showmanship. A private beach, marina and community club serve residents who have long preferred to be invisible to the wider resort world. Villa Oceane anchors LVH's presence here and embodies exactly the character of the community it occupies.

Villa Oceane

The Exumas & Staniel Cay

The Exumas are the Bahamas reduced to its essential geometry. There are 365 cays arranged in a long, curving chain, nearly all of them uninhabited, surrounded by water of an almost hallucinatory clarity. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park was among the first marine protected areas in the Atlantic and the effort has paid dividends visible to every snorkeler who enters the water. Great Exuma and Little Exuma anchor the chain's southern end, with Coco Plum Beach and Tropic of Cancer Beach among the most pristine and crowd-free stretches of sand in the Caribbean. Staniel Cay, toward the chain's northern end, has cultivated a particular mystique. It’s small enough to traverse in minutes, sophisticated enough to attract private aviation from multiple continents and home to the Thunderball Grotto, a submerged cave memorably featured in the James Bond film of the same name. The swimming pigs of Big Major Cay are accessible by short boat ride from Staniel Cay. All LVH homes across the Exumas and Staniel Cay are available on a private, bespoke basis.

The Abacos & Grand Bahama

The Abacos occupy the archipelago's northern reaches, a chain of islands and cays known for world-class sailing waters, a vibrant boating culture and the artisan character of Hope Town on Elbow Cay, where the candy-striped lighthouse is among the most photographed landmarks in the Bahamas. The community is rebuilding its pre-2019 vitality with impressive resilience. Grand Bahama, the chain's northernmost major island, offers a different proposition. Here, you will find dense pine forests, the extraordinary cave systems of Lucayan National Park and Treasure Cay Beach, a three-mile arc of undiscovered white sand that consistently astonishes first-time visitors. All LVH properties across both Abaco and Grand Bahama are available privately.

When To Visit

Finding the best time to visit the Bahamas depends on what kind of experience you are seeking. The peak period runs from mid-December through April. It’s the dry season, when clear skies and low humidity coincide with Junkanoo in Nassau (Dec. 26, known locally as Boxing Day, and Jan. 1), the international film festival circuit and the highest concentration of the traveling community making Harbour Island and the Exumas their winter base. Summer brings fewer visitors, lush vegetation, excellent fishing and diving conditions and a noticeably more Bahamian atmosphere as the international contingent recedes. Hurricane season formally runs from June through November, with the period of greatest risk concentrated in August and September. Guests planning summer visits are advised to monitor conditions and plan with some flexibility.

The Beaches

The Bahamas possesses more world-class beaches than can comfortably be catalogued in a single guide, so the following represents a considered selection of those that reward a deliberate visit, ranging from the iconic to the genuinely secret. A beach day here operates on an entirely different register from anything else in the Caribbean. The water is crystal clear, the sand is impossibly fine and the sense of space is rare even by island standards.

Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island

Pink Sands Beach is the archipelago's most celebrated stretch of shoreline, earning that distinction honestly. A soft, warm blush that deepens at the waterline results from the natural accumulation of foraminifera shells crushed by centuries of waves. Three miles long and rarely crowded even in peak season, it faces the Atlantic with a slight protective curve that keeps the water calm and inviting. Horseback riding along the shore is among the island's most memorable activities at golden hour. The beach also functions as the natural backdrop for Dunmore Town's evening social life, with a handful of excellent small restaurants within walking distance. Guests based at The Beacon Hill Estate have direct access to one of the finest positions on the beach.

Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island

Cabbage Beach makes a different kind of argument for greatness. It is the great social beach, nearly two miles of soft white sand dotted with coconut palms where guests from surrounding resorts spread out alongside genuine solitude-seekers. Consistently named among the top beaches globally, it rewards early arrivals who get there before the midday peak. The eastern end is markedly quieter than the resort-facing stretches and worth the additional walk. The Royal Beach Club, Royal Caribbean's 17-acre day pass facility at the island's western end, adds a structured option for those who want curated beach service. You have your choice of two beaches, three pools, private cabanas, live music and artisan stalls all arranged for day visitors.

Tropic Of Cancer Beach, Little Exuma

Tropic of Cancer Beach is the Exumas' finest secret and the longest beach on Little Exuma, a crescent of powder-fine sand arcing along a coast that sees a fraction of the visitors Nassau receives. The beach takes its name from the 23rd parallel, which runs directly through it, marking the northernmost reach of the tropics. There is rarely another soul in sight with the crystal clear water extending before an empty shoreline. This is one of the best places in the Bahamas to experience true solitude. Guests based on private Exumas properties will often organize private boat access with a modest picnic and a snorkeling kit, the only equipment required for a perfect day.

Treasure Cay Beach, The Abacos

Treasure Cay Beach stretches more than three miles and is, by most measures, among the most undiscovered beaches of its caliber in the entire Atlantic. The azure water is the saturated blue of a Caribbean cliché made real and crowds are almost entirely absent. Combining a morning at Treasure Cay with an afternoon exploring Hope Town on Elbow Cay and the Johnston Art Foundry in Little Harbour makes for one of the Abacos' most satisfying full-day outings.

Coco Plum Beach, Great Exuma

Coco Plum Beach is a place to inhabit rather than photograph, particularly at low tide, when the retreating water reveals an extraordinary walkable half-mile of shallow sandbar. The beach has become known among kitesurfers and windsurfers for the consistent conditions generated by its exposed position and the sand dollar population here is among the densest anywhere in the Exumas.

Among beaches worth additional attention: Jaws Beach near Nassau, deliberately off the tourist circuit and named for its role as a film location, retains a wildness that the more manicured Nassau beaches have lost. Junkanoo Beach, also near downtown Nassau, is a popular stretch with easy access and calm waters and is a natural stop for guests arriving into the capital. Cable Beach on Nassau's northwestern coast is a classic resort stretch backed by major hotels and a long promenade, ideal for guests who want amenities close at hand. Spanish Wells Beach on Eleuthera fringes the famous Devil's Backbone barrier reef and belongs to a quiet fishing village that still feels genuinely removed from the tourist economy. Lighthouse Beach, also on Eleuthera, requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle to access via a track that discourages casual visitors  and delivers complete solitude to those willing to make the journey. Cape Santa Maria Beach on Long Island, four miles of talcum-fine sand on an island most visitors never reach, consistently places among the finest family-appropriate beaches in the Caribbean for its calm waters and the improbable abundance of shells.

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Beach Club Options

For guests who prefer a more structured beach experience, the Bahamas offers several excellent options.

Privilege Pool At Sls Baha Mar

The Privilege Pool is an adults-only retreat where international DJs curate the soundtrack from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and dedicated pool concierges oversee premium cabanas with crafted cocktails and artisanal fare.

Bonito Beach Club At Banyan Tree Bimini

Bonito Beach Club brings French-Pan-American sensibility to Rockwell Island, with private cabanas, loungers and sea-view dining informed by the team behind Bonito St. Barth.

Pearl Cove Beach Club, Grand Bahama

Pearl Cove Beach Club Carnival's adults-only day retreat offers an infinity pool with swim-up bar, a full-service restaurant and DJ programming designed for unhurried days without the families of Atlantis nearby.

The Cays and Wild Encounters

No section of a Bahamas guide carries more weight than this one. The archipelago's network of uninhabited and near-uninhabited cays creates opportunities for wildlife encounters that exist nowhere else in the Caribbean and consistently appear on the bucket lists of travelers who have already been everywhere else.

Pig Beach, Big Major Cay (Exuma)

Pig Beach is the Bahamas' most improbable and most delightful attraction. On a small, uninhabited cay accessible by short boat ride from Staniel Cay, a tribe of roughly 20 pigs and piglets has lived for generations in apparent contentment, fed daily by local fishermen and thoroughly accustomed to humans. Pigs will swim directly out to meet arriving vessels, posing with remarkable patience for photographs. The origin story of how they arrived remains genuinely contested. Theories range from a shipwreck to an abandoned naval experiment to a particularly creative marketing scheme, but the pigs themselves are entirely indifferent to the mythology and simply swim. Early morning visits before the day trip boats arrive from Nassau reward guests with a far more intimate experience.

Swimming With Nurse Sharks At Compass Cay

Swimming with nurse sharks at Compass Cay provides a true adrenaline rush, though it is considerably safer than it sounds. Nurse sharks living in the warm, shallow waters around the Exuma Cays are fed regularly by local fishermen and have become entirely comfortable with humans. They move slowly along the sandy bottom and experienced visitors can observe them from arm's length though the advisory to be respectful and calm applies equally to all water sports and wildlife encounters. The experience combines naturally with a Pig Beach visit into a single cay-hopping day genuinely unlike anything available in any other Caribbean destination.

Feeding Rock Iguanas On Bitter Guana Cay

Feeding Rock Iguanas on Bitter Guana Cay introduces an element of conservation to an otherwise purely pleasurable day. The endangered Bahamian Rock Iguana is a prehistoric-looking creature that can reach nearly four feet in length and inhabits a handful of protected cays in the Exumas. These reptiles have become accustomed to accepting food directly from humans. The experience carries a sobering dimension. Visitors are encouraged to ask their guides how they can support the work to protect this diminishing species. The iguanas themselves are mild-tempered and genuinely extraordinary to observe close-up.

Diving With Wild Reef Sharks At Stuart's Cove, Nassau

Stuart's Cove is a long-established operation out of Nassau running one of the best things to do in Nassau for serious divers. There is a two-dive program where the first involves exploring the reef where sharks naturally congregate and the second is a structured feeding encounter where guests rest on the seafloor while the divemaster introduces the sharks. The operation also runs a two-day certification program in shark feeding for those who want to build a skill.

Beyond wildlife encounters, the cays themselves reward exploration as distinct communities and landscapes.

Elbow Cay

Elbow Cay in the Abacos is the most immediately charming. Hope Town's wooden colonial cottages painted in the vivid hues of a storybook village cluster around the harbor below the candy-striped lighthouse, which has guided mariners since 1863. The community hosts the Bahamas International Film Festival and sustains a genuine arts scene through venues including the Hummingbird Cottage Art Centre.

Arawak Cay (The Fish Fry)

Arawak Cay in Nassau, known universally as The Fish Fry, is a 10-minute ride from the city center and exists in an entirely different world. Enjoy a long waterfront strip of hand-painted wooden stalls and rainbow-hued seafood shacks where Bahamians gather to eat conch prepared 40 different ways, from steamed to cracked to raw in a lime-dressed conch salad. It is one of the most authentic Bahamian experiences available within Nassau's orbit.

Potter's Cay

Potter's Cay, under the bridge connecting Nassau to Paradise Island, operates on similar principles. There are about 40 vendors in 40 adjacent shacks, each with their own loyal following and their own variation on the conch dishes that define Bahamian street food. Ask any Nassau local which stall they favor and be prepared for a passionate response.

Fine Dining

The Bahamas has evolved, over the past decade, into a serious dining destination. It’s one where several restaurants operate at a level of ambition and execution commanding attention in any world capital. The following represents the archipelago's finest tables across all major islands, making the case for the Bahamas as one of the best vacation destinations in the Caribbean for serious food travelers.

Dune At The Ocean Club, Four Seasons, Paradise Island

Dune is widely regarded as the chicest dining experience on the island and the setting substantiates the claim. The restaurant opens onto the grounds of a Versailles-inspired garden, with bougainvillea-draped terraces and the distant sound of the sea. Caribbean cuisine anchors the menu. Conch salad, lobster-topped pizza and roasted grouper finished with Malaysian chili and fresh basil are among the signature delights. The broader grounds offer one of the most beautiful post-dinner promenades in the Caribbean.

Nobu At Atlantis, Paradise Island

Nobu requires no introduction to guests familiar with Nobu Matsuhisa's global restaurant group and the Bahamian outpost carries its own particular character. The black cod bathed for three days in a marinade of miso and sake achieves something different here, where local seafood provides the surrounding context. The bar is magnificent and the sake cellar is one of a small number in the Western Hemisphere. It is wise to make reservations days before you would like to dine.

Graycliff Hotel And Restaurant, Nassau

Graycliff is the city's most storied dining institution. The evening begins in the parlor of the Georgian colonial mansion, where high ceilings and period furniture create a ceremony of arrival increasingly rare in contemporary dining. The menu has evolved through decades of secret-recipe refinement into Continental cuisine that manages to feel both classic and particular to this place. After dinner, guests are invited into the evening with cognac and a fine cigar and access to the adjacent Graycliff Heritage Village, where chocolate and cigar workshops extend the experience considerably.

Sapodilla, Nassau

Sapodilla offers a different intimacy. There are multiple dining rooms and private cabana settings where guests can dine with dedicated chef and butler service, accompanied by world-class live piano. The kitchen draws on European and Bahamian techniques in a fusion producing dishes of genuine refinement. The garden setting provides a sense of enclosure and privacy that suits special occasions particularly well.

Cleo Mediterraneo At Baha Mar, Nassau

Cleo Mediterraneo brings the social energy of a Moroccan-Mediterranean table to the Baha Mar resort complex. The format is built around sharing choices like mezze, flatbreads, tagines and handcrafted cocktails. The room is warm and lively with an atmosphere that rewards groups and unhurried evenings. Saffron chicken with preserved lemon and almonds is among the more celebrated dishes. The house-poured cocktails are exemplary.

The Landing, Harbour Island

The Landing is the island's cornerstone table and the place locals and returning visitors consider essential. Chef Madelene Pedican's consistently acclaimed menu is built around the freshest available local produce and fish, translated through a contemporary lens. The gingered lobster with lemongrass risotto cake represents the kitchen at its most characteristically Bahamian, while the banana brown sugar upside-down cake with rum raisin ice cream is among the most persuasive reasons to leave room for dessert.

Rock House Restaurant, Harbour Island

Rock House Restaurant takes a more eclectic approach with fresh seafood, Italian pasta preparations and Bahamian-inflected dishes sharing the menu with an extensive wine list and signature cocktails anchored by the Goombay Smash. The atmosphere is lively but refined. This is a restaurant that knows what it is and executes it with conviction.

Paranza At The Cove, Atlantis

Paranza is Chef Michael White's coastal Italian at The Cove, focused on crudo, house-made pastas and whole grilled fish. The room is elegantly designed and the service matches it. The menu rotates seasonal seafood around its signatures with a coherence that makes every visit feel considered.

Leola At Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

Scott Conant's modern Italian opening in fall 2025 arrives with considerable anticipation. Conceived as a 1920s Italian speakeasy translated through contemporary sensibility, the two bars, private dining options and indoor-outdoor flow brings another serious culinary presence to the Baha Mar complex.

Buccaneer Club, Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera

The Buccaneer Club is the definitive local institution. Guests staying at Snaresbrook Manor go for cracked conch, stew fish and lobster when they want to eat exactly as Eleuthera eats. You will find casual deck seating, reliable hours across breakfast through dinner and the particular quality of food from cooking the same things superbly for decades.

Blue Sail, Nassau

Blue Sail rounds out the archipelago's dining landscape with a Mediterranean-French kitchen and wood-fired pizza on the terrace at Sandyport Beach. It’s an easy, ocean-facing choice for relaxed lunches and sunset dinners earning its place in the regular rotation of any extended Nassau stay.

To elevate your experience in the Bahamas, let our concierge team arrange a private chef dinner to sample local flavors.

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Nightlife, Bars and Casinos

The Bahamas offers something rare in the Caribbean: a concentrated, world-class nightlife scene centered on Paradise Island and Nassau that operates at a level of ambition more commonly associated with European capitals than island destinations. For guests weighing things to do in Nassau after dark, the options are extraordinary in range and quality.

Jon Batiste's Jazz Club At Baha Mar

Jon Batiste's Jazz Club opened in January 2025 and represents the most significant new nightlife destination in the Caribbean in years. The Grammy Award-winning musician has put his name to a 12,900-square-foot, 278-seat lounge designed by Gensler and is acoustically engineered for nightly live performances, with sightlines and staging built around the music rather than the bar revenue. Programming blends Bahamian musicians with international guest artists with a resulting atmosphere that is sophisticated without being stiff.

Aura At Atlantis

Aura is the island's largest and most unambiguously glamorous club with a 9,000-square-foot glass dance floor, plush banquet seating and VIP areas. DJs are imported from the international circuit sustaining the energy until the early hours. The comparison to Vegas and South Beach is apt and intended. Guests who want that energy in a Caribbean setting will find it here.

Sea Glass Bahamas At The Cove, Atlantis

Sea Glass Bahamas occupies the more civilized end of the same complex. This casino bar and lounge, where drinks are as carefully conceived as anything being poured in the nightclub, is known for its creative beverages. The Covetini (raspberry rum, mango jasmine puree, lime and fresh raspberries) has become something of a signature, while the tapas menu makes the transition from beach to evening seamless.

Dragons' Ultra Lounge At Atlantis

Dragons' Ultra Lounge is more intimate than Aura. This venue is scaled for conversation as much as dancing, where live bands and DJs alternate across a program that feels genuinely curated. It is the natural post-casino celebration destination for guests who have had a good night at the tables.

The Dune Bar At The Four Seasons

The Dune Bar brings the evening to a civilized close for guests who have been here long enough to appreciate that the cocktail hour, properly observed, is among the most underrated pleasures a Bahamian evening can offer. Classic Bahamian drinks, live music, ocean views and a room that describes itself as where classic meets trendy, is exactly that.

The Casinos

Atlantis Casino And Baha Mar Casino

The Atlantis Casino and Baha Mar Casino occupy adjacent positions at the apex of Caribbean gaming. The Atlantis operation with 85 gaming tables and 700 slot machines, has a longer history and a more storied atmosphere. Baha Mar, with 119 tables and more than 1,100 slot machines, is the largest casino in the Caribbean and draws a more international set. Both are within walking distance of Nassau and Paradise Island villas.

Arts, Culture & Shopping

The Bahamas has a cultural life considerably richer than its reputation as a beach destination suggests, rooted in a particularly fertile intersection of Afro-Caribbean tradition, colonial history and a contemporary art scene that has been building momentum for two decades. Island culture here is the real thing, not a curated performance for tourists, but a living inheritance.

The Arts

The National Art Gallery Of The Bahamas, Nassau

The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is the archipelago's most comprehensive cultural institution. The museum collects, preserves and interprets both historical and contemporary Bahamian art with scholarly seriousness. The collection includes paintings by Amos Ferguson, whose naive compositions of Bahamian life and scripture have achieved international recognition, sculptures by Antonius Roberts and pencil drawings of historic Nassau that constitute among the finest visual records of the colonial-era city. Rotating national exhibitions ensure return visits reveal new content. The gallery's curatorial program has done more than perhaps any other institution to define what a distinctly Bahamian art tradition looks like.

The Heritage Museum Of The Bahamas

The Heritage Museum of the Bahamas in the Graycliff Heritage Village, housed in Mountbatten House, the former Bahamian summer residence of Lord Louis Mountbatten. The museum brings the archipelago's deeper history into startling focus. The collection moves through geological time (a meteorite fragment estimated at 4.5 billion years old), through the era of Columbus, through the plantation economy and into the present, with artifacts including slave shackles requiring no interpretive label. 

Sacred Space By Antonius Roberts, Atlantis

Sacred Space, Antonius Roberts' sculptural installation on The Cove Peninsula at Atlantis, translates the artist's reverence for the Bahamian natural world into seven dancing figures carved from Madeira wood. The installation occupies a quiet corner of the resort grounds and rewards unhurried contemplation; it is among the most quietly powerful works of public art in the Caribbean.

The Hummingbird Cottage Art Centre, Elbow Cay

The Hummingbird Cottage Art Centre on Elbow Cay in the Abacos is remarkable partly for what it is and partly for where it is. This gallery is housed in two pink-walled wooden cottages in Hope Town, a settlement of roughly 500 people, representing a group of painters whose work captures the distinctive light and architecture of the northern cays with genuine skill. The remote location is an invitation to make the gallery a destination rather than an afterthought.

The Johnston Art Foundry, Little Harbour

The Johnston Art Foundry in Little Harbour, Abaco, founded by sculptor Randolph Johnston in 1952, remains the only bronze art foundry in the Bahamas and has been producing distinctive work for seven decades under the Johnston family's stewardship. Selecting a sculpture here and shipping it home constitutes one of the archipelago's most authentic luxury purchases; lunch afterward at Pete's Pub on the waterfront dock is the natural continuation.

Shopping

John Watling's Distillery, Nassau

John Watling's Distillery occupies the Buena Vista Estate in Nassau dating to 1789. It produces what many consider the finest rum in the Bahamas. The free tour of the production facilities and museum-like exhibits is among the most engaging cultural experiences in Nassau. The on-site tavern serves the Bahama Mama, a cocktail said to have originated in 1963 at Nassau's Pink Elephant Club, prepared here from the original recipe using John Watling's amber rum as its base. It stands as the best rum distillery experience in the entire archipelago.

Graycliff Shops, Nassau

Graycliff Shops, adjacent to the restaurant complex, combine two of Nassau's more unusual luxury experiences: a working cigar factory and a chocolate workshop, both available for observation, both producing goods that make for genuinely memorable gifts. Tobacco chocolate bars, cigar-shaped confections in mint, Nutella and cherry brandy and a selection of exclusive cigar brands represent the shop's most distinctive offerings.

Crystal Court Shops At Atlantis

Crystal Court Shops consolidate the kind of retail one might expect from a high-end European arcade such as Gucci, Michael Kors, Versace, Tory Burch, David Yurman and Cole's of Nassau alongside curated Bahamian beachwear and Cuban cigars. It is the most comprehensive luxury retail environment in the archipelago.

Bahama Hand Prints

Bahama Hand Prints, established in 1966 by two artists who mastered the traditional method of hand screen-printing on fabric, remains the most authentic wearable souvenir the Bahamas produces. Custom garments are designed and sewn in-house by the studio's seamstresses. Selecting a fabric and returning for a finished piece is a more satisfying experience than buying off the rack.

Androsia Hand Made Batik Factory, Andros Island

The Androsia Hand Made Batik Factory on Andros Island, where all garments are hand-stamped, hand-dyed and dried under the Bahamian sun using hand-carved stamps that in some cases date to the factory's founding in the late 1960s. This factory represents one of the few places in the Caribbean where a genuine craft tradition has been protected rather than industrialized. Every piece is marked with the company signature and is an assurance of authenticity.

The Nassau Straw Market, a beloved Bay Street institution dating to the 1940s, remains a fixture for visitors seeking handcrafted Bahamian souvenirs, woven goods and local art at accessible prices. The straw market sits near the cruise port and is often a first stop for those arriving into Nassau by cruise ship, though it earns a visit on its own merits for anyone with an interest in authentic island crafts.

Adventures: Water, Land & Air

The Bahamas' geography, comprising 700 islands across an ocean of extraordinary clarity, creates adventure opportunities for both serious enthusiasts and the casually curious. Water sports here are not an afterthought but a defining feature of island life.

On The Water

Island Hopping By Private Yacht

Island hopping by private yacht is the most complete expression of what the Bahamas offers. You will have the freedom to move between islands at will, anchoring off uninhabited cays, diving into water so clear that the bottom is visible at 20 feet. Choose to swim with pigs, feed iguanas, explore coral formations of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. LVH's curated charter fleet  includes Island Vibes (a 33-meter superyacht sleeping eight), Renaissance (a 35-meter vessel for 10 guests), Plan A (39 meters, 10 guests, upper-deck sky lounge and Jacuzzi) and the spectacular 98-meter Madsummer, accommodating 12 guests in surroundings that include a swimming pool and a crew of 28. Itineraries can be matched to group size and ambition. A week on the water, moving from Nassau's harbor to the southern Exumas by day and anchoring off private cays at night, is one of the finest travel experiences available anywhere.

Scuba Diving At Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama

Lucayan National Park offers the archipelago's most extraordinary underwater environment. Ben's Cave extends for nearly nine miles underwater through limestone formations including stalactites, stalagmites, a halocline which is the visual boundary between salt and fresh water and fossilized conch shells from centuries past. For those who want to dive the Bahamas at its most spectacular, this is the destination. Above water, the park protects six distinct ecosystems ranging from pine forest to mangrove. A morning dive followed by an afternoon exploring the park trails, concluding on Fortune Bay Beach, makes for an ideal day.

Kitesurfing And Kiteboarding

The Bahamas' kitesurfing and kiteboarding conditions benefit from relative underdevelopment that has preserved the waters remarkably well. Flat-water opportunities across Eleuthera and Great Exuma are among the finest in the Atlantic. On a windy day, it is entirely possible to sail for hours without encountering another rider. Professionals are available for instruction across the main water sports locations.

Snorkeling With Stingrays, Grand Bahama

Snorkeling with stingrays on Grand Bahama takes guests along the island's reef system on a private eco-tour with depths averaging four to 12 feet. Visibility is exceptional, with stingrays moving through the water at close range alongside the full variety of tropical fish that inhabit a healthy Caribbean reef. It is a gentle, meditative experience that works for all ages and abilities. For those who prefer snorkeling over scuba, shallow reef conditions throughout the Exumas and Grand Bahama offer some of the best snorkeling in the world.

Surfing At Surfer's Beach, Eleuthera

Surfing at Surfer's Beach carries an atmosphere that distinguishes it from every other surf spot in the Bahamas. Local surfers who have claimed this beach as their own are known for an unusual generosity of spirit welcoming visiting surfers with instruction, encouragement and friendship that belongs to an older tradition of surfing culture. The waves are genuine and the community that has formed around them is more so. The best swells arrive between October and March.

Additional water experiences worth noting are parasailing above Nassau Harbor which reaches altitudes of 500 feet, with views across both the harbor and the open Atlantic; jet skiing across the turquoise shallows near Nassau is reliably exhilarating; electrically powered seabobs with underwater propulsion devices that can dive to 130 feet are available at several locations and deliver an experience unlike conventional snorkeling.

On Land

The Queen's Highway, Eleuthera

The Queen's Highway is among the Caribbean's great road trips. This 110 miles of road runs the full length of the island from north to south, flanked by jagged limestone cliffs, plantation ruins and pirate-era coastal settlements that have hardly changed in two centuries. Essential stops are Preacher's Cave, where Eleutheran Adventurers sheltered after their shipwreck in 1648; The Queen's Bath, a series of natural rock pools carved by wave action; and the Glass Window Bridge, where the startling contrast between Atlantic and Caribbean is visible in a single glance. LVH's luxury car fleet including the Jeep Wrangler for terrain versatility, the Lamborghini Urus for those who want power alongside the adventure and the Rolls-Royce Dawn for those who prefer to observe from a position of supreme comfort, makes driving part of the experience.

The Downtown Nassau Cultural Walking Tour

The Downtown Nassau walking tour takes three hours to complete and provides more context for Nassau's layered character than most visitors accumulate over an entire stay. The route passes Fort Fincastle, climbs to the Queen's Staircase consisting of 66 steps carved into rock by some 600 enslaved workers in the late 18th century and winds through the colonial architecture of streets that have barely changed since the 19th century. It is the essential reorientation for guests who want to understand Nassau as a place rather than simply a backdrop.

Horseback Riding On Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island

Horseback riding on Pink Sands Beach is the quintessential romantic Bahamian activity, one of those experiences that exists everywhere in popular imagination and actually delivers here. Sunset rides along the pink-tinted shore, with the Atlantic horizon ahead and the lanterns of Dunmore Town beginning to glow behind, constitute one of the most magical scenes the Caribbean has to offer.

In The Air

Island Hopping By Seaplane

Island hopping by seaplane is the finest way to appreciate the scale and variety of the Bahamian archipelago and among the most unique things to do in the Bahamas for those arriving with a sense of adventure. From the air, the water's color gradations of pale jade over the sandbars, turquoise over the turtle grass, deep cobalt at the reef edge read as an abstract painting of extraordinary complexity. A single afternoon's seaplane circuit from Nassau can take in Staniel Cay, the Pig Beach flyover, the Exuma chain and a landing on a private island, covering a distance that would require a full day by speedboat.

Skydiving Over The Bahamas

Skydiving is available for those who prefer their aerial perspective at considerably higher speed. Tandem jumps with professional instructors are arranged from Nassau and the view of the archipelago from the apex of a free-fall is, by all accounts, definitive.

Golf

The Bahamas has quietly assembled a collection of championship golf courses ranking among the finest in the Caribbean. Three courses are each distinguished by design pedigrees and uses of the extraordinary landscape. For guests seeking the best resort golf in the Atlantic world, the archipelago is an undersung destination.

Royal Blue At Baha Mar, Nassau

Royal Blue, designed by Jack Nicklaus, divides into two entirely different experiences across its 18 holes. The front nine moves through dramatic fairways and rolling white dunes with ocean views that interrupt concentration in the most welcome possible way. The back nine introduces limestone formations creating what the course's designers describe as moonscapes of unusual topography that produces elevation changes rare in Caribbean golf. Daily tee placement is adjusted to weather and conditions, ensuring each round is genuinely unique rather than a repetition of a fixed layout. Expert caddies are available and strongly recommended for first-time players navigating a design that rewards local knowledge more than most courses of its tier. Reservations are accepted for tee times between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Course, Great Exuma

Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Course, designed by Greg Norman and recognized with numerous awards since its opening, makes the strongest argument in the Caribbean for the value of a course built around its coastline rather than simply adjacent to it. Six of the 18 signature holes hug the ocean's edge directly, and the trade winds that move across the Exuma Sound shift throughout the round in ways that guarantee a different experience on every visit, regardless of how well a player knows the layout. For guests based on private Exuma or Staniel Cay villas, the course provides a compelling reason to extend a stay beyond the water-based activities that typically dominate the Exumas itinerary. Tee times run daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The Ocean Club At Atlantis, Paradise Island

The Ocean Club at Atlantis, Tom Weiskopf's 18-hole par-72 championship design, stretches across 7,100 yards on a peninsula where crosswinds challenge even experienced players who underestimate the conditions. The course plays longer than its yardage suggests when the trade winds are up. Local caddies price this information accordingly and are worth engaging. Twenty-two daily tee times are available by online booking or phone; the proximity to Atlantis' service infrastructure and the Versailles Garden that frames the clubhouse approach makes the experience exceptional regardless of the score at 18.

Family Activities

The Bahamas addresses particular demands of multi-generational luxury travel with a range of family-appropriate experiences maintaining genuine quality rather than simply scaling down adult activities. For families deciding on things to do in the Bahamas, the archipelago is singular in its depth and range.

Aquaventure At Atlantis, Paradise Island

Aquaventure is the benchmark family water park experience in the Caribbean. This 141-acre complex has more than 20 million gallons of water across high-speed waterslides, a mile-long river ride with rolling rapids and wave surges, 11 pools and a dedicated children's water fort scaled and secured for younger swimmers. A day pass is available for guests staying in nearby villas. The breadth of the facility means adults and children can find their own experiences within the same space. Baha Bay, the newer water park at Baha Mar, offers a compelling alternative on the Nassau side of the bridge, with its own collection of slides, surf simulators and private cabana options.

Dolphin Cay At Atlantis

Dolphin Cay combines entertainment with genuine conservation purpose. The 11-acre marine habitat hosts bottlenose dolphins and sea lions rehabilitated after natural disasters and injuries. Swim alongside dolphins in the deep-water lagoon organized around educational principles rather than performance. The facility's first residents included 17 dolphins and 10 sea lions displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Every visit contributes to the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation's work in marine conservation.

Blue Lagoon Island

Blue Lagoon Island, reachable by a 25-minute boat ride from Nassau, offers a self-contained family day program that manages to feel unhurried despite its variety. Nearby Rose Island is a lovely private island option for those seeking a quieter place on the same water route. Blue Lagoon's small protected cove with calm, crystal clear water provides a base for swimming. Dolphin, sea lion, stingray and shark encounters are organized by the island's team. Kayaks, water bikes and snorkeling equipment are available for independent exploration. An eco-nature walking tour and Segway safari cover the island's interior. Grilled lunch under the palms is among the better casual meals available in the Nassau day trip circuit.

Ardastra Gardens And Wildlife Conservation Center, New Providence

Ardastra Gardens and Wildlife Conservation Center occupies four acres of tropical sanctuary and houses more than 135 animal species, from flamingos and macaws to peacocks, parrots and mammals accessible through the petting zoo. For younger children, the combination of open-air space, accessible wildlife and the shade of mango and coconut trees creates exactly the kind of unhurried morning that family travel should provide more often.

The Pirates Of Nassau Interactive Museum

The Pirates of Nassau Museum in downtown Nassau takes the Golden Age of Piracy which ran from 1690 to 1720, with Nassau at its center.  This experience works as well for historically curious adults as it does for children. The museum provides genuine context for Nassau's extraordinary past. A walking tour of the old city follows naturally from it.

Events and Festivals

The Bahamas' festival calendar reflects a cultural identity shaped by African heritage, colonial history and the particular character of an island nation that has always produced outsized creative energy in relation to its size. Planning around these events transforms a vacation in the Bahamas from a great trip into an unforgettable one.

Junkanoo

Junkanoo is the defining Bahamian cultural event. The carnival-style parade takes over Nassau's Bay Street in the early hours of Dec. 26 (Boxing Day) and again on Jan. 1, drawing thousands of participants in elaborate handcrafted costumes and masks representing months of preparation. The tradition is rooted in the era of slavery, when enslaved people were granted these two days of freedom and expressed their culture through music, dance and decoration. Instruments are traditional with cowbells and whistles among them and the sounds that result are unlike anything else in the Caribbean. The Junkanoo Expo Museum in Nassau exhibits the costumes and explains the tradition for visitors who arrive outside the parade season.

The Bahamas International Film Festival

The Bahamas International Film Festival, headquartered primarily in Nassau with activity on Elbow Cay, is an intimate, curated film event with four competition categories and a program that brings international cinema to an audience that might not otherwise encounter it. The festival's VIP pass provides access to all screenings, panels, the awards ceremony and a curated collection of Bahamian cultural experiences. The scale of the event is small enough for genuine conversation, large enough to attract compelling programming and reflects the best qualities of the destination it represents.

Party Like A Royal

Party Like a Royal is Atlantis Resort's New Year's Eve celebration, operating at a scale commensurate with the resort's ambitions: A-list performers, a premium open bar and a midnight fireworks display over Paradise Island Harbor is visible from much of Nassau. Past performers have included artists like the Jonas Brothers. The annual announcement of the headline act generates considerable anticipation in the calendar of the international set that makes Nassau their New Year's base.

The Caribbean Muzik Festival

The Caribbean Muzik Festival, held annually in Nassau, showcases more than 25 of the region's most celebrated performers across calypso, dancehall and reggae. These musical forms carry the weight of Caribbean cultural identity in ways that require no explanation to anyone who has encountered them in their proper context. The festival has become a fixture among both locals and visitors who return specifically to attend.

Fox Hill Day

Fox Hill Day, held on the second Tuesday of August, is the oldest festival in the Bahamas and the most deeply rooted in the national consciousness. The celebration in the Fox Hill community of Nassau commemorates the 1838 Emancipation, the moment when enslaved Africans in the Bahamas were freed by the British, through church services, traditional dances, Bahamian food and the kind of community gathering sustaining the occasion for nearly two centuries. It is not a tourist event, but a living tradition. Visitors who attend with appropriate respect are warmly welcomed.

Getting There

By Private Jet

The Bahamas is among the most accommodating private aviation destinations in the Atlantic world. Weather conditions are favorable for private flight on the overwhelming majority of days with clear skies, manageable winds and good visibility. Bahamian customs officials at island airports are practiced at processing private arrivals efficiently. Flight times are modest from the primary feeder markets — one hour from Miami, three hours from New York and the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, five hours from Los Angeles, nine hours from London. Every major island has a properly equipped airport. Eleuthera and Exuma have smaller facilities that handle private aircraft smoothly. Guests arriving by private jet proceed directly from aircraft to villa transport without commercial terminal contact.

By Superyacht

The appeal of the Bahamas to the yachting community is not difficult to understand. Less than 50 nautical miles of warm, clear water separate the Floridian coast from the nearest Bahamian islands, and the run from Fort Lauderdale or Miami to Nassau takes about two-and-a-half hours at typical powerboat speeds. Dozens of well-equipped marinas are distributed across the archipelago, from Nassau's Nassau Harbour Club and Atlantis Marina on Paradise Island to the smaller, more intimate facilities on Staniel Cay and Great Exuma. LVH's charter fleet — Island Vibes, Renaissance, Plan A and Madsummer — is available for guests who prefer to arrive by sea or to integrate a yacht charter into their villa itinerary.

Between The Islands

The inter-island transport question is central to any Bahamas trip that extends beyond a single island. Seaplane is the fastest and most spectacular option: the flight from Nassau to Staniel Cay takes about 45 minutes and delivers views of the archipelago's color and geometry that no other perspective can match. Private speedboat charter, available through the LVH concierge, provides the most flexible day trip option for cay-hopping excursions to Pig Beach, Compass Cay and the surrounding Exuma landmarks. Commercial inter-island flights are available between the major hubs for guests whose itineraries require a more structured schedule.

Getting Around The Islands

Nassau and Paradise Island are well-suited to the luxury car options that make driving part of the experience rather than merely a logistical necessity. LVH's vehicle fleet spans a range. The Jeep Wrangler for Eleuthera's rougher tracks and the Queen's Highway adventure; the Jaguar F-PACE for Nassau's urban circuits; the McLaren 720S, Lamborghini Urus, Maserati Quattroporte and Rolls-Royce Dawn for those for whom the journey itself is the point. On Harbour Island and in the Abacos, golf carts are the universal mode of transport and are included in most villa arrangements. Eleuthera and Exuma are best navigated through vehicles arranged with the LVH field manager stationed at each property.

Plan Your Exclusive Stay at the Bahamas

The Bahamas resists summary in the way only the most genuinely complex places in the Bahamas do. It is simultaneously the most accessible Caribbean nation and one of the most inexhaustible. It is an island chain that can be experienced as a single brilliant afternoon from Miami or as a lifetime's worth of discovery across 700 islands no individual ever fully explores. Swimming pigs of the Exumas and the Michelin-caliber kitchens of Paradise Island, the pink sand at Harbour Island and the limestone cave systems of Grand Bahama, the Junkanoo drums on Nassau's Bay Street in the small hours of New Year's morning and the absolute silence of an uninhabited cay at noon. All these belong to the same place and the more of them you encounter, the more you understand what makes the Bahamas unlike anywhere else on earth.

For travelers who want to experience the archipelago at the level it deserves, a private villa is the natural mode of arrival. LVH's portfolio spans all 10 of the Bahamas' defining areas, from an oceanfront estate within Albany's private community to a beachfront manor on Eleuthera's Governor's Harbour, from Harbour Island's Beacon Hill to Old Fort Bay's Villa Oceane. Each property comes with the full complement of LVH services — a field manager, steward, concierge, housekeeping and the logistical infrastructure that makes the distance between imagination and experience as small as possible.

The horizon is always there, somewhere off the stern. The only question is how far you want to go.

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