Big Major CayThe swimming pigs
The image the whole archipelago is sold on. Go from Staniel Cay or Great Exuma and you’ll reach the beach before the Nassau day boats arrive.
Check pig-beach tours →The Exuma Cays · The BahamasEverything
Everything
Exumas.
About 365 cays strung across 120 miles of the clearest water in the Atlantic. Swimming pigs, a Bond-film grotto, sandbars that exist for four hours a day. Here’s how to actually do it.
~365cays & islands
120 miend to end
1958world’s first land-and-sea park
0cruise ports
A different Bahamas
Forty minutes from Nassau. A world away from it.
Most Bahamas visitors never leave New Providence: the cruise terminal, the straw market, the resort strip. The Exumas sit southeast of all that, a thin chain of mostly uninhabited cays running from Sail Rocks down to Great and Little Exuma.
There’s no cruise port and one main airport. What there is instead: the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, beaches you’ll share with nobody, and water so clear the shadow of your boat looks painted on the sand.
You don’t go to the Exumas to be entertained. You go because the water is the entertainment.
The lay of the water
The chain at a glance
The north and central cays (pigs, grotto, park) are a boat-and-charter world. Great Exuma in the south is where the airport, the town and most hotels are. Pick your base by which half you want.
Tap a pin for details. Drag and zoom to explore.
On the waterBig Major Cay 
Staniel Cay
Compass Cay
Allen’s & Bitter Guana
Pipe Creek
Warderick Wells
Six boat-day moments worth the whole trip
How we’re paid: booking links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we recommend. Details.
Big Major CayStaniel CayThunderball Grotto
A collapsed limestone cave lit through holes in its roof, made famous by 1965’s Thunderball. Swim in at slack tide, with a captain who knows the tide table.
See grotto trips →Compass CayNurse sharks at the dock
Stand in waist-deep water among habituated nurse sharks. Bottom feeders, not interested in you, still wild animals.
Find shark-dock tours →Allen’s & Bitter GuanaRock iguanas
An endangered iguana found on a handful of cays and nowhere else on earth. Good operators bring native leaves, not grapes.
See iguana tours →Pipe CreekDisappearing sandbars
Miles of white sand that surface at low tide and vanish by evening. Knowing which bar shows up on which tide is what you’re paying a captain for.
Find sandbar trips →Warderick WellsLand and Sea Park
176 square miles of no-take marine reserve, the first of its kind anywhere. It’s why the reefs here still look like this.
See park excursions →Plan it
Where to stay
Getting there
When to go
Islands
The four decisions that make or break the trip
Where to stayWhere to stay
Great Exuma for beaches and town life; Staniel Cay for the pigs and grotto on your doorstep.
Compare bases →Getting thereGetting there
Nonstops into George Town (GGT) from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Charlotte and Nassau, plus seasonal service from Canada.
Routes & getting around →When to goWhen to go
Dry season runs December to April. May and November are the value sweet spots.
Month by month →IslandsWhich cays
The north is wild and park-protected; the middle has the famous stops; the south is where people live.
Island by island →Free · instant
The Exuma Trip Planner
Everything on this site, boiled down to a plan you can actually follow:
- A 4-day itinerary that beats the Nassau day boats to Pig Beach
- Which island to base yourself on, by budget
- How to book the boat day (and what it should cost)
- Month-by-month weather & hurricane-season odds
- The packing list locals wish visitors brought
Quick answers
Exumas FAQ
Where are the Exumas?
In the central Bahamas, southeast of Nassau. The chain runs about 120 miles from the northern cays near Sail Rocks down to Great and Little Exuma. It’s roughly a 40-minute flight from Nassau.
Can I see the swimming pigs on a day trip from Nassau?
Yes. Powerboat day trips from Nassau run most days and are long (often around eight hours, much of it on the water). Staying in the Exumas lets you reach the pigs earlier and quieter. See Nassau day trips.
Do I need cash?
The Bahamian dollar is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and US cash is accepted almost everywhere. Carry small bills for tips, taxis and the fish fry; card acceptance is patchier on the smaller cays.
What’s the best island to stay on?
Great Exuma if you want choice, restaurants and easy flights. Staniel Cay if the boat stops are the point. A private-island resort if you want to disappear. Full comparison.
Is it safe to swim with the pigs and sharks?
Generally yes with a good operator, but they’re animals. Don’t feed pigs in the water, keep food out of sight, and don’t grab the sharks’ tails or gills.