Staniel Cay Bahamas Exumas Islands
35
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Emerald Waterways (2 Cruises)
Ponant (4 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
At anchor. The small cruise ships that call here drop the hook in water so clear the hull seems to float on glass, and tenders land near the Staniel Cay Yacht Club.
In the middle of the Exumas, the chain of three hundred and sixty-five cays running 200 kilometres between Nassau and Great Exuma.
Snorkel Thunderball Grotto, see the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay about ten minutes away by boat, and stop at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. The sandbars that emerge at low tide round out the day.
A sea cave piercing a dome-shaped rocky islet, a few minutes by boat from the anchorage. In 1965 the crew of the film Thunderball shot their underwater scenes here. You swim in through a discreet opening; inside, shafts of light fall from the vault and illuminate a swirl of tropical fish.
Ideally at slack low water: check the tide table. The cave is visited with a local guide, mask and snorkel are enough, and less confident swimmers can simply approach the entrance, where the current stays weak outside the turn of the tide.
Yes. The neighbouring beach at Big Major Cay, about ten minutes away by boat, is home to the most photographed swimming pig colony on the planet. The experience is supervised by guides; keep fingers well away from snouts and the photos come out better anyway.
An institution founded in the 1950s, whose wooden bar, papered with burgees from yacht clubs around the world, serves as the village square. Around the docks, nurse sharks circle calmly waiting for the fishermen's scraps: a daily show, free and perfectly safe from the jetty.
About a hundred residents, an airstrip, two grocery stores and sandy lanes walked on foot or driven by golf cart. A small chapel, a school and a post office complete the inventory; everyone greets everyone, and a visitor is quickly spotted, then adopted.
The Bahamian dollar, at par with the US dollar, and English. Bring cash: the island still runs largely on it.
Yes, and the experience stays with them. The swimming pigs and the nurse sharks at the jetty entertain adults as much as children. Bring water shoes for landings on the shell banks, plus sunglasses and sunscreen: the sun reflects hard off this clear water.
