10 Things to do in The Bahamas -

Believe it or not, there is more to do in the Bahamas than snorkel in it’s luminous waters and sunbathe on it’s powdery pink and white sands. If you can prise yourself off that sun bed, get yourself out and about the islands and explore a little!

In no particular order, here are 10 ideas to get you started:

1. Visit a private beach in the Exuma Cays

Visit the Exumas by speedboat, spend the day lazing around on a private beach with a BBQ lunch and plenty of drinks thrown in.

Feed sharks, stingrays and mingle with the famous swimming pigs.

Around 10 minutes after feeding these sharks, ‘almost’ everyone went snorkelling in these very same waters

2. Feed iguanas on Leaf Cay

These friendly iguanas are so spoilt, an island all to themselves and grapes from tourists!!

The iguanas are endangered and care should taking when interacting with them – don’t feed them anything other than what your guide advises.

Under good conditions they can live to 40 years old!!

When you get of the boat and step onto the island you’re literally surrounded by these little guys running around all over the place – they’re excited because they know that human visitors means food!

3. Take A Ferry to Eleuthera: Harbour Island

Pink sands await, and Golf buggies are the main mode of transport, the ride can get a bit bumpy, but you don’t need a licence to drive them!

The Bahamas Ferries ride from Paradise Island and back again took around three hours each way with a very early start – but absolutely worth it, and highly recommended.

If you visit as part of an organised excursion, your guide will lead you around the island by golf buggy (you drive your own buggy and follow your guide ) before giving you time time to go off again by yourself.

The contrast between the colour and temperament of the atlantic sea and the caribbean sea around Eleuthera is a sight to behold and is sure to leave you awe struck.

3. Relax on Cable Beach

Probably the most popular beach in Nassau, lined with big all inclusive resorts and a quiet beach strip with thick white sand.

From my hotel on Cable Beach I could see the island owned by Eddie Murphy, just across the way, alright for some!

4. Go shopping around Bay Street, Nassau

Bay Street is the main street running through the shopping hub of Nassau – it’s a short walk from where the cruise ships pull in and surrounded by little ‘off’ streets with small shops and places to eat.

Government buildings are also within easy reach, along with jewellers, souvenir sellers and the well known straw market.

**Local buses, downtown Nassau** – when we got the bus back to the hotel one afternoon, the driver weaved his way through all kinds of little bumpy back streets where local people live. The music system was on on full blast, and all the locals were piling onboard, while children had finished school for the day. This was one of those moments where we felt like we were getting a taste of real local life on the island.

T Shirt seller in Bay Street, Nassau, Bahamas

5. Escape to the Adastra Gardens and Zoo, Nassau

Mingle with flamingos, peacocks and parrots in this part garden, part jungle experience. There are all sorts of animals including some of the caribbean’s most endangered species, and Bahamas native animals.

Adastra Gardens is committed to the preservation of the island’s wildlife through breeding programmes and education.

If you don’t mind birds landing on your head – you can also get hands on and feed the Lory parrots at feeding time – it’s a colourful frenzy.

Watch the ‘famous marching flamingo show’, such beautifully poised and flamboyant birds

PENTAX Image — The bird calls across the gardens were louder than I thought was possible for any bird – they were literally having full blown bird conversations – squawking from one end of the gardens to the other. I was shocked at how heavy this bird was – or maybe I just have really weak wrists….their beaks were very warm too, I didn’t expect this when I got a birdy kiss!

6. Meander around the Atlantis Resort: on Paradise Island

Home to one of the world’s biggest sprawling aquariums, busy casino and more beaches. If you’re not staying on the resort, there are a variety of passes you can buy to give you access to all or certain areas for a whole day or half a day.

Inside the Atlantis hotel you’ll find plenty of high end designer shops

7. Book a ‘Majestic Tour’ of Nassau

Majestic Tours offer excursions and trips to please all sorts of interests. The tours point out interesting sights and landmarks, including a drive through Paradise Island and a stop off at Fort Charlotte.

An organised day tour is always a helpful starting point – you can always go back to some of the stops in your own time to explore them properly since things can often feel a bit rushed on a tour

8. Paradise Island Sunset Sail

Take in the sunset around the harbour of Paradise Island; a meal and drinks are usually included. You’ll probably get quite close to some of those ridiculously gigantic cruise ships docked in the area, and end up feeling like a tiny mouse – those ships are insanely huge!

9. Get some retail therapy at The Mall at Marathon

It’s always nice to see where the locals go shopping and hang out – The Mall at Marathon in Nassau is pretty down to earth. Last thing I heard, the mall was going through a multi million dollar revamp with an extension to house more shops and car park spaces.

10. Admire some Bahamas talent at an art gallery

This is something I didn’t get around to doing, but I did bring home a few paintings. The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas is one of the more popular places to start.

A future visit to the Bahamas would definitely see art galleries on my list of things to do.

Bored in the Bahamas?

Well you shouldn’t be, not with all the above on offer.

Additionally, as you can imagine, there is no end to the number of sailing, deep sea fishing, diving and dolphin trips on offer, plus plenty of beaches to choose from in the Bahamas.

Alternatively, you could just lose yourself doing nothing but soak up a stunning sea view and recharge with a nice cold Bahama Mama!