The clearest water we have ever anchored in

The Bahamas is a yacht charter for the water: 700 islands of shallow, glass-clear banks a short flight from Florida, open all year and at its best from December to April when the Mediterranean fleet has crossed over. Fly into Nassau, cruise out to the Exumas, and the week is beach picnics every day, the pigs at Big Major, local bars on the sand, and anchorages with no other boat in sight.

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Season

All year. December to April has the most boats and the best weather

Avoid

June to November for longer trips: winds, rain and the hurricane season

Fly into

Nassau (NAS). Three hours from New York, under an hour from Florida

The milk run

The Exumas, from Nassau south. Harbour Island and Eleuthera to the north

The water

Crystal, over white sand banks. Shallow, which decides which boats can go where

Who it suits

Nature lovers and anyone who wants to relax and unwind. Families, friends, three generations

If you ask us Caribbean or Bahamas, the Bahamas answer is this: the clearest water we have ever anchored in, a beach picnic every day, the famous pigs, and local bars that are a little more built up than the Caribbean's in places. Like the Caribbean, and unlike the Mediterranean, it is about the boat, the crew, the watersports and the friends you chose to holiday with. There are no long lunches ashore pulling you off the water, so you use the yacht for everything it has, and you are rarely sharing an anchorage.

The Exumas are the general milk run and the week we send almost everyone on. Nassau is where you fly in and cruise out from, with the first anchorages a few hours away. Further north, Harbour Island and Eleuthera are the pink-sand addition for a second week or a change of scene. The whole thing is American-dominant by geography, and it suits every kind of group: friends of any age, young families, three generations. We pick the islands for each.

Ellie on the Bahamas

How we do the Bahamas

Ellie Malouf · Ahoy Club

The Bahamas is not the Med. There is no beach club scene and nobody to be seen by, and on a lot of days you will not pass another boat. What you get instead is water so clear and so shallow that every day turns into a swim, a sandbar and a toy, which is why I always say the tender and the watertoys matter more here than anywhere else. My family has been going back to the Exumas for years, and these are the things we do every single time. I would want you to do them too.

What I always do · swipe

“For me the Bahamas is clear water, bare feet and days where nobody looks at the time. You barely need to leave the boat, and when you do, it is for a beach.”

Ellie on the Bahamas

How we do the Bahamas

I have done every one of these myself, most of them more than once.

What I always do

01 / 08

Piña coladas, Norman's Cay
The plane
Norman's Cay: the walk, then piña coladas
We take the tender into the marina and walk across the island. It is a longer walk than it looks, so wear shoes, and you come out on the west beach to chairs set up on the sand and a piña colada waiting for you. MacDuff's, just behind the beach, does a very good burger, and there are buggies for anyone who has decided the walk back is not for them. On the way home we stop the tender at the plane wreck in the shallows and snorkel it. It is the one everyone asks about when they get home.
Feeding the pigs
Pig Beach, before the day boats
Feeding and swimming with the pigs
Go early, before the day boats arrive from Nassau and the pigs have had their fill. We go in by tender or on the jetskis and they swim out to meet you, which is exactly as strange and as brilliant as it sounds. Take the food the crew pack for you, feed them, swim with them, and keep an eye on your fingers. Half an hour is plenty, and if you have gone early you will have the beach almost to yourselves.
Nurse sharks at the dock
Sunset at Staniel Cay Yacht Club
Staniel Cay Yacht Club is the Exumas' local, and we go in late in the afternoon for a drink and a game of pool. Stay for sunset, because that is when the nurse sharks come in under the marina dock to be fed, and you can get in the water with them. They are gentle and used to people, so this is the one shark swim I happily do with the whole family, grandparents included.
The float-off
Loungers on the platform
The float-off day
This started as a joke on one trip and it has stuck ever since. One day every charter, everything that floats goes in the water: the pool comes off the back of the boat, then the mats and the loungers, and the esky goes in last. We tie it all together and float for hours, drinking, talking and doing very little else. You do not need special kit, any floating mat works. Being stuck out there together with nowhere to be is the best bonding day of the whole trip, always full of laughs, and it is the day we still talk about years later.
Lunch on the sand, Pipe Cay
The beach picnic at Pipe Cay
There are picnic spots all through the Exumas, but Pipe Cay is my favourite because you get a small bay entirely to yourselves. The crew go ahead and set a long table on the sand, and you arrive by tender to lunch already laid out with the boat anchored just off the beach. Stay the afternoon. The water in that bay is as clear as any I have swum in anywhere.
The washing machine
The washing machine at Shroud Cay
At Shroud Cay, ask the tender to drop you at the washing machine with a pool noodle. The tide rips through a gap in the rocks, pulls you round the point and spits you out in the bay, and the moment you climb out you will want to go again. It is a natural lazy river with far better scenery, and it works for every age on board.
Oh Andros, the Fish Fry
The fishing day
Nassau, on the way in or out, and a day's fishing
You will start or finish in Nassau, so we make a proper day of it rather than rushing through. Go to the Fish Fry for lunch, the strip of local places on the water, and head straight for Oh Andros and the conch salad. Arrive hungry, because the plates are enormous, then wander down the strip for a drink or two. If there are kids on board, treat them to an afternoon at Atlantis for the big slide, and honestly the adults enjoy it just as much. For dinner, book Graycliff and ask for the private dining room, then move to the piano bar afterwards, and if you love wine, know that their cellar is one of the biggest in the world. Nassau is also where we fish. Every trip my family books a local fishing boat with its own crew for a half or full day, and whatever we bring back, the chef cooks that night.
Horses in the surf
Feeding the turtles
Harbour Island
Harbour Island feels like stepping back fifty years. The houses are painted in pastels, everyone gets around by golf buggy, and the sand really is pink. We ride horses along the beach in the morning, then have lunch at the Dunmore and walk the length of the beach before or after, and go back to their beach chairs for a drink before dinner. On the way back to the boat the crew know where the turtles are, so you can feed them and swim with them, and if you are lucky the dolphins come past too.

“For me the Bahamas is clear water, bare feet and days where nobody looks at the time. You barely need to leave the boat, and when you do, it is for a beach.”

A reply from someone who has been, usually the same day.

The chart

See how the islands fit together

Nassau in the middle, the Exumas running south-east from it, Harbour Island and Eleuthera to the north, the Abacos further up and Bimini out by Florida. Pick a trip to light up the islands it uses and the order we would run them, or tap an island for the one line that matters about it.

Build a trip

Or one chain at a time

Drag to move. Double-click or ctrl-scroll to zoom.Zoom with the buttons, then drag to move.

Positions are to scale; shapes are schematic. Florida is on the left for distance.

Where we actually go

The Exumas first, then north

The Exumas are the milk run and the week we send almost everyone on. Nassau is where you fly in and cruise out from. Further north sit Harbour Island and Eleuthera for the pink sand.

Exuma Cays

November to May

Nassau and Paradise Island The start and end point. Fly in, board, cruise out. A night here only if the flights force it.

Harbour Island Pink sand and the prettiest village in the Bahamas, north of the Exumas. The second-week addition.

Eleuthera Long, quiet and laid back, next to Harbour Island. Beaches on both coasts and the Glass Window bridge.

The Abacos The northern sailing ground, with Hope Town's lighthouse. A different trip from Nassau's.

Bimini Fifty miles from Florida. The crossing point, and the place for a long weekend from Miami.

Itineraries

Six weeks we start from

Tried and tested: the Exumas week, two ten-nighters, the Abacos and two long weekends. Every one is a starting point we reshape around your group, your yacht and your dates. No two weeks are the same.

Most popular7 nights

The Exumas in a week

Nassau8 stopsNassau

Nassau to Staniel Cay and back: Norman's Cay, the Land and Sea Park, two nights at Staniel for the pigs, the grotto and the sharks at sunset, Pipe Creek and Shroud Cay. The week we send almost everyone on.

Open

10 nights

The Exumas and Harbour Island in ten nights

Nassau8 stopsHarbour Island

The milk run, then across Exuma Sound to Eleuthera for Harbour Island's pink sand, Dunmore Town by golf cart, horses on the beach and lunch at the Dunmore.

Open

10 nights

The whole Exuma chain in ten nights

Nassau9 stopsGeorge Town

One way, Nassau to George Town: two nights in the park, two at Staniel, then Black Point and Little Farmer's where the day boats never go, and a flight home from Great Exuma.

Open

7 nights

The Abacos in a week

Marsh Harbour8 stopsMarsh Harbour

The northern sailing ground from Marsh Harbour: Hope Town's lighthouse, Pete's Pub, Nippers on the dune, Treasure Cay's beach and New Plymouth. Flat water behind the cays, a different week from the Exumas.

Open

3 nights

A long weekend to Pig Beach from Nassau

Nassau5 stopsNassau

Fly into Nassau on Friday, three nights around Staniel Cay for the pigs, the grotto, the sharks and a picnic in Pipe Creek, home on Monday. Or fly to the boat and skip the run.

Open

3 nights

A long weekend from Miami to Bimini

Miami5 stopsMiami

Fifty miles across the Gulf Stream on Friday, stingrays at Gun Cay and the Sapona wreck on Saturday, a day's sport fishing on Sunday, home on Monday. The weekend Florida does.

Open

When to go

Best Good, quieter We'd go elsewhere

December to April: the season. Settled weather, the most boats, and New Year busy but never St Barths busy. Our months.
May: still good, warming up, the fleet beginning to leave for the Mediterranean. Fewer boats, better rates.
June to November: hurricane season, with winds and rain. Short trips from Florida with a watchful forecast only; nothing long.
November: the boats come back across. A quiet month to start the season if the dates line up.

Getting there

Fly to Nassau: three hours from New York, under an hour from Florida, nine from London. Board the same day and cruise out to the islands; the first Exuma anchorages are a few hours away. Staniel Cay and Great Exuma have strips for a mid-charter changeover.

How we'd plan it

What we tell people before they book

The Exumas are the week
Nassau to Staniel Cay and back is the milk run for a reason: the sandbars, the pigs, Thunderball Grotto, the land and sea park, and anchorages with nobody else. Do this one first.
Winter is when the boats are there
The Bahamas runs all year, but December to April is when the Mediterranean fleet has crossed and the weather is settled, so there is far more choice. A few boats stay through summer.
Avoid June to November for long trips
High winds, rain and the hurricane season. A long weekend from Florida can still work with a close eye on the forecast; a two-week charter should not be planned for these months.
Draft decides the route
The banks are shallow and the water is clear enough to see the bottom at ten metres. That is the point, and it also decides which boats can go where. We check the draft before we promise an anchorage.
Choose the friends right
There is nothing ashore to escape to. The boat, the crew and the people on board are the whole holiday, which is why it is the best one when the group is right.
After the Med
Nearly everyone who charters here has chartered in the Mediterranean before. If you have done the Med a lot, this is the next one: active, on the water all day, and using everything the yacht has.

The Exumas are the week

Nassau to Staniel Cay and back is the milk run for a reason: the sandbars, the pigs, Thunderball Grotto, the land and sea park, and anchorages with nobody else. Do this one first.

Winter is when the boats are there

The Bahamas runs all year, but December to April is when the Mediterranean fleet has crossed and the weather is settled, so there is far more choice. A few boats stay through summer.

Avoid June to November for long trips

High winds, rain and the hurricane season. A long weekend from Florida can still work with a close eye on the forecast; a two-week charter should not be planned for these months.

Draft decides the route

The banks are shallow and the water is clear enough to see the bottom at ten metres. That is the point, and it also decides which boats can go where. We check the draft before we promise an anchorage.

Choose the friends right

There is nothing ashore to escape to. The boat, the crew and the people on board are the whole holiday, which is why it is the best one when the group is right.

After the Med

Nearly everyone who charters here has chartered in the Mediterranean before. If you have done the Med a lot, this is the next one: active, on the water all day, and using everything the yacht has.

Yachts

On the water in the Bahamas now

Live from our charter list, in a different order every visit. More boats in winter, when the Mediterranean fleet has crossed; a few stay all year.

Every yacht in the Bahamas

CORAL OCEAN

Lürssen · 73m · 1994, refit 2026

12 guests | 6 cabins | 28 crew

€650k – 790k

KING OF FUN

Northern Marine · 40m · 2005, refit 2022

10 guests | 5 cabins | 8 crew

$120k – 138k

Feadship · 47m · 1990, refit 2022

12 guests | 6 cabins | 10 crew

$140k – 170k

SeaQuest

Christensen · 38m · 1999, refit 2025

10 guests | 5 cabins | 6 crew

$85k – 98k

OCEAN ROSE

Ocean Alexander · 26m · 2018

8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew

$43k

CROSSED SABRE

Burger · 44m · 2006, refit 2021

12 guests | 7 cabins | 11 crew

$175k – 195k

HAPPY HOUR

Horizon · 34m · 2018

11 guests | 5 cabins | 5 crew

$95k – 105k

MIDORI

Sunreef Yachts · 21m · 2016, refit 2026

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$44k – 48k

PRIVILEGE

Custom Line · 34m · 2010, refit 2023

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

Price on request

MURPHY'S LAW

Delta Marine · 38m · 1998, refit 2015

10 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew

$7k – 81k

Andiamo

Symbol Yachts · 28m · 2010, refit 2023

6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew

$35k

NOW OR NEVER

Westport · 34m · 2010, refit 2020

8 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew

$65k – 75k

INDY

Hatteras · 26m · 2005, refit 2023

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$45k – 50k

LADY J

Palmer Johnson · 43m · 1997, refit 2021

12 guests | 5 cabins | 9 crew

$109k – 119k

TRUE NORTH

Broward Marine · 36m · 2000, refit 2019

8 guests | 4 cabins | 5 crew

$60k – 69k

RISK & REWARD

Crescent Yachts · 37m · 2004, refit 2022

9 guests | 4 cabins | 6 crew

$75k – 85k

TANZANITE

Westship · 44m · 2004, refit 2023

10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew

$145k – 160k

TOP FIVE II

Royal Hakvoort · 61m · 2021

12 guests | 7 cabins | 19 crew

$600k – 650k

SPECTRE

Princess · 29m · 2009, refit 2025

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$50k – 65k

LEXINGTON

Horizon · 26m · 2006, refit 2024

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$40k – 46k

CHANSON

Christensen · 37m · 1995, refit 2020

9 guests | 4 cabins | 6 crew

$75k – 85k

SLEEPOVER

Westport · 34m · 2008, refit 2021

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$65k – 75k

LADY ELAINE

Christensen · 50m · 2008, refit 2024

12 guests | 6 cabins | 9 crew

$200k – 225k

SWEET CAROLINE II

Trinity Yachts · 50m · 2009, refit 2021

12 guests | 7 cabins | 11 crew

$19k – 230k

BEYOND BEYOND

Riva · 29m · 2019

6 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$95k – 105k

Princess Mila

Fountaine Pajot · 20m · 2022

6 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew

$43k – 49k

LADY GRACE

Westport · 28m · 1996, refit 2025

6 guests | 3 cabins | 4 crew

$35k – 40k

Akasha

Lagoon · 19m · 2018

8 guests | 2 crew

$45k

PLAYTIME

Lagoon · 20m · 2018, refit 2021

6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew

$43k – 49k

Afforded Leisure

Lazzara · 24m · 2001, refit 2025

6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew

$31k – 34k

TCB

Trinity Yachts · 50m · 2008, refit 2022

11 guests | 5 cabins | 9 crew

$175k – 200k

MEMENTO VIVERE

Westport · 40m · 2005, refit 2021

10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew

$120k – 150k

CARPE DIEM

Azimut · 31m · 2023

10 guests | 5 cabins | 5 crew

$99k – 115k

SAINT

Sirena Yachts · 27m · 2021

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$85k – 98k

COPAY

Lazzara · 24m · 2003, refit 2020

6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew

$36k – 41k

PIER PRESSURE

Azimut · 27m · 2020, refit 2024

10 guests | 5 cabins | 4 crew

$70k – 80k

Alegria

Azimut · 32m · 2024

8 guests | 5 cabins | 5 crew

€100k – 110k

NOMADA

Mochi Craft · 24m · 2010, refit 2025

8 guests | 4 cabins | 4 crew

$50k – 55k

SOVEREIGN

Burger · 30m · 1966, refit 2020

8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew

$48k – 50k

Intermarine Savannah · 45m · 2002, refit 2024

10 guests | 5 cabins | 9 crew

$145k – 167k

Giuli

Sunseeker · 23m · 2000

6 guests | 3 cabins | 3 crew

$34k – 44k

NEVER ENOUGH

Feadship · 43m · 1992, refit 2019

10 guests | 5 cabins | 7 crew

$110k – 127k

MARY KATHLENE

Westport · 42m · 1989, refit 2023

8 guests | 4 cabins | 7 crew

$85k – 95k

CAMILLE

Broward Marine · 38m · 2007, refit 2019

10 guests | 5 cabins | 5 crew

$85k – 98k

A PLACE IN THE SUN

Broward Marine · 30m · 1992, refit 2024

10 guests | 5 cabins | 4 crew

Price on request

PILOT LOUNGE

Horizon · 28m · 2015, refit 2024

8 guests | 4 cabins | 3 crew

$48k – 52k

BUNDALONG

Sunreef Yachts · 24m · 2019

10 guests | 5 cabins

$82k

RELENTLESS

Trinity Yachts · 44m · 2001, refit 2019

10 guests | 5 cabins | 9 crew

$150k – 173k

48 yachts in rotation. The order changes with every visit so no boat is always last.

Questions we get asked

The Bahamas, answered

Common questions

When is the best time for a Bahamas yacht charter?

December to April. The Bahamas is open all year, but winter is when the weather is settled and the Mediterranean fleet has crossed, so there is far more choice of boat. June to November is the hurricane season with high winds and rain; avoid it for anything longer than a long weekend.

Caribbean or Bahamas: how do we choose?

The Bahamas is the clearest water we know, beach picnics every day and a little more built up in places. The Caribbean is more rustic and cultural, with St Barths as its glamorous fix. Both are about the boat, the crew and the water rather than restaurants, and both are far less crowded than the Mediterranean. Tell us the group and we will tell you which.

Where do you fly into for a Bahamas charter?

Nassau, three hours from New York and under an hour from Florida, with direct flights from London. The yacht meets you there and cruises out to the Exumas the same day. Staniel Cay and Great Exuma have airstrips for a changeover mid-charter.

What is the Exumas milk run?

The week nearly everyone does: Nassau south through the Exuma Cays to Staniel Cay and back. The swimming pigs at Big Major, Thunderball Grotto, the sandbars, the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, and anchorages where yours is the only boat.

Is the Bahamas crowded?

No. You are often at an island with no other boat in sight, or a countable few. New Year is the busiest week and still nothing like St Barths or the Mediterranean in August.

Can you charter in the Bahamas in summer?

Some boats stay all year and a long weekend from Florida can work with a close eye on the forecast. From June to November the winds, rain and hurricane risk make a longer charter a bad bet, and most of the fleet is in the Mediterranean.

Want this shaped around you?

Tell us the dates and who is coming. We pick the boat for the group, the anchorages for the week, and tell you honestly what the weather is doing that month.

How we do the Bahamas

How we do the Bahamas

Norman's Cay: the walk, then piña coladas

Feeding and swimming with the pigs

Sunset at Staniel Cay Yacht Club

The float-off day

The beach picnic at Pipe Cay

The washing machine at Shroud Cay

Nassau, on the way in or out, and a day's fishing

Harbour Island

See how the islands fit together

The Exumas first, then north

Exuma Cays→

Six weeks we start from

The Exumas in a week

The Exumas and Harbour Island in ten nights

The whole Exuma chain in ten nights

The Abacos in a week

A long weekend to Pig Beach from Nassau

A long weekend from Miami to Bimini

What we tell people before they book

The Exumas are the week

Winter is when the boats are there

Avoid June to November for long trips

Draft decides the route

Choose the friends right

After the Med

On the water in the Bahamas now

The Bahamas, answered

Common questions

Want this shaped around you?

Exuma Cays