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Ahoy Club

One way, slowly · 10 nights · Nassau to George Town, Great Exuma

The whole Exuma chain in ten nights: Nassau to George Town

One way, all the way down: two nights in the park, two at Staniel, then the emptier southern cays and a flight home from Great Exuma

Best months

November - May

How long

11 Days / 10 Nights

Start and finish

Nassau to George Town, Great Exuma

Planned by

The Ahoy Club charter team

The idea of the week

For people who want the Exumas and nothing else, slowly. The same water as the week, with every stop given room to breathe: two nights in the Land and Sea Park, two at Staniel, and then on south past where the week turns round, into the half of the chain that the day boats never reach. Black Point, the most Bahamian village in the cays; Little Farmer's, where almost nobody goes; and George Town at the bottom, with Chat 'N' Chill on the beach and an international airport, so you fly home instead of doubling back.

Total cruising is about fourteen hours over ten days, the laziest route we run. Superyacht charters start on any day of the week, so the route stands on its own. Legs are approximate, at a steady ten knots, and the captain adjusts them for the weather and the tide on the day. The banks are shallow, so the yacht moves in daylight and takes her time.

The route

  1. 1Highbourne CayHighbourne Cay, northern Exumas · 38 nm · 4 h
  2. 2Norman's CayNorman's Cay, northern Exumas · 7 nm · 45 min
  3. 3Warderick WellsWarderick Wells, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park · 17 nm · 1.75 h
  4. 4Hawksbill CayHawksbill Cay, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park · 6 nm · 40 min
  5. 5Compass Cay and Pipe CreekCompass Cay and Pipe Creek, central Exumas · 16 nm · 1.5 h
  6. 6Staniel Cay and Big MajorStaniel Cay, central Exumas · 7 nm · 45 min
  7. 7Staniel Cay, the other sideStaniel Cay, central Exumas · Stay, or 2 nm round the island
  8. 8Black PointBlack Point, Great Guana Cay, central Exumas · 5 nm · 30 min
  9. 9Little Farmer's CayLittle Farmer's Cay, southern Exumas · 10 nm · 1 h
  10. 10George Town and Stocking IslandGeorge Town, Great Exuma · 43 nm · 4.5 h
  11. 11George TownGeorge Town, Great Exuma · Tender to the dock

What the crew arrange along the way

The beach picnic, on a sandbar or in your own bay

The crew land a table, chairs, umbrellas and a kitchen and cook lunch there, with the yacht in view. Ellie's favourite is the little bay at Pipe Cay, but the Exumas have more picnic beaches than we could list, and a sandbar that only exists at low tide is the Bahamas version.

A themed day or night on board, at least one

The Bahamas is about the boat, so we plan at least one themed day or night. Tell us the idea before the charter and the crew have the costumes and decorations ready. Pirate night suits the Exumas: half these cays were pirate anchorages.

The float-off day

Ellie's ritual. Every toy that floats goes in the water: the pool detached from the boat, the mats, the loungers. The esky goes in with them, and everyone drifts off together for the afternoon with drinks and snacks and nothing to do. Any yacht with floating mats can do it; the ones with a sea pool do it best.

Longer tripCouplesSeasoned charterersOne way

Day by day

1

Highbourne Cay

Highbourne Cay, northern Exumas · 38 nm · 4 h · Board and cross the Yellow Bank

Board at Albany, lunch under way across the bank, and the first night at Highbourne with the nurse sharks off the dock and the iguanas of Allen's Cay a tender ride away. Before the move in the morning, walk from the marina across to Horseshoe Bay: a white beach with hammocks and pontoons, a little bar on the sand that opens at midday if you call ahead, and buggies for anyone who would rather ride. Grapes for the iguanas.

  • Straight out from the airport
  • Nurse sharks and iguanas
  • First sunset over the banks
2

Norman's Cay

Norman's Cay, northern Exumas · 7 nm · 45 min · The walk, the piña coladas, the plane

The long walk across the island to the west beach, chairs and piña coladas on the sand, burgers at MacDuff's, buggies back. The cartel's DC-3 to snorkel in the afternoon.

  • The walk to the west beach
  • MacDuff's for burgers
  • Snorkel the drug plane
3

Warderick Wells

Warderick Wells, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park · 17 nm · 1.75 h · Into the Land and Sea Park

The park headquarters and the sandbar anchorage. Boo Boo Hill, the driftwood pile, jet skis round the cays and a snorkel on the reef.

  • Boo Boo Hill
  • Jet skis through the park
  • The protected reef
4

Hawksbill Cay

Hawksbill Cay, Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park · 6 nm · 40 min · A second park day: the Loyalist ruins and an empty beach

Forty minutes north to one of the prettiest cays in the park. Wardens have cleared a trail through the scrub to the ruins of a Loyalist plantation, and the trail ends on a beach where the only footprints are yours. Kayaks and paddleboards in the lee, and the float-off day if the water is flat.

  • The trail to the Loyalist ruins
  • A beach with nobody on it
  • The float-off, if today is the day
5

Compass Cay and Pipe Creek

Compass Cay and Pipe Creek, central Exumas · 16 nm · 1.5 h · Sharks at the dock, the Pipe Cay picnic

Swim with the nurse sharks under the Compass Cay dock, find Rachel's Bubble Bath, and have the beach picnic in your own bay at Pipe Cay. Sunset in the turquoise maze of Pipe Creek.

  • Nurse sharks at Compass Cay
  • The picnic at Pipe Cay
  • Sunset in Pipe Creek
6

Staniel Cay and Big Major

Staniel Cay, central Exumas · 7 nm · 45 min · Pigs, grotto, sharks at the yacht club

Feeding and swimming with the pigs first, Thunderball Grotto at low tide, and Staniel Cay Yacht Club for drinks and pool before the nurse sharks arrive under the dock at sunset.

  • Carrots for the pigs
  • Thunderball Grotto
  • The yacht club and the sharks at sunset
7

Staniel Cay, the other side

Staniel Cay, central Exumas · Stay, or 2 nm round the island · A second night, a themed night

Stay a second night and see the other side of the island. The themed night on board is tonight, with a torch-lit dinner on a nearby beach if the group would rather be on the sand.

  • Round the island
  • The themed night
  • Or dinner on the beach by torchlight
8

Black Point

Black Point, Great Guana Cay, central Exumas · 5 nm · 30 min · The most Bahamian village in the chain

Half an hour south past Musha Cay, David Copperfield's private string of islands, which you cannot land on without an invitation but can admire from the water, to the largest settlement in the cays and the least touristy: a village where straw is still plaited on the porches, Lorraine's Café serves the lunch, and the blowhole on the Atlantic side fires with the swell. The day boats do not come here.

  • Musha Cay from the water on the way
  • A real Exumas village, lunch at Lorraine's Café
  • The blowhole on the Atlantic side
9

Little Farmer's Cay

Little Farmer's Cay, southern Exumas · 10 nm · 1 h · Where almost nobody goes

An hour south to a cay of fifty people. Turtles in the harbour, Oven Rock cave to climb into, Ty's Sunset Bar for a rum punch as the sun goes down over the banks. The quietest night of the trip.

  • Turtles in the harbour
  • Oven Rock cave
  • Sunset at Ty's
10

George Town and Stocking Island

George Town, Great Exuma · 43 nm · 4.5 h · Chat 'N' Chill and the stingrays

The one longer run, down the sound to Elizabeth Harbour, the biggest anchorage in the chain. Lunch at Chat 'N' Chill on Stocking Island, conch salad made in front of you with the stingrays nosing round your ankles, the walk up to the Monument for the view back over the whole chain, and the farewell dinner on board.

  • Chat 'N' Chill on the beach
  • Stingrays in the shallows
  • The Monument walk
11

George Town

George Town, Great Exuma · Tender to the dock · Disembark

Exuma International Airport is fifteen minutes from the dock, with direct flights to Miami, Atlanta and Toronto in season and Nassau every day.

  • Fifteen minutes to the airport
  • Direct flights to the US in season
Ahoy Club

Make this week yours

Tell us the dates and who is coming.

This is a sample week, planned by the Ahoy Club charter team from trips we have run before. Every stop moves with the weather, the tide and the group. We reshape it around your yacht and your dates, book the tables and quote the rate.

Australia

+61 (02) 9327 3333

Europe

+33 4 9367 3735

USA

+1 561 813 7511

ahoyclub.com · charter@ahoyclub.com
https://ahoyclub.com/charter/itinerary/exumas-chain-10-nights

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