You guys are pretty well-traveled collectively. I am trying to plan a vacation to the Bahamas next month. I’m looking for some stories of how your vacation went, some “don’t miss” places and things, some good ideas, secret get aways, that sort of thing.
Also, if you stayed at a great hotel that wasn’t too expensive, I would definitely like to know about it!!
Share your experiences in the Bahamas. The night life, the food, the shops, the beach, the water activities, the people, etc.
THANKS.
Take me with you!
Do you like hot sauce? If so, pick yourself up some Goat Pepper sauce while you’re there. It’s awesome. When I was there I brought home a bottle, planning on finding more when it ran out. Then I wasn’t able to find anyone, anywhere in the US that sold it. 
If I’d known that, I would have brought home a case.
If you like beer, try Kalik while you’re there. It’s yummy.
Try all the different ways to prepare conch (there’s a lot of them).
Also, practice saying, “No thanks” to people who keep trying to talk over you and shout after when you try to walk away. I loved the Bahamas, but man, people trying to braid my hair/take my picture/sell me a time-share were frickin’ everywhere.
I’m sure you know that Nassau and Freeport are developed and tourist-oriented… go there if you like casinos, nightlife, shopping, etc. Most of the rest of the Bahamas (the Out Islands, or “Family Islands” as I believe they are called now) is very different – undeveloped, quiet, remote. I’ve been to Green Turtle Cay (just off Abaco), Eleuthera, and Cat Island. Loved them all. On Cat Island, we stayed at Sammy T’s, a small, low-key but well-maintained cluster of beach houses. They have their own little restaurant; if you’re planning to eat dinner there, you put in your order by noon. And you probably will want to eat dinner there because there aren’t many other choices. To give you an idea of how remote Cat Island is, I believe that the island still does not have a bank. Mostly what you do there is swim, snorkel, and lounge around. The mellow euphoria I got from being there lasted about a week or two after I got back home.
Green Turtle Cay was similar and also lovely. I knock a point off Eleuthera, only because, where we stayed, the tap water was brackish (not uncommon in the Family Islands… fresh water comes mostly from cisterns).
Great Responses. Thanks guys. I am definitely going to look into those remote islands for a couple days.
Do you guys think I need to make reservations for everywhere I go… if I decide to stay at multiple places. What’s the availability like? Do I need to have all that planned out in an itinerary with reservations before I fly, or is it easy to find places when you get there? Are they usually all booked up and stuff? Or are there always vacancies?
Thanks again. Also, Arglefraster, I can pick up a couple bottles for you if you want.
Also, would it be possible to stay at Nassau or Freeport and then rent a small boat or something and ride out to a secluded island for a day and maybe stay there overnight? Is there anything like that over there? What would something like that cost?
www.graycliff.com for at least a drink. Great history to the hotel, AMAZING wine cellar, hand rolled cigars onsite some nights, beautiful gardens, etc.
Other than than, I always avoid Nassua and head out to various islands for sailing and SCUBA. It has been years, but I used to bareboat charter a sailing tub from Ft. Lauderdale and take it over to the Bahamas for a couple of weeks.
Things to do and places to stay?
Do get yourself a coconut drink and look for a palm tree shadow to stay under in some beach or another. What else does anyone need?
Outside of a couple of festival weekends, not too many tourists visit Cat Island. Part of the problem is that planes don’t go there every day. So there are probably usually vacancies. However, there aren’t that many places to stay on Cat Island, and it would be a bummer to get there and not have a place. Also, making a reservation is good because the owner will arrange to have a taxi pick you up at the airport, and will also arrange for a rental car if you wish.
I think Eleuthera is more accessible and has more places to stay. To get to Green Turtle Cay, you go to Abaco, which I would say is similar to Eleuthera.
Are their small boat or jet ski rentals on Cat Island? Is it possible to stay there and actually travel to a main island for some night life and go back. Or something like that? Or is that impossible.
That would be awsome! If you manage to pick up a few bottles, let me know and I’ll PM you my address.
No problem. And thanks for all the suggestions everyone. They are giving me great places to start looking. I am thinking I want to do Cat Island from Mon-Fri, and then spend friday evening, saturday and sunday on a big island to enjoy some night life. and then leave Monday… or Tuesday.
One kind of touristy attraction I really enjoyed was the Queen’s Staircase, in Nassau. Cool little bit of history there, beautiful scenery & free, can’t beat it.
Be adventurous with trying the local cuisine - don’t drink a Coke when Bahama’s Goombay Punch is available - best soft drink ever! Try the conch fritters from the city vendors - yum! If you’re worn out for the day and don’t want to hit a restaurant for dinner, try ordering a conch pizza from the local Pizza Hut to your hotel room. If you are at all sushi-inclined, try the conch sushi! And coconut pie, if you can find some.
Bahamians are fun, friendly, good-natured folk, for the most part. Yes, there’s the usual amount of time-share scams & other cons, but ask the locals to point you in the right direction. Most of the time, you’ll enjoy the results and get a taste of the REAL Bahamas, instead of the whitewashed touristland parts.
Okay, so I spent half a day looking specifically for “Goat Pepper” sauce. I found tons and tons of different types of Bahamian hot sauces. Many of them contained goat peppers, but none of them were called “Goat Pepper Sauce”.
And the flavor varieties of sauces containing goat peppers were endless. So I wouldn’t know which one most closely matches the great flavor you found.
Here’s what I did find out. One lady at a shop says she used to carry sauce that was actually called “Goat Pepper Sauce”, but that company is out of business. Expalins why you can’t find it.
If you’re enterested in buying some Bahamian hot sauces with goat peppers, you can send this company an email. Conchy Joe’s had some of the tastiest looking sauces. They will ship small quantities to the states, so shoot them an email and they should be able to show you their flavors and let you order some!
http://www.conchyjoes.biz/contact.html
Thanks everyone! My vacation was awesome!