Free Things to Do in the Bahamas
Are you wondering what free things there are to do once you get to the Bahamas? The Bahamas is a paradise for outdoor activities. Whether you love to paddleboard, snorkel, fish, lounge on the beach, or take your dogs on hikes, you can find several activities, including free things to do, in the Bahamas.
First, We Have to Get to the Bahamas
On our first trip to the Bahamas by sailboat, we had so many questions. We spent most of our time before getting there trying to figure out which island to check into, how to bring a dog to the Bahamas, when to go based on the weather, and where to stage for our crossing. We spent little time researching what we were going to do when we got there! And, being on a budget, we are mostly interested in free things to do in the Bahamas.
We love the outdoors, so we primarily like to find outdoor things to see and do. We have two paddleboards onboard, we well as snorkel gear, and floats to float on off the back of the boat. While we are both SCUBA certified, we do not have all of our own SCUBA equipment, outside of our snorkel gear, as this hobby can get expensive pretty fast. So we like to find beautiful areas we can explore using our paddleboards and snorkeling equipment.
We Made It! Now What?!?
Once we arrived to the Bahamas, and got all checked in with Customs and Immigration, we were free to explore this beautiful place! I have found a few reliable sources to use to figure out what to do. First, you can get a copy of the Cruising Guide to the Bahamas, and/or Cruising Guide to the Abacos. We had 2019 versions of both, which we referred to frequently. While these may not be considered necessary to have with access to the internet, I still found them useful and I would recommend having a hard copy of each with you.
My other sources of information are from Active Captain and Waterway Guide, both of which I have added on into our Aqua Maps charts. Both Active Captain and Waterway Guide have marinas, anchorages, and more identified on Aqua Maps. At each place we would stay, I could check out reviews in both platforms to see what people had to say not only about the marina or anchorage, or the closest grocery store, but also about must see things to do.
Lastly, another excellent source of information when trying to figure out free things to do in the Bahamas is by word of mouth. We met the most wonderful cruisers, as well as locals, during our 2 months here. No one was shy about recommendations for snorkeling, paddleboarding, hiking, and of course their favorite local bars in the area.
Our Favorite Free Things We Did
So what were some of our favorite free things to do in the Bahamas? While we enjoyed eating out at the wonderful restaurants on each island, what we truly loved to do were the free outdoor activities. The water is absolutely beautiful here, so we loved paddleboarding and snorkeling around the islands. We also thought it was great when we found cool hikes on remote islands, something our dog Mangaux could participate in as well. Below I have listed our favorite and free things to do on each of the islands listed below.
Bimini
When we arrived at Bimini, we knew some strong winds would be right behind us, so we stayed at the Blue Bimini Resort Marina in Alice Town. This marina was a short walk up over the hill to a beautiful beach on the other side of the island. The beach is public and free to use. On calm days it is absolutely beautiful!
Berry Islands
We sailed from Bimini to Great Harbour Cay and anchored in Bullock Harbor on the west side of the island and in an anchorage near The Beach Club on the east side of the island. Our favorite adventure while in the Berries was when we dinghied over to Cistern Cay (Bullock Harbor). We hiked up the island and found the two abandoned houses there rumored to be owned by drug lords in the 1980’s. This island is currently uninhabited, and was fun to explore. Well, except for coming across a snake in our path!
Northern Area of Eleuthera
From the Berry Islands, we sailed over to Meeks Patch, an island just south of Spanish Wells. Meeks Patch has anchorages on both sides for protection from both easterly and westerly winds. This island is uninhabited except for several resident pigs! We enjoyed just hanging out on the beach. The west side anchorage has several chairs and a bon fire pit that all came into good use. But be aware that you have to share this space with the pigs when the tour boats leave for the day. While you can pay $10 to feed the pigs, we opted to land our dinghy on the other end of the beach and hang out there.
The water here is absolutely gorgeous and we also enjoyed paddleboarding and snorkeling around the anchorage.
Hope Town on Elbow Cay
We stayed a week in Hope Town, and enjoyed walking through the town and visiting the beach on the Atlantic side. I would say that the highlight of our stay in Hope Town was a private tour of the Elbow Reef Lighthouse . We had the pleasure of meeting the lighthouse keeper the evening before while taking Mangaux for a walk, and he invited us on a tour the next evening. The lighthouse is the last kerosene burning fixture in the world! The lighthouse keeper invited us to help him light the lighthouse one evening. A night we will not forget.
Great Guana Cay
While some of my memories during our stay at the Great Guana Cay anchorage included snaking clogs out our aft holding tank pipes (while free, definitely not our favorite pastime), I also really enjoyed paddleboarding around this anchorage. There were several sea turtles here and crystal clear water.
Manjack Cay
Manjack Cay and Powell Cay were my two favorite stops on this trip to the Bahamas. Manjack Cay is mostly uninhabited (I believe there are one or two houses here) with various beachy areas to dinghy up to. There is an Art Trail that you can walk from one beach to another that is lined with local beach art. There is another trail that leads from the anchorage over to a long beautiful beach on the Atlantic side. One of the beaches here has a swing in the water that you can hang out at. One day, Scott and I went on a paddleboarding adventure and paddled through the mangroves on the northeast side of Manjack. We were the only people back there (possibly due to the winds that day!) and saw so many turtles. They started getting used to us being there, and didn’t even dart away when we paddled by them.
Powell Cay
Powell Cay is an uninhabited island near Manjack Cay. This island also has a trail you can hike up to the top of a small cliff (watch out for fire ants!). This cliff is home of the several White-Tailed Tropicbirds (aka Longtails) that you can see flying around. We hiked this trail, snorkeled around the coastline, took several walks on the beautiful beach that Mangaux loved to explore, and had a gathering one evening will the other cruisers in the anchorage.
No Lack of Things to Do
This is just a short list of places we visited and free things we did on this trip to the Bahamas. These are highlights of our favorite and free things we found to do while here. This is by no means an all inclusive list, as there are several islands we have not visited.
We thoroughly enjoyed the days of snorkeling, paddleboarding, hiking, checking out local points of interest like the art trail and lighthouse, and just relaxing in the cockpit of the boat taking in all the beautiful scenery. We would love to hear about your favorite and free things you did during your visits to the Bahamas. Also, check out Helpful Tips for Provisioning for the Bahamas before your next trip!
Live your dream,
