Helpful Tips for Provisioning for the Bahamas

Never having been to the Bahamas before, especially for an extended period, I didn’t know any helpful tips for provisioning for the Bahamas. I knew that the food would be very expensive, and it was, but I still had many questions. How expensive is the food in the Bahamas? What type of food will I find over there? Will I be able to find everything I’m looking for? What islands will I be able to grocery shop on? How easy are they to get to?

If you have the same questions I had before going to the Bahamas, then hopefully you will find this article helpful. I will answer all these questions here, as well as provide you with a list of all grocery items I purchased, where I purchased them, and what I paid for them.

This article will cover the islands we visited while in the Bahamas from March to May 2023. This includes: Bimini, Great Harbour Cay, Spanish Wells, Lynyard Cay, Elbow Cay, Man-O-War Cay, Great Abaco Island, Great Guana Cay, Powell Cay, Manjack Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Great Sale Cay, and Grand Cay.

Prices

I learned that prices vary depending on where you are and what you are purchasing. Outer islands, such as Bimini and Great Harbour Cay, had less variety and much more expensive prices that larger, more populated areas such as Great Abacos (Marsh Harbour) and Spanish Wells. All food was more expensive than the United States, which is why it is important to provision for the Bahamas prior to your arrival.

Some items were very expensive, such as meats, and other items were very reasonable. We did try to purchase local brands as much as possible instead of name-brand items to help keep the cost down. For example, chips, pasta, and canned goods we were able to save on by purchasing the store brand for these items. I have created this Bahamas Provisioning Spreadsheet that provides what I paid for each item.

Types of Food

You can find anything you might be looking for; however, you will not find everything you are looking for on every island.

As I previously mentioned, the smaller, outer islands have much less variety that the larger islands. Bimini, Great Harbour Cay, Great Guana Cay, and Grand Cay had very small selections of canned goods, pastas and grains, dairy and produce at very expensive prices.

For example, we bought one bottle of lemon juice and one head of lettuce on Bimini for $12.65!

The more populated areas, such as Spanish Wells and Marsh Harbour on Great Abacos, had large, well-stocked grocery stores where you could find anything you could want to add to your provisions. They had several varieties of items, such as multiple types of milk, cheeses and yogurts, and a variety of meats. They are very much like your typical grocery store in the States, but with higher prices.

One item we can find well stocked, but not our favorite type or flavor, is coffee! We can easily find regular flavored coffee and instant coffee. But if you are looking for a specific brand or flavor for your coffee maker, be sure to stock up before you leave.

Best Grocery Stores

I am very must a list person, so I have created this table below of which islands we went to, and a description of the groceries available on each island where we restocked our provisions while in the Bahamas:

Island	Groceries
Bimini	There are a few small grocery stores here, but they are very limited and very expensive. Also, prices are not listed.
Great Harbour Cay (Berry Islands)	There is a grocery store here, but very limited and very expensive. We did start to notices prices being listed.
Spanish Wells (Northern Eleuthera)	Food Fair is a great grocery store – large and well stocked with good variety.
Lynyard Cay	No grocery store
Elbow Cay (Hope Town)	Vernon’s Grocery in Hope Town is a small store, but has a decent variety of items. Very expensive on some items such as name-brand loaves of bread.
Man-O-War Cay	Man-O-War Grocery is a decent sized store with a variety of items. A bit bigger than Vernon’s in Hope Town. Prices were in line with Maxwell’s in Marsh Harbour.
Great Abaco Island (Marsh Harbour)	Maxwell’s Grocery Store is the largest grocery store in the Abacos. Well stocked, great variety and best prices we came across.
Great Guana Cay	There is a small grocery store here, but very limited.
Powell Cay	No grocery store
Manjack Cay	No grocery store
Green Turtle Cay	Sid’s Food Store is a decent sized store in New Plymouth with a good variety of food and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Great Sale Cay	No grocery store
Grand Cay	Very small store here that carried a handful of items such as canned goods and very limited fresh foods.

Locations of Grocery Stores for Provisioning

All grocery stores on the islands we visited were within walking distance to our anchorages or marinas we stayed at. However, in Green Turtle Cay, Sid’s Food Store is near Black Sound. It is not within walking distance if you stay in White Sound. In Marsh Harbour, Maxwell’s is an approximate 10–15-minute walk from the anchorage and marinas.

Provisioning for the Bahamas – Our Next Trip

I looked back at what all we bought in the Bahamas, and the food we brought over with us, found in this spreadsheet here. I will stock up better on a few items for our next trip. For starters, we did not stock well on snacks. Chips can run around $8 for a bag in the Bahamas, at least double the price compared to the states. They keep well, and I would buy more chips before our next trip, even though they do take up a lot of space.

Other snacks I would stock up on would include sharable snacks such as nuts, trail mix, etc. that we can bring to gatherings with other cruisers. We found nuts in the larger store in the Bahamas, but for variety, I would stock up more on items such as these before we cross over.

In regards to our meats, we did well with the amount of chicken, pork, and ground beef we brought with us. This lasted us the entire 2 months we spent in the Bahamas. We even took on a crew member for the last two weeks, and still had plenty of meat to eat.

As far as our beverages go, we have bought a Soda Stream since we have returned on our trip. We have found out that we can save a lot of space using the Soda Stream compared to stocking up on various flavors of pop. We can run the Soda Stream off our inverter as it doesn’t take much electricity to run, so that is a plus as well.

Another item we purchased since our return from the Bahamas is this 4-liter pressure cooker. We have just started using it, but I can already see how it will come in useful for cooking black beans and chick peas. We eat a lot of these, and now we can purchase the dried beans which will save us money and space.

Hopefully this information will help you with your provisioning for your first trip to these areas of the Bahamas. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Live your dream,