Things to Do in Nassau, and What to Book First

What can you do in Nassau in one port day, and what do you need to book before you get off the ship? Cruise guests ask some version of that at every dock I have worked, and the list of things to do in Nassau is long enough to make it a fair question. I grew up around cruise ship days in St. Maarten, but I have never run a trip in the Bahamas, so read this as an outsider's view from a Caribbean operator, and check the details with the people running the trips.

Short version: do the beaches and the town on your own, and book anything that involves a boat.

Read the cruise ship schedule before anything else

Nassau Cruise Port at Prince George Wharf has six berths and can take three Oasis-class ships at the same time. Some days you will see five or six ships alongside. On those days I would book the boat early and keep the downtown plan simple.

If you are staying on the island, check a cruise schedule site before you pick your days. Put the beach and the shopping on the quiet days. If you are on the ship, you can't pick the day, so go early. I would aim to get downtown before the other ships empty out.

Winter is the busiest stretch, and late summer is the quietest, which is also hurricane season. It's the same trade-off on every island I know.

Things to do in Nassau on your own

A lot of Nassau needs no booking at all.

• Junkanoo Beach. The closest beach to the port, roughly a 13-minute walk west. A busy town beach, fine for a swim and a cold drink.
• Arawak Cay and the Fish Fry. Just past Junkanoo Beach on West Bay Street, a strip of Bahamian seafood spots selling conch salad and fried snapper. Sunday night is when locals come out.
• The Straw Market. On Bay Street, a few minutes from the ships. Bargaining is expected and cash works best. Go early or late to miss the midday crowd.
• Fort Charlotte. The biggest of the old forts, about a mile west of downtown, open daily with guides on site. Admission is a few dollars and the guides expect a tip.

One change to flag. The Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle, the classic downtown history walk, are listed as temporarily closed on the official Nassau Paradise Island site while work on the old Water Tower carries on. The notice gives no reopening date, so check before you plan around the climb.

For Paradise Island, take the water taxi from next to the cruise terminal. It is about ten minutes across the harbor, from roughly $7 a person. Cabbage Beach is the big one on the north shore. Public access to Cabbage Beach has been disputed, so confirm an available route before you go. Construction at the Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences site may change access on that stretch, so ask before you walk. The north shore also catches the swell, so read the water before you swim.

Nassau excursions worth booking ahead

Rose Island. About 25 minutes by boat from Nassau. Snorkeling and a quiet beach, and some half-day trips add a reef and a turtle spot. Check the trip's return time against your all-aboard time.

Blue Lagoon Island. Dolphin Encounters runs the dolphin and sea lion programs here, with a boat transfer of about 25 minutes each way from Paradise Island and departure times that vary by day. Book ahead, because only paid bookings are guaranteed.

The Exuma swimming pigs. Everyone wants this one. The original pigs are at Big Major Cay in the Exumas, a long way from Nassau. Getting there and back in a day means a small plane plus a boat, with packages advertised around $850 a person, or a long open-water crossing. Powerboat Adventures runs about an hour out to the northern Exuma Cays, with pigs on its private island, and takes most of the day. Some cheaper "pig" trips go to Rose Island, where an operator keeps its own pigs. That can be a nice morning. It is not the Exumas, and a good operator says so up front.

If you are on a ship, I would skip the true Exuma trip unless your port day is long and the weather forecast is calm. A tight return on a long run is a real risk, and you cannot count on the ship waiting for an independently booked tour.

Pay for the small boat, not the big one

I'll argue this one with anyone. On a busy ship day, the big boats carry a lot of people to the same reef at the same time. You can spend too much of the trip waiting for a mask.

The small boat can cost more per head. I would pay that for more water time and a crew willing to move to a quieter spot when the reef gets crowded. I worked cruise ship tours around St. Maarten as a captain, and on a crowded day I would still pick the small boat.

How to tell a tour is well run

You can't see the boat before you book, but you can see the operator. A few things I look for:

• A clear pickup point and time, written in your confirmation, not "find us at the dock."
• A cancellation and weather policy you can read before paying. What matters is whether they refund or rebook a weather day without a fight.
• A safety briefing before you leave the dock, with life jackets shown, not just mentioned.
• A return time well ahead of all-aboard, if you came in on a ship. If a trip cuts it close, I would not book it.

Check-in tells you a lot too. At Eagle Tours, my parents' company in St. Maarten, check-in on the daily cat runs used to be a big job. Once they digitized the whole operation, check-in got a lot easier. When a Nassau operator has your name ready at the dock, the rest of the trip is usually organized too. That is the job we built Junglebee's booking system for charters to handle.

What I would book first

If you have one day, book a small-boat trip to Rose Island or a reef in the morning, then walk to the Fish Fry for lunch and Fort Charlotte after. If you have a few days on the island, save the Exuma run for the calmest day on the forecast and the beaches for the days with fewer ships in port.