Island Hopping by Boat
Getting around on the water adds a lot of genuine Out Islands charm to inter-island travel. In the Abacos, Exumas and at the north end of Eleuthera (nexus for Harbour Island and Spanish Wells), you can island hop via ferry boats and water taxis if you aren’t renting or chartering a boat yourself.
As you’d expect in the Bahamas’ island-hopping capital, the Abacos have ferries that make scheduled runs between the “mainland” of Great Abaco and all the outer islands across the Sea of Abaco. Check out the schedule and plan your day, whether it’s a beach trip to Elbow Cay or Great Guana, a historical tour of Hopetown or Man-o-War, or you’re hitting the Sunday pig roast at Nippers on Great Guana, you’ll find ferries to get you back and forth – just don’t miss the last ferry back!
To get back and forth from Great Abaco to Hopetown, Great Guana, Scotland, Man-o-War, you can hop on Albury’s Ferry Service, which operates out of their own Marsh Harbour dock and at the Conch Inn (check www.alburysferry.com/schedule.htm for the latest schedules or download the PDF). Further north, the Green Turtle Ferry runs from Treasure Cay airport out to Green Turtle Cay eight times a day.
If you want to island-hop on your own schedule, you’ll find that dive and fishing operators on Great Abaco can also boat you around the islands as a charter or as part of an excursion – check at marinas like Boat Harbour at a Abaco Beach Resort, the Marsh Harbour Marina or Conch Inn.
On the north end of Eleuthera, you’ll find a government ferryboat waiting to take you to Spanish Wells, and a gaggle of taxi boats busily ferrying guests to and from Harbour Island (just tell your land taxi driver which island you’re going to and she’ll drop you at the right dock). Both trips are only about five minutes.
Visitors to Great Exuma do not want to miss a trip out to Stocking Island, just a mile across the harbor. Peace & Plenty runs its own ferry to their beach club on Stocking Island, while the beach bar called Chat & Chill uses a water taxi to bring guests over to its spot on the Point. Since the water in the bay is calm and easy to navigate, you can also rent a small boat from Minn’s Water Sports on Great Exuma – that way you can visit both beach clubs on Stocking Island and cruise the harbors other beaches and coves.
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