Anyone in search of the perfect beach might very well start with The Islands Of The
Bahamas. Most beaches are pristine and unbelievably white, with sand so fine it feels soft to the touch.
The beaches of The Islands Of The Bahamas are often coupled with shallow, transparent water for hundreds of yards out to sea, rising gently to sandbars before finally dropping into the depths.
Grand Bahama Island boasts some of the most beautiful and exciting beaches in all of The Islands Of The Bahamas.Many guests of the Freeport hotels frequent the Xanadu Beach.
It's a popular beach and tends to get crowded at times, but you'll find most water sports equipment available here. The premier beach on Grand Bahama Island is Gold Rock Beach. It is a secluded beach with BBQ pits, picnic tables and benches and a spectacular low tide.
Just north of the beach are the Lucayan Caverns, the world's longest underground surveyed cave system.
If you are looking for a more secluded beach, travel down to the Barbary Beach. You'll find beautiful seashells and in May and June there's a spectacular display of white spider lilies.
Many locals believe that Barbary is the most beautiful beach in all of Grand Bahama Island.
In the Lucaya area, there is a string of three beaches that are accessible, but never crowded. Visiting the Taino, Churchill and Fortune beaches makes for a relaxing day in the sun. And the further east you go -- the less civilization you'll find.
Nassau, the capital city of The Islands Of The Bahamas, is located on the island of New Providence.It was once the port of choice for pirates, privateers and assorted criminals. For many years Nassau had no laws and no government, so it was paradise for those who liked to prey upon others.
The Islands Of The Bahamas made a great place to hide treasure -- and pirates were quick to boast about all the riches they had buried.
In addition, many ships laden with gold and silver sank off the coasts of the islands. Such tales of treasure add mystique to The Islands Of The Bahamas, whose real treasure is its beautiful beaches and hospitable people.
Scuba Diving
The islands offer some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the world, with 2500 miles (4023km) of ocean wall drop-offs, underwater caverns and blue holes - fathomless water-filled sinkholes that open to submarine caves. Every island is rimmed by coral reefs, and the waters offer exceptional visibility and year-round temperatures that make wetsuits unnecessary.
Under the surface you'll see a dazzling display of colorful sealife, ranging from the exotic to the eerie: moray eels, grunts, barracudas, stingrays, turtles, queen triggerfish, sand tigers, parrotfish and angelfish flashing their neons, and an impressive array of hard and soft coral formations totaling an estimated 5% of the world's coral reefs. There are plentiful ship and plane wrecks to explore - even a train off Eleuthera.
Some islanders believe that part of the 'lost' city of Atlantis lies just off the Biminis. Above all, the Bahamas is renowned for wall dives along the sheer-faced trenches at the edges of the Bahama Banks.
New Providence offers superb diving and snorkeling close to shore, including such noted sites as the Clifton Wall, off the southwestern coast; Balmoral Island, off the northern coast; and Razorback, named for the arcing ridge of coral-covered limestone that rises from the sand-bottom before plummeting into the Tongue of the Ocean to the southwest.
Elbow Cay, just off Abaco, has excellent reefs on the Atlantic side.
The calmer waters near Hope Town and the northern tip of the cay offer staghorn, elkhorn and brain corals that are easily reached by swimming from shore.
