My Travel Guide (with Kids) to the Bahamas, Exumas… Covid Requirements and All!

The Exumas… our newfound FAVORITE beach destination! Several years ago now we ventured out from Nassau on a 45min boat ride to the very very top of the Exumas for a little day trip and I was in absolute AWE of the clear water and white sand. I have traveled a good bit throughout the Caribbean and Europe and it was by far the most beautiful sand and water I had ever seen. The more I researched after that trip, the more I discovered that the jewel of the Exumas is actually a good bit further south than we had ventured that day. A 15 hour boat ride down the Exuma islands or more realistically, a 45 minute puddle jumper flight from Nassau into Georgetown, Exuma is the most magical beach spot EVER…

SHOP… MY BATHING SUIT / JOHN’S TEE

Last Fall, John and I traveled to the Exumas for the first time and had THE BEST TIME EVER. It was our first big vacation together and it was magical! We learned sooo much about the island, the secret must-sees, the best restaurants and of course all of the Covid restrictions. And I am here to share them all with YOU! But first, here’s a peek at us last Summer and this Spring Break on the very same bench at my first MUST-SEE SPOT I will chat about below… Haulover Bay!

SHOP… MY BATHING SUIT

Bahamas Covid Travel Requirements…

Before we chat clear water, white sand and yummy food… let’s chat Covid! I have to say that traveling to the Bahamas right now is not what I would call “easy” BUT it is soooo worth it! For U.S. citizens traveling to the Bahamas right now, the Bahamas requires a health visa. And not just one health visa but several depending on your island hopping schedule. I will try my BEST to share what I know and my experiences as accurately as I can but always check THIS WEBSITE for the exact details and more up to date requirements. SO… you will first need to obtain a NEGATIVE COVID-19 RT-PCR (swab test) taken NO MORE THAN five days prior to your arrival. The kicker is that the results can take a few days to come in and the Bahamas can take UP TO 48 hours to process your health visa. AND YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY NEED YOUR “GREEN LIGHT” BAHAMAS HEALTH VISA TO TRAVEL! Make sure you get a paper or digital version of your results from an approved lab and you will need to upload those results HERE under “HEALTH VISA APPLICATION- INTERNATIONAL” at the top of the page. Once the Bahamas approves your Visa, you will receive an e-mail that will then require payment before you can download your health visa. That APPROVED HEALTH VISA you will need (in print form) for your travels will look like this…

You will also need a copy of your NEGATIVE COVID-19 RT-PCR (swab test) as well! Makes no sense to need both I know BUT you will I promise! That looks something like this…

I also printed the required travel insurance documentation that will come with your health visa and I do think they looked over that as well. That looks like this…

NOW, if you are planning to island hop, you will also need a DOMESTIC HEALTH VISA which you can apply for HERE. You will also need one to come back to the island you came from as well! For example, we needed a domestic health visa to go from Nassau which was our fly-in from Atlanta to the Exumas and then one to go from the Exumas back to Nassau to fly home. SOMETIMES you will need extra testing for this Visa as well. I think if you travel almost immediately to another island you don’t need testing from my understanding but you will still need to fill out everything for the Visa!

NEXT, if you plan to stay in the Bahamas longer than five days, you must take a Rapid Antigen test while in the Bahamas and submit your results online via an e-mail you will receive after applying for your initial health visas. You can do so at any of the TESTING CENTERS found HERE. Make sure and make an appointment on your day five ahead of time too! They do give you two days “leeway” to take that 5-day test which was SUPER HELPFUL in that we could use those same results we got on our day 7 to also use to fly back into the United States. Which brings me to the last part…

FINALLY, the U.S. now requires NEGATIVE PCR or Rapid Antigen test results for entry back into the United States taken no more than 72 hours prior to your flight. Our day seven was on Friday so we were able to extend our “day five” test to day seven so that we could use those same results to fly back into the U.S. on Sunday! WHEW!

Oh and one last thing… you do have to fill out an e-mail health questionnaire everyday as well but it’s quick and easy. Five yes/no questions and you are done!

Now for the fun stuff!!! I am going to be re-sharing a good bit of information that I shared on my last Exumas post here as well. Lots of those spots are still our faves plus I will add a few more!

Packing…

Oh and I will re-share this again since we once again took ONLY CARRY-ON!

My biggest secret of all is THIS UNDERSEAT CARRY-ON! It holds my toiletry bag, my jewelry bag, my laptop and a pair of shoes which frees up my entire carry-on suitcase for clothing!

Two weeks ago now, we packed up all four of our kiddos (all with carry-on!) and headed out on our first Spring Break trip as a future family…

SHOP… MY TOP

Travel…

First things first… how do you get there? You will want to first fly into Nassau and then take a “puddle jumper” flight into Georgetown. We always fly Delta from Atlanta to Nassau and then Bahamasair from Nassau into Georgetown…

Next, you will probably want to rent a car. They do drive on the opposite side of the road in the Bahamas since it is a British colony but John says it’s pretty easy to get used to. He just chants “left, left, left” everytime he gets in the car. LOL. There are two car rental places right across the street from that airport. Last time we used Airport Car Rental (literally the name of it) and this time we used Thompson’s Car Rental. Both were great! I would most definitely advise booking your car ahead of time.

Accommodations…

For the first two nights of our stay, we stayed at Grand Isle Resort and Spa. It was great and the people were wonderful. Not sure why, I know this is a “me thing”, but I much prefer just renting a home as opposed to staying at a resort. It’s actually usually cheaper that way too! I just always like to do my own thing and have some privacy. BUT I would absolutely recommend this resort. We ended up “having to” come in two days sooner since flights kept getting bumped so our Airbnb rental was Monday-Sunday and we ended up needing somewhere that first Saturday and Sunday as well…

For our Airbnb this go around, I would quite honestly not recommend it at all. The location was great and the house was nice but it needs a TON of repairs! I should have read the reviews a little closer prior to booking. Let’s just say that one of the showers flooded the girls’ bedroom twice and we had to have maintenance people come by numerous times. I would very much still recommend the place we stayed at last time that I chatted about HERE. P.S. If you do plan to stay at that Airbnb make sure and stop for groceries, alcohol and meat (three separate places) before you arrive at the Airbnb. It isn’t a bad drive back later, believe me we did it quite a few times, BUT it is nice to arrive at the house and be able to just enjoy the house and beach for a day or two or five!

Restaurants…

Gosh so many good ones! Our very favorite lunch and dinner spot by a mile is called Santana’s and it is on Little Exuma island. So worth the drive! It is a literal hole in the wall restaurant with some of the best food I have ever had. Plus, the views are AMAZING! AND Johnny Depp apparently frequented the restaurant while filming Pirates of the Caribbean. Just sayin’…

For breakfast, our go-to is a cute little restaurant across the side street from Minn’s Boat Rental where we had breakfast twice last time and twice this time! It is so so cute inside and the food is delicious!

For dinner one night this time, we took a boat from the Peace and Plenty Resort over to the Kahari Resort for dinner and it was MAGICAL! I am now so in love with this resort and am DYING to stay there! One of our very best nights!

SHOP… MY DRESS

Our other faves are Big D’s Conch Spot…

SHOP… MY DRESS

And Shirley’s in the Fish Fry…

Must-See’s & Must-Do’s…

My number one suggestion, if you know how to drive a boat, is to RENT A BOAT! The main, and I think only, place to do so is Minn’s Water Sports on Grand Exuma Island. We rented a boat twice this time for a full day and it was two of our best days! We popped around to so many secluded islands and beachfront restaurants. It was SOOOOOOOO fun. And my gosh the water and sandbars are AMAZING! P.S. You HAVE to travel down to Man O War Cay SandBar. It is INCREDIBLE!

Our first stop on the boat is always Chat ‘N’ Chill. A MUST!!!! It is a little beachfront restaurant only accessible by boat. They have so many cute little areas around the restaurant to hang out and relax plus the water right there is CRYSTAL CLEAR! We just pull our boat up right out front onto the sand and anchor it. SOOOOO FUN!

SHOP… MY BATHING SUIT

And of course as I mentioned above, Man O War Cay Sandbar is a MUST…

My second MUST MUST MUST is a restaurant/bar called Haulover Bay. It is truly the Exuma’s best kept secret. To find this gem of a place, you’ll want to drive along Queens Hwy into Little Exuma island until you see a sign for Rolletown (you can also put Rolletown in your GPS). Turn left at that sign and then take a right at the top of the hill at the deadend. You’ll see Haulover Bay on your left. Just out the back deck of this tiny little restaurant/bar is what seems like miles and miles of walkable/kayakable (depending on the time of day) SANDBARS! It is one of the most incredible places I have ever seen. John and I walked all the way out and around the little island through sandbar after sandbar finding all kinds of sealife last time. This time all of the kiddos got to explore and were in AWE!

My next MUST-DO is a little hidden gem of a bay on Grand Exuma Island called Hooper’s Bay. It is home to sea turtles! Friendly ones too! It is so hidden though that it took us forever to even find the right spot! So I took a picture for y’all. Simply drive along Queens Highway toward the airport, past a little grocery store on your right until you see this sign on your right and a little shoulder on the left next to a road where you can pull off and park. Then walk down this tiny little path to the left of the wall onto the beach.

Another MUST is on Little Exuma Island and it’s called the Tropic of Cancer beach. Named one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!! There are no words for how clear and perfectly turquoise the water is there…