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Travel guide · Seven hundred islands of turquoise water

Travelling to the Bahamas

White-sand cays, the turquoise waters of Exuma, the swimming pigs, pink beaches on Eleuthera and the buzz of Nassau. We tell you when to go, what to see and what to eat.

Updated 18 October 2026 · How we make our guides

  • Best time: from December to May
  • Where to eat: a stall at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry
Photo: Der-wuppertaler · CC BY-SA 3.0

Bahamas in 30 seconds

  • The months with the fewest warnings to travel to the Bahamas are from December to May. If you can, avoid from August to October (hurricane season, hurricane peak).
  • To eat like a local: a stall at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry. Don’t leave without trying: Conch salad, Cracked conch, Peas and rice.

Bahamas in November

You can go, with a few caveats: hurricane season. Book with free cancellation, take out travel insurance that covers weather events and check the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts a few days before you go.

  • November

    Hurricane season

    Hurricanes can form from June to November; August, September and October are the riskiest months. There are almost always days of heavy rain and humid heat.

    What to do: Book with free cancellation, take out travel insurance that covers weather events and check the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts a few days before you go.

More destinations for November

When to travel to the Bahamas

The months with the fewest warnings to travel to the Bahamas are from December to May. If you can, avoid from August to October (hurricane season, hurricane peak).

  1. Jan no warnings
  2. Feb no warnings
  3. Mar no warnings
  4. Apr no warnings
  5. May no warnings
  6. Jun with warnings
  7. Jul with warnings
  8. Aug with strong warnings
  9. Sep with strong warnings
  10. Oct with strong warnings
  11. Nov with warnings
  12. Dec no warnings

More destinations for those dates: where to travel in January · where to travel in February · where to travel in March · where to travel in April

  • from June to November

    Hurricane season

    Hurricanes can form from June to November; August, September and October are the riskiest months. There are almost always days of heavy rain and humid heat.

    What to do: Book with free cancellation, take out travel insurance that covers weather events and check the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts a few days before you go.

    Best time: December to April

  • from August to October

    Hurricane peak

    Between August and October there’s a higher risk of hurricanes.

    What to do: The best time is December to April; take out insurance if you go in summer.

What to see in the Bahamas

The cities and areas most worth your time, with their highlights. Open each one for all the places, where to stay and its day trips.

  • Nassau

    Nassau

    The capital of colourful colonial houses, forts and the cruise port.

    • Queen’s Staircase
    • Fort Fincastle
    • Arawak Cay
    • Bay Street
    Nassau guide
  • Paradise Island

    Paradise Island

    The resort island opposite Nassau, with white-sand beaches.

    • Cabbage Beach
    • Versailles Gardens
    • Aquarium
    • Lighthouse
    Paradise Island guide
  • Exuma

    Exuma

    A chain of cays with turquoise water, swimming pigs, nurse sharks and iguanas.

    • Pig Beach
    • Thunderball Grotto
    • Compass Cay
    • Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
    Exuma guide
  • Grand Bahama

    Grand Bahama

    An island of long beaches, underwater caves and a national park.

    • Lucayan National Park
    • Port Lucaya
    • Rand Nature Centre
    • Kayaking through the mangroves
    Grand Bahama guide
  • Eleuthera

    Eleuthera

    A long, quiet island, with the pink-sand beach of Harbour Island and the Glass Window Bridge.

    • Pink Sands Beach
    • Glass Window Bridge
    • Queen’s Baths
    • Preacher’s Cave
    Eleuthera guide

Day trips and activities

What’s most worth booking from each city. We take you straight to the best-rated tour on GetYourGuide, with its reviews and dates.

From Nassau

From Paradise Island

From Exuma

From Grand Bahama

From Eleuthera

Some links are affiliate links: if you book through them, Bagintravel may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

What to eat in the Bahamas

To eat like a local: a stall at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry, and order conch salad or cracked conch. And don’t leave without trying:

  • Conch salad

    Raw conch with lime and vegetables.

  • Cracked conch

    Conch in batter, fried.

  • Peas and rice

    Rice with pigeon peas.

  • Johnny cake

    A sweet bread.

  • Guava duff

    A guava pudding.

  • Goombay smash

    A rum cocktail.

The typical dish of the Bahamas, at home

Conch salad
Photo: Hannah On The Go · CC BY 3.0

Conch salad

The salad of raw conch marinated in lime with onion, pepper, tomato and chilli, made to order at the stalls on Arawak Cay, in Nassau.

  • Serves 4
  • 25 min

Ingredients

  • 400 g cleaned conch meat (or squid or scallops if you can’t find it)
  • 1 onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 hot chilli (Scotch bonnet or habanero)
  • Juice of 4 limes and 1 orange
  • Salt

How to make it at home

  1. Cut the conch into small cubes.
  2. Chop the onion, pepper, tomato and chilli.
  3. Mix everything in a bowl.
  4. Add the lime and orange juice and the salt.
  5. Leave to stand for 10 minutes and serve cold.

The trick: With fresh scallops it comes very close to the taste of conch.

Curious facts about the Bahamas

What guidebooks don’t tell you and will help you understand the country better.

  • There are some seven hundred islands and more than two thousand cays, most of them uninhabited.
  • In Exuma there’s an island with pigs that swim out to the boats.
  • The pink sand of Harbour Island comes from a marine micro-organism.
  • Columbus first made landfall in the Americas here, in 1492.
  • Dean’s Blue Hole is one of the deepest in the world.
  • They drive on the left.

Traditions of the Bahamas

Customs and celebrations that will help you experience the country like a local.

  • 26 December and 1 January Junkanoo

    A parade of costumes and drums.

  • 10 July Independence Day

    A national holiday.

  • April National Family Island Regatta

    In Exuma.

  • Rake and scrape

    Music played with a saw.

What not to do in the Bahamas

First-trip mistakes that are easy to avoid.

  • Don’t feed the pigs on Exuma: it harms them.
  • Don’t touch the coral or the starfish.
  • Don’t walk through isolated parts of Nassau at night.
  • Don’t underestimate the sun.
  • Remember that prices are high: almost everything is imported.
  • Don’t miss fresh conch, straight out of the shell.

Before you go

Entry requirements depend on your passport and change: always check them with official sources before travelling.

Frequently asked questions about the Bahamas

What people search for most before travelling to the Bahamas.

What’s the best time to travel to the Bahamas?

The months with the fewest warnings to travel to the Bahamas are from December to May. If you can, avoid from August to October (hurricane season, hurricane peak).

What to see in the Bahamas in a week?

The essentials of the Bahamas: Nassau, Paradise Island, Exuma, Grand Bahama and Eleuthera. How many places fit into your days, and in what order, depends on your dates and how you get around: the Bagintravel app plans your trip day by day in a minute.

What to eat in the Bahamas?

Conch salad, Cracked conch, Peas and rice, Johnny cake, Guava duff, Goombay smash. To eat like a local: a stall at the Arawak Cay Fish Fry.

What is the typical dish of the Bahamas?

Conch salad. The salad of raw conch marinated in lime with onion, pepper, tomato and chilli, made to order at the stalls on Arawak Cay, in Nassau.

What should you not do in the Bahamas?

Don’t feed the pigs on Exuma: it harms them. Don’t touch the coral or the starfish. Don’t walk through isolated parts of Nassau at night.

Is it worth travelling to the Bahamas in November?

You can go, with a few caveats: hurricane season. Book with free cancellation, take out travel insurance that covers weather events and check the National Hurricane Center’s forecasts a few days before you go.

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Guide reviewed 18 October 2026. Seasonal data, places and areas: the same ones the Bagintravel app uses. Sources and method.

Photos: cover, Der-wuppertaler (CC BY-SA 3.0). Nassau, Der-wuppertaler (CC BY-SA 3.0). Paradise Island, Philip Gabrielsen (CC BY-SA 4.0). Exuma, No machine-readable author provided. Fretwurst assumed (based on copyright claim (CC BY 2.5). Grand Bahama, EgorovaSvetlana (CC BY-SA 4.0). Eleuthera, Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland (CC BY-SA 2.0).