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Attractions: What
to do on Grand Bahama Island
Grand Bahama Island
is a one of a kind destination. Visitors can combine
a sophisticated vacation at a luxury beachfront
vacation home, such as Seaview at Princess Isle,
with the charm of historical fishing villages and
undiscovered ecological treasures.
If you like to keep
busy there is always something to from scuba diving,
snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, shopping,
gambling, golfing, dining and dancing. Or if you
prefer to simply laying back and relaxing there are
miles of empty white sand.
Beaches
Grand Bahama Island's shoreline is filled with
numerous white-sand beaches. The premier beach on
the island is secluded Gold Rock Beach, which is a
must-see at low tide when it unfolds its signature
“welcome mat.” You will also discover other secluded
beaches along the south coast of the island. There
area also many public beaches where you'll find a
multitude of fun activities including but not
limited to games, jet skiing, snorkeling, and
windsurfing. Most of the public beaches have
restaurants or small native eating places for
beachgoers to enjoy.
Boating
Grand Bahama is surrounded by the beautiful blue
water of the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the island’s
visitors arrive by boat. The island has seven
marinas, many of them fully equipped with
electricity hubs, waste-disposal units, and fuel
stations. And if the sailor hat doesn’t fit you,
there are still ways to enjoy the island by boat.
There are several sailing tours available, some of
which feature a list of activities to enjoy while
aboard.
Dining
You definitely won’t have trouble finding a
delicious meal on the island. There are many native
restaurants and beachside huts that specialize in
conch dishes such as conch salad, conch fritters,
cracked conch and roasted conch. Other seafood –
crab, crawfish and fresh fish - is also available
many places. You can choose between fine dining and
casual dining at restaurants that feature American,
Bahamian, Chinese, French, Greek, Italian,
Continental or International cuisine. Head out to
Port Lucaya Marketplace when you’re hungry. You’ll
find a full array of restaurants and bars. Also, ask
around and natives will fill you in on the best
local dining spots around town. The popular fast
food restaurants are also on the island.
Diving
Grand Bahama is a diver’s paradise.
Grand Bahama Island is famous for its "blue holes"—spectacular
azure portals in the reefs through which you can
descend, surrounded by reef wall on all sides. Part
of this is due to Grand Bahama Island having the
second largest underwater cave system in the world.
Located in the Lucayan National Park, the caves are
still being explored, and there are numerous special
dive programs that can take you into them (provided
you are cave certified). Grand Bahama is also home
to some of the most beautiful coral reefs. Divers
can chose between shallow, medium and deep dives. If
you’re not a certified scuba diver, you can snorkel
around the shallow reef where the magnificent coral
and marine life thrive almost to the surface. There
are also two well-know underwater shipwrecks for
divers to explore. Shark and dolphin dives are also
popular.
Dolphins
Grand Bahama Island is the only place you can be
guaranteed to dive with dolphins in the wild. This
is done through the Underwater Explorers' Society's
(UNEXSO) "Dolphin Dive" program. On this exciting
and very unique dive, resident dolphins come
together with divers in the open water along a coral
reef about a mile off shore. You'll get to hand-feed
and interact with these amazing animals in their
natural habitat. UNEXSO's also offers other
encounters for dolphin lovers.
Ecotourism
Grand Bahama is home to miles of nature trails.
Enjoy a nature walk through on of the three national
parks, discover the caves, horseback ride along the
beach, participate in a kayak tour offshore, or
travel out-east or out-west to explore.
Entertainment
There is always fun under the Bahamian sun!
Enjoy native shows, live music and entertainment at
Port Lucaya Marketplace, tons of action in the
casino or find a disco and dance ‘til dawn. There
are also a lot of activities for families to enjoy
to together.
Festivals
To experience Bahamian culture and art, you should
make plans to attend Junkanoo. The Bahamian festival
of Junkanoo is an energetic, colorful parade of
brightly costumed people spinning and dancing to the
sound of cowbells, drums and whistles. The Junkanoo
parade is held in
Grand Bahama on January 1st every
year.
Fishing
Grand Bahama Island is one of the premier
destinations in the world for sportfishing. Get
ready to hook a marlin, sailfish, blue, and
yellowfin tuna, bonefish, or barracuda—to name a
few. The flats off of Deep Water Cay in the east and
the flats off of Old Bahama Bay in the west yield
great bonefish catches. There are more bonefish in
the waters off
Grand Bahama Island than anywhere
else in the world.
Golfing
Golfers love hitting a hole-in-one at the
Lucayan Golf Course or the Reef Golf Course. Both
areas boast a more then 6,000 yard course. A game of
golf can be enjoyed anytime during the year as the
weather is often that of blue skies and warm
weather.
Shopping
The main shopping area on the island is Port
Lucaya Marketplace. There are also shop in the
International Bazaar and in the down town area.
There are two Winn Dixie supermarkets on the island.
Tours
The guided tours on
Grand Bahama Island include
shopping sprees, ecological adventures, visiting the
island's residential communities, the downtown
commercial business center, the open-air vendors'
market, the only distillery on the island and the
deep-water harbour.
Weddings
Grand Bahama Island is an ideal location for
weddings and honeymoons. There are breathtaking
sights and many activities for couples and groups to
enjoy. Many of the leading hotels offer guests
wedding and honeymoon packages.
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