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Half Moon Cay
Our first stop in the Bahamas was Little San Salvador Island, otherwise known as Half Moon Cay. Owned by Holland America Cruise Line you can only get there by either cruising on them or Carnival Cruise Line. We were 0n a Carnival Cruise so that’s how we gained access to this amazingly beautiful little island. There are some great opportunities for snorkeling here! The waters are crystal clear on the sandy white beaches and it is a private island so there are minimal amounts of people there. We rented snorkel gear on the island for about $25 a person. Along with snorkeling, we just swam around in the warm waters and lounged on the beaches.
Along with snorkeling, we took a hike around the entire island, around all 2400 acres of it. There is plenty of wildlife to look at; a little over 50 acres of the island is dedicated to maintaining as much habitat as possible. We saw wild roosters, chickens, and a lot of beautiful plant life. We also stumbled across an area where you can pay to pet Manta Rays. It seemed to be closed, so we just observed the Manta Rays swimming around. We spent most of our day exploring and just taking in the gorgeous weather they have in the Bahamas!
Nassau
Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas is located on the island of New Providence. The island is known for it’s breathtaking beaches and pastel colored houses. Everyone drives on the wrong side of the road here (well if you’re from the US anyways). There are so many things to do on this island!
The first thing we did in this amazing city was to ride on a little yellow submarine. We went through Stuart Cove’s Sub Bahamas and the experience was amazing! It includes both the submarine experience and snorkeling. It was $138 per person, but it was well worth it! Now we’ll admit, it was kind of scary: your head is in a little bubble-like enclosure for the breathing underwater and it did take some time getting used to having the water just right there splashing on your shoulders. But after adjusting you just get to take in the sights of the sea life.
After we were done and back on land, we ate some delicious Bahamian food at the restaurant, Bahama Jammers. Food was reasonably priced and very authentic. We had the fried fish (catch of the day) and grouper sandwich-both were super tasty! Now drinks wise, the Bahamas has the best rum! Seriously though. If you like rum, try any of their drinks at Bahama Jammers that involves it. We had a strawberry daiquiri, pina colada, and 2 specialty shots and they were all very good.
After we had lunch, we explored the shopping opportunities in Nassau. All the main shops are right off of Bay St, where Bahama Jammers is located on, so it is just a nice walk along the streets to get to shops. There are plenty of shops with souvenirs and discounted goods: all very reasonably priced. This is all in downtown Nassau as well so if you find a bench somewhere nearby you can stop and take in the everyday life of people who live there.
