Preparing for the trip

In preparation for the trip we made a car rental reservation online through Airport Car. They were very easy to use and very friendly at pickup. Two things to keep in mind when renting your car:

1. In the Exumas they drive on the left hand side of the road and often the steering wheels are on the other side of the car. Make sure you feel comfortable driving before embarking on your adventure. I drove the whole time with no issues and found it very easy by the end of our week.

2. The potholes in the Exumas are like NO OTHER. We rented a Toyota Corolla and although all was well we would have had a much easier time if we would have rented a Jeep or SUV. Many of the roads to get to the fun activities are extremely damaged and bottoming out small cars is basically inevitable. Needless to say, I would HIGHLY recommend renting a car as most things are not walkable and I would HIGHLY recommend renting a Jeep or larger SUV.

3.We also booked an all day excursion for one of the days of our trip. The internet has so many pictures of people swimming with pigs, sharks and iguanas and this excursion included it all! We booked our excursion with Robert's Island Adventures. Our guides were T and Hartman and we had a blast! They were so fun and accommodating and made sure to take so many photos of us having fun. We were worried about the boat being super crowded or overfilled but because the season had slowed down it was just the two of us and two other people which made for a very enjoyable day. T and Hartman were sure to get us to each stop just a little ahead of everyone else so we could enjoy the attractions uninterrupted! I seriously can't say enough positive things about our experience with this company and crew.

4.We booked our stay through VRBO. We stayed at the Minn's Cottages. It was absolutely perfect! Our host was awesome and provided lots of good recommendations and our little house was so clean. It was located directly across the street from Student's Reef which was so abundant in sea life and made for amazing snorkeling. We brought our own masks and fins but the cottage provided some as well. It had a grill which we used the last night we were there and cooked fish on. We definitely will be coming back to this spot--it was awesome. It featured wifi, a tv and AC that all worked very well. It was located about 15 minutes from the airport and 5 from George Town.

Day 1

We decided to take our trip mid August. This ended up being a perfect time because it was after the chaos of the summer season and before hurricane season. We flew in on American Airlines out of Miami into George Town Airport. It was a total of about an hour in the air. The George Town Airport is the smallest airpot I have EVER seen. If you are unvaccinated you must take a COVID-19 test before departing from the U.S. and be able to provide negative results at customs. American Airlines uses a program called Verifly and it made it very easy to follow. If you are vaccinated, you just have to present proof of vaccination at customs. After landing we walked across the street where the car rental was located. The people were very polite and we pulled out of the rental and headed to our cottage. We spent the rest of the day exploring around our cabin and snorkeling around Student's Reef. Across the street from the house is an abandoned resort called the Out Island Inn. We did some research and found that the owner of the resort served time in prison for a drug bust which left the resort unfinished. However, the resort ruins are really beautiful and left a gorgeous beach that was perfect to hangout on. There is also as abandoned dive shop from the 80's that made for cool exploring. We saw giant stingrays, massive starfish, an octopus and hundreds of beautiful reef fish and corals just in our backyard! We went to Smitty's to shop for groceries which was a major mistake. This was basically the equivalent of shopping at CVS. Things were much pricier and the options were really limited. Later on we found Exuma Markets which was a much better option to shop. We ate that night at Shirley's which was right down the road. Again, the food was very expensive. Shirley's was decent but not a favorite and the portions were rather small. I don't think we would go back but it wasn't a bad option for being just down the road. There is a nice screened in porch and a view of a shipwreck from the restaurant that made for good scenery.

Day 2

For day 2 we went on our excursion. We got up early in the morning and headed down to Government Dock at Barraterra for our excursion. I would recommend bringing snacks, sunscreen, goggles/snorkel, fins and a cover-up. The tour provides much more information about what to bring after you book the trip. The boat offered cold water and some alcoholic beverages. Hartman took photos on our phones of us having fun which was super awesome because I walked away with so many photos of my mom and I together. Our guides were awesome and told us all kinds of fun facts about many of the Cays/Islands we went passed. Our first stop was to see the Iguanas. They were very docile and friendly. Our guides provided us with little treats to feed the Iguanas. Some photos of the iguanas are below!

After the Iguanas we headed to the pig beach. We had seen so many photos of this and read so many things about the pigs being mildly aggressive and I have to say our experience was far from that. The pigs came swimming up to the boat and took crackers from us. After we parked the boat we got out and swam around with the pigs. The beach was relatively crowded with other boats and people enjoying the piggies but it was not bothersome at all. Apparently the pigs were brought there a number of years ago and are regularly fed and enjoyed by both tourists and locals!

After swimming with the pigs we headed to the the Thunderball Grotto from the James Bond Movie! I am so mad at myself for not bringing my camera so if you are equipped to bring a waterproof camera, I highly recommend doing so. After jumping off our boat and navigating through a narrow passing in the rock we entered into the most amazing underwater cave. I can only describe it as swimming in an aquarium. It features a large underwater "window" that shows an impressive view to the reef outside of the cave. The fish were incredible and we even saw little bats at the top of the cave. It was so beautiful and well worth the trip.

Our next stop was to a sea turtle bay. The turtles swam right up to the boat and the water was crystal clear. We circled the boat around in a cave and headed back out to our next stop. Next on the docket was this incredible sandbar. It reached out for miles and was seriously breathtaking. This sandbar stretched out for miles of white shallow sand that made for incredibly beautiful pictures.

After spending some time on the sandbar we moved on to arguably my favorite part-the sharks. The sharks cost $15 to see. It is a docking fee that each passenger has to pay so make sure you bring some cash. There is also a bathroom at this stop :) The sharks were extremely docile and the small ones would even let you hold them and turn them over. There is water that is about chest deep you can get in and there is also a platform where the sharks will swim up to if you aren't feeling quite as brave.

Our final scheduled stop was lunch. We pulled up to a restaurant on the water and ate buffet style. There was Mac and cheese, vegetables, chicken, pork, rice, beans and ribs to choose from. The buffet was about $30 a person and they accepted both cash and card. The food was very good and the portions were very fair.

On our way back to the docks we made two unscheduled stops. The first was another beautiful cave that was on an island formally owned by Nikolas Cage. The next stop was a sunken Mermaid and Piano statue. The current was incredibly strong so my time actually viewing the statue was limited but it was so cool! Supposedly the statue was meant to be of a man's former lover as a mermaid and when they broke up he sunk the statue. If you're a strong swimmer and have fins you can even make it to the bottom where the statue is and sit on the piano bench.

Day 2 Continued

After a long day on the boat we headed out to what has to be Exuma's most hidden gem-Coco Plumb Beach. This beach is where the notorious Fyre Festival was supposed to take place (There's a documentary on Netflix about it that I highly recommend watching before you go). On the internet there are photos of some swings in the water however, they since have been taken down due to storm damage. Don't let that discourage you from checking out the most beautiful beach I have ever laid eyes on. It is extremely private and goes on for miles on end. The water was absolutely perfect and the scenery overall was some of the most beautiful that I saw the entire time we were there. The road getting there, like many others was extremely rough. I would actually hardly say it was a true paved road. It was very rocky, sandy and uneven but I promise you it is worth the adventure getting there.

Day 3

After a long day 2 we got a later start to our third day. We looked around for a place to get some kind of breakfast/brunch food which apparently is a totally foreign concept there. We stumbled upon the CUTEST Italian owned restaurant in George Town. It was called Driftwood Cafe next to Sandpiper Boutique and Peace And Plenty. With our bellies full we headed to Hoopers Bay to swim with the notorious friendly sea turtles. We read a lot about where to find it and where to park. Below I am going to provide photos for reference because it was kind of tricky. The beach is marked by a beach access sign on the side of the road but easier to find if you look for "" and "". You can park on the side of the road by the sign and cross the road to the side that has beach access. There is a narrow dirt path that runs besides someone's home. We read a lot about the walk down being rough with an unsafe wooden boardwalk. I think these descriptions may have been slightly over dramatized. I will say you will definitely want shoes. I included pictures below of what it looks like. There is a guard rail to hold on to that made the trek a lot easier. Once you get to the bottom you want to go right until you reach the first dock. The turtles gather all around the pilings and all in the Bay Area surrounding the dock. Many people bring lettuce to try to feed the turtles-DO NOT DO THIS!!! This is not their natural diet and it is not good for them. You will not need food for them to come up to you. We spent hours swimming along side of them, with them coming so close they were brushing up against us. There were not many people there with use and I assure you, there's plenty of turtles to go around.

After being totally water logged, we went home and rested before dinner. We decided to try to go to Choppy's but found out that it is now the Yacht Club. The locals still refer to it as Choppy's though. Let me say, this was by far the best food and drinks we had while in the Exumas. We had Coconut Shrimp and a Jerk Chicken Rice Bowl--delicious! On Wednesday nights (we went on a Wednesday) they have a live Rake and Scrape band playing. The atmosphere was so fun and it seemed like a place the locals come to gather and hangout. The dining area is outdoors looking over the water from a second story level. I would highly recommend checking out this fun and delicious restaurant.

Day 4

We woke up on day 4 and started heading towards the Tropic of Cancer.

Santanas

Day 5

Travel day