Exuma

Best months by our weather score: April, May, December. Daytime highs, rain and sunshine are 2016–2025 averages at Exuma International Airport (Open-Meteo historical weather archive); sea temperatures are 2022–2025 averages for the nearest sea area (Open-Meteo marine archive). Months marked in the storm row fall in the Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30); the score takes that risk into account.

Gateway airport

Exuma International Airport (GGT)

US nonstops

ATL, CLT, FLL, MIA

Distance

2,654 mi from Los Angeles, 1,186 mi from New York

Passport

Needed for US citizens

Hotel, one night

$256 on Jan 13, 2027 · $225 on Jul 14, 2027 (George Town, Great Exuma)

Visitors a year

69,437 overnight visitors (2025)

Bringing a dog

Possible: Same Bahamas rules as Nassau: Department of Agriculture import permit ($11.20 with VAT) and a veterinary health certificate showing active rabies immunity.

Hotel prices: Cheapest room for 2 adults, 1 night, in a property Google Hotels classes 3-star or better, sorted by lowest price, total with taxes and fees as Google shows it, Google Hotels (Kayak's hotel results load only in a browser and could not be read automatically), checked 2026-10-20. Cheapest both dates: Hideaways at Palm Bay.. Visitor figures: Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Bahamas Visitor Arrivals 2025: Foreign Air Arrivals by First Port of Entry, December 2025 year to date (preliminary).

Exuma suits couples above all: small hotels, empty beaches and private boat days. It also suits anyone who sails, fishes or simply wants to read on a beach without a crowd.

Skip it if you want things to do on land. There are no big attractions, little nightlife and limited shopping. Families with restless children will find Nassau and Paradise Island easier, and beach-first families might prefer Turks and Caicos, which has more hotels on one beach.

• George Town and Elizabeth Harbour is the hub, with the most rooms and the ferry to Stocking Island. On January 13, 2027, the cheapest totals with taxes were Hideaways at Palm Bay at $256, Peace and Plenty Hotel at $324 and Exuma Palms Boutique Resort at $327. In July, Hideaways was $225 and Peace and Plenty $399.
• Emerald Bay, north of the airport, is the resort area. The ministry's March 2026 report still described Sandals Emerald Bay as closed for renovations since August 2024; we could not confirm its status in October 2026, so check before you book.
• Staniel Cay, in the northern cays, is the base for the pigs, Thunderball Grotto and the park. Flamingo Air flies there from Nassau.

Tropic of Cancer Beach on Little Exuma is a long curve of soft sand and very shallow, calm water. Coco Plum Beach has wide sandbars at low tide. Across the harbor from George Town, Stocking Island has calm, sheltered beaches reached by water taxi.

Most of these are gentle enough for children. The catch is distance: they are spread along a long island, with few facilities. We score Exuma 9 out of 10 for beaches, half a point under Turks and Caicos, because you need a car or boat to reach the best ones.

The big day is a boat trip into the Exuma Cays: the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay, snorkeling inside Thunderball Grotto at Staniel Cay, nurse sharks at Compass Cay and the protected reefs of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, managed by the Bahamas National Trust.

Beyond that, the menu is short: bonefishing, kayaking, paddleboarding in Elizabeth Harbour and long lunches. We score things to do 6 out of 10. Boat tours are run by private operators at changing prices, which we did not verify.

Follow your guide's rules at the pig beaches, including any rules on feeding and touching the animals.

Exuma's foreign air arrivals fell from 78,897 in 2024 to 69,437 in 2025, according to the Ministry of Tourism's preliminary figures. The ministry's monthly tables carry a note beside Exuma's figures that Sandals Emerald Bay closed for renovations in mid-August 2024.

2026 looks different. From January to August 2026, Exuma received 66,106 foreign air arrivals, up 19.9% on the same months of 2025, with May, June and July each up more than a third. It is still a small number: Nassau's airport took more than 1.2 million in 2025.

The dry, breezy months from December to April are the most popular. Summer is hotter and calmer on the water, good for boat days, and cheaper: our hotel was $31 less in July. See the climate table below for the months.

Exuma lies in the Atlantic hurricane belt, where the season runs June 1 to November 30, peaking around September 10, according to NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Read our hurricane guide before booking.

Fly into Exuma International (GGT). Wikipedia's airline table lists American Eagle from Charlotte and Miami, seasonal American from Charlotte, Delta Connection from Atlanta and seasonal Bahamasair from Fort Lauderdale. Otherwise, fly to Nassau and connect on Bahamasair or Western Air.

You need a passport valid for the whole stay, 2 blank pages and a return or onward ticket. No visa is needed for stays of one month or less. Plan on renting a car at the airport, because the best beaches are far from George Town.

Exuma costs more than Nassau and less than Turks and Caicos. With taxes and fees, the cheapest 3-star-rated room around George Town was $256 on January 13, 2027 and $225 on July 14, 2027, both at Hideaways at Palm Bay. The next options were $324 to $327 in January. There is little cheap accommodation, and the upper end climbs fast: Grand Isle Resort and Residences showed $1,584 for a July night.

Then add the two things almost everyone pays for. One is a rental car, since the island is long and the best beaches are spread out. The other is at least one boat day into the cays, either a shared tour or a private charter. Both are sold by private operators at prices we did not verify, so get quotes before you go. A five-night January stay at the cheapest hotel comes to about $1,280 in rooms alone.

If those totals are too high, Nassau has rooms from about $100 to $119 and sells day trips to the same pigs.

Original Exuma Powerboat Adventures

Lunch, an open bar, snorkel gear, pickup and gratuities are included; towels are not. The ride is about an hour each way and hard on backs in a chop.

Full day

4.7★★★★★★★★★★(550 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Nassau: Exuma Powerboat Day Trip

It starts in Nassau, not on Exuma, and is cheaper here than the Viator listing on the day we checked. Gratuities and beach towels are not included.

8 hours

4.7★★★★★★★★★★(168 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on GetYourGuide

Exuma Island and Cays Tour

Lunch and drinks are included, with pickup offered. One of the few products that actually starts on Great Exuma.

7 hours 30 minutes

4.9★★★★★★★★★★(109 reviews)

Reserve

Rating as shown on Viator

Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.