Things to Do, The Abacos, Bahamas
Things to do in The Abacos (and places to see!) Bahamas. All the details!
Hello friends! Today I’m sharing all about our trip to The Abacos, Bahamas.
It was so beautiful, these pictures do not do it justice. I tried to share how amazing the water was but you really just have to see it with your own eyes!
By the way, the water truly was that green, that blue, and that clear. You could see all the way to the bottom in 21 feet of water. Wow! It was so weird.
And it was wild to see it go from clear pale aqua to a glowing green, to emerald green to the most amazing shade of clear but medium blue, and finally deep sapphire blue. Beautiful beyond words.
If you saw my post the other day, you’ll know that I mentioned going on this trip with my sister and brother-in-law. (and my hubby) They had it planned and invited us to go along with them a couple of months ago. I’m so glad we said yes!! What an experience. Neither my husband nor I had been to the Bahamas before so it was a treat!
We stayed on Elbow Key and my brother-in-law rented a boat for all of us to go out on (he’s a yacht broker so that was right up his alley! ;) ). We had it for 3 days and I’m telling you, that is the way to go! We saw SO much more because of it. So many places we wouldn’t have seen or even gone to. That gorgeous deep sapphire blue of the ocean out in the middle between islands and so much more!
We visited several of the other small islands around us in the boat, swam, had lunch, etc.
Little Harbour – Pete’s Pub & Gallery
Great Guana Cay – Grabber’s
Tahiti Beach – a huge sandbar that goes out into the water
Firefly Resort – sunset dinner
Scotland Cay – the MOST beautiful beach I have ever seen
More places are below.
I hope you enjoy the photos. I took about 300 more (I’m not kidding!) but way, way too much to share here.
The Abacos, Bahamas
I love to sit by the window on the plane and see all the beauty below. I took bunches of photos but I’ll just share this one of some of the islands and the pretty aqua water.
We landed in Marsh Harbour and had to take a ferry over to the island where we stayed. (see that water?!)
Flora and More
There were so many beautiful plants native to the island. And I took pictures of them all! lol
This was one but I also thought this little house was so sweet.
Pod seeds on the palm tree.
So vibrant!
Beach Houses
Elbow Cay is a small island with mostly tiny little houses everywhere.
The JIB!
We walked a bit and rode in the golf cart a bit too. That was very nice to get around the island.
Cap’n Jack’s
Cap’n Jack’s was a favorite! Just a short minute or two walk from the house. We ate here several times and even played bingo one night!
Sunrise
We went to see the sunrise one morning on the beach. (which was also only a few minutes walk from the house)
The “pink” sand was beautiful. And so was the coral everywhere.
Just a few of our beach finds.
Walking, Shops, and History
From there we walked the island and checked out some of the places.
A small art boutique had this bird in it!
Isn’t that wild?
And a real one, Yellow Crowned Night Heron. ha!
The Cholera Cemetary
There were several old (very old and falling apart, sadly) cemeteries right by the beach. This one was actually one from the 1850s when they had a Cholera outbreak. It is the Cholera Cemetary where about 100 people were buried.
They are buried on a grassy “hill” where the other side is the beach and ocean.
We drove the cart to Mackey’s for breakfast.
Mackey’s
And met a friend. haha!
It’s wet because we had a crazy, wild storm overnight the night before. Thankfully, the days were mostly sunny and beautiful!
Driving around the island we saw the Abaco Inn.
A beautiful resort to stay at.
Then we hopped in the boat and went to paradise!
Scotland Cay
It was a “deserted” beach that had a second beach beyond it (all extremely shallow, easy to walk) and the ocean beyond that. (if you look at the far back of the photo where the water gets dark and you can see a white cap…that’s where it goes into the ocean)
It was a STUNNING sight to see. It was my absolute favorite place of the entire trip.
The water was unbelievable but the whole area was just like something out of a dream.
We saw several stingrays here.
I will tell you, I never saw anything but turtles, stingrays, and small fish at the dock…only!
And you can see all the way down and around in the water. We were out in the ocean all over and I looked everywhere (you can see clear down to the bottom no matter how deep) and I never saw anything. You know, like sharks, big fish, etc. I was surprised by that. Thought I’d see something somewhere!
I love living near the ocean here in Virginia. And I love owning a little place in The Outer Banks right by the ocean but our water does not look like this! lol
I sure wish it did! I can not even imagine. Sigh.
Saw lots of turtles out in the water in all different places. Caught these two swimming together at the dock picking up the boat. (there were two, you can see them in the video I took)
On Da Beach was just a short golf cart ride away.
It’s dis way. :)
Sands beer, local!
The Sands Pink Radler (grapefruit) Oh my, it was delicious!
Another morning, another breakfast!
This time we went to Seabiscuit.
Seabiscuit Bakery
Delicious quiche, danish here, and the best coffee, yum!
On Da Beach
We ate it on the beach. I mean On Da Beach at On Da Beach! lol
On one of the day’s boat outings, we went to Grabber’s.
Grabber’s
This was not our boat but had to grab a shot as I walked past because the water is so clear it looks like it’s just floating on air!
Looks like a great place to hang out!
So we did!
And saw more chickens. haha
Saw these in several different places on the island. We kind of figured people from out of town added their own signs.
Notably for us, Pungo, VA (bottom right) is not far from us. :) So that was fun to see in the Bahamas!
A sunset dinner at Firefly Resort was next.
Firefly Resort
It was a truly beautiful resort. Would love to stay there sometime.
The next day we headed out for a new adventure.
And what we found this time was this incredibly BLUE water. I mean I can’t even describe it accurately.
Do you see where it is BLUE BLUE and back there, in the far back of the picture it looks like it might be a little bit more greenish?? Well, that is exactly how it looked in person. I mean it was STUNNING.
Do you see it, where it changes a little??
This is what it looked like when we stopped in the middle of the ocean! Clear and so BLUE.
Unlike the more greenish hue of the other areas, we had visited previously.
So blue. Please bear with me because I just could not get over this beauty when I saw it in person.
I was so in awe!
I mean, I adore the green and the pale clear green, but this blue was just a sight to withhold!
Pete’s Pub & Gallery
We headed to Little Harbour, to check out Pete’s Pub and found this “cave” along the way.
On the backside of Pete’s was the ocean.
Nature’s beauty right here.
We came upon this cross on the beach while here.
On our last night there we went to Hope Town Inn & Marina for dinner. It required a short ferry ride over.
Elbow Reef Lighthouse is just across from where we stayed.
What an amazing trip! I would LOVE to go back someday. I never thought too much about the Bahamas but wow, was I missing out!
It’s an amazingly beautiful place with wonderful people. A great place to visit!
Here’s a video so you can see some “live-action”!
The biggest takeaway from this post…rent a boat! If you are not proficient at boating, hire a captain to take you around. That is the only way to see all this beauty. I mean it. Night and day! You must get out and explore to see all the wonder.
PIN it to save it!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo
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Wow..looks like you had a most awesome time..the color of the water is soo pretty..you probably never get tired of looking at it. Thanks for showing us your lively trip. Lucky you!!
Thanks, Lorri! We really did. It was so good for the soul. :) xoxo
We would like your brother-in-law to plan and take us on a trip there! You didn’t miss a thing! I love short and sweet getaways! So happy that you enjoyed your weekend!
Aw, haha, I love that! I will have to tell him! No, we really didn’t And we didn’t have to plan a thing! Love that. (and I especially love that because I’m the planner over here, on the whole thing! lol) They had it all figured out what we would do and it was just perfect. :) xoxo
Reading this and swooning over my morning coffee. What a beautiful place! I was in the Bahamas many (many) years ago and thought “Meh…” (too commercialized, where I was). But this? THIS is gorgeous and is making me re-think future travel plans. What a great vacation for you! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sharon! Oh, it was just so amazingly beautiful! And oh yes, re-think for sure! We were in a secluded area (areas) totally away from the commercialized islands. It was so quiet and peaceful. Lowkey. Loved it! xo
hey girl- This looks amazing!! oh so pretty. God’s handiwork is all around us. Just so beautiful. Glad y’all had fun. Have a great weekend!!
Hey Shawnna! Thanks, it really was! And you’ve got that right, His beautiful handiwork, absolutely! Hope you are having a wonderful week so far! xoxo
Hi Nancy, Thank You so much for sharing your pictures and video. I used to have a Time Share and visited Abaco. Where we stayed offered an excursion over to Treasure Cay. They had a picture of the water in the office, I thought , WOW the picture has to be enhanced, there’s no water that pretty. Well we took a shuttle over, and had to walk down a sidewalk to get to the beach. I was the first one to see the water, and I turned around and shouted to the others OMG, it’s just like the picture in the office! It was Stunningly Beautiful. There was a bar on the beach with Delicious food. When it was time to leave, I didn’t want to go. If you ever have a chance to visit Treasure Cay, go! It’s Truly Beautiful!!
Oh, I love that…and I totally get it!! Same! I kept thinking, “I’ve seen photos of this…now I’m seeing it live and in person!” Treasure Cay next time, I’ll have to remember that! xo
What a great trip. It looks gorgeous. My kind of vacation with beaches everywhere and that water is amazing. Have never been to the Bahamas, only St. Martin and Jamaica. It looks very relaxing and casual there which I would like. I was wondering also about sharks, surprised you didn’t see any…..which is a good thing lol. Great photos. Gorgeous sunset pics. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Debra! It was amazing! A trip to remember, for sure! It was very relaxing and so very casual. Not buzzing with people or commercialized at all. And I know! It definitely was a good thing I didn’t see any but I was so surprised I saw nothing, especially none of the times we stopped out in the middle of the ocean and looked out and down. (you could see all the way down to the bottom even out there…it was wild!) xo
Ok I see your new calling is travel agent or nature photographer! Great photos, you’ve convinced me!
Aww, love that!! ;) I have about 300 more!! lol I wanted to capture every single thing I saw! So much beauty everywhere. xo
WOW! WOW! WOW! THANK YOU for sharing these gorgeous pics AND the video! I felt I went on a mini-vaca just enjoying the pics/video. You captured the beauty of the water PERFECTLY! I have been to the Bahamas, but it was in the commercial area….no where near as impressive as where you were.
THANKS again so much for sharing your vaca!
Aw, love that Judy! :) I have never been to the Bahamas before so don’t know any of the commercialized areas at all but this was so very relaxing and very very casual. We loved it so much! Quiet and lowkey are the perfect words for it. So glad you enjoyed seeing the photos/video! xo
Breathtaking! The blue of that ocean makes me want to paint a piece of furniture the same color!!! Just magnificent! We spent our honeymoon in Bahamas many decades ago! Brought back 2 cases of various island liquors. So glad your shared! Thanks much,
Dawn
I know, right?!! I totally get it! As much as I loved all the aqua/greenish hued water those blue shades were just well, indescribably beautiful. Oh wow, we didn’t bring any back. Honestly, I had a small piece of coral with the red specks all over it that I SO wanted to bring home. But that’s a big no-no and didn’t want to get in trouble! haha! Sure wish I could’ve though. (it’s the one in the photo of the sunrise) xo
Sigh. All I can do is just keep sighing. Absolutely awesome. Nancy.
Was it super hot?
I get it!! :) It was amazingly beautiful. And so quiet and peaceful there. It was pretty hot. But not terribly!
I share with you the love for sea water and its colours and clearness and waves ….ha ha, I understand the efforts to explain everyone the different ways it is ! I enjoyed the blog, thank you !
from Trinidad/Uruguay
Yes!! It is so hard to describe it all. So glad you get it! ;) The beauty of it was just awe inspiring!
Great post
Is there a boat hire u can recommend to get around we r not sailors. Also how do the ferries work fr island to island?
Ann Bu
Hey Ann! I don’t , I’m sorry, but I do know they have captains you can hire, etc. The marina for the boat rental was called Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour. I am sure they can help you with that! And the ferries just come and go all day at scheduled times. You can catch them back and forth as needed. :) xo
Hi Nancy, Just switched over to you when checking in with Christy. I enjoy your work but today I saw the word “Abacos” and I zoomed in on your report. Hardly anyone knows about the Abacos. My husband and I used to take our boat there, moored in Hopetown Harbor for several months every winter. It was a wonderful time in our lives. We have been back a few times but not since Dorian came through. I am so happy to see things are improving there. It was so sad to see that wonderful place so damaged.
Yes, you are right , that people do not know that this is the Bahamas too. Most people just think of Nassau where the cruise ships go. Not even close. Fortunately, the cruise ships have not come into Elbow Cay….. I hope you go again….it’s a great place for families…..referred to as the Family Islands, or the Out Islands…..
There are lots of places that charter boats, and you are right, it’s the best way to see the area. I am so glad you got to see Pete’s Pub…… Hopetown has a facebook page and they likely have suggestions. We always chartered a boat from the marina on Parrot Cay, and most will deliver the boat for you to your cottage. Well, I have kept you long enough….thanks for giving me this visit back in time. L
Hi Liz! Thank you so much for taking the time to chat about the Abacos!! We absolutely loved it so much. We have not been anywhere else in the Bahamas actually, had never really been too interested in going. But I would go back to the Abacos and Hopetown/Elbow Cay for sure! I’m so glad you’ve known and enjoyed it too. It’s an amazing place all the way around. :) I hope it stays just like it is! (no cruise ships etc) Have a wonderful day and weekend! And good luck on the giveaway too. xo