Best Traditional Caribbean Bahamas Out Islands Heritage Tour Destinations
Browse more guides: Bahamas travel | North America destinations Best Traditional Caribbean Bahamas Out Islands Heritage Tour Destinations TL;DR The Bahamas - 700 islands across 470,000 km² of the western North Atlantic, just 80 km off Florida - offer the clearest tropical water in the Caribbean and the cradle of the modern New World (Columbus made first landfall here, 12 October 1492). Major destinations: Nassau the capital, Exuma Cays with the swimming pigs and Thunderball Grotto, Eleuthera the long thin island with the Glass Window Bridge, Bimini the closest Bahamas island to Florida, Junkanoo Festival the Christmas-and-New-Year Bahamian street parade, plus broader Bahamas cultural-tourism. Plan a 5-7 day Bahamas trip combining Nassau with one Out Island. This is the closest Caribbean destination to North America and the region's most distinctive shallow-water island chain. Background The Bahamas were inhabited by the Lucayan Taíno when Columbus made landfall on Gu...