Exumas 7-Night Itinerary
A round trip from Nassau down the Exuma chain, through the Land and Sea Park to Staniel Cay and back.
Day 1: Nassau to Highbourne Cay
Board in Nassau around noon, and the 35-mile crossing to the Exumas falls into the afternoon light it wants: the route crosses the Yellow Bank, where scattered coral heads sit in three metres of gin-clear water and the crew reads the bottom by colour. It is an hour of water in shades you did not know existed. Highbourne Cay is the polished gateway to the chain, a private cay with a small marina and a beach on each side. Settle in, swim, and have the first dinner either on board or at Xuma above the beach.
Sailing: 5 hours (35 nautical miles, across the Yellow Bank in afternoon light)
Mooring Options: Highbourne Cay Marina, West-side anchorage
Recommended Beach: Highbourne Cay west beach
Dining: Xuma (Highbourne Cay)
Activities: Embarkation in Nassau, Crossing the Yellow Bank in afternoon light, Arrival at Highbourne Cay, First swim off the stern, Dinner at Xuma or on board
Day 2: Norman's Cay
Start with a short detour north to Allan's Cay, where endangered Exuma rock iguanas trot down the beach to inspect arriving tenders. Then 6 miles south to Norman's Cay, which spent the late 1970s as Carlos Lehder's smuggling airstrip and has the wreck to prove it: a C-46 that missed the runway sits in the shallows, now a snorkel site in three metres of water. The sandbars off the cay's western hook appear and vanish with the tide. Lunch and a long afternoon on them, drink in hand, water to your ankles.
Sailing: 1 hour (6 nautical miles, plus Allan's Cay tender detour)
Mooring Options: Norman's Cay anchorage
Recommended Beach: Western sandbars
Dining: MacDuff's (Norman's Cay)
Activities: Morning tender to Allan's Cay iguanas, Sail south to Norman's Cay, Snorkel the sunken drug plane, Sandbar afternoon on the western hook
Day 3: Shroud Cay
Six miles south and you enter the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, 176 square miles of no-take marine reserve running from Wax Cay Cut to Conch Cut, protected since 1958. Shroud Cay is all mangrove: a maze of creeks crosses the island, and on the right tide the tender or a paddleboard rides Sanctuary Creek clear through to an empty ocean-side beach at the far end. The climb to Camp Driftwood above the beach gives the view that ends up as everyone's phone background. No bars, no docks, nothing ashore. Dinner on board at anchor.
Sailing: 1 hour (6 nautical miles)
Mooring Options: Shroud Cay park moorings
Recommended Beach: Sanctuary Creek ocean beach
Activities: Enter the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, Ride Sanctuary Creek by tender or paddleboard, Ocean-side beach at the creek mouth, Climb to Camp Driftwood, Dinner on board
Day 4: Warderick Wells
Twelve miles down to the park headquarters at Warderick Wells, where the mooring field curls along a sandbar in a ribbon of deep turquoise that looks retouched and is not. The 16-metre sperm whale skeleton on the beach died of ingesting plastic, which the park makes a point of telling you. Snorkel the coral gardens off the mooring field, then walk up Boo Boo Hill, where generations of crews have left driftwood boards carved with their yacht's name. Leave one. The park office takes the mooring fee and sells the only souvenirs for 40 miles.
Sailing: 2 hours (12 nautical miles)
Mooring Options: Warderick Wells park mooring field
Recommended Beach: Mooring-field sandbar
Activities: Mooring at the park headquarters, Snorkel the coral gardens, Walk to Boo Boo Hill and leave a driftwood board, Visit the sperm whale skeleton, Sunset over the sandbar
Day 5: Staniel Cay & Big Major
Sixteen miles south, out of the park and into the Exumas' social capital. Time the arrival for slack tide at Thunderball Grotto, the domed cave that starred in the 1965 Bond film: inside, a ceiling of light shafts and a swirl of sergeant majors. Then around to Big Major Spot, where the famous swimming pigs paddle out to meet the tender with total entitlement. Staniel Cay Yacht Club has been the chain's clubhouse since 1956, nurse sharks circling its dock lights after dark. Dinner there, elbow to elbow with whoever sailed in today.
Sailing: 2.5 hours (16 nautical miles)
Mooring Options: Big Major Spot anchorage, Staniel Cay Yacht Club marina
Recommended Beach: Pig Beach (Big Major Spot)
Dining: Staniel Cay Yacht Club
Activities: Snorkel Thunderball Grotto at slack tide, Swimming pigs at Big Major Spot, Nurse sharks at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club dock, Golf-cart loop of Staniel Cay, Dinner at the Yacht Club
Day 6: Black Point
Five miles south to Black Point, the largest true settlement in the central Exumas and the day that grounds the week. No resort, no marina complex, just a few hundred people and a bakery smell on the road. Lorraine's Cafe does conch fritters and a coconut bread people plan routes around; her mother bakes it fresh if you ask a day ahead. Scorpio's pours rum at the dock end. Walk to the blowhole on the ocean side, swim off the beach, and let the afternoon go slack.
Sailing: 45 minutes (5 nautical miles)
Mooring Options: Black Point anchorage
Recommended Beach: Black Point settlement beach
Dining: Lorraine's Cafe, Scorpio's Inn
Activities: Morning sail to Black Point settlement, Coconut bread and conch at Lorraine's, Walk to the ocean-side blowhole, Beach swim and slow afternoon, Sundowner at Scorpio's
Day 7: Compass Cay & Pipe Creek
Back north 12 miles into Pipe Creek, the tangle of cays and sandbars between Staniel and Compass that is the Exumas at their most concentrated: waist-deep flats, ripping tidal channels, sand in every direction. At Compass Cay marina the resident nurse sharks lounge on the submerged dock shelf and you can wade in among them; they have been fed here for decades and behave like large polite dogs. At the cay's north end, Rachel's Bubble Bath fills with sea foam on the incoming tide. Last night at anchor in the creek, the quietest water of the trip.
Sailing: 2 hours (12 nautical miles)
Mooring Options: Pipe Creek anchorage, Compass Cay Marina
Recommended Beach: Rachel's Bubble Bath / Pipe Creek sandbars
Activities: Sail into Pipe Creek, Wade with the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, Rachel's Bubble Bath on the incoming tide, Sandbar hopping by tender, Final night at anchor
Day 8: Return to Nassau
The run back to Nassau, around 70 miles across the banks, with an early start and a swim stop at Highbourne to break it up. Motor yachts and power cats make it an easy afternoon arrival. Into the harbour, then a last lunch across on Cabbage Beach at Ocean Blu, grilled catch and a cold drink with your feet almost in the sand, before the handover, tips, and the group photo.
Sailing: 70 nautical miles (early start)
Mooring Options: Nassau harbour marinas
Dining: Ocean Blu (Cabbage Beach, Paradise Island)
Activities: First-light departure north, Swim stop at Highbourne Cay, Arrival into Nassau harbour, Last lunch at Ocean Blu, Cabbage Beach, Disembarkation and crew farewell
