Best beaches in the Exumas

This beach is easy to reach from the hotels around George Town, with pale, powdery sands and beautifully blue waters – sheltered by the headland and Stocking Island.

Wander along white sands, go fishing off the jetty or sit down for a jolly good meal: on weekends, Maryann and Elvis run a terrific beach bar and grill - Exuma Point Bar and Grille - serving the best macaroni pie you’ll ever taste. On the west end of the island in Rolleville, offshore islets keep the waters sheltered and calm for swimmers.

In, Mt Thompson. White sands and turquoise sea are joined by a trio of rocks named the Three Sisters. The legend goes three sisters, heartbroken, swam out to sea and tragically drowned. The Three Sisters Reef is a spectacular snorkelling spot, and the stretch of sand is lovely for beach walks.

If you’re a sucker for long beach walks, you’ll love the white sand stretch of Tar Bay. Only a short drive from Georgetown and within easy reach of the airport, it’s a popular spot for holiday homes where you can make plans for those future lottery winnings.

On Great Exuma’s west coast and a couple of miles from George Town, Hooper’s has all the ingredients of perfect Caribbean seaside: soft, light sand, see-through turquoise waters with boats pottering in and out of the bay. Good place to spot Green Turtles in the sea!

On the north end of the island, white sand and palm trees are the makings of this beach, where sand bars emerge at low tide, and the shallows are dotted with shells and sand dollars for beachcombers.

Named because the waters are emerald green or after the lush greenery than trims the beach, this is a gorgeous crescent-shaped curve of beach that goes on for about a mile.

A little outside of Williams Town, this crescent shaped beach has beautifully white sand and blue-as-can-be water. It’s the longest beach on Little Exuma, and the prettiest for miles around - sometimes with only a handful of other people to share it with, if any. The beach is commonly known of as the Tropic of Cancer beach, because the line runs straight through it. There’s brilliant snorkelling in the shallows. You won’t find oodles of facilities and getting here can take a while – but boy it’s worth it.

Big Major is an uninhabited island, except for a population of twenty-something pigs enjoying the good life on the white sands, clear waters and lush almond trees… These oddly charming creatures can be seen basking on the beach and dashing out of the greenery when boats come into the bay. Excellent swimmers and friendly as can be, visitors can join them splashing about in the shallows or rolling around on the beach. Several operators run trips to the beach, supplying food for the pigs who’ll happily eat out of your hands. Bring some extra bread and you’ll have a keen following. No one really knows where the pigs came from – maybe they swam to safety from a shipwreck – but there’s something special about this beach like no other.

Once you’ve found this secluded spot you probably won’t want to leave. Think: dunes and a white sandy shore, then clear sea with stunning reefs for divers.

A little beach with incredible views over fluorescent-blue waters and islets. This one’s a good spot for swimming, or just loll about on the white sand and enjoy the wild, wonderful natural beauty of the Bahamas.

Get the 10-minute boat ride from Elizabeth Harbour to Stocking Island, home to Hamburger Beach. Besides giving the beach its name, the conch & hamburger stands here make some of the best food on the island, well worth working up an appetite for with a few games of volleyball.