Other Activities in Exuma

In addition to the many activities Starfish offers, many of which are listed below, the Exumas are a real paradise for sun, adventure, and water loving fans. Here are a few things on the menu!

Exuma Adventures:

Sea Kayaking: Whether you are an avid sea kayaker who wants a week long expedition, or a novice who just wants to learn the strokes and see a few local sights, Starfish can accommodate you in class. The waters around Great Exuma and Little Exuma are filled with interesting and exciting kayak venues.
Bicycling: Rent a bike and take the 15 mile tour from the tip of Little Exuma back into George Town. You'll see lots of the sights listed in the information below.
Sailing: Learn to sail a Hobie Wave, then take it out for a day or week and explore the harbor! Learn to sail a 21' Sea Pearl and do the same thing with your whole family!
Diving and Snorkeling: Exuma Scuba Adventures offers quality dive courses and trips to the many blue holes, caves and tropical coral reef gardens which abound around Exuma.
Tour the Island: Christine's Island Tours offer historic tours of both the East and West ends of Great and Little Exuma. Sign up at the Club Peace and Plenty. Mary Dames (Taxi 25) offers historic & cultural tours.
Explore the Harbor in your own boat: Rent 15' & 17' Boston Whalers to explore Elizabeth Harbor on your own. Minn's Water Sports provides excellent maps to guide you about the harbor with safety.
Fishing: Join Wendell Cooper or Doug Rowe on their big boats for bottom or deep sea fishing.
Bonefishing: Exuma is one of the great bonefishing destinations in the world, and Exuma has some of the finest bonefishing guides in the world as well.
Castaway Getaway: This unique one day trip is ideal for couples in love or honeymooners. You are taken to a remote island beach and left with a gourmet picnic, underwater camera, kayak, snorkel gear, chairs, umbrella and beach mats. a bottle of rum, drinks & ice, and a complimentary Exumian carryall make for an unforgettable day.
Shelling: Exuma and Stocking Island are great places to find interesting shells. The giant conch shells are most sought after, but large sand dollars, sea fans, and sea biscuits abound as well as a wide variety of shells.
Nature Trail: At Club Peace & Plenty beach on Stocking Island, an elaborate nature trail has been laid out and signed. It provides a great treat for families and couples to learn and understand the flora and fauna of Exuma.
Hiking: There is great hiking on Stocking Island, where you can climb to the top of a 200' high hill to the old salt monument. But Exuma is full of beaches, old trails, and roads for those who enjoy a good walk.

Ongoing Social Events (some events are seasonal in nature and are not held year round)

The Fish Fry: When a storm blew away the Fish Fry area on the beach at the Old Navy Base, folks were despondent to learn that it would not be resurrected. In it's place, however, rose nine individual huts with various types of native food, music, and activities. It is scheduled to open this year, and will surely become one of the favorite gathering spots on Exuma.
Friday Night Barbecue: Held outside at the Two Turtles Inn. You will find giant servings of many Bahamian dishes and a band playing Island music. Everybody parties and dances into the wee hours.
Rake & Scrape: Grab anything you can find that resembles a musical instrument or makes a sound, and bring it to Eddie's Edgewater Inn on Lake Victoria for the biggest dance party of the week. Held every Monday in season.
Big Pig Roast: A new tradition at KB's Chat n' Chill, near the Hurricane Holes on Stocking Island. You need a boat ride to get there, so check at your hotel or at Starfish to arrange transportation. Sunday afternoons.
Saturday Night Dance at Club Peace & Plenty: If you want something a bit mellow, this may be your ticket. Pleasant, light island music and dancing on the patio around the swimming pool. Lay back.
Conching at Big D's Shack: Have lunch with Darren "Big D" Tucker on a beautiful beach in Steventon, 15 miles north of George Town. "Big D", the Benihana of the Bahamas, throws fruits, conch and veggies in the air and artfully carves them into little conch salad pieces before they hit the counter. His artistry and his winning smile will enchant you, and his salad will blow you away. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are the best times. Wash it down with a Kalik, the fine beer of the Bahamas.
Family Island Regatta- At the end of April Elizabeth Harbor fills with locally built wooden work boats to compete in the National Out Islands Regatta. This regatta is considered the most prestigious and popular sailing event in the Bahamas. While the sailors are out on the water George Town becomes a three-day festival of music, arts & crafts, Junkanoo parades and one big party.

Historical and Cultural Activities

The Shark Lady: From her modest house and museum on Little Exuma, 86 year old Gloria Patience rules the roost as a cultural icon of Exuma. The book written about her claims she caught over 1,500 sharks during her fishing career, including a 17 foot long monster in a 15' Boston Whaler! There is no question she once greeted the Queen of England with only shell beads on her feet, and there is no one who knows the last hundred years of Exumian history more completely. Her house/museum is a potpourri of memorabilia, but the real treasures come from her memories of life in the Exumas as it used to be.
Crab Cay Ruins of Governor William Walker's Estate: Reached only by boat, and not marked in any way, these impressive ruins date back to the 1700's. Miles of high stone fences, peaked entrance pillars surrounding a botanical garden, a large stone kitchen house and circular platforms where cannons once stood to ward off pirates are highlights of the hilltop treasure. Guided tours are available through Starfish.
Hermitage Plantation Ruins at Williams Town: The ruins of this simple, but classic plantation home, and it's accompanying grave crypts, kitchen house and slave quarters bring back visions of the time when Exuma was a British Loyalist colony. On the way to Williams Town, you will want to see the old salt flats and the stone monument built to signal ships that salt was available for sale.
Rolle Town and the Old Cemetery: Rolle Town is located several miles south of George Town. It sits on a hill overlooking both Elizabeth and Moriah Harbors. The multicolored cottages make this village typical of out-island villages in the Bahamas. At the edge of town is an old cemetery, with Loyalist graves dating back to the 1700's.

Natural Points of Interest

Blue Holes and Underwater Caves: Jacques Cousteau filmed several episodes of his TV show featuring the mysterious blue holes and underwater cave system of the Bahamas in Exuma. The Mystery Cave, the Angelfish Blue Hole and numerous caverns and blue holes are literally sprinkled both inland and across the waters of the Exumas. One cave goes entirely under Crab Cay. Others have been explored by divers for distances measured in miles. The blue holes attract an awesome display of tropical marine life, and can be accessed with the assistance of the expert divers at Exuma Scuba Adventures.
Stromatolites: There are only two places in the world where you can see stromatolites- a small patch of sea in remote Northwest Australia, and here in the Bahamas. Not even known to still exist until the 1920's, stromatolites are our oldest living relatives. This organism, three and a half BILLION years old, was the first to produce oxygen, and it's prevalence in the ancient world allowed the earth's oxygen content to reach the critical point where higher life forms were able to exist. It's not very pretty to look at, but our very existence is a testimony to it's significance.

Weddings
Getting married in the islands of the Bahamas has become very popular. The Ministry of Tourism has established a separate Wedding Division to help couples make the dream of wedding in the Bahamas a reality. For more information and assistance call 1-888-NUPTIALS (1-888-687-8425 or e-mail romance@bahamas.com.

Map of Exuma/Getting to Exuma/History & Culture/Travel Information/Things to See & Do /FAQ's