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Bahamas Travel Guide

July 1, 2021

We went on a last minute trip for my best friends Courtney’s birthday and we chose the Bahamas since it is a short flight from the east coast! We also have been to both of these islands we visited so it was super easy to pull it together quickly (you can see previous blog post on Nassau here and Exuma here)! Traveling requirements for entry to the Bahamas can be found here. You will need to fill out the travel application form the week of travel, include Covid Testing results or Vaccine card details. To get back to the US the hotel does onsite testing the day before!

Our trip Itinerary: We flew directly into Nassau Airport
Where we stayed: Grand Hyatt Baha Mar

What we loved about the Hotel:.

Amenities: The property is huge and you have access to all 7 pools! They are all so different, adults vibes, family friendly, and aquarium/cave pools. Also Baha Bay Oceanfront waterpark is opening July 2nd weekend! They have a lazy river, wave rider, and tons of water slides for all ages. You can read all the resort has to offer here.
The Rooms: Are so chic and nice, we stayed in a king room ocean front with balcony!
The Casino: The bottom floor reminded me of vegas/miami feel and it kept the guys entertained!
The Restaurants: The food here is so good! I think thats a reason we keep coming back. Our favorites were Katsuya, Carna, and Cleo!
Kids Camp: There is an interactive kids camp on site and a program to feed turtles, nurse sharks, and sting rays!

We then took a hopper flight with Bahamas Air over to Exuma to round the trip out!
Where we stayed: Grand Isle Resort
What we loved about the hotel:

Luxury villas: 1-3 bedroom villas and penthouse suites! All the accomodations are well taken care of and within minute walks to the ocean. Each Villa comes with its own personal golfcart!
Adults only area: 23 North Beach Club was opened in the last few years and is a brand new adults only addition to the resort!
Golf Course: Designed by Greg Norman, right on the water.
Secluded areas: Every time we come to this resort we seem to have the whole beach to ourselves. Exuma is still developing but I love visiting here because it feels untouched!

Excursions we did:
We lucked out and found Coastline Excursions Exuma last minute and chose to do the Moriah Harbour Cay full day tour! It was the best day on the water, we saw stingrays, turtles, and floated around islands all day!

What I packed:
Everything I wore on the trip is from Shopbop and all swimsuits were from our line LainSnow!

travel

Exuma, Bahamas Travel Guide with Grand Isle Resort & 23 North GR

October 22, 2019

It has been almost a year since our last trip to Grand Isle Resort (you can read that post here) and I was so excited to bring Roman back this time with us! Last time we only stayed two nights on the resort and brought Lainey, this time we stayed 4 nights and also brought our friends to experience it! I felt like we were able to appreciate the slower lifestyle Exuma is known for this time around and I always love visiting a place a second time because you know what to do, where to go, and where to eat by then. Also since our last visit, Grand Isle opened up a new area with an Adults only pool & new restaurant known as 23 North Beach Club. See below for the latest about the island 🙂

(The new adults only pool at 23 North GR)

About the Island: “Exuma is a district of the Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays. The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital and largest town in the district is George Town.” Exuma is located on the southern Bahamas. They were not affected by the recent hurricane and a percentage of all bookings at Grand Isle Resort is going towards the relief for the northern Bahamas (Abaco islands) that was directly hit by Hurricane Dorian. Book here for last minute escapes!

How to get there: We flew directly into Georgetown Airport this trip from RDU, with a quick connector in Miami, FL and it was the best experience so far. We have flown into Nassau before because we missed a connector in Atlanta (you can read about that story here) & hopped over to Exuma later in the day on another connector flight and it made us miss an entire day. Highly suggest just flying directly into Georgetown Airport! From there, the resort is a quick 10 minutes away!

What to pack: I got this question a lot which was surprising to me since it is a typical island lifestyle to me! It is a small island, nothing fancy, so I was either barefoot or had sandals on with a maxi dress half the time and the other half in a bathing suit! The weather year round stays in the lower 80s, so just pack comfortable. If it did rain, it only last maybe an hour throughout the day then the sun would shine. I usually pack a sweater as well to throw over in the evening when the sun goes down! Also I always pack my own beach bag with all the kid pool accessories they love.

Where to Stay: Of course we love Grand Isle Resort! We stayed at other properties in Exuma before and the experience was not even close to the service and luxury accommodations Grand Isle Resort has to offer. You can choose between 1-4 bedroom luxury villas. We stayed in a 3 bedroom this time, but actually ended up switching to a 2 bedroom because apparently only 2 bedrooms have whirlpool tubs and my kids love baths!

Dining Options: At Grand Isle Resort you have a few options for dining. You can eat at Palapa grill by the pool for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 23 North also just opened up their newest restaurant which is Asian-Bahamian inspired food that is open for lunch or dinner. We had an amazing dinner there on one of our nights, see all behind the scenes on my Instagram stories here. During Hurricane Season a lot of places shut down on the island so options are slim. We enjoyed taking the boat to Staniel Cay for lunch one afternoon and also make sure to do Sunday Buffet lunch at Chat & Chill! You have to take a boat to both of these places, you can easily rent your own at Minns Water Sports!

Excursions: We did a private boat tour for the first time with Triple A Adventures and I will always do that moving forward especially with a group in Exuma! It also made our day a lot smoother on a private boat with toddlers. We had a group of 8 people and I loved it because we were able to schedule the day how we wanted and avoid the other boat crowds at key tourist spots (swimming with pigs and shark pictures you see here). You can customize your private boat tour for a half day or full day depending on what spots you want to visit. Book your next adventure with Triple A Adventures here!