Just got back from the Bahamas yesterday

[NOVACruisers]

Just got back from the Bahamas yesterday. Since we'd done all the shore excursions, Atlantis and city tours before, we took Scubagirl's and other's advice from this board and just did our own thing. Please forgive the lengthy description below, but I wanted to let folks know what to expect if they decide to "beach" in the Bahamas on their own.

 

We were in Nassau for 2 days. The first day we walked over to the British Colonial Hilton and paid $15 p/p for the day pass at the front desk. The hotel is gorgeous and the folks who work there welcomed us warmly and treated us well all day. We took our receipt to the towel cabana and got two beach towels and settled in. The beach was medium-sized with soft white sand. Although it is right off the harbor area, the water was clean, clear and beautiful. There were loads of beach chairs and permanent palm umbrellas to sit under. We had lunch during a very brief thunderstorm at the cabana bar - the grouper fingers were delicious. The pool is relatively small, but since there were not very many people there (mostly from the four cruise ships in port) there was plenty of room to splash around and enjoy. The hotel is only a short walk (10 minutes if you walk slowly) from the cruise ship piers; just past Senor Frogs. We highly recommend the BCH, especially if your ship is only in port for a short time.

 

The next day we took Scubagirl's recommended trip for $1 p/p on the #10 jitney to the Wyndham on Cable Beach. The jitneys were lined up in front of the Haagen Dazs shop and have the numbers printed on all sides so they are easy to spot. Rode with the locals on an interesting bus route through the towns. You just tell the driver where you want to get off and they'll drop you off right in front of the hotel. Although folks on this board recommended that you not use the cruise ship towels, we were the only ones who didn't! There were tons of cruise ship passengers with their towels everywhere and no one said a word to them. Cable Beach has more coral-like, coarse sand and the beach drops off somewhat abruptly at the water line. I was surprised that the beach was about the same size as at the BCH and not really as nice. But, there were plenty of comfy padded beach chairs, palm trees for shade and clean, clear water. The pool is huge with an awesome water slide and a swim-up bar where you can also get food. Later on, we packed-up our stuff and headed back out in front of the hotel. A #10 jitney came by within 5 minutes. There aren't any bus stop signs, but the driver blinked his headlights at us and we held up our hand and that seemed to work just fine. The jitney headed down the beach-front route and we asked the driver to let us off at Arawalk Cay which Scubagirl recommended for some local seafood. There are numerous open-air cafes that all have similar menus. We selected the Fish Fry mainly because it was one of the few (only?) that had air-conditioning. I had the grilled grouper and DH had cracked (Bahamian for "fried") conk. Both were excellent. The prices were higher than we expected ($12 for the grouper and $9 for the conk), but well worth it - especially for the conk. We then picked-up the #10 jitney again and headed back to downtown. This time the bus was really full with locals heading to work, but they kindly dropped the middle jump seats for us.

 

The next day, the ship docked in Freeport. We took a cab from the cruise pier to Port Lacaya for $5 p/p. This is where the cruise ship shopping guide told everyone to go shopping. The Sheraton and Westin hotels are right across the street on a public beach. The beach is huge and magnificent with much softer sand than on Nassau. The hotel pools were also large and impressive, although we didn't venture into them as there are many signs that warn they are for hotel guests only (but the hotels appeared virtually empty and in hind-sight, I'm sure we could have used them without being hassled). The Westin's pool is one of those "eternity" pools that looks like it goes right into the ocean - fantastic! The Isle of Capri casino (the only one on the island) is right between the two hotels. DH and I have decided to check into staying there for a vacation in the future. We walked back to the shopping area across the street to catch a cab back to the pier. This time the cab ride was very unpleasant - one of the rudest cab drivers we've ever gotten in the islands. He tried to cram 11 full-figured Americans into this hot, little decrepit van and when it clearly wasn't going to work, he started a rant that didn't quit for the entire drive back to the ship. Although we didn't let it bother us, most of the other folks in the van said they'd never come back - not very good for tourism!

 

It was a great adventure all-around and one of the best trips we've had to the Bahamas - thanks to all the folks who took the time to give advice on this board!

[volfan22701]

we also went to the Wyndham and spent most of the day there wednesday. you probably saw us with our ship beach towels. it was great, and after a couple hrs on the beach we moved up to poolside and stayed a few more hrs sipping on strawberry daiquiri's. the poolside waiters were great. had them bring us conch fritters and we decided we could eat them all day. so tasty. we used a taxi to get there and back, same guy came back for us. his name was Trevor, he gave us his cell phone to call him to pick us up. talked a mile a minute.

 

we think freeport was not very interesting, and really would not want to go back there. might be different if there had been time to get around to see more.

 

Nassau was a place we would love to go to again. most friendly people.

everyone we met were friendly to us.

 

our first day there went and did some shopping and hung out at senor frogs for a couple of hours, and after dinner went to atlantis for rhe evening. walked around a lot, and hit the casino for a half hour or so.

actually came out ahead.

 

doug