The Bahamas & Exumas
- المنطقة
- غرب الأطلسي، جنوب شرق Florida، مئات الجزر عبر بنوك ضحلة
- الحجم
- من Nassau الى Highbourne Cay حوالي 35 ميل بحري، ومن Highbourne الى Staniel Cay حوالي 40، ومن Fort Lauderdale الى Nassau حوالي 180
- الموسم
- من ديسمبر الى أبريل، وموسم الأعاصير في الأطلسي من 1 يونيو الى 30 نوفمبر
- الغاطس
- جزء كبير من بنك Exuma فيه حوالي 1.8 متر، عشان كذا اليخوت عميقة الغاطس تمشي على جهة Exuma Sound وتدخل عبر الممرات
- الممرات
- تيارات مد من 2 الى 4 عقد، وDotham Cut عرضه حوالي 120 قدم، عشان كذا العبورات تنخطط حول المد الراكد
- تصريح الإبحار من 1 أبريل 2026
- 600 دولار لثلاثين يوم، و2,000 دولار لستة شهور، و3,000 دولار لاثنا عشر شهرا للسفن فوق 100 قدم
- رسم الرسو من 1 أبريل 2026
- 200 دولار أو 1,000 دولار أو 1,500 دولار للسفن فوق 100 قدم على تصريح الثلاثين يوم أو الستة شهور أو الاثنا عشر شهرا، ومستحق فقط اذا ما كانت في مارينا
- Frequent Digital Cruising Card
- 1,500 دولار للسفن فوق 100 قدم، وسارية سنتين
- Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park
- عوامات فقط في حقول العوامات، وبلا رسو بالمرساة، وبلا صيد من أي نوع
- عوامات الحديقة
- حقل Warderick Wells الشمالي ياخذ سفنا لين 150 قدم بـ 50 دولار في الليلة في 2026، وتندفع عبر منصة ParkPay
- رسم إضافي للتشارتر في الحديقة
- 14 دولار إضافية للشخص في اليوم على رسوم العوامات والرسو
- أكبر مارينا
- Albany في New Providence، 71 مرسى تاخذ سفنا لين حوالي 250 قدم
- No Bahamian marina published a superyacht rate card in July 2026, including Albany, which quotes on application
- Trade benchmarks
- about USD 2 to USD 3 per foot per day for larger vessels, USD 25 to USD 40 per foot per month in Nassau, and USD 9 to USD 10 per foot per day in premium resort sections at peak
- A twelve month cruising permit, the matching anchorage fee and a two-year Frequent Digital Cruising Card together come to a few thousand US dollars, against EUR 5,437 for one August night at Porto Cervo
- Charter tax
- 14 per cent, being 10 per cent VAT plus a 4 per cent Port Department fee, now collected by the Port Department as a single payment
- A Foreign Charter Licence must be obtained from the Bahamas Port Department before arrival and is valid for one year
- There is no temporary admission clock of the EU kind, because a foreign yacht is admitted on a cruising permit rather than into a customs union
- AIS is mandatory for foreign vessels of 50 feet and over, introduced with the 2025 and 2026 amending legislation
- The amended fee schedule took effect on 1 April 2026
- Nearest lift
- Fort Lauderdale, about 180 nautical miles from Nassau
مئة وعشرون ميلا من الجزر الصغيرة
سلسلة Exuma تمشي حوالي 120 ميل جنوبا شرقا من Nassau وهذي هي الرحلة. من Nassau الى Highbourne Cay في الطرف الشمالي 35 ميل، ومن Highbourne الى Staniel Cay أربعين ميلا أخرى، ومن Staniel الى Georgetown في الأسفل حوالي 60. وFlorida قريبة، مع Fort Lauderdale على بعد حوالي 180 ميل من Nassau وBimini على بعد 50 ميل فقط من ساحل Florida. والسلسلة فيها بنك ضحل على جهتها الغربية وExuma Sound العميق على جهتها الشرقية، وأي منهما يستخدم اليخت يقرره غاطسه.
والأسبوع هو من Nassau نزولا الى Staniel Cay ورجوعا، بتحرك 20 الى 40 ميل في اليوم ووقفتين. وأسبوعان يوصلان Georgetown وLong Island في الطرف الجنوبي، أو يتجهان شمالا بدالها الى Eleuthera وHarbour Island وAbacos، وهذا نوع إبحار مختلف وألطف. والملاك اللي يسوونها صح يبنون وقت مد راكد عند كل ممر وما يخططون لوقت وصول ثابت في أي مكان.
من Highbourne الى Georgetown، جزيرة جزيرة
Highbourne Cay في أعلى السلسلة فيها مارينا صغيرة ووقود وشاطئ، وهي الوقفة الأولى المعتادة بعد Nassau. وNorman's Cay جنوبها مباشرة فيها طايرة تهريب مخدرات محطمة في المياه الضحلة يسبح الضيوف فوقها وبار شاطئ في MacDuff's. وShroud Cay، داخل الحديقة الوطنية، فيها خيران مانغروف يقدر التندر يمشي فيها في الحالة الصح من المد وتطلع على شاطئ محيطي. وWarderick Wells هي مقر الحديقة، بحقل عوامات في قناة ماء صافي لدرجة ان القارب يبين طافيا على لا شي.
وأبعد جنوبا تصير السلسلة أزحم. Staniel Cay هي المحور، بنادي اليخوت ورصيف الوقود ومهبط، والرحلتان المشهورتان داخل ميل منها، Thunderball Grotto والخنازير السابحة في Big Major Cay. وتحت Staniel، Black Point وLittle Farmer's وCave Cay أهدا، وElizabeth Harbour في Georgetown حوض محمي كبير فيه مجتمع إبحار قديم. وكل مرسى رسو هنا تقريبا فوق رمل أبيض في ثلاثة الى ستة أمتار.
متران من الماء فوق البنك يقرران في رحلة Bahamas أكثر مما تقرره أي ميزانية.
الغاطس والممرات والمارينات
العمق هو السؤال كله. أجزاء كبيرة من Great Bahama Bank فيها حوالي 1.8 متر، وهذا يحط يختا إزاحيا حديثا 50 متر على جهة Exuma Sound بشكل دائم. والممرات بين الجزر الصغيرة هي الأبواب بين الاثنين، وفيها مد 2 الى 4 عقد، وDotham Cut عرضه حوالي 120 قدم، عشان كذا العبورات تنوقت للمد الراكد وتنترك لما يخلي تموج محيطي معاكس الممر ينكسر.
وخيارات المارينات مركزة. Albany في جنوب غرب New Providence فيها 71 مرسى وتاخذ سفنا لين حوالي 250 قدم، وهي العنوان لليخوت الكبيرة في Bahamas. وHurricane Hole في Paradise Island وNassau Yacht Haven يغطيان باقي العاصمة، وBaha Mar وAtlantis عندهما أحواض خاصة فيهما. ونزولا في السلسلة في مارينات صغيرة في Highbourne وStaniel Cay وبعض الجزر الخاصة، وكلها بمقاسات قوارب أدنى بكثير من حجم السوبريخوت. واليخت 50 متر في Exumas على المرساة أو على عوامة الحديقة طول الرحلة.
الجبهات والرياح التجارية والشهور
من ديسمبر الى أبريل هو الموسم والطقس في الغالب لطيف. الأيام في منتصف العشرينات، والرياح التجارية تهب من الشرق الى الجنوب الشرقي بـ 10 الى 20 عقدة، والماء صافي ودافي كفاية تسبح فيه بلا تفكير. وموسم الأعاصير يمشي رسميا من 1 يونيو الى 30 نوفمبر وياخذ كل اليخوت الكبيرة تقريبا بره الدولة.
والمتغير هو الجبهة الباردة الشتوية. منظومات تدفع من القارة الأمريكية الشمالية كل خمسة الى سبعة أيام من ديسمبر لين مارس، وتلف الريح عبر الجنوب الغربي والشمال الغربي والشمال، وتهب 20 الى 30 عقدة يوما أو يومين قبل ما تستقر رجوعا في الرياح التجارية. وعلى سلسلة جزر منخفضة تمشي من الشمال للجنوب، الجبهة تعني الانتقال للجهة الثانية من الجزيرة، ومراسي الظل الزينة معروفة وتزدحم. والجبهة اللي توصل مع تموج محيطي تقدر تخلي الممرات خطيرة، وهذا هو الخطر الحقيقي الوحيد في منطقة الإبحار هذي.
الأعياد الأمريكية وشاطئ الخنازير
موسم Bahamas تشكله الأعياد الأمريكية أكثر من أي ريغاتا. الكريسماس ورأس السنة، وأسبوع Presidents Day في فبراير، وأسابيع إجازة الربيع في مارس وأبريل هي نقاط الضغط، ومساحة المارينات في Nassau في هالأوقات تنحجز قبلها بمدة. وباقي الشتاء هادي بشكل ملحوظ بمقاييس المتوسط، واليخت يقدر ياخذ مرسى رسو في Exuma لوحده في يوم ثلاثاء في يناير.
ومكانان استثناء. Staniel Cay وشاطئ خنازير Big Major تشتغل فيهما قوارب نهارية وجولات طايرات مائية من Nassau طول الموسم، ومع منتصف الصباح ممكن تكون في عشرات القوارب الصغيرة في المرسى، عشان كذا الضيوف الأفضل ينأخذون هناك الساعة سبعة الصبح. وGeorgetown تمتلئ بأسطول الإبحار من فبراير.
Nassau، والمهابط نزولا في السلسلة
الوصول أسهل من أي وجهة في هالقائمة. Lynden Pindling International في Nassau فيه خدمة مباشرة من معظم شرق الولايات المتحدة ومن لندن ومن كندا، مع تعامل كامل مع الطايرات الخاصة، وهو على بعد 20 دقيقة من Albany أو من مارينات Paradise Island. وExuma International في Georgetown ياخذ طايرات نفاثة وفيه خدمة مباشرة من Florida. وStaniel Cay وNorman's Cay وBlack Point وعدة جزر خاصة فيها مهابط لطايرات خفيفة وطايرات مروحية توربينية مستأجرة.
وشبكة المهابط هي اللي تخلي رحلة أسبوعين في Exuma عملية، لأن الضيف يقدر ينضم للقارب أو يتركه في نص السلسلة بدون يوم إعادة تموضع. ومشغلو الطايرات المائية والطايرات الخفيفة المستأجرة من Nassau وFort Lauderdale يسوون هذا بشكل روتيني. والطريق الثاني للدخول هو القارب نفسه، لأن من Fort Lauderdale الى Nassau مشوار ليلي وملاك أمريكيون كثيرون ببساطة يجيبون اليخت عبر الماء.
على البر، ووش فيه منه
في القليل جدا على البر وهذا هو مقصد المكان. Staniel Cay Yacht Club بار ومطعم ورصيف وقود ووراه بيوت صغيرة مدهونة بألوان زاهية، وهو المركز الاجتماعي لوسط Exumas. وBig Major وCompass Cay وThunderball Grotto رحلات تندر نص يوم وهي اللي يتذكرها معظم الضيوف.
وNassau هي المكان اللي فيه حياة البر، وهي دولة ثانية. Albany وBaha Mar وAtlantis تشغل منتجعات وجولف وسبا ومطاعم بمستوى دولي، والعاصمة فيها التسوق والتموين والمستشفيات. وAbacos وHarbour Island في Eleuthera تجلسان بين الطرفين، مع Dunmore Town في Harbour Island اللي تعرض حفنة مطاعم زينة فعلا ورملا ورديا. والضيوف اللي يبون حياة ليل لازم ينقال لهم قبل ما يحجزون ان Exumas ما فيها شي منها.
نظام الرسوم في 2026 والحديقة
هيكل الرسوم تغير في 1 أبريل 2026 تحت لوائح جمركية معدلة ولازم الملاك يحطونه في الميزانية صح. وللسفينة فوق 100 قدم تصريح الإبحار المؤقت يكلف 600 دولار لثلاثين يوم، أو 2,000 دولار لستة شهور، أو 3,000 دولار لاثنا عشر شهرا، مع إعادة دخول مجانية وحدة أو اثنتين في التصاريح الأطول. ورسم رسو منفصل ينطبق على السفن اللي ما هي في مارينا، بـ 200 دولار أو 1,000 دولار أو 1,500 دولار لنفس المدد الثلاث. وFrequent Digital Cruising Card تكلف 1,500 دولار للسفينة فوق 100 قدم وتمشي سنتين.
وExuma Cays Land and Sea Park عندها نظامها الخاص، وهي منطقة منع أخذ ما ينشال منها شي حي ولا ميت. والرسو بالمرساة ممنوع في حقول العوامات، والعوامات تنحجز وتندفع عبر منصة ParkPay، وحقل Warderick Wells الشمالي ياخذ سفنا لين 150 قدم، وسعر العوامة في 2026 هو 50 دولار في الليلة مع 14 دولار إضافية للشخص في اليوم على سفن التشارتر. والدعم الفني في Bahamas رقيق بره Nassau، عشان كذا قطع الغيار تجي من Florida شحنا جويا وأي شي كبير مشوار رجوعا الى Fort Lauderdale.
السلبية الصريحة
Bahamas تعاقب القارب الغلط. اليخت عميق الغاطس مستثنى من معظم مراسي الرسو اللي تشتهر بها الوجهة، وضيوفه ينتهون في التندرات للأجزاء الزينة والسفينة الأم جالسة في الـ Sound أو في أعلى السلسلة. وحتى القارب الضحل يشتغل حول جداول المد طول الرحلة. وما في مارينا في Exumas تاخذ يختا كبيرا، ولا وقود بكمية مفيدة بره Nassau وStaniel Cay، ولا مساعدة فنية نهائيا.
والنقطة الثانية ان تجربة البر شبه معدومة والرحلات المشهورة مزدحمة. الخنازير السابحة وجهة قوارب نهارية فيها طابور، والكهوف تشتغل بس في المد الصح. والتموين بالمستوى اللي يتوقعه يخت كبير يعني التحميل في Nassau أو الشحن من Florida. والموسم قصير ونظام الرسوم يتحرك للأعلى، عشان كذا المالك اللي يقارن هذا بصيف في المتوسط لازم يكون واضحا انه يشتري ماء وفراغا وقليلا جدا غير ذلك.
The fees are published, the berth is not
The regulatory side of a Bahamas season is the easy part to price because the government prints it. What is not printed is the berth. Albany, which is the address for a large yacht in the country with 71 slips taking to about 250 feet, refers to rates without displaying them and quotes on application, and no Bahamian marina had a public superyacht rate card in July 2026. The workable benchmarks are per foot and they come from trade reporting rather than a tariff. Dockage for larger vessels runs about USD 2 to USD 3 per foot per day, monthly superyacht dockage in Nassau runs about USD 25 to USD 40 per foot per month at standard facilities, and the resort marinas publish tiered daily rates with premium sections reaching USD 9 to USD 10 per foot per day in peak season. On the resort figure a 164 foot yacht is roughly USD 1,475 to USD 1,640 a day. Those daily and monthly benchmarks do not reconcile with each other, so no single all-in month is stated here.
The fee side does reconcile and it is startlingly cheap by Mediterranean standards. A twelve month cruising permit for a vessel over 100 feet is USD 3,000, the matching anchorage fee is USD 1,500 where the boat is not in a marina, and the Frequent Digital Cruising Card is USD 1,500 for two years, so the entire regulatory cost of a year in the country runs to a few thousand dollars against EUR 5,437 for one August night at Porto Cervo. Inside the Exuma park the mooring is USD 50 a night at the Warderick Wells north field, which takes vessels to 150 feet, with an extra USD 14 per person per day on charter vessels. What is expensive in the Bahamas is not the country but the absence of one. There is no fuel in useful quantity outside Nassau and Staniel Cay and no technical capability outside Nassau, so spares come from Florida by air freight and the budget line that grows is freight and repositioning rather than berth. The nearest yard that can lift a hull of this size is at Fort Lauderdale, about 180 nautical miles from Nassau.
Whether a foreign flag may charter in Bahamian waters
The Bahamas is one of the few grounds on this list where a foreign-flagged yacht may charter outright, and the rule is stated rather than implied. A non-Bahamian owner must hold a Foreign Charter Licence, obtained from the Bahamas Port Department before arrival, valid for one year and applied for online through the government portal. The charter tax is 14 per cent, made up of 10 per cent VAT and a 4 per cent Port Department fee, and the Port Department is now authorised to collect the whole 14 per cent as a single payment, which removes the separate VAT filing with Inland Revenue that the original 2022 arrangement required. There is no equivalent of the EU's 18 month temporary admission clock, because a foreign yacht is admitted on a cruising permit rather than into a customs union, and the permit rather than the flag is what governs how long she may stay.
The regime moved through 2025 and 2026 and an owner working from an older briefing will get it wrong. The Port Authorities (Amendment) Act 2025, amended Customs Management Regulations in 2025 and 2026, the Boat Registration (Amendment) Act 2025 and the Environmental Health Services (Amendment) Act 2025 together introduced the new cruising, anchorage and fishing fees and mandated AIS for foreign vessels of 50 feet and over, with the amended fee schedule effective from 1 April 2026. The AIS requirement is the one with teeth, because it converts the question of where a yacht has been and whether she was in a marina or at anchor from an assertion into a record, and the anchorage fee is charged precisely on the boats that are not alongside. Inside the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park nothing living or dead may be removed, anchoring is prohibited in the mooring fields, and moorings are booked and paid through the ParkPay platform. Fishing without the correct permit and anchoring inside a mooring field are the two infringements a visiting yacht is most likely to commit without meaning to.
على البر والوصول والحجز
- Getting there
- Nassau's Lynden Pindling International is the gateway and takes anything, with business aviation handled by Odyssey Aviation and by Jet Nassau, the Bahamian operator that took over the former Jet Aviation FBO. For the Exumas, Exuma International at George Town has a 7,051 foot runway served by Odyssey Aviation and Strachan's Aviation. Staniel Cay, in the middle of the cays and beside the best of the cruising ground, has a small airstrip with genuine scheduled service: Makers Air runs up to six flights a day from Fort Lauderdale Executive in Cessna Grand Caravans and Staniel Air flies the same route daily. The constraint at Staniel is aircraft type rather than availability, which is why guests arriving by jet still route through Nassau or George Town.
- Clearing in, and the AIS rule that catches people
- Clearance paperwork goes in through Click2Clear before you arrive rather than on the dock, and Bahamas Customs publishes the list of ports of entry. The rule that catches visiting yachts is the electronics one: a foreign pleasure vessel above 50 feet must have AIS fitted, working and switched on at all times in Bahamian waters, and the published penalty is USD 1,000. A yacht that habitually runs dark for privacy has to change that habit at the boundary. Note that the published wording sits on the 50 foot mark itself in different ways depending on the source, so a yacht measuring exactly 50 feet should confirm at clearance rather than assume.
- What the permits cost, and what actually changed in 2026
- The July 2025 reform abolished short cruising permits and made every temporary permit a twelve month one. The 1 April 2026 amendment did not cut prices; it re-created the 30 day and six month tiers that had been removed. For a yacht over 100 feet the 30 day permit is USD 600, six months is USD 2,000 and twelve months is USD 3,000; in the 50 to 100 foot band the same three are USD 350, USD 750 and USD 1,000. Crucially the longer permits carry free re-entries the short ones do not: the six month permit includes one, the twelve month permit two. A fishing permit is USD 300 over 50 feet and USD 100 under, a tender permit for a tender over 25 feet is USD 500, and a USD 30 head tax applies per additional non-Bahamian guest beyond the first three. The twelve month permit, the Frequent Digital Cruising Card, the fishing and tender permits, the head tax and the AIS fine were all set on 1 July 2025 and are unchanged.
- Whether the Frequent Digital Cruising Card is worth it, with the arithmetic
- The card buys two years of unlimited entry for USD 8,000 over 100 feet and USD 2,500 in the 50 to 100 foot band, and it is widely recommended without anyone doing the sum. Do the sum. Over 100 feet, three crossings a season on 30 day permits is USD 1,800 a season and USD 3,600 across two years, well under half the card. Three crossings a season on twelve month permits is USD 3,000 a year, or USD 6,000 over two years, because the twelve month permit already covers two re-entries. Break-even against 30 day permits falls at roughly fourteen crossings in two years. The card is the right answer for a yacht genuinely shuttling to Florida most months, and poor value for almost everyone else.
- The anchorage permit is a separate charge
- Anchoring is licensed apart from cruising and it is the fee most often missed. The twelve month anchorage band has been USD 200, USD 350 and USD 1,500 by size since July 2025 and is unchanged; what April 2026 added were 30 day and six month tiers beneath it, running from about USD 50 to USD 200 and USD 150 to USD 1,000 respectively. A two year anchorage entitlement attaches to the Frequent Digital Cruising Card. None of it applies while the yacht is in a marina, so a boat that berths every night pays nothing under this head.
- What the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park charges, and why you cannot book it
- The park is run by the Bahamas National Trust and charges daily, in Bahamian dollars and before tax. Private vessel moorings are BSD 109.09 a night in the 70 to 89 foot band, BSD 136.36 from 90 to 119 feet and BSD 172.73 from 120 to 150 feet. Anchoring instead is BSD 0.45 per foot under 90 feet and BSD 0.91 per foot at 90 feet and over. Charter vessels pay an extra BSD 12.73 per person per day. Every one of those figures is net: since 1 January 2022 all marine and park fees carry 10 per cent Bahamian VAT applied at checkout, so the 120 to 150 foot mooring actually costs BSD 190.00 and anchoring at 90 feet and over is BSD 1.001 a foot. The operational point matters more than the money: the park does not accept reservations at all. You must secure a mooring physically and pay afterwards through the ParkPay app, and paying in advance buys nothing.
- How you actually reserve a berth
- Staniel Cay Yacht Club is the practical centre of the cays. It holds 18 slips carrying up to 12 feet of draft even at low water, plus 21 moorings, and takes bookings by email to [email protected] or by telephone on 242 355 2024 and 954 833 2100, working VHF 16, with the fuel dock open 08:00 to 17:00 daily. Albany, on the south side of New Providence, is the large-yacht address with 71 slips taking hulls to 250 feet; you complete a slip reservation request and the Harbour Master's office comes back, on [email protected] or 242 676 6020. Albany takes 100 per cent of the fees at booking, imposes a three night minimum on any reservation touching a peak date and five nights over the festive period, and refunds in full only on 72 hours notice off-peak or 30 days in peak, less a USD 100 processing fee.
- What it costs alongside, including the fees under the headline
- Albany publishes a full 2026 rate sheet and it repays reading. Dockage is USD 9.50 a foot from 22 November to 30 April, USD 6.50 from 1 May to 21 November and USD 12.00 at peak, which covers Thanksgiving weekend, 20 December to 5 January and Easter weekend. On top of that sits a 12 per cent resort services fee, then 10 per cent VAT on the dockage, the resort services fee and the amenity fee together. A transient guest also pays an amenity access fee of USD 3,100, USD 2,650 or USD 4,100 by season simply to use the resort. Electricity is USD 0.80 a kilowatt hour and water USD 0.34 a gallon for non-members. Read the small print too: USD 15 a night of the dockage rate is a gratuity to marina staff, and crew do not get access to Albany's amenities at all, only to the recreation centre. Staniel Cay by contrast publishes USD 3.85 to USD 7.45 a foot over 100 feet and USD 2.75 to USD 6.35 under, by season, moorings from USD 48.40 to USD 99.00, electricity at USD 1.20 a kilowatt hour and water at USD 0.40 a gallon. For the rest of the market, an Explorer Chartbooks survey dated January 2023 put Nassau Yacht Haven at USD 2.50 a foot a day, Bay Street Marina at USD 4, Lyford Cay Club at USD 6.50 and Highbourne Cay at USD 2.75 to USD 3.50, all before VAT.
- Fuel, and what is honestly known about it
- Fuel in the cays is dearer than in Nassau because every gallon arrives by barge, and range planning here is a real constraint rather than a formality. What is not available is a reliable current price: no marina in Nassau or the Exumas publishes a dockside diesel rate, and the Waterway Guide fuel report for the Bahamas currently carries a single facility, Grand Bahama Yacht Club at Freeport, at USD 7.060 a gallon including tax as at 31 July 2026. Treat any Exuma figure quoted to you in advance as an estimate. Fuel is available at Staniel Cay and Highbourne Cay among others, and Waterway Guide's Exumas directory also lists Black Point, Cave Cay, Compass Cay, Emerald Bay, George Town, Little Farmers Cay and Warderick Wells. Sampson Cay is not an option and has not been one since its marina closed in September 2013 and the cay went private.
- Where to eat, and after dark
- This is not a restaurant destination and pretending otherwise misleads. At Staniel Cay the Sea Level Dining Room at the Yacht Club is the room everyone ends up in, running a four course prix fixe across two seatings at six and eight, with a same-day dinner reservation required. The Captain's Lounge, open since 1956, is the club's original dining room and the informal alternative rather than merely a bar: breakfast, casual lunch and dinner, no reservation needed. Big Dog's Restaurant and Bar on the same cay does the Bahamian side, with dishes such as oxtail with peas and rice and chicken souse. Beyond that the evening is the boat, and owners who expect a town should be based in Nassau.
- Dates to plan around
- The National Family Island Regatta races Bahamian wooden sloops in Elizabeth Harbour at George Town every April; the 70th consecutive edition ran 21 to 25 April 2026, in four classes from the 28 foot A-Class down to the 12 foot E-Class. It is the best week of the year to see the country's own sailing culture rather than the visiting fleet. Against that, the Atlantic hurricane season runs June to November and most insurance and most owners treat the Bahamas as a December to May cruising ground.
ما يذكره الملاك والأطقم
The marinas said the July 2025 fees were costing them bookings, by name and in advance
Peter Maury, president of the Association of Bahamas Marinas, said in June 2025 that marinas were calling him to report charters cancelling 2026 reservations because of the fees due on 1 July, and that several boats were cancelling for Abaco and Bimini because the position was so confusing and the additional fees so unclear.
Peter Maury, Association of Bahamas Marinas, reported by The Tribune, June 2025By mid-winter the northern marinas said it had happened
Operators in Bimini and Abaco described the new fees and regulations as absolutely strangling the winter season, with one saying they would be satisfied to settle at 50 per cent of the previous year's business. Reports from the same period describe widespread cancellations from long-time repeat visitors and a sharp drop in forward bookings during what is normally the peak.
Bimini and Abaco marina operators, reported by The Tribune, December 2025The objection worked, which tells an owner the rules here are still moving
After a review taken to prime ministerial level the government amended the schedule with effect from 1 April 2026, restoring the 30 day and six month cruising and anchorage tiers that July 2025 had abolished. The twelve month permit, the cruising card and the ancillary fees were left where they were.
Megayacht News and The Triton, April 2026Cruising guides put the workable draft at about six feet, not at what the chart says
Waterway Guide reports that most coral heads in the Exumas stand only three to four feet above the bottom, so vessels drawing up to about six feet pass over them without trouble even at low water. Above that, tide dictates movements, with a range around three and a half feet and more on springs.
Waterway GuideThe park tells you outright that planning ahead will not help
The Bahamas National Trust states that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park does not accept reservations, that a visitor must secure a mooring before making any payment, and that paying in advance does not constitute a booking. Roughly 115 balls are spread across eight mooring fields at four cays, and vessels of 90 feet and over generally pay by the foot to anchor instead.
Bahamas National Trust
نقاط القوة وما يستدعي الانتباه
نقاط القوة
- The clearest water and the widest choice of anchorages in the western AtlanticThe Exuma chain runs roughly 120 miles of cays over white sand, and it is normal to find a 150 foot motor yacht and a 30 foot sailing boat sharing an anchorage, because the ground is broad rather than concentrated in a few harbours.
- It is close to Florida in a way no other Caribbean ground isNassau is an overnight run from south Florida rather than a passage, so a yacht can be used for long weekends out of Fort Lauderdale for half the year. That single fact is why so much of the American fleet bases here.
- The park is genuinely protected, not nominallyThe Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park has been a no-take reserve for decades and it shows in the fish and the coral. Even with VAT, anchoring at BSD 1.001 a foot for a yacht of 90 feet and over is a fraction of a berth anywhere else.
- Two marinas publish a full tariff, which is rare in this regionAlbany's 2026 sheet gives dockage per foot by season plus every ancillary fee, and Staniel Cay publishes dockage, moorings, power and water. An owner can cost a season at either from public information, which is more than St Barths or most of the Caribbean allows.
- The longer permits carry free re-entriesThe twelve month permit at USD 3,000 over 100 feet covers two re-entries and the six month permit one, which is what makes them good value against repeated 30 day permits at USD 600 each. It is the detail that decides which permit to buy and it is rarely mentioned.
ما يستدعي الانتباه
- Draft rules the whole cruising groundWaterway Guide puts most coral heads at three to four feet above the bottom, so vessels drawing up to about six feet pass over them even at low water. Above that draft the direct routes stop being available and the tide starts dictating the day. This is the biggest constraint on specifying a boat for the Bahamas and it is rarely stated plainly.
- Nobody publishes what fuel costsNo Nassau or Exuma marina posts a dockside diesel price, and the only current published Bahamian figure is USD 7.06 a gallon at Freeport as at 31 July 2026. On a large motor yacht that uncertainty is thousands of dollars a fill, and it has to be settled by asking rather than by planning.
- The headline berth rate is not the billAlbany's USD 9.50 a foot in season becomes USD 9.50 plus a 12 per cent resort services fee plus 10 per cent VAT on both, plus a seasonal amenity access fee of USD 2,650 to USD 4,100 for a transient guest. The published number understates the real cost of a week by a wide margin, and crew are excluded from the amenities being charged for.
- You cannot book the park, and that is policyThe Bahamas National Trust states plainly that the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park does not accept reservations and that payment in advance holds nothing. With roughly 115 balls across eight mooring fields serving the whole visiting fleet, a large yacht in season is competing for them on arrival.
- The cost of entry has moved twice in nine monthsJuly 2025 abolished short permits, April 2026 brought them back, and the industry objection in between was loud enough to force a review at prime ministerial level. The twelve month figures have held throughout, but an owner planning several seasons cannot yet treat this line as settled.
- Half the year is closedHurricane season runs June to November and most policies restrict the yacht's position through it. The Bahamas is a December to May ground, which makes the six month permit better value than the twelve month one for most owners despite the re-entry allowance.
لمين هو: المالك اللي عنده يخت ضحل الغاطس أو برنامج تندرات جاد ويبي مراسي رسو فاضية ومضيئة على بعد عصرية من Florida وما يحتاج شيئا على البر.