Hurricane Hole Marina (Paradise Island, Bahamas)
| Location | 1 Marina Way, Paradise Island, New Providence, The Bahamas, on Nassau Harbour between the island's two bridges |
|---|---|
| Position | 25 04' 44.7" N, 077 19' 09.3" W, per Dockwalk |
| Developer and owner | Sterling Global Financial Limited (executive chairman David Kosoy), an independent Bahamian developer, not Atlantis or its owner Brookfield Asset Management |
| History | a marina on this site was Nassau Harbour's only transient berth for large yachts for over 50 years before Sterling Global's rebuild; the current facility had its grand opening 25 November 2022 with Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis in attendance, part of a stated USD 250 million Paradise Landing redevelopment |
| Dockage | about 6,100 linear feet of fixed and floating concrete docks; third-party listings give the slip count as anywhere from 54 to 66 |
| Vessel size | the operator's own 2022 opening release claims capacity to 420 ft; Dockwalk's superport listing gives a maximum LOA of 65 m (213 ft) and 12 m beam; a 123 m (403 ft) berth has been marketed for sale by a yacht brokerage, so the true ceiling depends on which slip |
| Draught | the marina's own pages give berth depths of 13 to 14.5 ft at mean low water and describe the harbour entrance as 20 ft-plus; older and third-party listings instead give a flat 12 ft depth for the approach, so confirm your specific slip in writing |
| Turning basin | about 240 ft wide |
| Mooring | stern-to and alongside on wide-fingered fixed and floating concrete docks |
| VHF | channels 16 and 11 for the marina and fuel dock, monitored roughly 08:00 to 17:00 |
| Fuel | the only marina on Nassau or Paradise Island with in-slip fuelling (diesel), plus a public fuel dock selling diesel and gas, open daily; in-slip orders need 48 hours' notice and a 1,500-gallon minimum |
| Utilities | power and water are billed separately from dockage; the marina's out-of-season rate card lists USD 0.70 per kWh and USD 0.30 per gallon |
| Customs | an on-site, recognised Bahamas port of entry with Customs and Immigration coordinated by marina staff |
| Hours | marina office 08:00 to 18:00 daily; check-in 13:00, check-out 12:00 |
| Nearest airport | Lynden Pindling International (NAS), commonly cited at 11.6 to 15 km (about 9.5 to 13 statute miles) by road, roughly a 30-minute drive |
| Next door | Atlantis Paradise Island (casino, Aquaventure water park, the Dig and the marine habitat) across the street, plus Paradise Landing's own grocery store, pharmacy, medical clinic, wine shop and restaurants on site |
| Ownership structure | most slips are rented, but a limited number are sold freehold, from about USD 1.9 million for a 45.7 m berth to USD 8.8 million for a 123 m berth, with a 65/35 rental-income split offered when an owner's berth is not in personal use |
| Events | host marina for the Bahamas Charter Yacht Show, held annually in late January or early February |
Where the berth actually is
Hurricane Hole occupies the harbour-facing south side of Paradise Island, the narrow strip of land that separates Nassau Harbour from the open Atlantic. The marina sits between the island's two bridges, the original 1967 span to the east and the newer Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge to the west, so a vessel can approach from either direction once it is inside the harbour. On the landward side the docks back onto Paradise Landing, the mixed-use development Sterling Global Financial built around the marina: low apartment blocks, a landscaped lawn, a marina office, a crew gym and pool and a short walk of retail and dining. Across the road, and only that: a road, is Atlantis Paradise Island itself, its pink towers visible from most of the outer berths and the reason most visitors assume the marina and the resort are one property.
They are not. Nassau Harbour is a working commercial waterway before it is anything else, moving ferries to the Out Islands, cruise-ship tenders, fishing boats and freight past the marina entrance every day, and the same harbour holds at least five other marina operations along its length, from Yacht Haven Grande's group of docks on the Nassau-proper side to Hurricane Hole and the separate Marina at Atlantis on the Paradise Island side. A yacht arriving for the first time has to pick the right one from the chart, not just the right island. Hurricane Hole's own materials lean into the confusion by advertising itself as 120 steps from Atlantis; that is an accurate walking distance and a slightly misleading impression of ownership, and it is worth resolving before you call ahead for a slip rather than after.
The marina behind the marina
Sterling Global Financial Limited, led by executive chairman David Kosoy, bought and redeveloped the site under the Paradise Landing name, breaking ground in January 2019 and holding a grand opening for the rebuilt marina on 25 November 2022 with Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis, Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper and other government figures in attendance. Sterling Global describes the total Paradise Landing investment at USD 250 million and has continued building out the site since, adding a Captain's Lounge and crew gym in 2023 to 2024 and a wellness centre, medical clinic and stem-cell therapy clinic more recently. The company retains long-term ownership of the marina itself even where individual berths are sold freehold to yacht owners, under a scheme that pairs a purchased slip with a 65/35 rental-income split when the owner is not using it.
None of that involves Atlantis. Atlantis Paradise Island has been owned by Brookfield Asset Management since a 2012 restructuring of Kerzner International's Paradise Island assets, and Brookfield's own marina, generally called the Marina at Atlantis, is a separate 63-slip facility on the resort's own waterfront with finger piers to 160 ft, its own dockmaster's office and its own VHF channel, 10. The two marinas are commonly confused in casual conversation and even in some listing sites, which is why Yotters is explicit here: if a berth reservation, a dockmaster contact or a rate quote comes from Atlantis's own booking channel it is for the Atlantis-owned marina, not Hurricane Hole, and the resort's included guest perks do not automatically extend across the road to a Hurricane Hole slip.
The brochure says 120 steps from Atlantis. It does not say that Atlantis has nothing to do with the marina you are tying up in.
Arriving by sea
The marina and its fuel dock monitor VHF channels 16 and 11, roughly 08:00 to 17:00; the Sterling Global materials describe the office itself as reachable on channel 16 as well. Nassau Harbour can be entered from either end, but the two approaches are not equivalent. Coming from the west takes a vessel through the wider, more heavily dredged section of the harbour, past Nassau's cruise and cargo piers, but that route passes under both Paradise Island bridges, whose charted clearance is about 70 ft, which rules it out for taller sailing yachts and some catamarans regardless of how much water is under the keel. Coming from the east avoids the bridges entirely, since Hurricane Hole sits east of both spans, but the eastern reach of the harbour is less well dredged and carries a shoaler approach that boating guides describe as workable mainly for operators who know the ground or who time their arrival for high tide.
Depth figures for the approach itself are one of the least settled facts about this marina. Hurricane Hole's newer marketing material states the harbour entrance at 20 ft-plus and berth depths of 13 to 14.5 ft at mean low water, consistent with a facility rebuilt and dredged in 2022. Older write-ups and some current aggregator listings instead give a flat 12 ft figure for the approach, which likely reflects the pre-redevelopment harbour rather than the widened basin, but Yotters could not find a single current chart or notice to mariners that reconciles the two numbers. A deep-draught yacht should treat 12 ft as the conservative planning figure until the marina confirms its specific slip and the current state of the approach in writing, and should not rely on marketing copy alone for a first-time arrival at night or in weather.
How you actually reserve a berth
Hurricane Hole runs its own reservation process rather than routing through a third-party booking marketplace: call +1 242-603-1950, email [email protected], or use the online reservation form at hurricaneholemarina.com, giving the vessel's LOA, beam and draught so the dockmaster's team can confirm a suitable slip. The marina's stated hours are an office open 08:00 to 18:00 daily with check-in from 13:00 and check-out by 12:00, and its concierge team will also coordinate line handling and arrival logistics, which matters given the mixed approach conditions described above. Group bookings, from flotillas to informal rendezvous, are handled the same way, with the marina advertising tandem berthing on its floating docks for boats in the 35 to 55 ft range and a dedicated events coordinator for anything larger, including private catering, live entertainment and hotel-rate arrangements for crews staying ashore.
A second, separate track exists for anyone who wants to own rather than rent. Sterling Global markets a limited number of Hurricane Hole slips for outright purchase, handled through a different contact, +1 242-677-1900 or [email protected], at prices that a yacht brokerage has listed from about USD 1.9 million for a 45.7 m berth up to USD 8.8 million for a 123 m berth. An owner who buys rather than rents can enrol the slip in a 65/35 rental-income programme for the periods it sits empty, which is a real-estate structure more familiar from Mediterranean marina developments than from the Bahamas, and it is part of why Hurricane Hole reads as much as a waterfront property project as a transient stop.
What a berth actually costs
The marina's published dockage tariff is a per-foot, per-night structure that steps down with the length of the commitment. In season, the daily rate is USD 7.50 a foot a night; a prepaid monthly contract runs USD 5.75 a foot a night, three months USD 5.25, six months USD 4.50, and a prepaid annual contract USD 3.85 a foot a night. Out of season the same ladder runs from USD 5.50 a foot a night for a daily stay down to USD 4.00 for a prepaid month and USD 3.50 for a prepaid three months. On a 100 ft yacht that puts a single in-season night at USD 750 before power, water or any other service, and members of the Trawler Forum boating community independently describe Paradise Island dockage in general, Hurricane Hole included, as roughly double what the marinas on the Nassau-proper side of the bridge charge for a comparable boat.
Utilities are metered and billed separately from dockage everywhere at this marina. The out-of-season rate card lists power at USD 0.70 per kWh and water at USD 0.30 per gallon, both of which will run a large yacht's air-conditioning and watermaker load into real money over a multi-week stay; Yotters could not find a published in-season utility rate to compare against, and the marina's team should be asked directly before budgeting a summer stay. Fuel is a further, separate cost again: Hurricane Hole is the only marina on Nassau or Paradise Island offering in-slip fuelling, but an in-slip diesel order needs 48 hours' notice and a 1,500-gallon minimum, while smaller or walk-up fuelling is handled at the marina's own public fuel dock, open daily and selling both diesel and gas without the minimum-order restriction.
Clearing into the Bahamas
A foreign-flagged vessel flies the yellow quarantine flag on approach and clears at a designated port of entry before anyone but the captain leaves the boat; Hurricane Hole is one of those ports, and its marina staff coordinate Customs and Immigration on site rather than leaving a crew to find the nearest government office. From 1 April 2026 the Bahamas government restructured its cruising permit system into three temporary tiers of 30 days, six months and 12 months, replacing the previous fee schedule; a vessel of 31 to 50 ft now pays USD 250 for a permit, with different tiers above and below that band, and a 12-month permit carries two free re-entries within its term. A separate Frequent Digital Cruising Card, valid for up to two years of unlimited visits, is priced by length at USD 1,500 under 50 ft, USD 2,500 from 50 to 99 ft and USD 8,000 at 100 ft and over.
Two charges that used to sit inside the cruising permit are now billed apart from it. A fishing permit is a separate fee under the 2026 rules, USD 100 for a vessel under 50 ft and USD 300 at 50 ft and above, and a tender longer than 25 ft carried aboard is charged its own USD 500 fee. Vessels carrying more than three passengers pay USD 30 per additional guest over the age of six. Bahamas Customs asks that inbound and outbound clearance both run through the government's Click2Clear online cruising-permit module, and a vessel holding a valid Temporary Cruising Permit no longer has to physically clear outbound in person before leaving the Bahamas. None of this is specific to Hurricane Hole; it is the general 2026 Bahamas entry regime, and Yotters notes it here because a marina that positions itself as the fast, full-service option is only as fast as the paperwork behind it, and that paperwork changed materially this year.
What is next door, and what it actually gets you
The practical case for Hurricane Hole over a Nassau-proper marina is entirely about what surrounds it. Atlantis Paradise Island, the 154-acre casino resort built around Aquaventure water park, the Dig and one of the largest open-air marine habitats in the world, is close enough that the marina's own marketing measures the distance in footsteps rather than metres. On the marina's own side of the road, Paradise Landing has built out a genuine small village around the docks: a gourmet grocery store with a butcher counter, a wine and liquor shop, a pharmacy, a medical clinic, a wellness centre and, as of the most recent phase, a stem-cell and longevity clinic, plus Carnivale (the development's own restaurant) and further dining and retail either open or under construction. A crew can provision, get a prescription filled and eat well without crossing the road at all.
Crossing the road is where the assumptions need checking. Atlantis's own published policy grants complimentary Aquaventure access to guests staying at its hotel towers and to guests of its own, Atlantis-owned marina; a day pass for anyone else starts at USD 195 a head in the 2026 season and climbs well past USD 250 in peak weeks, and Atlantis sells those passes in advance rather than at the gate. Hurricane Hole's own materials do not claim automatic Aquaventure or casino-lounge access for its berth holders, and nothing Yotters found from either operator states that a Hurricane Hole reservation carries the same complimentary resort privileges as an on-property Atlantis stay. A crew planning a resort day for guests should confirm the current arrangement directly with Atlantis rather than assume it, since the marina across the street is, again, a different company's property.
Hurricane season, and the calendar that actually fills the docks
Nassau Harbour has functioned as a sheltered anchorage for centuries precisely because Paradise Island sits as a natural breakwater between the harbour and the open Atlantic, and Hurricane Hole's own materials lean on that history, plus its engineered seawalls and a basin deepened and extended during the 2019 to 2022 rebuild, to market itself as a comparatively safe hurricane-season berth against more exposed Bahamian anchorages. That is a reasonable claim as far as it goes: a protected harbour berth is genuinely safer than an open roadstead in a storm. It is not, and no operator anywhere should claim it is, a guarantee. Outcome in any actual storm still depends on the track, the wind direction relative to the harbour mouth, storm surge, rainfall, the individual vessel's size and draught, how well it is secured, and decisions the operator and captain make in the days beforehand, none of which a marina's own copy can promise away.
On the calendar rather than the weather map, the fixed date that most reliably fills Hurricane Hole's docks is the Bahamas Charter Yacht Show, an annual gathering of the region's charter fleet that the marina hosts as one of its base locations, running in the Wednesday-to-Sunday window at the end of January or start of February; the 2025 edition ran 29 January to 2 February with Hurricane Hole holding its own Captains' Event on the Friday evening. Outside that week, Hurricane Hole's concierge team also markets itself for organised rendezvous and flotillas of 35 to 80 ft-plus boats, arranging tandem berths, private Junkanoo performances and group dining, which suggests a marina that, deliberately, does at least as much business hosting events as it does servicing solo transient arrivals.
Ashore, access and booking
| Getting there | Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) is commonly cited at 11.6 to 15 km by road from Paradise Island, roughly 9.5 to 13 statute miles depending on the source and the exact route, and about a 30-minute drive across the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge. Fixed-rate taxi and private transfers are readily available at the airport; there is no direct water transfer from the airport itself. |
|---|---|
| Arriving by sea | Call the marina on VHF 16 or 11. Vessels can enter Nassau Harbour from east or west; the western route is wider and better dredged but passes under both Paradise Island bridges (about 70 ft clearance), while the eastern route avoids the bridges but is shallower and better suited to an operator who knows the ground or arrives at high tide. Confirm your specific berth's depth in writing before a first arrival: the marina's own newer material claims a 20 ft-plus entrance and 13 to 14.5 ft at the docks, while older and third-party listings give a flatter 12 ft figure. |
| Clearing in | Hurricane Hole is a recognised Bahamas port of entry with on-site Customs and Immigration coordination. Under the Bahamas' 1 April 2026 rules, a temporary cruising permit runs 30 days, six months or 12 months (a 31 to 50 ft vessel pays USD 250), a two-year Frequent Digital Cruising Card is priced by length from USD 1,500 to USD 8,000, and fishing permits and a tender-over-25-ft fee are billed separately. Clear in and out through the government's Click2Clear system. |
| How you actually reserve a berth | Call +1 242-603-1950, email [email protected], or book online at hurricaneholemarina.com, giving LOA, beam and draught. A limited number of berths are instead sold outright, from about USD 1.9 million to USD 8.8 million depending on length, through +1 242-677-1900 or [email protected], with an optional 65/35 rental-income split for owners. |
| What a berth costs | Published dockage: in season, USD 7.50 a foot a night daily, stepping down to USD 3.85 a foot a night on a prepaid annual contract; out of season, USD 5.50 a foot a night daily down to USD 3.50 on a prepaid three-month contract. Power and water are billed separately; the out-of-season utility rate card lists USD 0.70 per kWh and USD 0.30 per gallon. |
| Fuel | The only marina on Nassau or Paradise Island with in-slip fuelling (diesel); an in-slip order needs 48 hours' notice and a 1,500-gallon minimum. A public fuel dock selling diesel and gas is open daily without that minimum. |
| Resort access and fees | Atlantis Paradise Island is across the street but is not part of Hurricane Hole and is not owned by the marina's developer. Complimentary Aquaventure water park access applies to guests staying at Atlantis's own hotel towers or its own, separate marina; a day pass for anyone else starts at USD 195 a head in 2026 and rises in peak weeks. Confirm current access terms directly with Atlantis before promising guests a resort day. |
| What's next door | Atlantis Paradise Island (casino, Aquaventure, the Dig, the marine habitat) across the road; on the marina's own side, Paradise Landing's grocery store, wine and liquor shop, pharmacy, medical and wellness clinics and the Carnivale restaurant, with further dining and retail phases under way. |
| After dark | Carnivale and the marina's own bar and grill cover on-site dining; further restaurants and retail were planned in Paradise Landing's later phases. Atlantis's casino and its own restaurant strip are a short walk across the road, subject to the resort's own access rules for non-hotel guests. |
| The fixed dates | Host marina for the annual Bahamas Charter Yacht Show, typically the last week of January into the first days of February (the 2025 edition ran 29 January to 2 February), with a dedicated Captains' Event. The marina also actively markets itself for private flotillas and rendezvous of 35 to 80 ft-plus boats outside that week. |
| What is NOT published | A single, reconciled slip count (sources range from 54 to 66), a single maximum vessel length (the operator's own release claims 420 ft; Dockwalk's listing gives 65 m/213 ft), a single approach depth (12 ft in older sources against a claimed 20 ft-plus entrance in newer marina material), and any in-season utility rate. Get all four in writing for your specific vessel and dates before committing. |
What owners and crew report
It is genuinely more convenient, and genuinely more expensive, than the Nassau-proper alternatives
Members discussing Nassau-area marinas describe Hurricane Hole's Paradise Island location as an incredible marina and resort setting, immediately next to Atlantis, but note plainly that berthing there costs roughly double what the cluster of marinas on the Nassau-proper side of the bridge, from Yacht Haven Grande down to Harbour Club, charge for a comparable boat, and that the Paradise Island side is less convenient to the everyday business of downtown Nassau.
Trawler ForumThe eastern approach is a trap for anyone who has not done it before
Coverage of the rebuilt marina notes that a vessel can reach Hurricane Hole from either end of Nassau Harbour, but that the eastern route, which avoids having to pass under the two Paradise Island bridges, runs through a stretch of harbour that is not as well dredged, and that boats face a draught challenge there unless the operator is either familiar with the area or arrives at high tide.
Waterway GuideThe marina's redevelopment drew public skepticism even as government leaders opened it
Reader reaction attached to reporting on the marina's November 2022 grand opening, at which the Bahamian prime minister and deputy prime minister both appeared, included the argument that Sterling Global's Paradise Island projects deliver limited benefit to average Bahamians and questions about how closely the developer's projects are tied to political approval, a tension the coverage itself did not resolve.
The Tribune (Tribune242)The name and the reputation both predate the current owner by decades
Trade coverage of the rebuild is explicit that the site was, for more than fifty years before Sterling Global's overhaul, already Nassau Harbour's only transient marina able to take large yachts, ahead of the Atlantis marina (1996) or Bay Street Marina; the 2019 to 2022 project is a wholesale rebuild of an existing institution rather than a marina built from nothing.
Southern Boating & Yachting
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- The newest, deepest, best-equipped large-yacht berth in Nassau HarbourRebuilt in 2019 to 2022 with 13 to 14.5 ft berth depths at mean low water, a 240 ft turning basin and the only in-slip fuelling on Nassau or Paradise Island, at a stated project cost of USD 250 million.
- A genuine port of entry with the paperwork handled on siteCustoms and Immigration are coordinated by marina staff at a recognised port of entry, which removes a step that costs time at many Bahamian stops.
- A self-contained village, not just a fuel dock and a cleatGrocery store with a butcher counter, pharmacy, medical and wellness clinics, wine shop and an on-site restaurant mean a crew can provision and handle most errands without leaving the property.
- A real-estate option most Caribbean marinas do not offerA limited number of berths are sold freehold, from about USD 1.9 million to USD 8.8 million, with an optional 65/35 rental-income split when the owner is not using the slip.
- A sheltered harbour position with a genuine claim to storm protectionParadise Island itself acts as a natural breakwater against open-Atlantic swell, reinforced by the rebuild's seawalls and a deepened basin, though this is a real advantage over exposed anchorages, not a guarantee against any specific storm.
What to watch
- It is marketed as an Atlantis marina and is not oneHurricane Hole is developed and owned by Sterling Global Financial, unconnected to Atlantis or its owner Brookfield Asset Management; the actual on-resort facility is the separate, 63-slip Marina at Atlantis, and confusing the two when booking or when promising guests resort access is a real, recurring risk.
- Among the most expensive dockage in the BahamasUSD 7.50 a foot a night in season before power and water, independently described by boaters as roughly double the Nassau-proper marinas across the bridge.
- The operator's own numbers do not agree with third-party listingsMaximum vessel length is given as 420 ft in the marina's own opening release and as 65 m (213 ft) by Dockwalk; approach depth is given as 20 ft-plus in newer marina material and as 12 ft in older and third-party sources. A buyer has to confirm both in writing for a specific slip.
- Crossing the road does not include Atlantis's own guest perksComplimentary Aquaventure access applies to Atlantis's own hotel and marina guests, not automatically to Hurricane Hole berth holders, who face the same day-pass pricing, from USD 195 a head in 2026, as any other outside visitor.
- It sits inside a working commercial harbour, not a quiet coveNassau Harbour carries ferry, cruise-tender, fishing and freight traffic past the marina entrance daily, and the eastern approach channel is a genuine hazard for an operator arriving for the first time without local knowledge.
Who it is for: An owner or captain who wants the deepest, newest, best-fuelled berth in Nassau Harbour and does not mind paying a premium for it and clearing up which of the two Paradise Island marinas he actually booked; not a buyer who assumes a Hurricane Hole reservation carries Atlantis's own resort perks, or a budget-minded transient happy on the Nassau-proper side of the bridge for half the price.