Private yacht charter in the Exumas
The Exumas are a chain of more than 365 cays and islands running some 130 miles south-east from near Nassau to Great Exuma. On one side lies Exuma Sound, deep and blue; on the other, the Exuma Bank, so shallow that its sandbars surface at low tide. An Exumas yacht charter moves along the line between the two, anchoring off the cuts and sending the tender in where the yacht cannot follow.
The anchorages sit a comfortable hour or two apart, so a week here is unhurried by design: a swim before breakfast, a short move at midday, a sandbar at low tide.
The cays from the water
Allen Cays and Highbourne Cay. The usual first stop from Nassau, around 35 nautical miles away. Highbourne Cay has a marina, and a short tender ride away the Allen Cays are home to the Northern Bahamian rock iguana, an endangered and protected species found on only a handful of cays.
The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Established in 1958, managed by the Bahamas National Trust and often described as the first protected area of its kind, the park covers some 176 square miles of cays and sea in the middle of the chain. It is a no-take zone, with no fishing and no shelling, and moorings are arranged through the park office at Warderick Wells, where a climb up Boo Boo Hill passes driftwood signs left by visiting yachts.
Staniel Cay. Home to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, founded in 1956, and a 3,000-foot airstrip. Thunderball Grotto, the cave used in the James Bond film, is snorkelled at slack tide, when the current through its entrances eases, and the swimming pigs of Big Major Cay are best visited early, before the day boats arrive from Nassau.
Compass Cay and Pipe Creek. A few miles north, nurse sharks gather in the shallows by Compass Cay's small marina, placid and used to company, and the sandbars of Pipe Creek, between Compass and Staniel, are at their best at low tide.
Great Exuma. At the southern end, George Town looks over Elizabeth Harbour, and the Marina at Emerald Bay and Exuma International Airport make it a natural start or finish for a week that runs the chain northward.
A week in the Exumas
From Nassau, a week typically crosses to Highbourne Cay and the Allen Cays, works south through the park to Warderick Wells, spends two or three days around Staniel Cay, Big Major and Compass Cay, and either returns north or continues to Great Exuma, where guests fly home. Many of the anchorages are tide-dependent, so the captain plans each day around the tides as much as the wind.
When to go
The high season runs from December to April, with mostly dry weather and trade winds of around 10 to 15 knots, and Christmas and New Year are the peak. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November, with its peak in September.
Marinas and arrival
Most charters start in Nassau, whose airport has frequent direct flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Exuma International Airport, on Great Exuma, has direct flights from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Charlotte and Toronto as well as Nassau, and Staniel Cay's airstrip takes small charter aircraft, including direct flights from Fort Lauderdale.
Along the chain, Highbourne Cay, Staniel Cay Yacht Club, Compass Cay and the Marina at Emerald Bay all take yachts. A start at Staniel Cay usually carries a relocation fee unless the yacht is already based in the Exumas.
Yachts and what a week costs
Draught matters here as much as length. Deeper-draught superyachts keep to the Exuma Sound side and anchor off the cuts, while shallow-draught motor yachts and catamarans reach more of the inner anchorages; on any yacht, the tender and the water toys do much of the work. Our guide to choosing the right charter yacht covers the trade-offs.
Indicatively, high-season base rates for motor yachts in the Bahamas average around USD 80,000 a week at 100 to 129 feet, and more than double that above 130 feet. The Advance Provisioning Allowance, typically 25 to 35 percent, the Bahamian charter tax of 14 percent, collected by the Port Department, and the crew gratuity, customarily 15 to 20 percent, come on top. Park mooring and visitor fees are paid by the yacht, inside the rate on all-inclusive terms or from the APA. See what a charter costs for the full picture.
How an Exumas charter is arranged
We shortlist the yachts whose draught, tenders and range suit the chain, check their licence to charter in Bahamian waters, and settle the route with the captain around the tides and the forecast. Most weeks begin in Nassau, some in Fort Lauderdale, and the Bahamas page covers the wider islands.
Tell us your dates, the size of your group and what you have in mind, and we will come back with a shortlist. Start the conversation.
