Out Islands

Berry Islands

The Berry Islands are a chain of nearly 30 cays sitting above the Tongue of the Ocean, roughly between Nassau and Bimini. Most cays are uninhabited. The two centers of activity are Great Harbour Cay, which has the main airstrip for domestic flights from Nassau, and Chub Cay, which has its own international airport about 45 minutes by plane from South Florida.

The draw is fishing and diving. The island group sits at the edge of a deep ocean trench, which produces strong marine life on the reef walls below. Hoffman's Cay Blue Hole, 600 feet wide with a 20-foot cliff above the water, is one of the more dramatic blue hole experiences in the Bahamas. Great Harbour Cay and Chub Cay attract serious boaters and anglers. The annual Chub Cay Invitational Fishing Tournament anchors the social calendar.

Private island rentals are also possible: Little Whale Cay is privately owned but available to rent in its entirety.

Cat Island

Cat Island is one of the least-visited islands in the Bahamas and one of the most culturally rich. The island covers about 150 square miles, stretches 50 miles long, and rises into dense green hills unusual for the flat Bahamian archipelago. Mount Alvernia, at 206 feet, is the highest point in the entire archipelago. On clear days, the summit offers views spanning 25 miles to San Salvador. At its summit sits the Hermitage, a small monastery and chapel built by hand by Father Jerome Hawes, an architect-turned-hermit priest. Construction spanned 1939 to 1950 and used 15,000 hand-cut limestone blocks. It is one of the more singular things to see in the Bahamas.

Arthur's Town, the island's capital, is the birthplace of actor Sidney Poitier. The island has multiple beaches worth visiting: Old Bight Beach stretches for nearly five miles and is the longest uninterrupted sand beach in the Bahamas; Greenwood Beach, on the southern edge, spans eight miles of continuous pink sand. The pink sand is created by foraminifera organisms mixed with white coral fragments, and wading is possible up to 200 yards offshore before reaching knee-deep water. Fernandez Bay is a crescent-shaped cove popular for swimming and snorkeling with bonefishing flats covering about three square miles nearby; average bonefish weight runs 3–5 pounds December through March. New Bight Beach near Mount Alvernia has white sand. The island also has shark diving and a reputation as the heartland of rake 'n' scrape, the Bahamas' most distinctly local musical form. Cat Island residents maintain active bush medicine and basket-weaving traditions.

Beyond the main beaches, Cat Island offers several distinctive natural features. Mermaid Hole near Bain Town is 65 feet wide and 10 feet deep, with water temperature holding steady at 78–80°F year-round. Big Blue Hole near Orange Creek reaches 100 feet deep with visibility to 30 feet in calm conditions. Devil's Point features limestone cliffs 40–50 feet high. Healing Pond maintains a temperature of 82°F. Griffin Bat Cave, a 40-foot-high cathedral extending 100 feet into limestone, houses 200–300 fruit bats; they emerge between 5:45 and 6:15 PM EST in December. Pigeon Cay presents a 500-foot sandbar visible at low tide between 10 AM and 2 PM.

Cat Island has about 1,500 residents. Old Bight operates 15–20 fishing boats and supports a population of roughly 200. Peak season draws 15–20 visitors daily, compared to hundreds on Harbour Island. Winter temperatures range from 75–78°F, with December through March averaging 77°F.

Arthur's Town Airport serves the north; New Bight Airport serves the south, near Mt. Alvernia, and is about a 40-minute hopper flight from Nassau. Daily domestic flights connect Nassau to New Bight Airport. Makers Air operates daily service from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to New Bight, Cat Island, with service beginning November 1, 2025.

Bonefishing guides are available for $550 per day for a single angler. Kayak rentals run $35 per hour.

Hawks Nest Resort & Marina sits on Cat Island's southern tip, about 100 yards from an 800-foot ocean drop-off, making it a natural base for bluewater fishing and diving.

San Salvador

San Salvador is a small, remote island in the central Bahamas with outsized significance: it is widely considered the site of Columbus's first landfall in the Americas in 1492, and several monuments mark competing theories about where exactly he came ashore.

For most visitors today the draw is diving. The island has about 50 named dive sites, including Vicky's Reef and Hole in the Wall, with waters that stay uncrowded because the island itself is remote and sees few tourists. Riding Rock Inn is the established dive-focused property, with visiting dive groups returning year after year.

San Salvador Airport handles both international and domestic arrivals. There is no other way to reach the island.

Long Island

Long Island is a remote stretch of the Out Islands with turquoise water, multiple blue holes, and Cape Santa Maria beach as its primary resort destination. Dean's Blue Hole, near Cape Santa Maria Beach Resort, reaches 663 feet in depth, making it the world's second deepest blue hole. The island also features a Columbus monument marking his 1493 visit. Activities center on bonefishing, hiking, and beach recreation.

Makers Air operates three weekly flights from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to Stella Maris Airport on Long Island, running Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, with a third weekly flight added starting November 20, 2025. The flight takes under two hours. Roundtrip fares run about $1,000 as of late 2025, verify before relying on this.

Long Island hosts the Bahamas Bonefishing Tournament Series October 14–18, drawing anglers to compete on flats that attract serious bonefishing talent.

Rum Cay

Rum Cay is best understood as a wreck diving destination accessible as a day trip from Long Island by boat or charter flight. The HMS Conqueror and the Santa Maria Teresa, a 360-foot Spanish battleship sunk in 1898, are both diveable. The island also has reef diving and fishing, with Port Nelson as the only settlement.

Very few visitors stay overnight. Accommodation is minimal by design; most people treat it as an extension of a Long Island trip.

Acklins and Crooked Island

These two southern islands flank the Bight of Acklins, a 500-square-mile shallow lagoon that is one of the premier bonefishing environments in the world. Lodges here are oriented almost entirely around fishing, and packages typically include personal Bahamian guides. The flats are remote and see little pressure.

Acklins also contains the largest known Lucayan Indian settlement in the Bahamas, adding archaeological interest for visitors inclined toward it. Spring Point Airport connects Acklins to Crooked Island and Nassau. The two islands are separated by the lagoon itself; ferry service exists but can be irregular, confirm locally before planning.

Inagua

Inagua sits at the southernmost reach of the Bahamas and is a birdwatcher's destination first and foremost. Inagua National Park covers nearly half of Great Inagua and protects a flamingo colony of over 80,000 West Indian flamingos, the largest in the western hemisphere, along with 140 species of native and migratory birds. Morton Salt operates one of the largest solar salt operations in the world on the island, and its evaporation ponds are part of what sustains the flamingo population.

Accommodation is small-scale and eco-oriented by nature. Inagua International Airport in Matthew Town serves domestic routes to Nassau and Mayaguana. Little Inagua, just north of Great Inagua, is the largest uninhabited cay in the Caribbean and a protected sea turtle habitat; it requires a private boat to reach.

Ragged Island

Ragged Island sits at the southern end of the Jumentos Cays chain, roughly 120 miles southwest of Nassau, among the southernmost "deep" Out Islands. It is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the Bahamas. Duncan Town is the only settlement, with fewer than 100 residents. There are no commercial flights; access is by private charter to Duncan Town Airport or by day-trip boat from Long Island.

The draw is bonefishing on unparalleled flats that see almost no pressure, along with grouper, snapper, barracuda, and tuna in the surrounding waters. A lighthouse completed in 1922 stands on the island. Hog Cay, just north of Ragged Island, is a day trip from Duncan Town and offers birdwatching and picnic spots.

Mayaguana

Mayaguana is the most isolated and least developed inhabited island in the Bahamas, and it knows it. Abraham's Bay is the main settlement. The accommodation is basic and the infrastructure is minimal. Mayaguana Airport near Abraham's Bay has scheduled service to Nassau.

Visitors come for genuine remoteness. The island has undisturbed beaches, clear water, and almost no tourism infrastructure. Homecoming festivals at Betsy Bay, Abraham's Bay, and Pirate's Well offer the best opportunity to see authentic community life and eat food, land crab, fish salad, boiled conch, that does not appear in any restaurant. If your timing overlaps with one of these, prioritize it.

Getting Here

The Family Islands are reachable by commercial flight, charter flight, ferry, and private boat. For route-specific details, see Out Islands Getting There.