Resort Life or Out Island Calm
Nassau and Paradise Island are built for choice. Atlantis is a small city of a resort, with a marine habitat, a water park and casino tables. The Ocean Club, now run by Four Seasons, is the opposite, with low buildings, a hushed beach and terraced gardens around a medieval cloister brought over from France. On Cable Beach, Baha Mar groups the Rosewood, the SLS and the Grand Hyatt around a big spa and shared restaurants. You can fill an evening with dinner at Dune, a rum tasting or a night at the tables.
Exuma has no casino, no high-rise and no cruise port. On Great Exuma, George Town has a grocery store, a few restaurants and the harbor where water taxis leave for Stocking Island. Up in the cays, evenings mean grilled lobster at a marina bar and a sky full of stars.
Couples coming off a hectic wedding sometimes want a lively buzz. Others want to hear nothing but water. Be honest about which you are.
Flights and First Impressions
Nassau is the easiest honeymoon flight in the Bahamas. Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) has nonstops from cities including New York, Newark, Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Flights from South Florida take about an hour. Cable Beach is about 15 minutes from the airport and Paradise Island 30 minutes or more. On the way home you clear US customs before departure, which saves time on arrival.
Exuma International Airport (GGT) on Great Exuma has historically had nonstops from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Charlotte, some seasonal. Otherwise you fly to Nassau and take a 40-minute hop. If you stay in the northern cays, small charters fly to Staniel Cay from Nassau and South Florida.
For a four-night trip, that difference matters. Nassau gets you on the sand by lunchtime. Exuma may cost you half a day each way, a fair trade if you are staying a week.
The Water and the Beaches
Nassau's best beaches are resort beaches. Cable Beach is a long crescent with calm water. Paradise Island's beaches in front of the Ocean Club and Atlantis are lovely, if busy around the bigger resorts. For quieter sand, book a boat to Rose Island or another nearby cay for snorkeling and lunch.
Exuma is where the Bahamas' famous water really shows off. The shallow banks side stays calm and outrageously clear. Sand flats shift from mint to sapphire with the tide. A private boat day can include Pig Beach on Big Major Cay, a sandbar picnic and Thunderball Grotto, the cave from the 1965 James Bond film. Kayaking the mangrove creeks of Shroud Cay in the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is a calm, beautiful morning.
Nassau does offer day trips to the Exuma Cays by fast boat or short flight, but the open-water crossing can be rough and leaves little time once you arrive. If the cays are the dream, sleep there.
Food and Nightlife
Nassau has the best restaurant range in the Bahamas. Resort dining rooms at the Ocean Club, Baha Mar and Atlantis bring in big-name chefs. Graycliff, in an 18th-century mansion downtown, is known for its huge wine cellar and an old-world dining room that feels right for an anniversary. For the local side, head to Arawak Cay, a strip of brightly painted seafood shacks known as the Fish Fry, for conch salad, fried snapper and a cold Sands beer. John Watling's Distillery offers rum tastings in a pretty courtyard.
Exuma eats simply and well. Conch salad is made to order at stands and beach bars. Spiny lobster is in season from August through March. Chat 'N' Chill on Stocking Island hosts a Sunday pig roast that is half party, half community gathering. In the cays, marina restaurants and resort dining rooms are most of what there is, so book dinners ahead.
If long dinners and a nightcap matter, Nassau wins easily.
Weather, Seasons and Storms
December through April is the most dependable stretch for both, with sunny, breezy days and highs in the mid to upper 70s and low 80s Fahrenheit. Spring break brings groups to the big Paradise Island resorts in March. Holiday weeks book out early everywhere. In Exuma, April and May are often ideal, with warmer water and calmer seas. Winter cold fronts can cancel a boat day or two in Exuma, so leave slack in your plans.
June and July turn hot and humid in both, with brief afternoon storms. Hurricane season runs from June through November, peaking from August through October.
Here Nassau has a real advantage. Its big resorts stay open year-round, while some smaller Exuma lodges and restaurants close in September and October and boat operators trim schedules. If your wedding falls in the fall, Nassau is the safer bet. If you can visit Nassau around Boxing Day or New Year's Day, Junkanoo fills Bay Street with drums and costumes before dawn.
What It Costs and Safety Notes
Both can be expensive. In Nassau, resort fees, VAT and service charges add a lot to the headline room rate, so ask for the full price up front. Honeymoon packages with resort credits can improve the math. Taxis are the main way around, with licensed cabs on yellow plates. Agree on the fare first.
Exuma's room prices range from villas at Grand Isle Resort on Emerald Bay, from roughly $500 a night, to waterfront cottages at Staniel Cay Yacht Club from around $450 and a private-island stay at Fowl Cay Resort from around $2,000 (all approximate). The bigger extra is boats. A private captain for a full day runs roughly $800 to well over $1,500 for two (approximate).
On safety, Nassau has more crime than the rest of the country, though it is concentrated in neighborhoods away from the resort areas. Stick to busy areas after dark and book boats through your hotel or established firms. In Exuma, the main risks are on the water: strong currents in the cuts and wild animals at the pig and shark spots.
The Two-Island Honeymoon
This pair is the easiest two-stop trip in the Bahamas because nearly every Out Island flight starts in Nassau. A popular plan is three nights on Paradise Island or Cable Beach to recover from the wedding with spa time and good dinners, then a short flight to Exuma for four or five nights of boat days and quiet evenings.
It also works in reverse. End in Nassau if you want a final night out and the convenience of preclearance before the flight home.
In Exuma, split your nights between the cays near Staniel Cay and Great Exuma if you can. A week in Exuma alone gives you time to wait out windy days and still enjoy a couple of full boat outings. If your trip is only four nights, skip the split and choose Nassau for convenience or Exuma for scenery, accepting the extra travel time it brings.
