Commonwealth of The Bahamas

St. George Harbor, Nassau, Bahamas

Photo by IrishNYC

Bahamas Facts

The Bahamas is an archipelago comprising 700 islands and 2,000 cays (small islands) located east of Florida, United States and north of Cuba in the Atlantic Ocean. The great majority of the locals speak English, so you should be comfortable communicating with them. Bimini is the closest island to the United States and is thus often referred to as the gateway to the Bahamas. Andros Island is the largest. Other islands include Abaco, Great Inagua, Eleuthera, Cat Island, Long Island, San Salvador Island, Acklins, Crooked Island, Exuma, Mayaguana, Grand Bahama and New Providence. The capital city of the Bahamas is Nassau which is located on the island of New Providence. The Bahamas is among one of the richest nations in the Caribbean, its economy mainly driven by the tourism industry, which is again fueled mainly by its neighbour, the United States of America.

Attractions of the Bahamas

The Bahamas has a pleasant subtropical to tropical greatly moderated by the waters of the Gulf Stream. If you are a celebrity watcher, Wikipedia list among its notable residents as Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Shakira, Sidney Poitier, Johnny Depp, Anna Nicole Smith, Dannielynn Marshall Birkhead (Anna Nicole Smith daughter), Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Oprah Winfrey, Rick Fox, Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, David Copperfield, Joseph Lewis (486th richest person of Forbes The World's Richest People list 2006), Lenny Kravitz, Sean "Diddy" Combs, John Travolta, Daniel Nestor and Eddie Murphy.

If you like festivals, visit the Bahamas on Boxing Day, 26th of December, when the biggest event, the Junkanoo (a street carnival) is held. Another big event is the New Year's Day (January 1). So if you plan your visit between the 26th of December and the 1st of January, you will witness the 2 biggest event in the Bahamas.

As you can see from the photo above, the water in the Bahamas is crystal clear. Its coral reef, mangroves and sea turtle habitat as well as the unique, quiet lifestyle is a big tourism draw. These, the beautiful beaches, its warm weather, plus the fact that visitors from US, Canada, European Union, Japan and most industrialized countries do not need an advance visa for stays of up to three months are the major attractions of Bahamas. You can sunbath, swim, snorkel, scuba dive, go fishing, etc.

There are other attractions like the gigantic Atlantis casino resort on Paradise Island. Others include Pirates Of Nassau, Ardastra Gardens & Conservation Center, Bay Street, Botanical Gardens, Christ Church Cathedral, Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle, Garden Of Remembrance, Government House, Graycliff Cigar Factory, Junkanoo Expo, Straw Market, Hartley's Undersea Walk, Pompey Museum, all on New Providence.

On the Grand Bahama Island, you will have Paradise Cove, Garden of the Groves, Hydroflora Gardens, Underwater Explorers Society, Rand Memorial Nature Center, Parrot Jungle's Garden of the Groves, Port Lucaya Marketplace, The Dolphin Experience and International Bazaar,

At The Abacos, you have Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society, and in the Out Islands, there are Albert Lowe Museum, Inagua National Park and Elbow Cay.

Cruise to the Bahamas

Joining a cruise on a luxury liner is a great way to have a vacation to the Bahamas. Many such cruise depart from the Port of Miami, the Cruise Capital of the World. You can even get a one day cruise to the Bahamas, but a longer stay in the Bahamas will be much more enjoyable if you can afford the time. You can even get a free Bahamas fun day cruise during the month of your birthday!!!! This is courtesy of the Discovery Cruise Line. If you are the lucky one and it is now your birthday month, but you will like to take your loved ones along, or it is not your birthday month, but you still want to enjoy a cruise to the Bahamas, they also offer cruise special offers. Check them out. They have other cruise to offer as well.

Caribbean and Hawaii

There are great similarities between the Caribbean and Hawaii. Most of the Caribbean are islands just as Hawaii consists of many islands. Both have tropical and sub-tropical climates. Both lies off the coast of the Americas. Both offers similar activities - sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, hiking in rain forests, etc.

Owners of accommodations for holiday makers should make use of this opportunity of listing their properties for free at rentals. For the moment, this site appear to only feature Hawaiian vacation rentals, but my prediction is you will see much more choices in the future, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Caribbean vacation rentals on that site.

Hawaii consists of hundreds of islands and atolls spread over 1,500 miles, but only eight main islands, including Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii Big Island. You will find links to vacation rentals to some of them at vacation rentals including Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Big Island, and specific sites like Waikiki, Kihei, Wailei, etc.

If you want to go to the capital city of Hawaii, which is Honolulu on the Oahu Island, you will have to surf to vacation rental information. Although only the third largest island, Oahu has the largest population of all the Hawaiian islands. Sunset Beach - North Shore is a 2-mile long beach on Oahu. Sunset Beach is one of the best surfing sites in the world, boasting of waves over ten feet high. The Triple Crown of Surfing, a premier event on the professional surfing tour, is actually four separate events. One of them, the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, is held at Sunset Beach.