From Nassau to Exuma: Planning Your Dream Bahamas Yacht Charter

The Exuma Cays chain stretches 120 nautical miles southeast of Nassau, a string of 365 cays that most travellers only glimpse from the air. A one-week yacht charter through the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park covers roughly 162 nautical miles round trip, crossing banks so clear you can read the bottom in three metres from the deck. This guide is for anyone planning that trip — first-time charterers, families weighing a crewed catamaran, and seasoned yachties deciding between Nassau and Staniel Cay as an embarkation point. It follows the standard seven-night rotation from Nassau south through the central chain and back, with the practical decisions that make or break the week.

The route works best on a shallow-draft yacht — a catamaran drawing three to five feet or a power cat with similar clearance — because the Great Bahama Bank averages only ten to fifteen feet deep. Deep-draft vessels can still manage the chain but must plan their route around tide windows and stick to the ocean-side passes. Below is a look at the main stops, followed by a detailed day-by-day itinerary and the practical side of permits, costs, and timing.

The table above gives the skeleton. What follows is how the days actually unfold, where the timing traps hide, and which stops justify the fuel.

Day 1: Nassau to Highbourne Cay — The Crossing

Board at Nassau Yacht Haven or Atlantis Marina around noon. The 35-nautical-mile run southeast to Highbourne Cay takes about five hours, crossing the Yellow Bank — coral heads in three metres of clear water where the crew reads the bottom by colour. Time the departure so you cross the bank in afternoon light. Highbourne Cay is a private cay with a small marina and a beach on each side. Drop anchor on the leeward side in four to six metres of sand, or take a marina slip if your yacht fits (inside berths max out around 35 metres). Dinner at Xuma above the beach or on board. This first day sets the rhythm: you’re in the Exumas by nightfall, with the bank crossing behind you.

Day 2: Norman’s Cay — Iguanas and a Cartel Wreck

A short detour north to Allan’s Cay first thing puts you on the beach with the endangered Exuma rock iguanas — they come down to the waterline to meet your tender. Then six miles south to Norman’s Cay, once the Medellín Cartel’s Bahamian base around 1978–1982. A Curtiss C-46 that crashed short of the runway in 1980 still sits in three metres of water at the south end of the cay, now a snorkel site you can reach by tender. The sandbars off the western hook come and go with the tide. Overnight at anchor off Norman’s, with dinner at MacDuff’s — the only restaurant on the cay.

Heading south from Norman’s, the water opens into the protected core of the chain.

Day 3: Shroud Cay — The Mangrove Creek Run

Six miles south into the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park. Shroud Cay is all mangrove, crisscrossed by tidal creeks that connect the bank side to the ocean. On the right tide — your captain will check the local table — take the tender or a paddleboard up Sanctuary Creek through the mangroves to an empty ocean-side beach. The locals call the current ride at the creek’s mouth “the Washing Machine.” Climb Camp Driftwood above Sanctuary Creek for the view. There are no bars, no docks ashore, no dining — dinner is on board at anchor on a park mooring. This is the quietest night of the week.

Day 4: Warderick Wells — Park Headquarters and Boo Boo Hill

Twelve miles south to the park’s headquarters. The mooring field curls along a sandbar at Warderick Wells, holding about 22 yachts on a first-come, first-served basis — your captain calls the park on VHF 09 the morning of arrival. Ashore, a sixteen-metre sperm whale skeleton lies on the beach, a reminder of why the no-take rule exists. Hike Boo Boo Hill, where crews leave driftwood boards carved with their yacht names, for a panoramic view of the bonefish flats. Snorkel the coral gardens right off the mooring field. The park office collects the mooring fee and sells souvenirs — the nearest store is forty miles away. No fishing, no shelling, no anchoring on coral. This is the structural reason the central Exumas remain the best part of the chain.

Day 5: Staniel Cay and Big Major — Thunderball Grotto and the Swimming Pigs

Sixteen miles south, out of the park. Time your arrival for slack tide at Thunderball Grotto, a domed limestone cave that served as the dive set for the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. Light shafts pierce the roof, illuminating sergeant majors and the occasional turtle. The safe window is short — often just the half-hour around slack — so your captain plans the whole day’s route around it. Slack at noon draws every day-boat in the chain; slack at 06:00 or 18:00 is clean.

Big Major Cay, two nautical miles north of Staniel, is home to about twenty free-roaming pigs that paddle out to meet tenders. The viral Instagram phenomenon started around 2014, and by 2018 the beach at midday in peak season was crowded with thirty to fifty day-boats plus a dozen yacht tenders. The fix is timing: Pig Beach at 07:00 is empty. Your captain runs the tender from the Staniel anchorage at 06:45, you’re in the water with the pigs at 07:00, and back on the yacht for breakfast by 08:30. Feed them only fruit and vegetables; let them come to you.

Dinner at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club, the chain’s clubhouse since 1956. After dark, nurse sharks gather under the dock lights — you can watch them from the deck with a rum punch.

Day 6: Compass Cay — Nurse Sharks and Pipe Creek

Three nautical miles north of Staniel, Compass Cay Marina has a submerged dock shelf where a dozen to eighteen nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum, harmless bottom-dwellers) have been fed for decades. You can wade among them in waist-deep water. The experience is memorable for most ages, though families with children under six should know the dock can feel loud and crowded — the iguanas at Allan’s Cay are a quieter alternative. From Compass, the tangle of cays and sandbars called Pipe Creek opens up: waist-deep flats, tidal channels, and Rachel’s Bubble Bath at the north end, which fills with sea foam on the incoming tide. Anchor overnight in the creek.

Day 7: Black Point — A Real Settlement

Five miles south of Staniel, Black Point is the largest settlement in the central Exumas — a few hundred people, no resort, no marina complex. Lorraine’s Cafe serves conch fritters and coconut bread; if you ask a day ahead, the mother behind the counter will bake fresh. Scorpio’s Inn pours rum at the end of the dock. Walk to the blowhole on the ocean side, swim off the settlement beach. This is the only stop on the route where you’re in an actual Bahamian community rather than an anchorage. Overnight at anchor off Black Point, then begin the run north the next morning.

Return to Nassau

Around seventy miles back across the banks, an early start with a swim stop at Highbourne. Motor yachts and power cats make an easy afternoon arrival. Last lunch at Ocean Blu on Cabbage Beach, or on board. Disembark at Nassau Yacht Haven or Atlantis Marina the following morning. Total round trip: roughly 130 to 162 nautical miles depending on how far south you pushed.

Practical — Permits, Draft, and the Real Cost

The single biggest change for 2026 is the cruising-permit structure. In July 2025 the Bahamian government raised fees by roughly 100 to 200 per cent across vessel categories. Industry pushback led to a revised schedule effective April 2026. For a one-week Exumas charter on a foreign-flagged yacht over 100 feet, you’re looking at a $600 30-day cruising permit plus a $1,500 anchoring permit (applies only to nights actually at anchor outside a marina). A forty-metre motor yacht on a seven-night Exumas itinerary with seven anchor nights would pay roughly $2,100 in permits. Yachts under 100 feet pay less — $350 for the 30-day permit and $350 for the anchoring permit. The Frequent Digital Cruising Card, for repeat visitors, runs $2,500 for yachts 50 to 99 feet and $8,000 for yachts over 100 feet, covering unlimited entry up to two years.

Draft is the other hard constraint. The Exuma Banks average ten to fifteen feet deep, and the sandbars and cuts are shallower still. A catamaran drawing three to five feet can tuck into anchorages a deep-draft monohull cannot reach. Motor yachts drawing six to ten feet must plan their route around tide windows and stick to the ocean-side passes. This is why power catamarans dominate the Exuma charter fleet — they pair the stability and shallow draft of a sailing cat with a fifteen-to-twenty-knot cruise speed and fifteen to twenty per cent more living space than a same-length monohull.

On cost: all-inclusive crewed catamarans under sixty feet run a median of $26,000 per week, with the middle half between $22,500 and $32,000. Motor yachts one hundred to one hundred twenty-nine feet run a median of $80,500 per week. Add 10 per cent VAT and 4 per cent charter tax (collected together since January 2026), plus a customary crew gratuity of 15 to 20 per cent. On the $26,000 catamaran, the all-in figure lands near $33,500 to $34,800. On a plus-expenses motor yacht, the Advance Provisioning Allowance typically runs 30 to 35 per cent of the base rate and covers fuel, food, and dockage, with unspent amounts returned.

Before You Go — Exuma Yacht Charter

Can you swim with the pigs without the crowds?

Yes, but only at 07:00. Big Major Cay’s pig beach draws thirty to fifty day-boats between 10:00 and 14:00 in peak season. Your captain can have you there by 07:00, give you a clean thirty-minute window, and have you back on the yacht for breakfast before the first tour boat arrives.

What yacht size fits the Exumas best?

Twenty-five to forty metres is the sweet spot. At this size you can use the park moorings, tie up at Staniel Cay Yacht Club and Compass Cay Marina, and anchor inside the chain without standing off. Yachts over sixty metres shift to deep-water anchorages with tender runs for every shore visit.

Is it better to start from Nassau or Staniel Cay?

Nassau is the standard embarkation point — you clear customs on arrival and the yacht is waiting at Atlantis Marina or Nassau Yacht Haven. Staniel Cay skips the two-day transit from Nassau but requires a private charter flight from Fort Lauderdale or a hop from Nassau on Flamingo Air or Titan Air. First-timers should use Nassau; repeat charterers who want to maximise time in the central cays often choose Staniel.

How far ahead should you book?

For the December-to-April high season, book six to twelve months out. Christmas, New Year, and Presidents’ Day weeks need twelve to eighteen months. Shoulder months — May, June, November — can be booked two to four months ahead with good selection.

What is the one thing first-timers underestimate?

The transit day. From Nassau to the first Exuma anchorage at Highbourne Cay is a five-hour, thirty-five-nautical-mile crossing. You board at noon and arrive by late afternoon. That first day is a travel day, not a beach day. Factor it into your expectations.

Closing

The Exuma chain rewards the kind of travel that most holidays don’t allow — moving with the tide, anchoring in water you can read the bottom through, and having a wild pig beach or a Bond-film grotto to yourself because you showed up at the right hour. The yacht is the trip, not the transport, and the week works best when you let the captain’s timing, not the guidebook’s, decide the day. For more ideas on building activities into your family’s Bahamas adventure, browse our guide to family-friendly experiences across the islands.

References

Megayacht News. “Bahamas Cruising Permit Fees Adjusted.” Megayacht News, April 2026. ↗

Bahamas National Trust. “Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park Fees.” BNT, 2026. ↗

Bahamas Customs. “Marine Vessel Declarations and Cruising Permits.” Government of the Bahamas, 2026. ↗

Vital Charters. “Exuma Cays Yacht Charter Guide.” Vital Charters Rate Analysis, September 2026. ↗

If you’re weighing a catamaran against a motor yacht for shallow-water access, our water sports guide covers the gear and conditions that make the Exumas special. For quieter anchorages away from the main route, the Abacos guide offers a separate cruising ground worth a future charter.