Getting to the main Exuma Cays from Nassau means a sail of roughly 40 miles south before you even reach Highborne Cay, the first anchorage on this route. That distance is the whole point — the Exumas aren’t a place you drive to and back from a resort. They’re a chain of over 365 islands and cays you work through by boat, one anchorage at a time.
This is a 7-day sailing charter itinerary through the Exuma Cays, embarking from Nassau and working south through Highborne Cay, Norman’s Cay, Compass Cay, Staniel Cay, Warderick Wells, Shroud Cay, and back via Rose Island. It suits sailors with either a valid bareboat qualification or a booked skippered charter, since this isn’t a route for first-time sailors going it alone. The pacing thread here is straightforward: each day moves to one new anchorage, with the reef, wildlife, or grotto at that stop as the day’s single focus.
Trade winds in the Exumas average 10 to 20 knots year-round, which shapes almost every anchoring decision on this route — you’re choosing leeward sides and sheltered coves, not just pretty water.
This week works well if your qualifications match the charter type — bareboat charters here require genuine expert-level certification, not casual sailing experience. The one day worth flagging as tight is Day 4 into Staniel Cay, since fitting Thunderball Grotto in at the right tide alongside the swimming pigs takes real timing discipline, not just showing up.
Certified bareboat sailors
Skippered charter groups
Snorkeling-focused travelers
Here’s the full week before the day-by-day detail.
| Day | Where You’re Going | What You’re Doing | Time Needed | Key Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Highborne Cay | Snorkel Octopus Garden reef, dinghy to Allan’s Cay iguanas | Full day; ~40nm sail from Nassau | Dinghy one mile northwest to Leaf Cay for the iguanas — bring the dinghy, not the yacht |
| Day 2 | Norman’s Cay | Snorkel the sunken plane wreck, collect shells at Twinkie Beach | Full day, shorter sail | The wreck sits at the southwest point in about 10 feet of water — a mask alone gets you a good look |
| Day 3 | Compass Cay | Swim with nurse sharks, visit Rachel’s Bubble Bath | Full day | Rachel’s Bubble Bath is best at high tide — check the tide table before you dinghy over |
| Day 4 | Staniel Cay | Thunderball Grotto at slack tide, swimming pigs, dinner at the Yacht Club | Full day, tightly timed | Arrive at Thunderball roughly 30 minutes before slack tide to get ahead of the day-boat queues |
| Day 5 | Warderick Wells | Check in at Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park headquarters, hike Boo Boo Hill | Full day, moorings only | The park charges a per-person daily fee on top of mooring — budget for both |
| Day 6 | Shroud Cay | Dinghy the mangrove creeks, hike Camp Driftwood | Full day, calmer pace | The dinghy trip through the mangroves to Camp Driftwood is the highlight — don’t rush it |
| Day 7 | Rose Island | Beach time close to Nassau before the sail back | Half day + return sail | Anchorage at Rose Island only works on the northern side — check your charts before you commit |
Now the day-by-day breakdown.
Day 1: Highborne Cay
Starting at Highborne Cay makes sense geographically — it’s the first proper anchorage south of Nassau and gives you an easy entry into the chain before the more demanding stops later in the week.
Budget most of the morning for this leg, given the roughly 40-mile sail south from Nassau. Trade winds averaging 10 to 20 knots mean this is a genuine sail, not a motor-and-relax cruise, so build in time rather than rushing it.
Once anchored, Highborne Cay offers reef snorkeling at the Octopus Garden reef in Horseshoe Bay. Plan for an hour or two here — it’s an uninhabited beach, so there’s nothing to rush toward afterward.
Take the dinghy roughly one mile northwest to Allan’s Cay, where three-foot rock iguanas gather at Leaf Cay. Budget 30 to 45 minutes here before heading back to the yacht for dinner at a hilltop restaurant with panoramic views.
If the sail down runs longer than expected, the Allan’s Cay dinghy trip is the easiest piece to shorten or move to the following morning before departing for Norman’s Cay.
Day 2: Norman’s Cay
The move from Highborne to Norman’s Cay is a shorter one than yesterday’s, which gives you a genuinely relaxed second day after the longer opening sail.
This leg is considerably shorter than Day 1’s run, which means you can afford a slower morning departure and still have most of the day to explore once you’re anchored.
Norman’s Cay’s sunken plane crash sits at the southwest point in about 10 feet of water, which makes it accessible without diving gear — a mask and fins are enough. Budget an hour here.
Twinkie Beach is a secluded spot on Norman’s Cay worth a stop for shell collecting. If you’re after a shore lunch rather than eating aboard, MacDuff’s Restaurant on Norman’s Cay serves food and cocktails.
This is a genuinely easy day to extend if the wreck snorkeling is a highlight for your group — nothing tomorrow depends on an early departure from Norman’s Cay.
Day 3: Compass Cay
Compass Cay brings a different kind of stop after two reef-and-wreck days — a full-service marina with its own wildlife encounters and a genuine hiking option.
Compass Cay has a full-service marina and restaurant, which makes it a reasonable stop for provisioning if you’re running low on anything. Budget the morning for the sail and check-in.
The nurse sharks here gather right at the marina, making this one of the more accessible wildlife encounters on the trip. Budget 30 to 45 minutes, and know that this stop tends to be loud and crowded if other charters are anchored nearby at the same time.
Rachel’s Bubble Bath, a natural swimming hole at the tip of the cay, is best experienced at high tide, when waves push over rocks into the pool. Check the tide table before you commit the afternoon to the dinghy ride over — low tide makes this a much less interesting stop.
The Compass Cay shark dock experience is genuinely loud and crowded, which matters if you’re traveling with young kids — it’s worth scouting the scene before committing everyone to getting in the water there.
If Rachel’s Bubble Bath doesn’t line up with high tide during your visit, Rocky Dundas Grotto off nearby Fowl Cay is a reasonable alternative stop that doesn’t depend on tide timing the same way.
Day 4: Staniel Cay
This is the most tightly timed day of the whole week. Staniel Cay is home to both Thunderball Grotto and the swimming pigs, and getting the timing right on both matters more than any other day on this route.
Anchor in sand outside Staniel Cay Yacht Club once you arrive. This is a full-service stop with fuel, provisioning, and restaurants, so it’s worth restocking here if you need to.
Thunderball Grotto is a swim-in cave made famous by the James Bond film of the same name. Arriving roughly 30 minutes before slack tide puts your tender ahead of the day-boat queues — slack tide around midday tends to be the busiest window, while early morning or evening slack is far cleaner.
Big Major Cay, home to the well-known swimming pigs, sits about 1.5 nautical miles north of Staniel. Peak season sees a genuine crowd here by mid-morning — running the tender over early, before the day-boats arrive from Nassau, is what separates an empty beach from a packed one.
If you want Pig Beach without the crowds, aim to be in the water by 7am. By 9am the first Nassau day-boats start arriving, and by 10am the beach is genuinely crowded — the early window gives you roughly 30 to 45 uninterrupted minutes.
If timing both Thunderball Grotto and Pig Beach in one morning feels like too much, cut the grotto short and prioritize the pigs — the crowd pattern at Pig Beach is far more predictable and far more punishing if you miss the early window.
Day 5: Warderick Wells
Warderick Wells serves as headquarters for the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park, which shifts today’s focus from wildlife encounters to hiking and reef protection.
Warderick Wells is accessible via moorings only — no free anchoring here. The park headquarters oversees this 176-square-mile protected area, and check-in on arrival is part of the process.
The hike to Boo Boo Hill is one of 20 marked nature trails in the park and gives you a panoramic view over the mooring field. Budget around 30 minutes each way at an easy pace.
With 20 secluded beaches and marked trails across the park, there’s plenty to explore beyond the main mooring field. Snorkeling directly off the mooring is a low-effort way to close out the afternoon.
Given the whole day depends on securing a mooring first, that’s the piece to prioritize — if the main mooring field is full, Shroud Cay’s smaller mooring field is a reasonable backup within the same park.
Day 6: Shroud Cay
Shroud Cay slows the pace down again after Warderick Wells, with a mangrove system that rewards a genuinely unhurried dinghy trip.
Shroud Cay is an uninhabited archipelago with mangrove creeks, and moorings here are available for a fee rather than free anchoring. This is a shorter sailing leg than most of the week.
The dinghy trip through the mangroves to the Camp Driftwood beach lookout is the highlight here, given the winding channels and hidden coves along the way. Budget an hour or more for the round trip, since rushing through misses the point of this stop entirely.
This is another day with room to extend — if the mangrove trip is going well, there’s no reason to cut it short for anything scheduled later.
Day 7: Rose Island
The final day brings you back within range of Nassau, and Rose Island gives you one last stop before the disembark.
Rose Island is an 11-mile-long island east of Nassau, with four named beaches including Sandy Toes. Anchorage here works only on the northern side, so confirm your charts before committing to this stop.
Spend the remaining daylight hours at Rose Island’s beaches before the final sail back into Nassau to disembark. Given this is your last day, keep the schedule loose enough to allow for the return leg without rushing.
If time is tight on this final day, Rose Island is the stop most reasonable to shorten — you’ve already had the week’s major highlights, and this is a wind-down day rather than a must-see.
Logistics: charter types, costs, and what actually changes the price
Choosing a charter type
Bareboat charters in the Exumas require genuine expert-level qualification — a recognized cruising license such as NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master, ASA 103, or equivalent, plus Level 3 skipper experience of at least 20 days or 400 miles on a similarly sized yacht. If that doesn’t describe your group, crewed and skippered charters are available instead, and adding a skipper to a bareboat charter runs about $345 per night.
| Charter type | 7 days / 2 people, low season | 7 days / 2 people, high season |
|---|---|---|
| Bareboat | $4,529 | $15,559 |
| Power | $6,029 | $15,079 |
| Skippered | $14,559 | $18,199 |
| Fully crewed | $22,619 | $49,919 |
What the base charter price doesn’t include
Additional costs for a 7-day charter for two people typically start around $1,300, representing 25 to 50% of the initial charter price once you account for mooring, provisioning, and park fees. Mooring runs $30 to $50 a night depending on location and yacht size, and the Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park adds a further $14 per person per day on top of that. Provisioning typically costs $50 to $75 per person per day, and flights to Nassau run roughly $300 to $800 per person round-trip.
A yacht damage waiver, if you choose to take one, runs $80 to $170 per day — worth factoring into your total budget alongside mooring and park fees rather than treating it as a rounding error.
When to sail this route
Peak season for the Exumas runs December through April, with shoulder season from May through July and the off-season from August through November. Trade winds hold steady at 10 to 20 knots year-round regardless of season, but hurricane risk climbs through the off-season months, which is worth weighing against any savings on charter rates. If you’re weighing where to base yourself before or after the charter, an interactive map of places to stay in Nassau makes it easier to compare marina-adjacent lodging against the airport and provisioning stops.
- Your charter qualification level determines your options here — bareboat requires genuine expert certification, not general sailing experience, and skippered or crewed charters exist specifically for groups who don’t qualify.
- Day 4 at Staniel Cay is the week’s tightest day — getting both Thunderball Grotto and Pig Beach right depends on tide and time-of-day discipline, not just showing up.
- Budget for park and mooring fees separately from the headline charter price — they add up to a meaningful percentage of the total cost across a full week.
Questions about sailing the Exuma Cays
Do I need a sailing license to charter in the Exumas?
For a bareboat charter, yes — you’ll need a recognized cruising license like NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master, ASA 103, or an equivalent, along with genuine skipper experience of at least 20 days or 400 miles on a similarly sized yacht. If you don’t hold one of these, a skippered or fully crewed charter is the alternative, with a captain handling the sailing for you.
Is Pig Beach actually worth visiting given how crowded it gets?
It depends entirely on your timing. Arrive by 7am and you’ll likely have the beach nearly to yourself for 30 to 45 minutes. Show up after 10am in peak season and you’re sharing the water with dozens of day-boats and tenders from Nassau. The experience genuinely changes based on when you go.
What’s the biggest cost most people underestimate?
The additional costs beyond the base charter price — mooring, park fees, provisioning, and fuel — typically add 25 to 50% on top of what you paid to book the yacht itself. A charter that looks affordable at the headline rate can end up considerably more expensive once you’ve budgeted properly for a full week.
Is this itinerary realistic for a family with young kids?
Mostly, with one caveat worth naming honestly: the Compass Cay shark dock on Day 3 is genuinely loud and crowded, which isn’t ideal for very young children. The rest of the week — reef snorkeling, iguanas, mangrove dinghy rides — tends to suit a broader range of ages without the same friction.
Can this route be extended beyond 7 days?
Yes — a 10-day variant continues south from Staniel Cay to Black Point and Little Farmer’s Cay before looping back. That extension adds genuinely different stops, including Black Point Settlement’s local cafe scene, without repeating anything from this 7-day route. For a longer, out-island-focused trip beyond the Exumas entirely, this 10-day out island hopping route covers that territory.
Why the Exumas reward a full week rather than a shorter charter
What makes this route work is the variety packed into a relatively small stretch of water — a plane wreck, a Bond-film grotto, swimming pigs, nurse sharks, a national park headquarters, and a mangrove system, all within roughly 130 nautical miles of sailing round trip from Nassau. Compress this into three or four days and you’d be skipping the anchorages that don’t have a famous name attached, which is exactly where Shroud Cay’s mangroves and Warderick Wells’ hiking trails earn their place on the itinerary. Seven days gives you enough slack to actually get the tide-dependent stops right, rather than treating this as a checklist to rush through. If a land-based counterpart to this trip interests you before or after the charter, this first week in the Bahamas itinerary for beginners covers the Nassau side of things in more depth.
Sources and further reading
The Moorings. “Exumas Yacht Charters.” 🔗
The Moorings. “Exumas Yacht Charters: Itinerary.” 🔗
Yachts for Kings. “Bahamas Exumas Week Charter.” 🔗
The Adventure Concierge. “Exuma Islands.” 🔗
Related reading on IslandHopperGuides
A Complete Abacos Loop for Sailors and Landlubbers Alike — a comparison route through a different part of the Bahamas for sailors who’ve already done the Exumas.
How to Combine Eleuthera and Harbour Island in One Perfect Week — useful if you’re weighing a land-based week against this sailing charter.
Explore Places to Stay in the Bahamas
Feel free to zoom in and out of the map to explore the area and find the best place to stay for your trip.