Sights in The Bahamas
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St Augustine's Monastery
The fortresslike St Augustine's Monastery sits atop a rocky perch on Bernard Rd. This working monastery was designed by Father Jerome, the itinerant architect-cleric who blessed Cat and Long Islands with beautiful Gothic churches. The imposing building dates from 1947 and is still used by Benedictine monks, who give guided tours that offer a fascinating glimpse of monastic life.
A college run by the monks is attached. Phone ahead to enquire about opening hours.
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Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Park
The well-stocked Ardastra Gardens, Zoo & Conservation Park has a few placid iguanas and around 50 species of animals, birds and reptiles from around the world. Indigenous species of flora and fauna include hutias (similar to guinea pigs), snakes and the endangered Bahama parrot, which is bred in captivity here.
The zoo also has a large collection of non-native species, including monkeys and caimans, and sleek cats such as jaguars and ocelots. The undisputed highlight, however, is the small army of West Indian flamingos trained to strut their stuff on voice command.
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Pirates of Nassau Museum
This world-class interactive museum offers walk-through entertainment, with realistic recreations of pirate life including a twilight quayside, replete with all the sounds of the era, and a cutaway of the pirate ship Revenge. You can sup at the Pirate's Bar, and there's a well-stocked gift store to plunder.
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Water Tower
The Water Tower behind tiny Fort Fincastle was erected in 1928 to maintain water pressure on the island. It is 126ft (38.5m) tall and provides a marvellous panoramic view of Nassau. You can walk up the narrow, winding staircase - there are 216 steps (or take the elevator).
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Bahamas Historical Society Museum
The Bahamas Historical Society Museum has a modest miscellany of artifacts and documents tracing the islands' history from Lucayan times to the contemporary era. It's worth the admission merely to admire the beautiful model of the Spanish galleon Santa Luceno.
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Atlantis Waterscape
No trip would be complete for families, or even big kids, without a visit to Atlantis' huge Waterscape. Claiming to be the world's largest open-air aquarium, it has a whole host of lagoons and is home to 200 species of marine life. Sun International remade the Paradise Island Resort & Casino as the Atlantis at a cost of US$850 million.
It now has waterfalls and the quarter-mile 'Lazy River Ride' for tubing, plus six exhibit lagoons filled with live coral, more than 14,000 fish and heaps of other sea life. It's best viewed from an underwater Plexiglas walkway or from other subaqueous tunnels surrounded by massive aquariums. The waterscape is centered on The Dig, a…
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Bimini Road
Scuba divers flock to Bimini Road - named for the strange underwater formations resembling paving blocks of a giant aqua-highway - off Paradise Point at the north end of Bimini Bay. The enormous limestone blocks are clearly visible in shallow water, resembling the massive hand-hewn building blocks of the Incas.
The 'road' stretches for 1000 feet and is the subject of many mystical interpretations. No one knows the source of the formations. Tales of strange happenings lured Jacques Cousteau here to film and investigate the formation. Countless other research teams have followed. Explorer Richard Wingate acclaimed the shoal as part of 'The Lost Outpost of Atlantis', and the…
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Crooked Island
Locals on several other islands claim brazenly that Christopher Columbus landed on their pieces of turf. But it is Crooked Island that recent evidence suggests was the explorer's second New World landfall. Not that you would know it from this quiet, beautiful place. The island's irregular shoreline is indented with deep inlets and lined by pretty beaches.
Bird watchers are in for a treat; Herons, ospreys, egrets, mockingbirds, finches, wild canaries, hummingbirds, and flamingos abound. And lepidopterists can spot approximately 28 endemic subspecies of butterflies. Spring is a good time to visit.
Bird Rock Lighthouse, bat caves, Great Hope House (now abandoned) and the…
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Andros
Andros is a rough-edged, wild island, covered with vast swathes of palm savannahs, eerie forests of mahogany, pine and palmettos and huge mangrove wetlands. The primeval forest is so imposing that islanders swear they're inhabited by red-eyed elves called chickcharneys. Andros is not geared for tourism but still attracts divers, birdwatchers and beachbums.
Andros, the largest and least explored of the Bahamian islands, is bounded on one side by the Great Bahama Bank, an underwater plateau that is about as shallow as the island is high. A 140-mile-long coral reef lies a few hundred yards to 2 miles off the east shore (surpassed in length only by Australia's Great Barrier…
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Government House
This conch-pink Georgian structure atop Mt Fitzwilliam is the official residence of the Bahamas' governor-general. Visitors can walk the grounds, but for a close look at the building you'll need permission and accompaniment from the guards. Twice a month, you can take tea with the governor-general's wife or watch the changing of the guard.
The site has been in government hands since 1799 although governors lived there prior to that time. The original home was built in 1737 by Governor Fitzwilliam (1733-38). A new structure was built in 1806. Additional wings were added during the 20th century, but the entire house was destroyed by a hurricane in 1929. The current building…
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Blackbeard's Tower
Sitting atop the ridge south of Fort Montagu is Blackbeard's Tower, a semiderelict cut-stone tower that, according to local lore, was built by Edward Teach - 'Blackbeard' - as a lookout tower. Historians point out that it was actually built in the late 18th century, long after the infamous pirate had been killed. Historical uncertainty aside, it's got a great view.
To reach the tower, you go up an unmarked path next to a green-and-white house called 'Tower Leigh,' south of Fox Hill Rd.
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Inagua National Park
This 743 sq km (287 sq mi) national park protects the world's largest breeding colony of West Indian (roseate) flamingos. Dominating the park is Lake Rosa, a shimmering mirror reflecting the antics of roseate spoonbills, reddish-pink egrets, tricolored Louisiana herons, and about 50,000 hot pink flamingos. Visitors must take the informative ranger-led tour.
You must contact the Bahamas National Trust office in Nassau to arrange and pay for your visit prior to leaving for Inagua.
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Rawson Square
The heart of town for tourists is Rawson Square, on the south side of Bay St. It's a natural place to begin a tour of downtown Nassau. Guided walking tours also begin here. In the center of the square is a bust of Sir Milo Butler, the first governor-general of the independent nation, and a fountain pool with leaping bronze dolphins.
Nearby is a life-size bronze statue, Bahamian Woman, which honors the role of women during 'years of adversity.' She holds a small child.
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Bahamas National Trust
Located in the lovely Retreat garden, this place is a must-see for the botanically inclined. The star of the show was a rare and awesome Ceylonese talipot palm, which expended all its energy in 1986 on a once-in-a-lifetime bloom and died. Other specimens include hardwoods such as mahogany. Native orchids grace the trunks, and splendid ferns nestle in the limestone holes in which the palms are planted. Take a tour or stroll in this peaceful place.
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Cable Beach
A long, curved white-sand beach and sparkling turquoise sea is linked to downtown Nassau by a 5km (3mi) long stretch of coastline. The beach is named for the undersea telegraphic cable laid from Florida in 1892 that came ashore here. Cable Beach's resorts seem to have derived from the Floridian peninsula as well. Beloved by families seeking simple seaside pleasures, the hotels also have bars, clubs, casinos and many eateries.
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Lucayan National Park
This 16-hectare (40-acre) park is Grand Bahama's finest treasure. In the north of the park, trails lead onto a limestone plateau riddled with caves that open to the longest underwater cave system in the world. You can walk along the boardwalks that wind through a mangrove swamp and spill out to the beautiful Gold Rock Beach, fringed by soporific dunes.
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Balcony House
A restored two-story 18th-century merchant's home, Balcony House, a few blocks off Bay St, was named for its prominent balcony supported by wooden knee braces. The original slave kitchen remains, as does the staircase, taken from a sailing ship. It is now a local history museum.
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Eastern Cemetery
This grassy cemetery holds the remains of pirates and other rascals executed during the past three centuries. The tumbledown tombs are above ground. Behind is the 1802 St Matthew's Church. The cemetery to the west of the churchyard also dates back to the 1800s.
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