11 Great Reasons why Visit Great Harbour Cay, Bahamas

A gem in the Berry Islands, Great Harbour Cay has something for everyone – a great marina, mangrove forests, delicious food, secluded beaches and beautiful sea life.

Our family spent a few truly wonderful days at Great Harbour Cay, on our sailboat, as the start of our journey to the Berry Islands. We even found that amazing Shark Creek and Shell Beach, after getting lost in the mangrove three times!

It is definitely worth visiting and if you love it there, you might be lucky to find some affordable Bahamas real estate. I am including links below, in the post.

11 Reasons why Visit Great Harbour Cay

Below are some of the sights we loved, while visiting. Oh, and there are flights to Great Harbour Cay, from Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Perfect excuse to visit, so you know where to drop anchor.

1. Enjoy a peaceful anchorage.

Since we anchored at Great Harbour Cay, I must start with this. It is a great anchorage, very peaceful. With no wrap-around swell.

We enjoyed the calm water after our passage across the Great Bahama Bank. The Berry Islands do offer a few quiet anchorages, as well as an opportunity to mingle with louder yacht crowd.

Overall, however, the Berry Islands are not nearly as crowded as some of the other popular destinations in the Bahamas, such as the Abacos and the crowded Exumas.

2. Find friends at Great Harbour Marina

Great Harbour Marina offers more than slips, gas, washers and showers – you can spend a bit of time walking along the peer, visiting the tiny marina shop and chatting with the staff and boaters.

Having said that, if you do need a washer and a shower – they are available, just ask about the current fee.

Want to stay at the marina, but don’t have a boat? They have a small hotel as well, just check to make sure it is open.

As it is a popular destination, there are always boaters around, usually transients, on their way further along the Berries, or Nasau, or Bimini… Boaters are a helpful and relaxed bunch, always ready with recommendations and tips!

It is where we met our friends on SV Slacker who told us about Shell Beach.

3. Tour the quiet, small town

Great Harbour Cay is a small town, and even though there is nothing spectacular about the town itself, the walk to it, from the marina will offer amazing views, as you are climbing up the hill.

We love walking, so we hiked up and down the roads and just observed the typical daily lives around us. The town is much quieter, compared to the busy, crowded places in the Exumas.

Bring plenty of water, and a hat – there is no shade and it is around a 30min hike to the restaurant with the best view. Also, cars drive on the left side of the road and there is no shoulder, so be careful.

4. Peek into the local grocery store

We always find the local grocery store to see just how high those prices can get. It is fun finding familiar brands from US stores, imported over to the Bahamas and sold at much higher prices.

There is a small grocery store in Great Harbour Cay. Most of the foods were clearly stocked to please American tastebuds – chips, cookies, soda, scented candles, and so on.

I was so glad we did all the planning and provisioning for the Bahamas, while still in the US!

If walking is not your thing, ask about a rental car at the marina (available for marina guests), or ask if there is a bike you might be able to use. Sometimes boaters leave old bikes for others to use.

5. Try local food

There are a few places to treat yourself to local conch fritters, chicken, or the traditional rice and peas (which are small brown beans, not the green peas). I am not a fan, but they are definitely worth trying.

We visited Coolie Mae’s Sunset By The Sea, which has the best views in town.

Some of us tasted conch for the very first time! Little did we know, we would be catching and preparing our own very soon!

While we were eating at the restaurant, quite a few local people came by and left with to-go containers full of food. Our neatly laminated menu looked very much unused and contained the American favorites – chicken wings, steak and fries at Ruth’s Chris’ prices…

A piece of advice – just order whatever that guy just carried out, to go, or ask the locals for recommendations.

6. Soak up the amazing views

Bahamas has no shortage of picture-perfect sites. Check the storage on your phone, when you visit – you will quickly use up all the space.

When I was sorting through my photos from our cruising the Bahamas, it was hard to decide which ones to delete.

Great Harbour Cay is not as flat as many other islands in the Bahamas, so as you climb up the town streets, enjoy many great opportunities to snap a photo.

The one above is right in front of Coolie Mae’s, where we had conch fritters.

7. Become lost in the magical mangroves of Shark Creek

Before leaving Great Harbor and heading to Hoffman’s Cay and its famous Blue Hole, we were told about a narrow passage through the mangrove – Shark Creek.

We had to explore that! It made for a sketchy dinghy ride, three wrong turns and a cool YouTube episode!

It was worth it, though, for the adventure of pushing our way through tough mangrove branches and roots.

Imagine a private tour of a giant, shallow aquarium. You will see fish, turtles and stingrays in the clearest of waters.

8. Snorkel at Shell Beach

Shark Creek takes you to this amazing, little beach, called Shell Beach.

It is not as spectacular and spacious as Sugar Beach, but we prefer secluded locations. It is a bit hidden, with no big waves, and lots of snorkeling spots to explore. We were hoping to find large lobsters, but it wasn’t meant to be.

We did find those giant lobsters, a couple anchorages further down the Berries – at Little Harbour Cay.

A tip for finding great fish and lobsters – stay away from the busy anchorages, where everyone goes. Try to get close to rocks and near inlets (be careful with the currents near inlets, they are very, very strong).

9. Enjoy water sports with plenty of space

Since it is not part of a national park, and it is not busy and crowded with other yachts, the anchorage outside the marina channel is very large and calm.

It offers plenty of space to kayak, paddleboard, or wakeboard.

We tried our new wakeboard for the first time, at Great Harbour Cay anchorage.

10. Explore Sugar Beach and the caves

Sugar Beach and the caves around have been named amongst the best beaches of all of the Bahamas.

This large beach is quite spacious, with magnificent views and caves to explore.

Unfortunately, our limited time at the island did not allow us to visit the beach. Besides, we are fans of smaller, more private places. But that gives us something new to do next time we visit!

If you decide to go, share with us if it is really worth it – pics are always welcome as well!

11. Browse affordable real estate in the Bahamas

Do you know you can buy an island in the Bahamas? It is very expensive, and if you are in that kind of market, check out the one for sale by Little Hoffman’s Cay.

If you are not thinking of buying an island but are wondering how much a condo in the Bahamas would be – Great Harbour Cay had some listed for under $100K.

Here is a website, via Great Harbour Marina, which has the current listings and contact info.

How to reach Great Harbour Cay

You can reach Great Harbour Cay via a boat, or an airplane.

Private boat tours from the US and Nassau might have the Berries included, because they are fairly close by to either location.

If you charter a boat, you can easily arrange your own itinerary.

There is a small airport in Great Harbour Cay and a few charter airlines offer flights from Nassau, or from the US, Ford Lauderdale.

Makers Air Flights to The Bahamas has flights from Fort Lauderdale International Airport.

Where to stay at Great Harbour Cay

If you arrive by boat, like we did, your home moves with you, which was one of my most favorite perks of living on a boat.

If you prefer solid ground for your morning coffee, try the marina, they have a small hotel.

There are a few private villas as well, on the island, not too many options though, so book early.

Here is a private villa with excellent reviews:

Click HERE to check availability.

Best time to visit Great Harbour Cay

The best time to visit Bahamas, and Great Harbour Cay, is between February and May. We went in March and enjoyed lovely weather.

Believe it, or not, the winter months can bring some chills across the Bahamas, especially the northern islands. But cool days don’t last long.

Even though June is not likely to bring a hurricane, more storms start popping up in the Bahamas during that time and into the summer. I am not a fan of storms, while aboard a sailboat.

To summarize

Great Harbour Cay is definitely worth visiting. We had a wonderful time, even though we got lost three times, trying to find Shell Beach.

Try not to rush and spend at least 3-4 days exploring. It is the only larger town on the Berry Islands, and we did not find such cool mangroves elsewhere, in the Berries.

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