There is also no charter base on the Exumas. It is about 35 nautical miles from Nassau. After the long haul, there are only short legs to cover. If you like, you could choose a new island every day for a year - the archipelago comprises 365 - but if you are used to charter cruises in the Mediterranean and are prepared to eat out every evening, you will return home hungry. On the entire route to Staniel Cay, the logical turning point on a ten-day cruise, there are only two restaurants and a small Caribbean Aunt Jemima's shop, which is more like a larder.
Highlight in the Bahamas: swimming pigs
Most of the islets are uninhabited, a few are privately owned by film and rock stars. Even in high season, there are usually only a few other yachts at the anchorages in the evening, and it is perfectly possible to lie all alone on a sandy beach. Each island in the Exuma chain is unique: Allen's Cay, for example, is inhabited by iguanas, Shroud Cay can be explored by paddle boat thanks to its shallow fjords, and Warderick Wells is home to the national park administration, which takes care to preserve nature. There are numerous mooring buoys within the park, which cost 30 US dollars per night.
The highlight for many sailors is Staniel Cay or the neighbouring island, where a group of feral pigs have lived for many decades. They occasionally swim up to the boats and want to be fed. Just around the corner is the Thunderball Grotto, where Sean Connery put a stop to a villain in the Bond film of the same name. The cave is easy to snorkel at low tide and impresses with an intact world of fish. Sailing flags from all over the world hang in the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and the bar serves the best mango daiquiris in the Bahamas.
