Grand Bahama Island is the third most popular holiday island in the Bahamas.
Less than half an hour by air from Miami, the 81km- (50mi)-long island paradise also offers some of the world’s best snorkelling and diving – perfect for adventurous honeymoon couples.
Discover a choice of sugar-white beaches edged by lavish resorts and duty free stores and offering a vibrant nightlife with fine dining restaurants, bars, nightclubs and casino action.
With 97km (60mi) of sandy shoreline Grand Bahama Island offers a choice of stunning beaches for the perfect Caribbean honeymoon experience.
The best beaches on Grand Bahama, include …
Unwind on the soft powder-white sands of this 1.6km-long palm-fringed beach that shelves into calm turquoise waters. Enjoy swimming and a range of water sports that includes snorkelling, boating, jet skiing and parasailing.
Come for a day or stay longer at the beachfront Xanadu Beach Resort & Marina (once the home of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes).
If the beach gets too busy for your liking, walk in either direction to find your own slice of solitude. To the east lies Silver Point Beach.
Xanadu Beach is located on the southwest of Grand Bahama and is conveniently close to Freeport's resorts, most of which offer a shuttle bus service to the beach.
Pick your own spot to sunbathe on this long stretch of palm-fringed powder-white sand that fronts a selection of fine resorts such as the Pelican Bay at Lucaya.
Or stay at the mega-resort complex at the Westin Grand Bahama Island and Sheraton Grand Bahama Island at Our Lucaya Resorts, which feature every convenience imaginable including a kids’ venue, two golf courses, a casino and upmarket duty free shopping mall.
Facilities such as sun loungers, umbrellas, showers and restrooms, beachfront bars and water sports activities are all available from the various beachside resorts.
Join the locals on the white sands of this stunning beach that offers a small children’s playground and good choice of beachside restaurants.
Taino Beach is located to the east of Lucaya Beach.
Escape to this uncrowded white-sand beach, which shelves into crystalline turquoise waters perfect for swimming. There are no facilities on this beach except for picnic tables.
Gold Rock Beach is located 19km from Lucaya and is close to Lucayan National Park, which you can easily explore on foot, bike or by kayak.
Also sometimes known as Churchill Beach, this once secluded beach is now home to the Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach resort, a spectacular 26-acre property teeming with lush foliage, natural wildlife and palm-tree dotted beaches.
Facilities such as sun loungers, umbrellas, showers and restrooms, beachfront bars and water sports activities are all available from the beachside resort.
Fortune (Churchill) Beach is located on the southwest coast of Grand Bahama Island in the general vicinity of Freeport.
Sunbathe on the gorgeous white sands of Xanadu Beach and Lucaya Beach, both flanked with a choice of resorts.
Enjoy water sports including parasailing, Hobie Cats, kayaking, banana boats, water skiing, jet skiing and windsurfing.
Choose from a selection of hotels and resorts to suit all budgets, mainly located along the Lucaya Beach area and in Freeport.
Grand Bahama is renowned for scuba diving and offers a choice of offshore reefs to dive, including the Wall, the Caves (site of Theo's Wreck), Treasure Reef, Spit City, Ben Blue Hole, Silver Point Reef and the Rose Garden.
Several premier dive centres (such as Underwater Explorers Society – UNEXSO – one of the world's most respected diving facilities) offer reef trips, shark, wreck and night dives as well open-water encounters with friendly Atlantic bottlenose dolphins at the Dolphin Experience in Sanctuary Bay.
For some of the best snorkelling, head to the coral gardens at Silver Point Reef, Gold Rock and Ben's Cave at the Lucayan Caves at the Lucayan National Park, one of the world’s largest underwater cave systems.
Here you can experience a 9.5km-long, shallow, underground freshwater cave system with waters inhabited by freshwater marine species including shrimp, mosquito fish and freshwater eels.
The 16ha preserve also offers hiking and biking trails through the island's five ecosystems – pine forests, rocky coppice, mangrove swamps, whiteland coppice and sand dunes. Look out for colourful orchids, hummingbirds and barn owls along the way.
Hook up a charter from one of the many operators and chase mahi-mahi, snapper, grouper, yellowtail, wahoo, barracuda and kingfish.
Tee-off at the Lucayan Country Club, which now boasts two 18-hole, par-72 golf courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. Tennis fans should head to the Ace Tennis Centre at the Westin & Sheraton at Our Lucaya Resorts, with four courts of different surfaces (including grass).
Grand Bahama Island offers a choice of accommodation options to suit all honeymoon budgets, including the following resorts…
Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour
Location: West End, Bahamas
Rating: 4-star
Prices: from AUD412 per room
Description: Occupying the western tip of Grand Bahama Island 56 miles off the Florida coast, this beachfront resort, with a 72-slip marina, offers secluded tranquility 25 miles from downtown Freeport. Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour's plantation-style guest suites (all nonsmoking) feature balconies or terraces, beds with pillowtop mattresses, upgraded linens/towels, kitchens, and bathrooms with jetted tubs and stall showers. Guests of Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour sunbathe around a freeform pool and on a 200-yard beach, enjoy complimentary use of water-sports gear, and take meals at an open-air beach bar.
Grand Lucayan
Location: Freeport
Rating: 4-star
Prices: from AUD254 per room
Description: Grand Lucayan is situated on a south-shore beach, just 15 minutes from the airport and across the street from Port Lucaya Marketplace's shops, dining, and night life. With oversized balconies boasting stunning ocean views to tranquil marina and island views, each room features complementary wireless internet, large desks, ottomans, in-room safes, coffee/tea makers, iron/ironing boards, flat-screen TVs, and Bluetooth™ radios. Attractions at Grand Lucayan include a serpentine pool, an infinity pool, heated lap pool, water sports, 1 golf course, 4 tennis courts offering Glam Slam surfaces, and the 25,000-square-foot full-service spa and fitness center. Dining options include 5 restaurants, 2 bars, and 2 cafes, offering flavors from around the globe.
Pelican Bay Resort at Lucaya
Location: Port Lucaya
Rating: 4-star
Prices: from AUD217 per room
Description: Adjacent to Port Lucaya Marketplace, this resort occupies a promontory jutting into Bell Channel Bay, a narrow waterway near Grand Bahama's south shore. Freeport is 5 miles away. Spacious, tropical decor guestrooms and suites at Pelican Bay Resort include free wireless Internet access, ceiling fans, air conditioning, and balconies or verandas with rattan or teak furniture. Guests at Pelican Bay Resort lounge near 3 bayside pools, take a shuttle boat to another pool, walk to the beach for water sports, and enjoy 2 bars and 2 restaurants on site.
Anytime of the year is good for an Grand Bahama honeymoon. Temperatures average a balmy 24°C (75°F) in winter (September to May) with refreshing gentle trade winds.
The temperature averages 28°C (82°F) during the rest of the year. You can typically swim and enjoy water sports year round, with water temperatures rarely dipping below 22°C (71°F).
The rainy season (May through November) brings short tropical rainstorms.
More climate info: Bahamas Weather Guide…
Grand Bahama is the northernmost island in The Bahamas, lying 103km (64mi) off Palm Beach, Florida. It is the fourth largest island in the Bahamas after Andros, Eleuthera and Great Abaco.
The island is roughly 1,400 sq km (530 sq mi) in area and approximately 153km (95mi) long and 24km (15mi) at its widest point.
The most convenient route to Grand Bahama is to fly into Grand Bahama International Airport (FPO), located about 5km (3mi) outside Freeport, the capital city.
The airport receives daily nonstop flights from Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Nassau.
Discovery Cruise Line runs a daily ferry service between Fort Lauderdale and Freeport, taking around five hours.
Read more about how to get to Freeport, Grand Bahama Island…
Latest update: Grand Bahama: 7 May, 2022
Advertising