The Bahamas gets its name from the Spanish, baja mar, meaning ‘shallow sea’. The turquoise waters that lap this land are as calm and warm as its people. Throughout the 700-plus islands that constitute The Bahamas, residents tend to abide by ‘island time’, an affectionate term used to describe the Bahamians’ laid-back demeanour and their slow-moving way of life. It isn’t too hard to fall into this habit: many of islands are either uninhabited or sparsely populated, and from beaches strewn with beautiful seashells to homes painted in soft pastel shades, serenity is easy to find.

Islands for all tastes

Yet many forget that this mammoth archipelago is twice the size of Spain. For those who want a destination which offers something a bit more than just peaceful seclusion, they will find The Bahamas is large enough to accommodate everyone’s tastes. From shopping in the bustling straw market, to golfing in world-class courses, diving amidst shipwrecks and coral reefs, windsurfing and parasailing, and then dancing the night away to the bubbly sounds of goombay, calypso and Junkanoo music, The Bahamas is not lacking in things to do.
When you venture beyond Nassau to the Out Islands you are really able to appreciate the Bahamas’ beauty and dexterity. It’s not simply the beaches (no matter how pristine or uncrowded they are) or the relaxed pace of life that sets apart the 700 or so Out Islands.

Each group also has its unique appeal, from the huge flamingo colony on Great Inagua to the game-fishing grounds off Bimini. Reaching the islands can simply be a matter of hopping on a plane or ferry from Nassau, but for something a little more adventurous, its possible to take a powerboat trip to the Exuma Cays.
There is another, equally compelling reason for visiting Eleuthera. A short
water-taxi ride from its north-east coast
lies tiny Harbour Island. Colonised in the
17th century by a mixture of religious dissidents from Bermuda, British loyalists and freed African slaves.

The island’s main settlement, Dunmore Town, embodies the rich culture of the Bahamas more than anywhere else in the archipelago. Old clapboard houses draped in bougainvillea and hibiscus line narrow streets where the only form of transport is a golf cart. Try hiring one and dawdling around the sleepy town, perusing the local craft shops.
It is perhaps for these reasons that The Bahamas attracts fabulously wealthy
people to its shores. The post of governor, representing the British monarch, was
once a remote but pleasant sinecure,
sought after because of the association of the islands with luxury. The Bahamas does, indeed, have its fair share of exclusive villas and hotel complexes, but it was also once a haven for freed slaves and this accepting approach to people from all ways of life persists – visitors are still more likely to come across a clapboard house and that classic Bahamian hospitality than they are to stumble across a lavish resort.

Early exploration

Although many attribute Bahamian ‘island time’ to its location and the Caribbean stereotypes of mellowness, The Bahamas is not actually classified as a Caribbean country, since it dwells in the Atlantic Ocean. This is just one of the many quirky facts of The Bahamas, and underlines how geographically abstruse the country is. It is best to ignore such petty details, however, and instead contemplate exactly why it was The Bahamas where Ponce de Leon landed when in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth.