Nassau to Exuma: The Best Ways to Reach the Swimming Pigs

Where Is Exuma From Nassau?

The Exumas are a long chain of islands and cays running southeast of Nassau. “Exuma” can mean the whole chain, while Great Exuma is one of the main inhabited islands, home to George Town and the Exumas’ international airport.

The famous swimming pigs are at Big Major Cay, farther north in the Exuma Cays, beside the small settlement of Staniel Cay. That matters when you plan: travelling to Great Exuma does not mean you have arrived at Pig Beach. You still need a boat for the last part.

Can You Visit Big Major Cay From Nassau in One Day?

Yes. Many travellers visit the Exuma Cays as a day trip from Nassau. Expect a full day: an early-morning departure, a lot of fast-boat travel, several island stops, lunch and a return in the late afternoon. The three tours that reach Big Major Cay are all listed at about eight hours, and Born Free’s island-hopping day allows forty minutes at Pig Beach itself.

If you want a relaxed half-day excursion, Exuma is probably not the right choice. Nassau’s own swimming pigs on Rose, Pearl and Athol islands are 20 to 40 minutes from the harbour, and Pig Beach versus Rose Island sets the two side by side.

How long is the boat ride to Big Major Cay?

Close to two hours each way, so about four of the eight hours go on the boat. The crossing is open water between New Providence and the Exuma chain, and on a windy day the ride can be bumpy; the Big Major Cay guide covers how rough it gets. Rose Island, by comparison, is twenty to forty minutes from the harbour.

Is a same-day trip to Big Major Cay worth it?

It is if you want the Exuma day as much as the pigs. Forty minutes or so at Pig Beach sits inside a day of iguanas, nurse sharks, a sandbar, snorkelling and lunch. If the pigs are the only point, $378 to $515 a person is a lot for forty minutes: the Rose Island water taxi costs $67 and gives you the afternoon back, and what swimming with pigs costs breaks down each price band.

Option 1: Full-Day Exuma Tour From Nassau

This is the simplest option for most visitors. You leave Nassau by fast boat in the morning and spend the day moving through the Exuma Cays, with the pigs as one stop among several (check the sea conditions by month before you pick a date). Three tours on this site go to Big Major Cay:

• Born Free’s Discover Exuma island-hopping tour — $489. Rated 4.9 from 56 reviews, the strongest record of the three. It leaves from Sterling Marina on Paradise Island, snorkels the sunken plane off Norman’s Cay, and includes a buffet lunch at an Exuma restaurant, the landing fees and the food for the pigs. It does not take cruise-ship passengers.
• Exuma Escapes’ swimming pigs and iguanas tour — $378. The cheapest way to Big Major Cay, with a hot lunch at the Exuma Native Restaurant and drinks on board. Rated 3.7 from 12 reviews, a thinner and more mixed record.
• Aqua Shores’ Exuma powerboat tour with lunch — $515. The same iguana, nurse-shark and Pig Beach route, with a sandbar stop. With a single review so far, there is little to judge it on.

Best for:

• first-time visitors
• couples
• solo travellers
• people who want Big Major Cay without arranging transport themselves

Main advantage:

Everything is organised for you. The boat, the route, lunch and the stops come in one price, and you only have to get yourself to the dock.

Main disadvantage:

You follow a fixed itinerary and schedule. The time at each stop is set by the operator, and the boat leaves when the group leaves. Our Exuma page compares the four Exuma day trips in more detail.

Option 2: Private Boat Charter From Nassau to Exuma

A private charter gives you more flexibility. Depending on the operator, you may be able to choose the departure time, how long you stay at each stop, the order of the islands, and how much of the day goes on snorkelling, beach time and lunch.

None of the private charters sold through GetYourGuide from Nassau go that far: they are three-hour trips to the cays near Nassau, covered on our private charter page. A full-day private Exuma charter is booked directly with a Nassau charter company and quoted per boat. The operator booking pages we checked in October 2026 listed full-day private Exuma charters at roughly $3,300 to $7,000, depending on the boat and the number of guests. Shared between eight people, the lower end comes close to a seat on a shared tour.

Best for:

• families
• groups
• special occasions
• travellers who want more control

Option 3: Travel to Exuma and Visit Pig Beach From There

If you are already planning to spend time in Exuma, it makes more sense to visit Pig Beach from there than to take a long day trip from Nassau. Operators on Staniel Cay and Great Exuma run tours and private trips out to Big Major Cay. From Staniel Cay it is a short boat ride; from George Town on Great Exuma it is a longer run north through the cays.

This cuts the time you spend crossing from Nassau and lets you see the Exumas at a slower pace, with beaches, snorkelling and evenings on the islands rather than a single stop of forty minutes or so.

Is There a Ferry From Nassau to Exuma?

There is no simple tourist ferry that takes you from central Nassau to Pig Beach for a quick visit. Bahamas Ferries lists Exuma among its destinations, but its service runs to George Town on Great Exuma, not to the cays, and the crossing takes most of a day. Check the operator’s current timetable before planning around it.

Most visitors use an organised speedboat tour, a private charter, or travel to Exuma separately and join a local boat tour there.

Can You Fly From Nassau to Exuma?

Yes. Scheduled flights from Nassau to George Town on Great Exuma take under an hour, and small airlines and charter planes also fly to the airstrip on Staniel Cay, a short boat ride from Big Major Cay. Flying does not take you directly to Pig Beach, though. No plane lands on Big Major Cay, and you still need a separate boat excursion to reach the pigs.

One tour packages the whole thing as a day trip from Nassau. 3N’s Exuma Vacations’ fly-in swimming pigs tour collects you from selected Nassau hotels, flies you about 30 minutes to Staniel Cay, and runs a small-group boat tour of about four hours through the cays: the pigs, the iguanas, the Compass Cay nurse sharks, Thunderball Grotto, a sandbar, a sunken plane and lunch at a local restaurant. It costs from $850 per person, about $360 more than Born Free’s boat day, and is rated 4.8 from 580 reviews. It is sold on Viator rather than GetYourGuide, and same-day cancellations and no-shows are charged in full.

What Do Exuma Tours From Nassau Usually Include?

A good tour includes much more than Pig Beach. On the tours that reach Big Major Cay, the day usually covers:

• Big Major Cay and the swimming pigs
• Allen’s Cay, for the endangered Bahamian rock iguanas
• Compass Cay, where you can wade with nurse sharks
• a sandbar or beach stop
• snorkelling, which on Born Free’s day is the sunken plane off Norman’s Cay
• lunch, usually at a restaurant in the Exumas

Drinks and snacks on board are common. Hotel pickup is usually not included: Born Free meets at a marina on Paradise Island, and Aqua Shores excludes pickup.

Is Big Major Cay Always Included?

No. Do not assume that every “Exuma tour” includes Pig Beach.

Powerboat Adventures’ Exuma day trip is the cheapest full day in the Exumas on this site at $329, and it has the most reviews of any Exuma option. It goes to the operator’s own private island at Ship Channel Cay, at the northern end of the chain, where its listing describes the pigs as resident. It is a good day out, but it is not Big Major Cay.

If swimming pigs at the original beach are your priority, confirm that the itinerary specifically lists Big Major Cay or Pig Beach.

Nassau to Exuma vs Rose Island

Choose Exuma if you want the original Pig Beach, a full-day adventure and island hopping.

Choose Rose Island if you want a shorter trip, are on a cruise, are travelling with young children, get seasick or dislike long boat journeys. The Rose Island water taxi costs $67, crosses in about thirty minutes from the downtown waterfront, and gives you three hours on the island with the pigs.

Can Cruise Passengers Do a Nassau to Exuma Tour?

Sometimes, but you need to be careful with timing. Two of the four Exuma day trips on this site, Born Free and Powerboat Adventures, list cruise-ship passengers as not suitable. Our Exuma pig beach guide shows which of the three Big Major Cay tours accept them. The other two accept them, but an eight-hour day leaves very little margin before all-aboard.

Before booking, check:

• your ship’s arrival time
• the all-aboard time
• the tour’s departure time
• the marina location
• the scheduled return
• the travel time back to the cruise terminal

Our cruise-port page lists the pig tours that fit a port call.

What Should You Bring?

Bring a swimsuit, a towel, reef-safe sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a waterproof phone case, a dry bag, a light change of clothes and motion-sickness medication if you need it. Most of these tours do not supply towels. If you take the fly-in tour, bring photo ID and keep sunscreen and other liquids within carry-on limits.

How to Choose the Best Nassau to Exuma Tour

1. Confirm Big Major Cay is included, by name, in the itinerary.
2. Check the boat type. These are fast powerboats on open water, and the operators list people with back problems and pregnant travellers as unsuitable.
3. Review the full itinerary, including how long you get at Pig Beach.
4. Check what is included: lunch, drinks, landing fees and food for the pigs.
5. Check cancellation terms. Every GetYourGuide tour on this site cancels free up to 24 hours ahead.
6. Read recent reviews, and treat a listing with one review as untested.
7. Check the return time, especially if you have a flight or a ship to catch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you go from Nassau to Exuma in one day?

Yes. Full-day boat tours from Nassau reach the Exuma Cays and return in the late afternoon, and one fly-in tour does the same trip by plane to Staniel Cay.

Can you visit the swimming pigs from Nassau?

Yes. Three full-day tours from Nassau on this site include Big Major Cay, from $378 per person.

Is Big Major Cay the original Pig Beach?

Yes. When people say Pig Beach, Exuma Pig Beach or the swimming pigs of the Bahamas, they usually mean Big Major Cay. The colonies near Nassau, on Rose Island and its neighbours, came later.

Is Big Major Cay in Exuma?

Yes. It is in the Exuma Cays, beside Staniel Cay, about 89 miles southeast of Nassau.

Is Rose Island closer than Exuma?

Yes, by a wide margin. Rose Island is about thirty minutes from downtown Nassau by water taxi; Big Major Cay is close to two hours each way by fast boat.

Bottom Line

The easiest way to visit Exuma and the original swimming pigs from Nassau is a full-day organised speedboat tour. Born Free has the strongest reviews of the three that reach Big Major Cay, and Exuma Escapes is the cheapest.

Choose this option if you want more than a quick pig encounter and the wider Exuma day appeals to you. If you only want to see swimming pigs and prefer a shorter, cheaper day, a Rose Island or other Nassau-area tour will usually make more sense; which Nassau pig beach tour is right for you compares them.