Rose Island vs Exuma Pig Beach

What Is Rose Island?

Rose Island is a long, narrow island a short boat ride east of Nassau and one of the easiest of the best day trips from Nassau. It is known for its beaches, clear water, snorkelling, boat excursions and its swimming pigs, and Pearl and Athol islands nearby have pig colonies of their own.

Because it is so close, Rose Island suits travellers who want an easy island day without spending hours crossing open water. If you would rather skip the boat, our list of Nassau beaches covers the free ones on the main island. The Rose Island water taxi crosses in about thirty minutes from the downtown waterfront. Our guide to visiting Rose Island from Nassau covers the other ways over.

What Is Exuma Pig Beach?

The famous original Pig Beach is on Big Major Cay in the Exuma Cays, about 89 miles southeast of Nassau, beside the small settlement of Staniel Cay. This is the island behind the classic images of pigs swimming out through bright turquoise water.

Big Major Cay is much farther from Nassau than Rose Island, and every tour from Nassau that reaches it is a full day.

Is Rose Island the Same as Pig Beach?

No. Rose Island and Big Major Cay are completely different places, about 89 miles apart.

The original Pig Beach is on Big Major Cay. Rose Island has its own swimming-pig experience much closer to Nassau, and several Nassau tours call their pig stop “Pig Beach” too, which is where the confusion starts.

Which Is Closer to Nassau?

Rose Island, by a wide margin.

The shorter journey means less time on the boat, more flexibility, easy half-day tours, less risk of seasickness and simpler planning on a cruise day.

Which Has the Original Swimming Pigs?

Exuma. Big Major Cay is the original and best-known Pig Beach.

If your goal is to say you visited the famous Pig Beach in the Exumas, choose a tour that lists Big Major Cay by name. Three tours on this site do.

Why Big Major Cay is the famous one

Big Major Cay is uninhabited. The pigs are not native to it, and nobody can say with certainty how they arrived: the competing accounts are that sailors left them there intending to come back and cook them, that they swam ashore from a wreck, or that they were put there deliberately to give the Exumas an attraction. The colony was estimated at fifty to sixty animals as of 2019.

What makes it photograph the way it does is the water. The pigs swim out from an empty beach into shallows that shade from white sand to turquoise, with nothing built in the frame. That is the shot, and it is why the island ended up on television and in an enormous number of feeds.

It is also genuinely far. Every operator running there follows much the same route, because the distance forces it: about an hour to Allen’s Cay for the rock iguanas, on through the cays to Compass Cay for the nurse sharks, then Big Major Cay, a sandbar, and lunch. Born Free’s published itinerary allocates forty minutes at Pig Beach against roughly four hours of boat time.

That ratio surprises people who have paid $489. It is also the most useful thing to know before booking. You are buying a day in the Exumas. The pigs are the headline stop, not the day.

What Nassau’s own pigs actually are

The colonies on Rose, Pearl and Athol islands are a different proposition, and the honest framing is that they are managed. The Rose Island pigs are raised from piglets by the operation on the island rather than left to roam a wild cay, and there is no officially documented origin story for them the way there is folklore around Big Major Cay.

In practice that makes them easier to meet. Hand-raised pigs that see visitors daily are calmer, more reliably on the beach when a boat arrives, and less inclined to treat a group as competition for food. On the Exuma cay the pigs are wild animals whose interest in you is entirely about what you are holding.

The water is the same water. Rose Island’s shallows photograph as well as the Exumas’, and unless you put a caption on it nobody looking at your picture will know which island it was taken on.

Are the Pigs Better at Exuma?

If by “better” you mean the famous original Pig Beach, Big Major Cay is the one people usually have in mind, and the free-roaming pigs on an empty cay are part of its appeal.

If you just want to meet pigs on a tropical beach, Rose Island may satisfy that just as well with much less travel, and you will usually spend longer with them.

Which Tour Is More Expensive?

Exuma tours cost more because they cover far greater distances, burn more fuel, use faster boats, run a full day and stop at several islands. On this site they cost $378 to $515 per person; the Nassau-area tours run $67 to $220.

The money, honestly

The cheapest way to meet swimming pigs from Nassau is the Rose Island water taxi at $67, which is a ferry across, three hours on the island and a ferry back. The cheapest way to reach Big Major Cay is Exuma Escapes at $378.

For the $311 difference you get the specific beach, the iguanas at Allen’s Cay, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, a sandbar and lunch ashore: a full day in one of the more beautiful stretches of water in the Caribbean. What you give up is the rest of your day and, oddly, most of your time with the pigs.

There is also a middle case that catches people out. Powerboat Adventures sells an Exuma day trip at $329, cheaper than any Big Major Cay tour, with more reviews than all three of them combined. It goes to Ship Channel Cay at the northern end of the Exumas, which is the operator’s own private island, and its listing calls the pigs there resident. So it is an Exuma day. It is not Pig Beach.

What Does a Rose Island Pig Tour Usually Include?

A typical Rose Island excursion combines the swimming pigs with beach time, snorkelling, the boat transfer, drinks and sometimes lunch or snacks. What is in the price varies a lot:

• The $67 water taxi covers the return boat, the pig-beach entry fee and three hours on the island, but no food, drinks, towels or snorkel gear.
• The $109 Rose Island beach day adds water toys, loungers and games on a private beach, with food and drinks at the beach bar extra.
• The $150 Rose Island pigs and turtles tour adds reef snorkelling and a stop at Green Cay to see turtles, with soft drinks on board.

On some Nassau tours the pig interaction itself is sold separately, so check the exclusions before comparing two prices.

What Does an Exuma Pig Beach Tour Usually Include?

A full-day Exuma tour may include Big Major Cay, other Exuma islands, sandbars, snorkelling, wildlife and lunch. On the three tours that reach Big Major Cay, that means the rock iguanas on Allen’s Cay, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, a sandbar or beach stop and lunch, usually ashore. Born Free’s island-hopping day also snorkels a sunken plane off Norman’s Cay and includes the landing fees and the food for the pigs.

Nassau to Exuma: the best ways to reach the swimming pigs covers the other ways to get there, including a fly-in tour.

Which Has More Boat Time?

Exuma, by a considerable margin: close to four hours of fast-boat travel across the day, against fifteen to thirty minutes each way to Rose Island.

That matters if you get seasick, are travelling with young children, dislike fast boats or would rather relax on land.

Which Is Better if You Get Seasick?

Rose Island. The shorter journey keeps your time on open water to a minimum.

The Exuma crossings are made in fast powerboats, and Exuma Escapes lists people prone to seasickness as not suitable for its day.

How Much Time Do You Need?

A half-day is enough for Rose Island: the water taxi runs about four hours, most catamaran and snorkel trips between two and a half and five and a half.

Plan on a full day for Exuma Pig Beach from Nassau. The tours that reach Big Major Cay are listed at about eight hours.

Is Exuma Worth the Extra Travel?

It can be, especially if Big Major Cay is one of the main things you want to do in the Bahamas.

The trip is not only about pigs. You are also travelling through the Exuma Cays, where the scenery, the iguanas, the nurse sharks and the sandbars are a large part of the day. If you value that, the extra cost and travel make sense. If you want the pigs and little else, they mostly do not.

Which one should you book?

Book the Exumas if the specific beach is the point, you are on a land-based stay with a whole day free, and a two-hour crossing each way sounds like scenery rather than transit. Start with our Exuma page.

Book Nassau’s own pigs if you are here for a few days and want one morning of it, you are arriving by cruise ship, you are travelling with children who will not enjoy four hours on a boat, or you would rather spend $67 than $378 for a photograph that looks identical.

Which Is Better for a Short Nassau Stay?

Rose Island. If you have only one or two days in Nassau, spending most of one of them travelling to and from the Exumas may not be the best use of it.

Which Is Better for Cruise Passengers?

For most cruise passengers, Rose Island is easier. A shorter trip gives you a larger margin if anything runs late. For more Nassau excursions for cruise passengers, including non-pig options, see our port-day round-up. Two of the four Exuma operators refuse cruise-ship passengers outright, and the two that accept them are still selling an eight-hour day against an all-aboard time. Which tours take cruise guests.

Which Is Better for Families?

Rose Island will often be easier for families with younger children, mainly because there is far less time on the boat. The $67 water taxi lists no age limit. The Exuma tours exclude babies, and Exuma Escapes also excludes non-swimmers.

Which Is Better for Couples?

It depends on the kind of day you want. Rose Island suits a relaxed island day with time left over for Nassau. Exuma suits couples who want a bigger bucket-list adventure and are happy to spend the day on the water.

Which Is Better for Snorkeling?

Both can include snorkelling, but not every tour does. The Rose Island pigs and turtles tour snorkels a reef and visits the turtles at Green Cay, while the water taxi supplies no gear. On the Exuma side, Born Free snorkels the plane wreck off Norman’s Cay. If snorkelling matters to you, compare the exact stops rather than choosing on the destination alone.

Which Is Better if You Only Care About the Pigs?

Rose Island. If your main goal is to see and swim near pigs, travelling all the way to Exuma is not necessary, and on the water taxi you get three hours on the island against forty minutes or so at Big Major Cay.

Whichever way you go, check whether the pig interaction is included before you compare two prices (it frequently is not), and see our tour-by-tour picks for the shortlist.

Common Booking Mistakes

• assuming Rose Island is the original Pig Beach
• assuming every Exuma tour includes Big Major Cay
• underestimating the travel time to Exuma
• choosing Exuma despite severe seasickness
• booking an Exuma day too close to your ship’s all-aboard time

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Rose Island Pig Beach the same as Exuma Pig Beach?

No. The original Pig Beach is on Big Major Cay in the Exumas, about 89 miles from Nassau. Rose Island has a separate swimming-pig colony close to Nassau.

Which Pig Beach is closer to Nassau?

Rose Island, about thirty minutes from downtown Nassau by water taxi.

Which is the original Pig Beach?

Big Major Cay, in the Exuma Cays.

Is Rose Island good for swimming with pigs?

Yes. It is one of the most convenient options for travellers staying in Nassau, from $67 for a water taxi with three hours on the island.

Can cruise passengers visit Exuma Pig Beach?

Sometimes, but only if the ship’s schedule leaves enough time for an eight-hour day. Two of the four Exuma operators on this site do not accept cruise-ship passengers.

Is Rose Island cheaper than Exuma?

Generally, yes. Rose Island tours on this site start at $67; tours that reach Big Major Cay start at $378.

Bottom Line

Choose Rose Island if you want the easiest and most practical swimming-pig trip from Nassau.

Choose Exuma Pig Beach at Big Major Cay if seeing the original Pig Beach is one of the main reasons for your trip.

Rose Island gives you more convenience, less boat time and easier scheduling. Exuma gives you the iconic destination and a much bigger island-hopping day.