Nassau: Exuma Powerboat Day Trip

About This Experience

This is the Exuma day trip with the most reviews by a wide margin, and the cheapest of the four at $329. It is also the one whose destination is most often misread, so it is worth being exact: the boat runs an hour south to Ship Channel Cay at the top of the Exuma chain, where Powerboat Adventures has its own private island. The swimming pigs there are described in the operator's own listing as resident animals. This is not Big Major Cay.

Taken on its own terms it is a strong day. A 60-foot jet boat handles the crossing, the island is yours for the day, and the wildlife programme is more varied than the Big Major Cay runs: pigs and iguanas to feed, stingrays in the shallows and a shark feed from the dock. The bar is open from arrival, lunch is a buffet, and there is a conch salad demonstration in the middle of it.

The hard constraint is who can book. The operator excludes cruise-ship passengers outright, because 9:00am to 4:30pm plus transfers leaves no margin against an all-aboard time. If you are in port for the day, the Nassau-area tours are the realistic choice.

Highlights

• The cheapest full day in the Exumas from Nassau, and the most-reviewed of the four
• A private island for the day at Ship Channel Cay, with the operator's resident swimming pigs
• An hour each way on a 60-foot jet boat built for the crossing rather than a small powerboat
• Feed the pigs and the rock iguanas, then watch a shark feed from the dock
• Open bar all day — beer, wine, spirits, soft drinks and water
• A conch salad demonstration, prepared and explained on the island

What's Included

• ✓ One-hour high-performance boat ride each way to the northern Exumas
• ✓ A day on Powerboat Adventures' private island at Ship Channel Cay
• ✓ Wildlife encounters — resident swimming pigs, rock iguanas, stingrays and a shark feed
• ✓ Open bar with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks throughout
• ✓ Welcome snacks on arrival and a freshly prepared lunch buffet
• ✓ A conch salad demonstration
• ✓ Beach chairs, decking and bathroom facilities on the island and the boat

Not Included

• Beach towels
• Gratuities
• Hotel transfers to the ferry terminal

What to Bring

• A hat
• A beach towel
• Reef-safe sunscreen
• A waterproof camera

Good to Know & Caveats

• This tour does NOT go to Big Major Cay. It visits the operator's own island at Ship Channel Cay in the northern Exumas, and its listing describes the pigs there as resident.
• Cruise-ship passengers are excluded by the operator. An eight-hour day plus transfers does not fit a standard port call.
• Check-in is 8:45am for a 9:00am departure and the boat is back in Nassau around 4:30pm.
• Dietary requirements can be accommodated at the lunch buffet if you ask in advance.
• The operator has been running this trip for more than thirty years.

Meeting Point

Paradise Island Ferry Terminal, Paradise Beach Drive — check in at 8:45am for the 9:00am departure