Imagine laying on an white sand beach listening to the waves of crystal clear water break at your feet. The sun is beaming down, but the cool ocean breeze is enough to make it feel nearly heavenly.

If this sounds like paradise, you must visit Exuma Bahamas. It is truly the perfect beach location and here are six reasons why!

360 islands make up the Bahamas and each and every one of them is surrounded by crystal clear and almost impossibly blue water.  It looks like the ocean was filled with bottled water!!

I have seen different oceans and seas around the world but the water in the Exumas is by far the clearest. Talk about “Bahama Blue”!

There are many rumors as to how these pigs learned to swim, but we got the true story during our jet ski tour with Exuma Water Sports.

Apparently in lieu of Y2k, many of the locals on Exuma were worried that if online systems shut down they might have an issue with their food supply (being an island and all). So a few people decided to send some pigs over to nearby islands and breed them.

Every day someone would come by the island to feed and take care of the pigs, and as pigs are intelligent animals motivated by food, they eventually began to associate the sound of the boat engines with supper. Soon the pigs began to stand in the ocean as they waited for their food. To the surprise to their caretakers, the pigs eventually started swimming out towards the boats.

It is definitely an interesting experience that you CANNOT miss when you visit Exuma Bahamas!

The water in Exuma is so clear you can literally put on some goggles and snorkel anywhere you want. Between the colorful fish, sea slugs, turtles, starfish, and sharks, your snorkeling adventure won’t have a dull moment.

During our tour with Exuma Water Tours at Staniel Cay, better known as Thunderball Grotto, we had one of our favorite moments in the islands. Some of you 007 fans may recognize the name, Thunderball Grotto. In fact, this island was used as a filming location for the two James Bond films: Thunderball and Never Say Never!

The outside of this limestone island is beautifully surrounded by the Bahama Blue water Exuma is known for, but it’s the inside that truly counts! A large hallow cavern with holes in the ceiling with the sun’s rays shining through, lighting up the cave and hundreds of colorful fish swimming below, is why everyone stops here at high noon.

Snorkeling next to beautiful fish and exploring this famous cave was truly an unforgettable experience.

The Mile-Long Sandbar got its name for being…one mile long. It also goes by a couple of other names: Musha Cay Sandbar, Copperfield Sandbar, or Big Farmer’s Cay Sandbar.

The amazing thing about this sandbar is the water is only knee deep, so you can walk for miles into the ocean (this makes for some excellent seashell hunting). Layton and I came across a fully intact conch shell, a few starfish, a couple of sting rays, several schools of fish, and and sea slugs! Of course, once again, the crystal clear water definitely helped in our search.

David Copperfield was right when he called this sandbar “Heaven on Earth”.

While it might seem terrifying to swim with sharks, these are actually quite harmless. Nurse sharks are slow moving bottom feeders who prefer fish, shrimp, and squid. However, they do have very small, but strong jaws and will bite defensively if they are stepped on or bothered so it’s important to be respectful.

Believe me, both Layton and I are terrified of sharks, but we both swam with these little guys and had an absolutely amazing time!

Don’t let fear stand in the way of an adventure!

On our tour with Exuma Water Tours, we ended up on Leaf Cay.

We were told by our guide that this 40 acre island was at one point actually owned by Nicolas Cage. In 2006, he purchased the island for $3 million, but once he saw the large population of iguanas living there, he decided to sell it back to the Bahamian government for $1.5 million. I’m so glad he did!

Hanging out with these iguanas was one of my favorite parts of our trip. I had actually never seen one before, but once I did, it instantly became my new favorite animal! I know most people might think I’m weird, but I love just iguanas. They’re like little dragons (or Godzillas as Layton would say) you can pet!

Since we went for our honeymoon, we splurged and stayed at the all-inclusive Sandals Emerald Bay Resort.

It was fabulous!

The staff was friendly, the entertainment was exciting, and with 11 restaurants from different cuisine all over the world, you’ll never be without food. It also boasts six different bars, so we were never thirsty either. To this day the best piña colada I’ve ever had was from their pool bar!

Sandals also has every water sport imaginable: scuba, aqua trikes, kayaks, snorkeling, sailing, and paddle boarding. It’s hard to be bored at such a lively place!

The island is relatively small, so it’s quite easy to get around solely using a taxi service. If you’re staying at a hotel, talk to the front desk and they will arrange everything for you. Or if you’d like to do it on your own, check our this article on Caribya for a list of taxi services.

You can also rent a car on the island. However, there are only 2 rental car companies near the airport: Thompson’s Car Rental and Airport Car Rental. This is a great option if you want to explore more of the island.

Here are the top 2 companies to use for any Exuma water activities: Exuma Water Sports & Exuma Water Tours.

Have I convinced you to visit Exuma Bahamas? Let me know in the comments below!

Cheers!

Angie xoxo