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The Exumas

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Beach and jetty, near Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas, West Indies, Central America

Ethel Davies/Robert Harding

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Overview

More than 300 islands and cays scattered across the central Bahamas, the Exumas are renowned for blissfully isolated beaches, world-class diving, and serene resorts that effortlessly dissolve anyone's troubles away. There's Great Exuma and Little Exuma, wonderful in their own right, and then there's the stunning Exuma Cays: a string of mostly uninhabited ocean outposts surrounded by blooming reefs and astonishing ecological bounty. The jewel in that crown is the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a huge expanse of islands, water and reef founded as the world's first land-and-sea reserve in 1958.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

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    Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

    The Exumas

    Founded as the world's first land-and-sea reserve in 1958, this stunning 283-sq-kilometer expanse of reef, cay and sea is world-famous among divers. One…

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    Hermitage Estate

    The Exumas

    Moldering testament to the failed attempts of planters loyal to George III to establish cotton in the Bahamian Archipelago, these ruins date to the late…

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    Rolle Town Tombs

    The Exumas

    In a clearing south of Rolle Town lie three lonely Loyalist tombs, one dated 1792 and shaped like a stone double bed. The plaque notes that the 26-year…

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    Salt Beacon

    The Exumas

    This 10m-high Tuscan-style pillar was erected on a hill to guide ships to collect salt during the heyday of salt production in the late 18th century. A…

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    Tropic of Cancer Beach

    The Exumas

    Spectacular white-sand beach on the Tropic of Cancer.

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