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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

  • Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

    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…

  • Hermitage Estate

    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…

  • Rolle Town Tombs

    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…

  • Salt Beacon

    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…

  • Tropic of Cancer Beach

    Tropic of Cancer Beach

    The Exumas

    Spectacular white-sand beach on the Tropic of Cancer.

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