5 Day Bahamas Itinerary: Nassau, Exuma, and the Swimming Pigs
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Fortrip editorial note: flamingo showtimes, fort closures, interisland flight frequency, and the Nassau pig-tour prices and group sizes cited below were last checked against official and operator sources in July 2026 — confirm current figures before you build a route around any single number.
This five-day Bahamas itinerary pairs two nights in Nassau with two nights based in Exuma, trading one short domestic flight for a much shorter boat ride to the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay.
Quick Facts
Best for: travelers who want the swimming pigs without turning the whole trip into one long boat ride
Pace: moderate — 2 nights Nassau/Paradise Island, 2 nights Exuma, one flight each way
Where to sleep: Nassau or Paradise Island (nights 1–2), Staniel Cay or George Town (nights 3–4)
Core trade-off: a short domestic flight plus one extra overnight, against roughly 40 minutes at Pig Beach versus nearly 4 hours of boat time on a Nassau day trip, per nassaupigbeachtours.com
Flight time Nassau–Exuma: 45 minutes nonstop, 142 miles, on Bahamasair or Western Air, per flightconnections.com
Nassau-based pig tour cost: roughly $399 (Aqua Shores) to $489 (Viator/Born Free Charters) per person, on shared boats carrying up to 24 guests — figures checked against each operator's listing in July 2026; prices and capacity shift by season, so verify the current number on the operator's own page before booking
Best season / hurricane season dates: not something this research verified; check current advisories at the National Hurricane Center before booking
Number of pigs on Big Major Cay: not confirmed by an official source here — ask your tour operator or the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a current count
At a Glance
Day
Base
Key stops
Transit
1
Nassau / Paradise Island
Harbor walk, Pirates of Nassau Museum (staircase/fort closed)
Arrival flight, no inter-island transit
2
Nassau / Paradise Island
Ardastra Gardens, Atlantis public areas
Taxi or rental car within New Providence
3
Nassau → Staniel Cay (recommended Exuma base)
NAS–GGT flight, Staniel Cay Yacht Club check-in and dinner
~45-minute flight, 142 miles
4
Staniel Cay
Pig Beach, Thunderball Grotto, optional cays
Short boat legs from the Staniel Cay dock
5
Staniel Cay → Nassau
Isles General Store dock market, GGT–NAS flight home
~45-minute flight, 142 miles
Day 1 — Nassau: Arrival and the Colonial Core
Bay Street's colonial-era storefronts in downtown Nassau — the harbor walk that fills part of the Day 1 slot Queen's Staircase would otherwise occupy.
Land at Lynden Pindling International and settle into a Nassau or Paradise Island base. Treat the first afternoon lightly — jet lag, customs lines, and luggage logistics eat into it more than any guidebook accounts for.
Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle
Both are flagged as temporarily closed for Water Tower renovation work, per the official Nassau Paradise Island site. Several third-party guides still publish the old 8 a.m.–4 p.m. donation-based hours for these two stops, but those no longer apply while the renovation is underway. Check the official page before building your route around either landmark.
Backup stop: Pirates of Nassau Museum
If the fort and staircase are closed when you arrive, the Pirates of Nassau Museum on King Street — an interactive walk-through of 1716 Nassau's pirate era, roughly five minutes on foot from the cruise port — is a separate operator unaffected by the Water Tower closure. This research didn't verify current hours or ticket prices for the museum, so check piratesofnassau.com directly before you plan your afternoon around it, and ask at the door whether same-day walk-in entry is available or a timed ticket is required.
After the museum, finish the afternoon on a harbor walk — Bay Street down to the waterfront, watching the cruise traffic — before a bigger Day 2. If you're mapping out other Bahamas routes beyond this one, Fortrip's itinerary selection page is worth a look before you lock in a Nassau-heavy first half.
Booking notes:
No advance reservation is needed for the harbor walk or Bay Street.
Confirm Pirates of Nassau Museum hours and whether tickets require pre-booking at pirates-of-nassau.com before arrival.
If Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle have reopened by your travel dates, re-check current hours on nassauparadiseisland.com — both were donation-based with no booking required pre-closure.
Confirm your Nassau/Paradise Island lodging's cancellation window in case a flight delay shortens your first night.
Day 2 — Nassau: Ardastra Gardens and Atlantis Paradise Island
A large-scale resort island seen from above — the kind of footprint Atlantis Paradise Island occupies on the eastern end of Paradise Island.
Morning at Ardastra Gardens & Wildlife Conservation Centre. Park hours run 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with last entry at 3 p.m., per ardastra.com, and the park closes only on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day.
The flamingo showtime conflict
Ardastra's own site lists flamingo shows at 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. The official Bahamas tourism board site and at least one third-party guide list a different set — 10:30 a.m., 2:15 p.m., and 4:00 p.m. Both schedules are currently published somewhere. Don't plan the morning around either one as fixed; confirm the posted schedule at the gate when you arrive.
Spend the afternoon or early evening at Atlantis Paradise Island, sticking to the public areas and day-pass options. Keep it light — the next morning starts with a flight, and Atlantis rewards a longer visit than a half-day allows anyway.
Packing for Exuma tonight
A soft-sided bag over a hard-shell suitcase — small boats and golf-cart transport on the cays favor it, and checked-bag weight limits differ between Bahamasair and Western Air, so confirm your airline's current baggage policy before packing.
Reef-safe sunscreen; some cays have limited or no retail options once you're there.
Swimwear and a dry bag kept in your carry-on, not checked luggage, for Day 4's boat day.
Booking notes:
Ardastra Gardens: check ardastra.com for current ticket options and whether advance purchase is required or gate entry is fine.
Atlantis day-pass packages: book ahead online; cancellation terms vary by package, so confirm the policy on Atlantis's own site before paying in full.
Day 3 — Nassau to Exuma: Flying Over and Settling In
Sandbars and shallow turquoise water in the Exuma Cays — the view on the NAS–GGT descent into Great Exuma.
Fly Nassau (NAS) to Great Exuma (GGT) on Bahamasair or Western Air — a 142-mile, roughly 45-minute nonstop, with about 15 combined weekly departures running between 6:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., per flightconnections.com. That's not an hourly shuttle, so confirm the live schedule before locking in a departure time — or run your proposed flight times and base split through Fortrip's itinerary validator to see where the gaps are. From the Great Exuma airstrip, arrange a transfer or short charter on to Staniel Cay with your accommodation in advance.
Why base overnight in Exuma instead of day-tripping the pigs from Nassau
Most Nassau-based pig-watching trips — including listings from Aqua Shores, Born Free Charters, Harbour Safaris, and the Viator-listed operator — are sold as a full shared-boat day. On the route description at nassaupigbeachtours.com, that structure works out to about 40 minutes at Pig Beach against roughly four hours of boat running time, with groups as large as 24 people and prices from about $399 (Aqua Shores) to $489 (Viator/Born Free Charters) — figures as checked in July 2026. Exact distance, capacity, and pricing vary by company and season, so check each operator's own current listing before booking rather than assuming one figure applies across the board.
Basing overnight in Exuma shortens that boat run considerably. Exuma Water Sports runs a full-day Staniel Cay pig tour from a dock a short ride from Big Major Cay itself — the better structural fit for a trip built around this stop.
Once you land, check into Staniel Cay Yacht Club or your George Town lodging, then plan dinner at the Yacht Club's open-air restaurant — it's the default evening spot on the island, with no reservation typically needed for drop-in dining, though confirm current hours with the front desk on arrival.
Booking notes:
Book the NAS–GGT flight ahead of time through Bahamasair or Western Air; with roughly 15 combined weekly departures, same-day standby isn't reliable.
Confirm whether your Staniel Cay or George Town accommodation arranges the airstrip-to-dock transfer — ask the Staniel Cay Yacht Club front desk directly if you're staying nearby.
If pre-booking the Exuma Water Sports pig tour, check their current cancellation policy on exumawatersports.com before paying a deposit.
Day 4 — Exuma: Swimming Pigs, Thunderball Grotto, and Cay Hopping
A shallow lagoon near Staniel Cay, close to where the Thunderball Grotto snorkel entrance sits below the waterline.
Morning boat to Big Major Cay / Pig Beach departing from the Staniel Cay dock — a fraction of the Nassau boat time, which means more of the day is actual activity rather than transit.
Thunderball Grotto
Snorkel timing here depends on tide, not a fixed schedule. Ask the operator or dock staff for the current window on the day — the cave opening is only accessible and calm within a certain tide range, and that shifts daily.
Optional cay add-ons
Compass Cay — nurse sharks
Allen's Cay — iguanas
Norman's Cay — wreck dive
These are usually separate stops bundled into full-day charters, not automatic inclusions on every pig tour. Confirm exactly what a specific tour package covers before booking — some combine two or three of these, others don't touch them at all.
Booking notes:
Confirm at booking which of the three add-on cays are included — don't assume all are covered by default.
Ask about the Thunderball Grotto tide window when you book, not on the day, so the operator can flag any conflict with other stops.
Small-operator charters tend to have stricter cancellation terms than big-platform listings; check before paying a deposit.
Day 5 — Exuma to Nassau: Last Morning and Flight Home
A quiet stretch of white sand in the Exuma Cays — the kind of spot for a last swim before the flight back to Nassau.
Use the morning for a final swim before checkout. If you have a spare hour before heading to the airstrip, walk out to the Staniel Cay government dock, where Isles General Store sets up a small morning run of produce, ice, and sometimes conch fritters — there's no fixed schedule, so ask at your accommodation what's running that day.
Fly back GGT to NAS on Bahamasair or Western Air, same frequency caveat as the outbound leg — roughly 15 combined weekly flights, not an hourly shuttle, per flightconnections.com. If you're connecting to an international flight out of Nassau the same day, build in a real buffer; with limited daily departures, a missed connection isn't easily rebooked same-day.
Booking notes:
Book the GGT–NAS return flight at the same time as the outbound leg; don't leave it for the day of departure given the limited weekly frequency.
If connecting internationally out of Nassau the same day, confirm minimum connection times directly with your airline, not just general airport guidance.
Confirm checkout time with your Staniel Cay or George Town accommodation so the last swim doesn't collide with transfer timing.
How to Adjust This Itinerary: Who Should Cut, Swap, or Extend a Day
Short on time or budget: skip flying to Exuma altogether and take the Nassau pig day trip instead, accepting the roughly 40-minutes-with-pigs-versus-4-hours-of-boat trade-off as the cost of a single-base trip.
Traveling with young kids or prone to seasickness: the Nassau round trip's near-four-hour boat time each way is a real consideration against the shorter Staniel Cay-based version — factor comfort, not just cost, into the choice.
Prefer more restaurants and shops over small-island quiet: swap the Exuma base from Staniel Cay to George Town. Flights and the general pig-tour structure work from either, but the boat ride out to Big Major Cay runs longer from George Town's dock, so check the specific operator's route and duration before booking.
Want more cay time: extend the Exuma stay to three nights and split Compass Cay, Allen's Cay, and Norman's Cay across separate half-days instead of combining them into one rushed charter.
Visiting after the Water Tower renovation is complete: re-check nassauparadiseisland.com before relying on this outline's Day 1 structure, and restore Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle to the walking route if they've reopened.
Flexible on flamingo timing: build Day 2 around whichever showtime Ardastra confirms at the gate that morning rather than pre-booking around either published schedule.
Tight on Nassau–Exuma flight availability: build Day 3 and Day 5 around confirmed departure times first, then fit sightseeing around the flights rather than the reverse.
Want a custom day count or base split: adjust the number of nights in Nassau versus Exuma, or swap Staniel Cay for George Town, using Fortrip's AI trip planner, then cross-check the result against the flight-frequency notes above.
Need to pressure-test your own dates against this structure: run your flight times and base choices through the itinerary validator before booking.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the flight between Nassau and Exuma?+
About 45 minutes nonstop over 142 miles on Bahamasair or Western Air, with roughly 15 combined weekly departures running between 6:45 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., per flightconnections.com.
Is it better to see the swimming pigs on a Nassau day trip or from a Staniel Cay base?+
A Nassau-based day trip runs close to four hours of boat time for about 40 minutes at Pig Beach, per the route description at nassaupigbeachtours.com. Basing overnight in Exuma, as this itinerary does on nights 3 and 4, shortens that boat run considerably.
Are Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle open in Nassau right now?+
Both are listed as temporarily closed for Water Tower renovation work on the official Nassau Paradise Island site. Check that page directly before building a Day 1 route around either landmark, and use the Pirates of Nassau Museum as a separate-operator backup stop.
What time are the flamingo shows at Ardastra Gardens?+
Ardastra's own site lists 11:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:00 p.m., while the official Bahamas tourism board site and some third-party guides list 10:30 a.m., 2:15 p.m., and 4:00 p.m. instead. Confirm the posted schedule at the gate rather than planning around either list in advance.
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