By Private Boat: Grand Bahama Island is located 50 miles east of
Palm Beach, Florida. The Island is 96 miles long and 17 miles across
at its widest point. Port Lucaya Marina is just a short half-day
trip from South Florida for most motor-cruisers.
Let your GPS's navigation help you to find your way to this yachting
paradise.
Lucayan Marina Village – 150 slips, Port Lucaya Marina – 80 slips
Xanadu Marina: 72 slips
Ocean Reef Yacht Club: 55 slips, are available to pleasure boaters.
By Cruise Ship:
Over 20 cruise lines have regularly scheduled excursions to
Freeport.
By Air: Flight is the primary mode of travel for the majority
of visitors to the islands. Don't miss the spectacular views during
your approach and departure to and from The Bahamas.
The Grand Bahama International Airport is open from 6:00 AM-
10:00 PM daily.
Flights arrive daily from Nassau as well as South Florida, via
Bahamasair, American Eagle, Gulf Stream/Continental Connection;
AirTran Airways and Delta Connection daily from Atlanta; and
Continental Express weekly from Newark, NJ. US Airways provides
daily non-stop jet service from Charlotte, NC, and Saturday only
non-stops from Philadelphia and LaGuardia. AirTran has daily
non-stop flights from Baltimore.
Grand Bahama Vacations: Daily service from: Ft. Lauderdale,
FL.
Twice weekly flights from:
Baltimore-Cincinnati-Cleveland-Hartford-Pittsburgh-Raleigh-Richmond.
Freeport Harbor
In addition to air service facilities, Freeport Harbor offers
docking facilities for large ships. One of the deepest harbors in
the region, it is undergoing a $10.9 million redevelopment program
including new cruise passenger terminal facilities and a 25,000 sq.
ft. landscaped retail village.
Exploring the many towns and villages of Grand Bahama Island
West End located on the western tip of the island, is the oldest
city on Grand Bahama Island. This picturesque fishing village is
probably best known for its history as a liquor smuggling town
during the prohibition.
Deadman's Reef is the home of Paradise Cove, where one can
swim out to some of the best snorkeling reefs. A recent
archaeological dig along the eroding beach front unearthed many
artifacts belonging to the Lucayan Indians: hearths, animal bones,
pottery pieces, and shell beads. One of the most important Lucayan
archaeological sites discovered to date, it has been dated at around
1200-1300 AD.
Holmes Rock & Seagrape together form a little community known
for a unique cave that sits behind a local night club. It is over
200 yards in diameter and produces fresh water at low tide and salt
water at high tide.
Eight Mile Rock is the largest settlement on Grand Bahama
Island, outside of Freeport/Lucaya. The town is actually a string of
settlements, joined together, and is named after the 8 miles of
solid rock contained here. The towns, from the west, include: Martin
Hill, Jones Town, Rocky Shore, Martin Town, Pinedale, Hanna Hill,
Bartlett Hill, Wildgoose, and Hepburn Town.
Hawksbill is a residential area, created mainly to house the
workers employed in Freeport/ Lucaya. It is located on Hawksbill
Creek, the name of The Hawksbill Creek Agreement that paved the way
for the creation of Freeport/ Lucaya.
Pinder’s Point is four connected villages (Pinder's Point,
Lewis Yard, Hunter's and Mack Town). Pinder's Point, the more
developed of the group, can trace its roots back to a white settler
and his slaves. The town has been slow to adopt the fast lane
culture that came with the tourist trade, even though it lies just
minutes outside of Freeport/ Lucaya.
Freeport/Lucaya, the capital of Grand Bahama, and the second
largest city in the Islands of The Bahamas. The city was built
expressly for tropical fun. It is the site of many of the tourist
beaches and activities, as well as the International Bazaar and
Marketplace.
Williams Town and Russell Town are two small villages south
of Freeport, named for the families that still occupy them. Williams
Town was founded by Joseph Williams, a freed slave, and some of his
descendants still live there on what is called "generation land."
Smith's Point is named after the Scotsman, Michael Smith, who
served in the early 1800s as Commissioner of the island. Instead of
money, he was given 400 acres of land, part of which one of his sons
sold to the Grand Bahama Development Company.
Mather Town lies next to Smith's Point (see above), just
across a small channel. The quaint houses in this tiny village
provide a striking contrast to the modernity of those within which
it is enveloped.
Freetown received its name because it was the first place
where slaves were freed in 1834. Before the advent of roads, a foot
path from Old Freetown in the East was the primary thoroughfare for
traveling to the settlements in the West. All that's left of the old
village, is a cemetery and some rubble. A few miles away on the
beach is the old hermitage that is considered to be one of the
oldest buildings on the island. Built in 1901, it was first a
Baptist Church and later served as a hermitage for a Trappist monk.
High Rock gets its name from the 30-foot high rocky bluff
between the coastal road and the sea. The village is built of mostly
wooden framed buildings. Some villagers fish for a living, others
work in Freeport or at the nearby South Riding Point oil
transshipment facility.
McLean’s Town is located on a cay, at the easternmost point
reachable by road. It consists of two roughly parallel roads. The
villagers are good fishermen, and those with boats ferry people to
the nearby cays. The town is most famous for its Conch Cracking
Contests held during the Heroes’ Day holiday in October.
Deep Water Cay offers the ultimate for bone fishing
enthusiasts. Located on the eastern end of Grand Bahama Island, it
is accessible only by boat from McLean's Town. The cay is surrounded
by 250 square miles of shallow sand and mud flats, where the gray,
ghostlike bone fish feed off shrimp, crustaceans, and insects.
Sweeting's Cay is a quaint fishing village, located 55 miles
east of Freeport. It is only accessible by boat and has a population
of 400 people, most of whom live by selling lobster and conch in
Freeport. The village stretches about a mile, and electricity and
roads were only recently installed.
Lightbourne Cay is an uninhabited cay located just east of
Sweeting's Cay and is accessible only by boat. It is ideal for
picnics and snorkeling right off the beach. At low tide, the
shoreline becomes a spectacular sandy expanse, stretching for yards.
Water Cay is named for the abundant supply of fresh water to
be found there. This small island lies in northern Grand Bahama,
almost in the center of the island.
The Isle Of Capri Casino at Our Lucaya has opened its 20,000
square foot facility directly across the street from the Port Lucaya
Marina.
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