Visiting the Bahamas with kids is a fantastic and rewarding vacation. You’ll find everything from powder-soft beaches to thriving coral reefs. There are world-class water parks, tranquil bays for trying new watersports, and educational activities where the whole family can learn about history, marine life, and conservation.
A family vacation to the Bahamas awakens all the senses. The warm, tropical sunshine aside, there’s vibrant color and culture everywhere. Kids can try new tastes in local restaurants and interact with marine creatures. There’s always music on the breeze to lift the spirits.
And parents, with a little planning, can factor in some relaxation on the beautiful beaches alongside the many activities that make this destination so special.
Pack Reef-Friendly Sunscreen
Sunscreen
You’ll most likely be snorkeling over coral reefs during your Bahamas vacation, so using reef-friendly sunscreen is the environmentally responsible thing to do. These are mineral-based sunscreens containing titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which reflect the sun. There are no chemicals involved that can contribute towards harming the reefs, so you’re doing your bit for the planet.
Better still, if your kids are likely to be in the water a lot, consider getting rash vests for the whole family. Rash vests, or rash guards, are rated by UPF, or ultraviolet protection factor, and you should aim for a UPF of 50 or more for children. Remember to use sunscreen on the areas that aren’t covered by the fabric, like hands and faces.
Choose Your Season
Blue Lagoon Island
The Bahamas is essentially a year-round destination. High season is from December to April, with generally warm, dry weather. It’s a great choice for a Christmas or New Year’s family vacation. Unsurprisingly, given their proximity to the mainland USA, the islands get busy in Spring Break—but this is still a great time to visit for clear skies and relatively low humidity.
Low season in the Bahamas, when the humidity is higher, coincides with school summer vacation. Even during the rainy season, you’re likely to enjoy plenty of sunny days.
Make sure kids are hydrated, especially when it’s humid. And if rainy weather is forecast, there’s still plenty of things to do in the Bahamas; the Pirates of Nassau, for example, or a day at Paradise Island’s Aquaventure waterpark, where you’ll get wet anyway.
Make It Educational
Queen’s Staircase, Nassau
It’s easy to see the Bahamas as a sun-and-fun destination, but there are plenty of opportunities to enrich young minds in an entertaining way.
In Nassau, pay a visit to Pirates of Nassau, an engaging, interactive museum that teaches visitors all about piracy, villains and heroes, life on a pirate vessel, and the fate of pirates who were caught during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. While pirates may seem like the stuff of fantasy and movies, they wielded extraordinary power and played a major role in shaping the history of the Caribbean and much of the city of Nassau.
After the museum visit, sign up for an hour’s plotting and scheming at Blackbeard’s Escape, a pirate-themed escape room attached to the museum.
On a more somber note, you could take your family to the leafy Queen’s Staircase, a flight of 66 steps that were carved by slaves out of limestone in 1793 to create an escape route from Fort Fincastle to the city in the event of invasion. The stairs are dedicated to Britain’s Queen Victoria in honor of her role in abolishing slavery in the British Empire in 1838.
Nassau Caves
You could take a side trip to the Nassau Caves near Cable Beach. They will be fascinated by the fact that the Lucayans, the original islanders, sheltered in these caves more than 1,000 years ago. More excitingly still, pirate loot is known to have been stashed here.
There’s an educational element elsewhere in the Bahamas, too. On Bimini, pay a visit to the Dolphin House Museum in Alice Town, built by local historian Ashley Saunders entirely from shells, sea fans, beach glass, and other materials salvaged from the island’s shores.
If you’re in Grand Bahama, book a tour of Coral Vita, one of the world’s most important coral farms. This facility grows corals using techniques to make them progress quicker than conventional methods and plants them in degraded areas.
You’ll learn about what coral is and how it thrives, and then visit the tanks to see how corals are grown. There’s a hands-on section where kids can see what a thriving coral reef looks like and how coral behaves at night. Children can also touch some of the marine creatures of the Bahamas, like sea stars.
Go Wild in a Water Park
Atlantis, Paradise Island
A trip to the Bahamas with kids is the perfect excuse to rediscover your own inner child at a spectacular water park.
Aquaventure at Atlantis on Paradise Island, next to Nassau, is 141 acres of thrill rides, lazy river floats, rapids, and greenery, themed around ancient Mayan temples.
You’ll need nerves of steel for The Leap of Faith, a near-vertical plummet from a recreated temple through an acrylic underwater tunnel into a lagoon. For The Drop, you’ll sit in an inner tube and zoom through darkness, emerging into the sunlight to drift at a more gentle pace over a set of rapids.
If you want to see sharks, try The Serpent, another inner tube ride that propels you through a transparent tunnel with sharks swimming overhead.
Thrill Waterpark, CocoCay
There are more thrills to be had on the award-winning Perfect Day at CocoCay, where kids and teens are likely to make a beeline for Thrill Waterpark. The highlight here is the white-knuckle Daredevil’s Peak, the tallest waterslide in the Caribbean. You could buddy up and try The Twister, a thrilling tube slide on two-person rafts, or challenge the whole family to a race on the four-lane Splash Speedway.
Engage With Wildlife
Honeymoon Harbor, Bimini
There are plenty of fun, educational, and ethical ways for families to engage with some of the wildlife of the Bahamas.
If you have teens or older kids who are very confident swimmers, a reef shark snorkel adventure on Bimini can be a fantastic experience. You’ll travel by boat to where reef sharks congregate in shallow water. Put on your snorkel gear and drift in the warm water, observing the sharks swimming beneath you. An expert guide provides information about sharks and their habits during the tour.
Another fun family activity from Bimini is to take a boat ride to the castaway paradise of Honeymoon Harbor and stand in the shallow water as wild stingrays mill around, hoping for tidbits. The rays are docile and gentle and such a close encounter with wild creatures this big can be awe-inspiring.
Garden of the Groves, Grand Bahama
On Grand Bahama, a visit to the Garden of the Groves near Freeport is a relaxing, gentle day out for families. This plant and wildlife sanctuary is a paradise of cool pools, splashing waterfalls, and tropical gardens that are home to colorful butterflies, parrots, terrapins, and plants native to the Bahamas.
Bird-lovers will enjoy the Ardastra Gardens in Nassau, a zoo-turned-conservation center with a mission to protect the Caribbean flamingo, the national bird of the Bahamas, resulting in a successful captive breeding program. Other residents include macaws, parrots, a friendly cockatoo, boa constrictors, and lemurs from Madagascar.
Read: Things to Do in the Caribbean & The Bahamas With Kids
Try a New Watersport
Pearl Island
Whether they’re already confident in the water or whether you want your Bahamas vacation with kids to be when they take the next step, you’re in the perfect place. Warm, crystal clear water, gently sloping sandy beaches, and sheltered bays are the best possible setting for novice paddleboarders, kayakers, and snorkelers.
Dreamy Pearl Island, near Nassau, is one of the best places in the Bahamas to start. Limpid seas and great visibility, with coral reefs that are easily accessible from the shore, make this ideal for novice snorkelers. You can always buy a laminated fish ID card, the kind used by divers, to take with you and check off new species when you spot them. There’s gentle kayaking and paddleboarding here, too.
Chill Island at CocoCay is two perfect half moons of sand overlooking a sheltered bay, perfect for novice paddle boarders and short forays by kayak.
Lucayan National Park, Grand Bahama
Another great spot for kayaking is Grand Bahama’s Lucayan National Park, where you can paddle through the serene waters through the mangroves in two-seater kayaks, looking out for birdlife. Pack bug spray for this one, as mangroves can harbor biting insects.
If your children are confident snorkelers, a visit to Bimini offers the chance to snorkel over an actual wreck, the S.S. Sapona, which lies in just 15 feet of water. The ship ended its days as an illicit liquor warehouse during the Prohibition era, and it sank during a hurricane in 1926.
Today, its skeleton has been colonized by colorful corals and teeming shoals of fish, which makes for a fascinating family snorkel trip. Kids will be given buoyancy aids for the excursion as an extra safety precaution.
Sample Local Cuisine
Bahamian food
While even the most adventurous young eaters may flinch at the idea of a conch ceviche, essentially a giant sea snail “cooked” in citrus juices, there are plenty of kid-friendly Bahamian dishes to try. Head to Arawak Cay in Nassau, a great place to sample local dishes, to try conch in a more palatable form—as crispy fritters with a side of fries, or “cracked”, deep fried in a delicious batter.
Other specialties include mac ‘n’ cheese, rice ‘n’ peas, grilled shrimps, and fried fish, which could be mahi mahi, grouper, or lionfish. Johnny Cake is a bread-like cake, delicious when served warm from the oven with butter. Teens will enjoy colorful virgin cocktails, too, like a vibrant Bahama Mama, while adults can refresh themselves with the real thing.
Discover Beautiful Beaches
Pearl Island
Beautiful beaches are what the Bahamas islands are best known for, and it’s the perfect place to make the most of your family beach time.
Pearl Island has one of the most gorgeous stretches of sand near Nassau, with safe snorkeling and cabanas to rent if you want to keep your kids out of the tropical sun. Older teens will love Junkanoo Beach, in Nassau, for its party spirit; it’s especially buzzing during Spring Break and during the Junkanoo festival between Christmas and early January.
On Bimini, Honeymoon Harbour is just a tiny sliver of sand at the tip of sleepy Gun Cay, where you can feed the stingrays. There’s not much shade here beyond a few feathery trees and bottle-green scrub, so it’s not somewhere you would stay for the whole day, but for back-to-nature families, it’s bliss. If you prefer a more organized beach packed with facilities, including a big lagoon pool and a bar, Paradise Beach is another option on Bimini.
Gold Rock Beach, Grand Bahama
Gold Rock Beach on Grand Bahama is another castaway experience, a vast expanse of powdery white sand and shallow water in pale aquamarine, with patches of deeper turquoise just offshore where the reefs are. It’s wonderful for splashing around, although there are no facilities to speak of. Locals sell coconut water in coconut shells, but beyond this refreshing drink, it’s best to bring your own water and snacks.
South Beach, CocoCay
CocoCay has multiple beaches, each with a different vibe. Chill Island is quieter, with hammocks and umbrellas, and good snorkeling. Teens will love Breezy Bay, part of Chill Island, as it has everything from beach volleyball to ping pong and giant Jenga.
South Beach also has sports facilities and cabanas to rent, while exclusive Coco Beach Club has a shimmering infinity pool, its own restaurant, and overwater cabanas, the ultimate indulgence.
Browse Bahamian Markets
Straw Market, Nassau
Shopping for souvenirs can be fun for the family, and it’s always good to bring back something authentic from your vacation. Head to the Straw Market in Nassau for baskets, hats, and bags, all locally made. Pick up a wooden carving of a bird or a fish, or shop for jewelry made from gleaming pink conch shells.
Port Lucaya Marketplace on Grand Bahama is a lot of fun, too, with more than 40 stores and dozens of local vendors selling handicrafts. You’ll find breezy Bahamian beach fashion, T-shirts, straw goods, and hair braiders. There’s even a chocolate factory, as well as multiple places to eat and drink, including a stand dedicated entirely to conch. Bands often play in Market Square, adding a festival feel to any shopping trip.
Atlantis, Paradise Island
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