Harbour Island Bahamas Travel Guide

Harbour Island Bahamas is a big favorite of Americans who flock to this sunny island immediately after the snow melts in the U.S. It is a very small island that you can walk across by its length and widthwise. The measurements are 8 km by 5 km only.

Location of Harbour Island

It is one of the islands of the Bahamas, one of the many West Indies islands in the Atlantic Ocean.

How to reach Harbour Island?

First, you have to reach Eleuthera Island’s North Eleuthera Airport. It receives flights from Nassau, the capital of Bahamas, Atlanta, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale.

After landing there, you can go to the ferry terminal and get on board a water taxi to reach the island.

Surprisingly, the water taxi ride lasts just five minutes. I wonder why they have not built a road bridge between the two points!

Note:

It is an expensive place to travel mainly because of high import duty and tourist crowd from all over the United States.

What are the attractions on Harbour Island?

The biggest and the most beautiful attractions are the pink sand beaches on the island’s eastern side. Pink is a beautiful color, be it clothes, food, drink, paint, and sunglasses.

If the beach wears a pink carpet with the backdrop of navy blue sea, it is a sight to behold. The pink color is due to the presence of microorganisms in the water. Its name is Foraminifera. Its external shell is in pink color.

Tourists are found in large numbers sunbathing on the pink beach. The sand is so smooth and fine that you may even want to do away with the beach mat on which you lie down.

• Girls Bank

It is the name of the pink beach that is located in Dunmore Town, the one and only town on this island. Being the only town, naturally, most of the hotels, bars, and restaurants are located here.

• Dunmore Town

The hotels, restaurants, and houses are painted with attractive colors in this town. The island’s best resort Dunmore Beach cottages are the highly recommended place to stay when you are touring the island. It commands a high occupancy level throughout the year.

• Water Sports

Scuba diving is a prominent water adventure on this island. In addition, the reefs near the shore invite snorkeling buffs.

• Sunrise

The hot beach weather will not allow you to miss seeing the spectacular phenomenon of sunrise.

• Sunset

A few minutes before the sunset, all the noise and activities on the west side beaches die and people stand focused on the dipping sun into the horizon.

• Getting around the Harbour Island

Traveling in the golf car is a very pleasant experience, With all four sides open, you would feel the sea breeze through your hair. It is especially so in the early morning before the sun gets hot.

• Island hopping

Whenever you are visiting an archipelago, you always get a chance to go to the nearby islands. From the island, you can hop around to Eleuthera, Exuma, and Abaco Islands.

All the three islands are good to go and stay. There are several holiday rentals, hotels, cottages, and resorts. Keeping your base in Dunmore Town, you can make a day drip to each of these three islands on three days.

Which hotels in Harbor Island are recommended for staying?

The island may be small but the number of vacation rentals, hotels, and resorts can accommodate many more guests than the island usually receives.

I am naming a few highly recommended properties with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

• Pink Sands Resort
• Valentines Resort and Marina
• Runway Hill Inn
• Coral Sands

Restaurants in Dunmore Town:

The same story as far as the eating choices are concerned. There are too many restaurants on this tiny island that assure you never go hungry. They are located all over the island. I wonder whether Nassau has so many restaurants as Dunmore Town.

If your trip involves two days, that means a minimum of 6 visits to the restaurants. On your rented golf cart, just go around the small island and you will spot several restaurants and cafes. Enter a new eatery every time you are going to a restaurant.

To name a few popular restaurants on the island:

• Valentines Boat House
• Sip Sip
• Runaway Hill Inn
• Rock House
• Sweet Spot Café
• Romora Bay

Apart from these popular restaurants, there are nightclubs that serve drinks and food. A couple of exclusive coffee shops are also open right through the day.

What are local delicacies in Harbour Island?

When you are visiting any island, you must be able to forget your known food items and devour the local cuisine.

On this island, some of the local foods that you can eat are:

• Conch Salad

Yes, this means the conch is not cooked. However, the salad contains, pepper, lemon juice, cucumber, and tomato.

• Pigeon Peas and Rice (you will find chunks of pork meat too)

• Baked Crab

Here, the crab is cooked with its hard shell on!

• Steamed Rock Lobsters

Any special local drink is recommended?

Of Course, yes. You are in the Caribbean and naturally, expect an exotic cocktail with rum as the base. The name of the cocktail is “Yellow Bird”. Along with rum, orange and pineapple juices are mixed.

Are there any souvenir shops on the island?

Definitely yes. As the island is gaining recognition by way of increased tourists, naturally, gifts and souvenir shops will come up.

Find a few shops from where you can buy small gifts.

• Bahamian Shells & Things
• Shine Handmade Jewelry

I must admit there is nothing much to see and to do on this island. It is mainly a place to relax, enjoy the sun and wind, eat and rest well. The pink sand beaches alone bring quite a crowd that also visit Nassau, Bahama’s capital.