What To Do In The Bahamas   
The Bahamas Connection

Bahamian Hospitality

One cannot visit Grand Bahama without appreciating the friendly residents of the island. They  welcome visitors with   warm smiles, often sharing their history, their home and their hearts. Grand Bahamians are  devoted to tradition and  religion. You will enjoy the island's junkanoo bands, our famous  Mama  Flo's Wednesday night fish fry, and many local establishments welcome visitors. One  thing is for  sure when you vacation on Grand Bahama, you will want to leave the traffic, the  chores and the stress behind  and join in the relaxed and gracious lifestyle prevalent there.   It's a world where stress,  deadlines and daily frustrations simply do not exist.

Whether it's Water sports, Golf, Museums or Shopping, the  Best is in The Islands of The Bahamas.    With over 700  islands, cays, reefs and beaches plus hundreds of activities on land and sea to choose from, visitors to the Islands of   The Bahamas will find there's not enough time in a day to do  everything that the islands have to offer.  Vacationers  looking for an active  holiday will find a myriad of choices for sports - from sailing,  windsurfing,  fishing and scuba diving to golf, biking and hiking on land.

Those in search of edification will not be disappointed as The Islands Of The Bahamas is rich  in history and culture on display in museums, in communities and in live performances.

Shop 'til you drop! 
And, of  course, the inimitable shoppers will find themselves in a shopping paradise, with duty-free opportunities and  local crafts at reasonable prices. On our island shopping is considered a world- class sport. It's shopping in paradise.

Some of the best buys include deals on watches and jewelry; perfume at greatly discounted  prices;  crystal and china;  leather goods; cameras from around the world and paintings.  The famous Straw  Market (there's usually one on each  island) has stacks of local handmade produce at tempting prices.

Here you have a choice of the International Bazaar and Port Lucaya Marketplace. Both feature indoor  and outdoor   dining,  pubs, shops and brand names from around the world.

  International Bazaar
 Visitors to the International Bazaar stroll through colorful archways along cobble-stone paths  that lead to shops representing countries from around the world. There is also the world famous  straw market with local arts, crafts and souvenirs.

Port Lucaya Marketplace
  One look at Port Lucaya Marketplace and its picturesque waterfront location will introduce you to the  way to have a  shopping spree and still relax. The center of this marketplace overlooks the marina  and Count Basie Square featuring  live entertainment.

  Perfume Factory
  Other shopping attractions on island include The Perfume Factory, a replica of an 18th century  Bahamian Mansion that  provides a fascinating tour showing you how perfume is made. You can even  mix and name your own brand.
Splish, Splash   
A haven for watersports enthusiasts, The Islands of The Bahamas have some of the best   diving   and snorkeling in the Caribbean with barrier reefs, fringing reefs, platform reefs    and atolls. The island of Andros has the third-largest barrier reef in the world (after   Australia's Great Barrier Reef), and a wide variety of underwater sealife for divers to view.

Grand Bahama, headquarters of UNEXSO - the best-known Bahamian diving school, also has a number  of sites where   divers can search for hidden treasures and explore underwater caves.   Also popular  are dives around the various  shipwrecks of the islands.

  These include shipwrecks as the USS Adirondack the 125-year-old American warship lying off the   Man-O-War Cay: a   train freighter intentionally sunk off Freeport/Lucaya; and the Ms. Cumberbach   off Cape Santa Maria.

 Other watersports available are parasailing, windsurfing, sailing, water-skiing, angling and game fishing, with several  operators arranging outings for visitors.

A Hole in One and Other Landlubber Pastimes  
Landlubbers who'd rather keep both feet on the ground but are still the active type will have  plenty   to keep them busy.    Most of the golf courses are in and around the cities of Nassau and Freeport/Lucaya. Some are Robert  Trent Jones and Dick Wilson designs and range from beginner courses to professional ones.  The Islands   of The Bahamas also plays host to a number of tournaments including the annual Pro-Am and an Open on  the Bahamian Independence Day.

   Equestrians can find horse stables in Freeport and in Nassau, and joggers can take   flight just  about  anywhere from the sandy beach to the tree-lined, traffic-free esplanade in   Nassau and Paradise Island.

  Plant lovers will especially enjoy the Rand Memorial Nature Centre in Freeport, the Ardastra Gardens and Zoo and the  Botanical Gardens in Nassau as well as the Garden of the Groves in Lucaya.

Flora and Fauna Fanatics
The Islands are rich with tropical plant and animal life, and national parks and nature reserves offer   wonderful opportunities to view the flora and fauna in unspoiled settings.

  National parks include the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park with such rarities as the rock iguana  and the hutia; Inagua National Park with one of the biggest flamingo reserves in the western  hemisphere; Conception Island Park, an important breeding ground for birds; Lucayan National   Park, home of one of the oldest underwater cave systems; and the palm garden Retreat on New  Providence.

  The reservations include Peterson Cay Park; Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park, and Black Sound Cay   National Reserve.

Bathing Beauties'
Needless to say, The Bahamas is a great place just to lie on the  beach and soak up the sun. Some of the most popular beaches can be found on Long Island, San  Salvador, The Abacos, Harbour Island and the northern  Exuma cays. But just about anywhere one  turns, they'll find an alluring stretch of soft white sand.

 Best Bets
Museums for the Minds  
Culture vultures can find model ships of the late Albert Lowe as well as paintings of Alton Lowe,  nautical craft, and artifacts from Loyalist settlers at the Albert Lowe Museum at Plymouth or   Green Turtle Cay, Abaco.

  The cinemas in the Bahamas show primarily American-made films and are located on the larger  islands. Videos are  readily available at all the hotels and are the more common source for watching  movies.

  The Grand Bahama Museum has displays on the history of Grand Bahama Island with
  reconstructed caves, a marine  exhibit and artifacts from the Lucayan Indian culture and era of piracy. In addition, small galleries and museums are  scattered throughout the islands. In the heart   of Nassau,  the Pompey Museum houses a prominent collection by  internationally recognized  Bahamian artist Amos Ferguson who paints in the Native style.

  Art & Architecture for the Inquisitive
  The tumultuous historical past of The Islands of The Bahamas contributes to a wide and varied collection of architecture.  Walking tours afford fine views of British Colonial, Victorian, Spanish  and Spanish-American  architecture. Buildings of note include the 19th-century mansion East Hill,   the 1810 St.  Andrew's  Presbyterian Church, the Government House; St. Francis Roman Catholic Church;   the mid- 19th-  century Devonshire House, Hillside Manor, Christ Church Cathedral, the Masonic Temple and Trinity Methodist Church, just to name a few.

 Delectable Dining  
The Islands of the Bahamas offer a wide range of international cuisines to fit every budget. Known  for its local seafood  including conch and grouper, the local Bahamian restaurants offer spicy,   native food with a  taste of the Caribbean. For those looking for other cuisines - everything from  Italian,  French,  English and Chinese are available.

  Nassau/Paradise Island, Harbour Island and Grand Bahama have some five-star fine dining  establishments in stunning settings overlooking bays and the ocean. Whether you're looking  for a lively place for a large group or a quiet intimate dinner for  two, casual dining is always  available  on the 700-island archipelago.

  Theater, Cinema, and Other Spectator Activities
The Islands of The Bahamas' rich melange of international and regional cultures contribute to  a thriving artistic  community. The Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts in Nassau offers a  wide range of performances, and the  Regency  Theatre in Freeport showcases local as well as  international performances.

  There are a number of community theater groups, dance troupes and choral ensembles, including    the Diocesan  Chorale,  Lucayan Chorale, Chamber Singers and Nassau Operatic Society.

  If visitors want to combine dinner and a show, the Palace Dinner Theater in Carnival's Crystal Palace  Resort and Casino  has a Las Vegas-type revue. In addition, the Atlantis SunSational Show and the  Casinos Royale Show Room at the  Bahamas Princess Resort & Casino presents a twice- nightly  French-style spectacular with costumes, dancing and  novelty  acts.

By Night.   Calypso, Junkanoo, Goombay and Jazz  
After Sundown, It's Jazz, Disco, Calypso and More in The Islands of The Bahamas.  If you're not too  tired after a day's  activity in The Islands of The Bahamas, get ready because there's as much to do at night as there is during the daylight  hours, and there's something for everyone -from a quiet, romantic seaside dinner and jazz to  dancing the night away at one of the islands' clubs.

The night air is filled with song in The Islands of The Bahamas, with every kind of music including   disco, jazz, and the local music known as goombay.

  Some of the popular all-night discos for the young and energetic include Culture Club, The Zoo in   Nassau, Club Estee,   and The Captain Kenny Pubs in Freeport. Port Lucaya Marketplace in  Freeport   provides for live entertainment and   calypso and The Safari Lounge offers a lively disco  scene with  calypso.

The Sir Winston Churchill Pub features special theme nights, and the Yellow Bird Showroom has one   of Grand Bahama's  best shows with local performers, calypso, limbo and fire dancers. For those looking for a quiet evening out, The Veranda Bar of the Quality Atlantic Beach

 The 20,000 square-foot Princess Casino in Freeport & Golf  Resort has piano music  nightly except Sunday. Apple Elliot and his ensemble plays some of the  liveliest jazz in the  Caribbean during the evening at the Lucayan Golf and Country Club.

  The islands' four casinos offer endless hours of entertainment and excitement. Complete  with  slot  machines of every variety, crap and blackjack tables, roulette and baccarat, The  Islands   of The  Bahamas have everything a gambler could hope for.

The 30,000 square-foot casino in Sun International's Atlantis, Paradise Island has every game   imaginable including  more  than 800 slot machines, while the 35,000 square-foot casino on Nassau is shared by the Radisson Cable Beach  Casino &  Golf Resort and the Crystal Palace Resort & Casino.

It has some 450 slot machines, 40 blackjack tables,  eight dice table   and roulette wheels, two money wheels and numerous video games. The  Lucayan Beach Casino (of equal size, and also   in Freeport) has 545 super slots, video blackjack,  poker,  similar tables as its competitors and more.

 Dress at the casinos is casual except shoes must be worn and beach attire is not acceptable.   Gamblers must be 18  years  of age to play.

  For more information about The Islands Of The Bahamas, contact The Bahamas Tourist Offices in   the US at: 150 East   52nd St., 28th F1., New York, NY 10022, Tel: 212-758-2777 and at 19495  Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL 33180,   Tel: 305-932-0051, or use our Reader Service Card.