It’s the second stop in the Bahama’s onboard the Norwegian Sky. We got up early again to watch the sunrise on our arrival into Freeport, Grand Bahama.
The port here is nowhere close to town. There are a couple of shops they open up for the cruise ships but it’s largely an industrial port.
You really have to take a taxi if you want to see anything. The good news is that there was a lot less haggling here than there was on Nassau. I didn’t feel like I was at risk of buying something we didn’t need this time around.
After missing out on jet skiing and any water sports the last two days, we decided to aim for a beach day on Grand Bahama. We caught a taxi/van with a bunch of others to Taino Beach. The taxis in the Bahamas are not like your typical taxi or Uber in Australia or the USA. Often they look like they are being held together with wire and have been modified to fit more seats. The first taxi we took didn’t seem to have air conditioning and with a packed van, became stuffy pretty quickly. We paid about $30US for a return fair for the two of us to Taino Beach
The 20 minute ride didn’t take us into Freeport at all but we still saw some damage from the recent hurricane on a couple of houses along the way.
Taino Beach
At Taino Beach you pay another $5.70US per person for entry. This covers access to the beach, free Wifi, an inflatable water park, kayaks and stand up paddle boards. If you want to use the Kayak or SUPs you will have to put down a deposit for the paddles. We had generously been given some money by friends to go jet skiing. We paid about $80 for 30 minutes and had a great time…well Danielle had a great time. I was petrified about flying off the back, but it was fun all the same.
You can also rent snorkel gear at Taino Beach but we brought our own. The water was beautiful and clear but there were a fair few people in the water so you have to go out fairly deep to see fish. There were definitely some out there, huddled around large rocks.
After a couple hours of snorkeling in the clear blue waters and baking in the sun on the beach it was time to take the taxi back to Freeport Harbour.
Danielle rode in the front seat and the driver pointed out all of the businesses that have long closed down not just because of Hurricane Dorian but because of earlier Hurricanes too.
Freeport Harbour
Back at the harbour we needed two things to make this day complete, WiFi and ice cream. We found an ice cream store and enjoyed some frozen goodness (the WiFi however, was temperamental).
The good news is that in the Bahamas they accept US currency so you don’t have to have your cash converted. That said, be wary as sometimes you’ll receive Bahama money as change.
We boarded the ship sunburnt and tired. After dinner we planned to have a quick nap before enjoying some of the evenings activities onboard but we ended up sleeping through our alarm.
We were obviously exhausted from such a massive day!
What’s your favorite thing to do when you visit Grand Bahama?
We’ve been to the Bahamas in Nassau and it’s true there is a lot of haggling there. Taino Beach sounds & looks fantastic. I would love to go back in that area.