Things to do in Harbour Island, on the water and off

On the water, from Dunmore Town

For reef and boat days we pick up at the Government Dock in Dunmore Town and the whole north end of Eleuthera opens up. The sandbar swing at low tide. Stingrays that come to the boat. Starfish on the grass flats. Pig Island, a longer run along the north end (an extra fee, paid on the island). Snorkeling on the Devil’s Backbone, where the reef has taken enough ships over the centuries that you can swim over the wreckage in twenty feet of clear water. Or the reef, which is the easiest fishing on the island and the right half day for a family. For bonefishing, take the water taxi and a short taxi to Gene’s Bay and we are on the flats near Spanish Wells soon after. Girls Bank, the sandbar off the bay side of Harbour Island, is where locals go at low tide, and we can stop there on the way home.

Pink Sands Beach

Three miles long, on the Atlantic side, and genuinely pink from crushed shell. Access paths run from most of the hotels and from the public accesses off the road. Morning is calm and empty; the afternoon brings a breeze. Coral Sands and the other beach hotels rent chairs; you can also just walk. The water is swimmable most of the year but it is the ocean side, so watch the swell in winter.

Dunmore Town

Founded in the 1700s and one of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas. The loyalist cottages along Bay Street and up the hill are the reason the island looks the way it does. Rent a golf cart, which is the only sensible vehicle here, and drive the length of the island in twenty minutes. The Lone Tree on the bay side at low tide is the other photograph everyone takes.

Eating and drinking

Harbour Island eats well for its size. Sip Sip for lunch, the Landing and the Dunmore for dinner, Queen Conch for conch salad on the harbour, Ma Ruby’s for the cheeseburger, Vic-Hum Club late, Cocoa Coffee House in the morning. Several of these will cook the fish you caught with us if you call before three.

Sunset

The bay side faces west. Any dock on Bay Street works; Romora Bay and Valentines have bars on the water.

Day trips

The water taxi to the mainland takes ten minutes and a taxi from Three Island Dock will take you to the Glass Window Bridge, the Queen’s Baths and Preacher’s Cave in a morning. Spanish Wells is reachable by taxi and a second water taxi, or, easier, on the boat with us as part of an excursion day.

When to go

December to April is the season and it is busy and expensive. May and June are the sweet spot: warm, calm, and half the crowd. Late summer is hot and some hotels close for September and October.