GUEST COMMENTAY: BY JASON PERLOW
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Jason Perlow is a contributor at CNN, Food & Dining Columnist at TAPinto Coral Springs, Editorial Director at The Linux Foundation, and Founder at Foodies of Florida. He recently spent a week in Grand Bahama.)
CORAL SPRINGS, Florida — If you’re like many Coral Springs residents, you may be looking for a vacation to get away from the busy South Florida lifestyle, with its dense population, heavy traffic, and concrete as far as the eye can see. Perhaps, you’re thinking of heading down to the Keys, as it’s only a few hours drive, so you can see the beaches, ocean, and nature and get some fresh seafood. I mean, isn’t that why we live here?
But with South Florida becoming a more open state to tourism by reducing its COVID-19 protocols, you might discover that even the Keys can get very busy, and finding accommodations and even places to dine can be difficult and expensive at peak times of the year.
On the other hand, Grand Bahama Island, which lies about 60 miles to the east of the coast of West Palm Beach, is often overlooked as a vacation spot because it lacks many of the developed aspects of a tourist destination – with just a few attractions or resorts and almost no nightlife.
Its principal area of tourism, Port Lucaya, situated in its main town of Freeport, pales in comparison to its Nassau counterpart in shopping and dining. The island’s retail locations are perhaps 70 percent vacant due to years of diminished tourism from COVID and Hurricane Dorian, whose Category 5 winds caused considerable damage to businesses and devastated the eastern half of Grand Bahama in September 2019.
WHY GRAND BAHAMA
But where others see only the negatives, I see many positives. Because Nassau and the Keys overshadow it, Grand Bahama only has a seasonal peak population of about 50,000 people, so you are not competing for nearly as much accommodation and services. The lower population versus other Caribbean nations or Nassau also carries a lower COVID risk. The CDC has recently downgraded all of the Bahamas to a Level 1 (low). The country also has much stricter COVID protocols than Florida – in addition to health visas before arrival, they require masks in every indoor location, frequent temperature checks, and hand sanitization at shopping, restaurants, hotels, resorts, and timeshares.
As it was never heavily developed as a tourist destination, Grand Bahama’s white-sand beaches are pristine and devoid of people. It is also very safe because it is sparsely populated. Crimes against tourists you hear about in Nassau, San Juan PR, or Jamaica are virtually unheard of. So if you are looking for a very close place to relax, at an English-speaking destination that accepts American currency, with few distractions – as the island internet and mobile data services are horrendously slow and unreliable – Grand Bahama is a great place to go.
BEFORE YOU GO
Grand Bahama is very close to South Florida and is only a 40-minute flight from Fort Lauderdale on BahamasAir (and Flamingo Air and American), which use turboprop planes that arrive at Freeport’s tiny (and currently temporary) airport. You can also get there by ferry, which takes about three hours, and a new Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville cruise ship from the Port of Palm Beach with overnight excursions has just begun selling tickets.
In addition to a valid passport, The Bahamas currently requires a Health Visa for each person before entering the country, so you will want to read up on their website about what is needed and begin the process. The Health Visa (all of which is processed online, $40 for vaccinated and $60 for unvaccinated) includes travel insurance ($500/day) for lodging and food should you become COVID positive before returning to the US and need to quarantine. COVID vaccinations are not required to enter the country, but you’ll need a negative PCR or proctored rapid test 72 hours before arriving.
One thing to note about the Health Visa is that you may receive initial automated emails after onboarding that you must check in with the website once per day during your trip to complete a daily health survey or risk incurring hefty fines. This appears to be a remnant of the height of the pandemic when the country was an upgraded COVID risk – immigration officials told us on embarkment that we didn’t need to do that. Sure enough, we did not need to do this, nor did we get any reminder emails that it was required.
MONEY AND LODGING
As the Bahamas is a former British colony (and currently a member of the British Commonwealth), the country’s official language is English.
The official currency is the Bahamian Dollar, which is pegged to the US Dollar on a 1:1 basis. Because of this, there’s no reason to exchange money on the island – US currency is accepted everywhere. You will usually receive change in Bahamian currency if you choose to use cash. We recommend that you spend the Bahamian dollars first, such as for tips (which we encourage you to do so generously, as it will get you that much better service in this country), or settling bills such as car rentals, as there’s no point in converting it back and dealing with exchange fees when you get home. As with the US, credit card transactions are commonplace, but as we didn’t see much in terms of contactless payment capability using smartphones, bring the real plastic and plenty of greenbacks.
As virtually everything must be imported, and the country’s only form of taxation comes from VAT and stamp taxes, almost everything purchased will seem expensive. Gas is around $5.50 per gallon, and good sale prices for 6-packs of soft drinks are 2 for $7. In the Bahamas, a single lime costs a dollar, whereas you might buy six to ten of them in South Florida for the same amount. A pineapple goes for about $7, and a pound of bacon is more than $10!
However, lodging is generally less expensive if you are looking to book a hotel or Airbnb. The lovely Pelican Bay Hotel is on the bay adjacent to Port Lucaya Marketplace, and across the street is the Grand Lucayan. We’ve also heard great things about the Bell Channel Inn (“Lovely experience. Great food and friendly staff and patrons.”) where we stopped in to try the Upstairs Restaurant (and had the best conch chowder of our entire trip).
If you plan to stay longer than a couple of nights, we recommend renting an apartment where you can have some of the amenities of home. With the ability to prepare meals, there is no rushing out first thing in the morning for coffee and breakfast; laundry facilities make packing light more manageable, and parking is included. You might find good deals on sites like TUG or Redweek, where timeshare owners re-sell or rent their weeks. If you already own a timeshare, you can exchange it for Freeport/Grand Bahama locations on Interval International and RCI. See complete commentary at https://docs.google.com/document/d/11S-TQVx_KqDZ1pKsIXFB231cflMQUoS7qL3bl2a47Uo/edit#heading=h.p89owus61tmm
