The Bahamas

The Bahamas is an archipelago of some seven hundred islands and cays in the Atlantic just off Florida, with some of the clearest water anywhere. New Providence is home to Nassau with its colonial streets, Cable Beach and the bridges to Paradise Island. From here the cays and sandbars of the Exumas make a day out by boat.

Beyond lie the Out Islands, where life moves at a slower pace. Eleuthera is a long, thin island of pink-sand and Atlantic-facing beaches, fruit farms and quiet settlements, with Harbour Island just off its northern tip. Andros, the largest and wildest, runs alongside a great barrier reef and the deep Tongue of the Ocean, with blue holes, mangroves and shallow flats famous for bonefishing. Island life means conch, rum, Junkanoo, sailing, diving, snorkelling and fishing.

It is warm year-round, with the driest and most pleasant months roughly from December to April. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November, late summer and autumn being the riskiest time, and several small resorts close for part of it. The Bahamas suits beach and water lovers, divers and anglers, honeymooners and families in Nassau, while the Out Islands reward privacy-seekers.