Nassau Walking Question

[Cannotwaitocruise]

Thinking about getting off the ship for a few hours at Nassau.   Wondering if it is doable to walk around for a few hours with some light walking disabilities.  Not interested in the beach.   Just some light shopping and seeing some sights.   

[Jenny in TX]

We are going to Nassau in February for the 1st time and we plan on walking around and doing a self guided tour and then having lunch and heading to the beach.  From everything I have ready I feel safe walking around in the local tourist areas.  Looking forward to reading other comments though.

[dallasdan]

Yes, there is lots of restaurants and shopping within walking distance from the port.  I know you said no beach, but you can walk to the beach also.  Right past Margaritaville.

 

[iheartmarshall]

We did a DIY walking tour of Nassau back in 2018 when we first visited and it was a lot of fun!  However, we did a LOT of walking so it was a tiring by the end.  We did a loop and followed something similar to the image below (hopefully it shows up).  We walked up toward the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle (some uphill walking), crossed over toward the Government House, walked down and over to Junkanoo Beach, and then ended by checking out W Bay Street and all the shops.  It was a long day but we also spent some time at the beach (lunch, drinks) and went in a ton of shops.  

I'll also add that we did this in February and the weather was perfect -- 75-80 degrees with low humidity.  But this past June, we had a similar plan but it was so hot/humid that we didn't get very far before we abandoned our walking tour and went to the brewery instead.  So, the overall experience may vary depending when you're going. 

 

 

[DCGuy64]

On 1/13/2023 at 4:07 PM, Jenny in TX said:

We are going to Nassau in February for the 1st time and we plan on walking around and doing a self guided tour and then having lunch and heading to the beach.  From everything I have ready I feel safe walking around in the local tourist areas.  Looking forward to reading other comments though.

Our last visit to Nassau was in September 2021 and it was very depressing. The downtown area near the cruise port had lots of boarded-up windows and some buildings that were crumbling. In retrospect, I wish we had just gone to Junkanoo Beach. Maybe things have improved in the last year and a half, but it was clear to us that the lack of cruise passengers (thanks to Covid) had a big impact on Nassau.

[indy71]

My mom (aged 90) and I have done walking tours twice in Nassau. The first was almost identical to the one done by iheartmarshall, and last week, we walked to the Pirate Museum and the Graycliff Chocolatier (over 1 mile away). While we were able to successfully complete our journey, I would not describe it as a pleasant one. When we first got off the ship, the crowds of walkers were almost overwhelming. When we got past the crowds, we found that sidewalks were narrow, missing or crumbling much of the time. There was fast traffic coming very close to us. We experienced similar conditions on both walks. This past week, we chose to get a taxi back to the ship, which is really the way to go, in my opinion. It was $12 well spent. The destinations were worthwhile. I just don’t think I would walk it again. We did feel safe in our surroundings, by the way, just not with the walking surfaces. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by indy71
Additional information

[Jenny in TX]

Thank you for all the information!  We leave on our cruise in 2 weeks and as of right now we plan to do a walking tour, but it we feel like there isn't room to walk (no safe sidewalks), we will rent a taxi.  We do plan on going to the beach and also to Arawak Cay to eat lunch.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

@Jenny in TX or others - what did you think of walking to the beach.  DH and I will be in Nassau in two weeks and we are thinking of just walking to Junkanoo.  We did so with our kids many years ago and it was very walkable, but wondering about the safety and if the beach had vendors at this time.  

[Cuckoo7]

18 hours ago, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

@Jenny in TX or others - what did you think of walking to the beach.  DH and I will be in Nassau in two weeks and we are thinking of just walking to Junkanoo.  We did so with our kids many years ago and it was very walkable, but wondering about the safety and if the beach had vendors at this time.  

 

We'll be there in a few weeks as well and plan to again walk to Junkanoo.  We did so a year ago, and it's easily walkable.  I never had any safety concerns, either on the walk or at the beach.  There were some vendors, notably a really cool caricaturist, outside of the beach area, but nobody bothered us on the beach at all.  There were a couple of guys we saw in security shirts as well.

[Jenny in TX]

On 2/19/2023 at 5:58 PM, Vacationdreamer&lt;&gt;&lt; said:

@Jenny in TX or others - what did you think of walking to the beach.  DH and I will be in Nassau in two weeks and we are thinking of just walking to Junkanoo.  We did so with our kids many years ago and it was very walkable, but wondering about the safety and if the beach had vendors at this time.  

We leave Saturday on our cruise and plan to walk to Junkanoo also.  We have never done it before, but from what I have heard it is very easy and safe.  I don't know about vendors on the beach, but I figure it can't be worse than Mexico and usually a polite "no thank you" works.

[death_star]

The walk to Junkanoo is fine, the port is currently under a lot of construction though so there is a huge bottle neck with leaving the actual port area. Once you get past that it is just normal city stuff.Highly recommend you go in a street to Bay St and walk on that as those sidewalks are better than the ones on the street closest to the port.

 

We have definitely seen some positive changes in the area over the last year+ and a lot of things have re opened. We have no problem walking around with our 2 young kids and stroller through most of the areas. 

 

A couple of weeks ago we did a day pass at Serenity Beach at British Colonial. It was well worth it for some pretty chill beach time. It is tough to get to though with a stroller or mobility issues. You go to the Fins up water park and check in then follow a walkway back to the beach at the BC. There is a narrow wooden stairway at the end down to the beach from the sea wall that then puts you out on a tiny spot without much beach to step down to. We made it with carrying the stroller down and I didn't mind a slight step into water with my sandals for the 20 or so feet to the rest of the beach.

 

It was great for our few hours there with some food and bar service. DW did say though that the frozen drinks didn't compare to the ones at the huts on Junkanoo though.

 

 

[Cuckoo7]

On 2/22/2023 at 3:11 PM, Jenny in TX said:

We leave Saturday on our cruise and plan to walk to Junkanoo also.  We have never done it before, but from what I have heard it is very easy and safe.  I don't know about vendors on the beach, but I figure it can't be worse than Mexico and usually a polite "no thank you" works.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts when you get back, as we're going two weeks later.  When we went last year, it wasn't a peak time and our ship wasn't close to full.  So I'm wondering whether the vendors just didn't come out in force.

[Cuckoo7]

2 hours ago, death_star said:

The walk to Junkanoo is fine, the port is currently under a lot of construction though so there is a huge bottle neck with leaving the actual port area. Once you get past that it is just normal city stuff.Highly recommend you go in a street to Bay St and walk on that as those sidewalks are better than the ones on the street closest to the port.

 

We have definitely seen some positive changes in the area over the last year+ and a lot of things have re opened. We have no problem walking around with our 2 young kids and stroller through most of the areas. 

 

A couple of weeks ago we did a day pass at Serenity Beach at British Colonial. It was well worth it for some pretty chill beach time. It is tough to get to though with a stroller or mobility issues. You go to the Fins up water park and check in then follow a walkway back to the beach at the BC. There is a narrow wooden stairway at the end down to the beach from the sea wall that then puts you out on a tiny spot without much beach to step down to. We made it with carrying the stroller down and I didn't mind a slight step into water with my sandals for the 20 or so feet to the rest of the beach.

 

It was great for our few hours there with some food and bar service. DW did say though that the frozen drinks didn't compare to the ones at the huts on Junkanoo though.

 

 

 

Appreciate the information.  We're still planning on doing Junkanoo but might consider Serenity.  Are there umbrellas?  Some of the recent pics I saw seem to only show broken palapas.  Also, how much did you pay for the pass and where did you purchase?  

[death_star]

2 hours ago, Cuckoo7 said:

 

Appreciate the information.  We're still planning on doing Junkanoo but might consider Serenity.  Are there umbrellas?  Some of the recent pics I saw seem to only show broken palapas.  Also, how much did you pay for the pass and where did you purchase?  

There were some that were broken but most were working. There were also several trees around. Apologies for the quality but here's what it looks like from the water. 

 

 

there are normal loungers and then there are the beds with the palapas. We got the passes here https://www.resortforaday.com/ and it was just over $50 for 2 of us. 

[Cuckoo7]

Thanks!

[tsmilesisles]

On 2/24/2023 at 4:50 PM, death_star said:

There were some that were broken but most were working. There were also several trees around. Apologies for the quality but here's what it looks like from the water. 

 

 

there are normal loungers and then there are the beds with the palapas. We got the passes here https://www.resortforaday.com/ and it was just over $50 for 2 of us. 

 

I thought the BC closed down permanently after Covid? We have done a RFTD there in the past and it was enjoyable but heard it was pretty sketchy now. Did it seem fine for you? Was the pool clean - food voucher still included. 

Would prefer here vs. Margaritaville for the peace and quiet

[death_star]

6 hours ago, tsmilesisles said:

 

I thought the BC closed down permanently after Covid? We have done a RFTD there in the past and it was enjoyable but heard it was pretty sketchy now. Did it seem fine for you? Was the pool clean - food voucher still included. 

Would prefer here vs. Margaritaville for the peace and quiet

The hotel did close and is being refurbished. The property is owned by the same folks that own Margarittaville next door.  You check in there at the water park and then walk over. The pool is empty at the hotel so you're really just getting the beach,  some nice clean bathrooms,  bar service, and then you can order food from next door. No food voucher included. 

 

It was great for what it is,  a nice beach close to the ship with sparse other amenities. It's also tough to get to with there being a small set of stairs down from the walkway to the beach. 

 

You can certainly stop by shops on the way there and sort of do a picnic kinda thing. 

[Jenny in TX]

Thought I would give an update.  We did walk all over Nassau and had no problems.  There aren't sidewalks everywhere and the cars are definitely not friendly to people walking but we were fine.  I would probably not do it again, but mostly because there isn't much I would need to see a 2nd time.  We did not make it to the beach because some of our people were ready to head back to the ship.  If we go to Nassau again, we would just walk to the beach and hang out there for the day.

[jty1220]

On 3/16/2023 at 4:36 PM, Jenny in TX said:

Thought I would give an update.  We did walk all over Nassau and had no problems.  There aren't sidewalks everywhere and the cars are definitely not friendly to people walking but we were fine.  I would probably not do it again, but mostly because there isn't much I would need to see a 2nd time.  We did not make it to the beach because some of our people were ready to head back to the ship.  If we go to Nassau again, we would just walk to the beach and hang out there for the day.

How long did it take to walk from the ship to the beach?  Are there alot of restaurants on the way?

[Jenny in TX]

39 minutes ago, jty1220 said:

How long did it take to walk from the ship to the beach?  Are there alot of restaurants on the way?

We did not make it to the beach.  We did Fort Fincastle, Queen's staircase, Graycliff Cigars and chocolate and John Watling's Distillery.  We had 10 family members in our group and they didn't want to walk anymore so we headed back to the ship and didn't make the beach.  If we go back we will just head straight to a beach and hang out for the day.

[Cuckoo7]

3 hours ago, jty1220 said:

How long did it take to walk from the ship to the beach?  Are there alot of restaurants on the way?

 

Yes, there are plenty of restaurants.  The walk is about 10-15 minutes, I'd say.  To update my post above, we again had no issues with vendors at Junkanoo and had a wonderful time.  We walked further this time (about another 10-15 minutes) to the Fish Fry and had some great conch fritters at this place:  

 

[Rothko1]

That's a great video!

 

Man, there's nothing better than a plate of cracked conch with peas and rice.  With a cold bottle of Kalik to wash it down.

[MistyRo76]

On 3/20/2023 at 4:37 PM, Cuckoo7 said:

 

Yes, there are plenty of restaurants.  The walk is about 10-15 minutes, I'd say.  To update my post above, we again had no issues with vendors at Junkanoo and had a wonderful time.  We walked further this time (about another 10-15 minutes) to the Fish Fry and had some great conch fritters at this place:  

 

Hi! Was looking for info on Arawak Cay (aka The Fish Fry) and came across your post. Just trying to get the lay of the land - if we did Junkanoo beach, the Fish Fry is only about another 10-15 walk from there? Are there any decent free/inexpensive beaches near the Fish Fry that would be worth checking out? 

[Cuckoo7]

7 minutes ago, MistyRo76 said:

Hi! Was looking for info on Arawak Cay (aka The Fish Fry) and came across your post. Just trying to get the lay of the land - if we did Junkanoo beach, the Fish Fry is only about another 10-15 walk from there? Are there any decent free/inexpensive beaches near the Fish Fry that would be worth checking out? 

 

Yeah, we were on the western side of Junkanoo, and it's not an overly long walk at all to the Fish Fry. Just watch out for cars on that road (think it's called Esplanade) because they were whipping in and out. We walked all the way to the end and then back-tracked to the one we thought we'd like, which just so happened to be the one in the video above.  There will be folks at just about every restaurant trying to get you to come in.

 

Just past Junkanoo, the beach disappears and then there's another one.  I'm not sure if that's technically another beach or not.  We didn't see much there in terms of facilities, though, just folks on towels.

[MistyRo76]

Thanks for the info! it's been years since we've cruised to Nassau and often we just stay on the ship at that port. But we will have the kiddo this time and want to get out and explore.