Nassau relaxing beach or idea - in a week?

[aimcat]

Last year in Nassau we did a deal where we took a boat about an hour into Blue Lagoon, and while we enjoyed our day here the boat ride was about an hour, packed and just no to that again....what is another Nassau idea that doesn't involve an hour ride? Something nice, or just a beach to chill on? 

[lizroxy24]

Maybe look at the Clifton National Park tour.  It is a little bit of a drive but they will pick you up in a small group and take you to a very uncrowded beautiful beach which for us was worth a bit of a drive.

[aimcat]

Our ship comes into port at 11am. With that being said - what options should I look at for either a good beach to chill on or maybe a reputable ATV tour? 

[Bootscootin]

the Wharf area just past Junkaroo Beach. About the midpoint of the beach, past the throng but before all the concessions. You may want to use the concessions for chairs, umbrellas and water equipment

[aimcat]

Really want to avoid the beaches that have all the vendors and people trying to sell stuff...

[dvan68]

Take a cab to Cable Beach - only a 10 minute ride.  The driver will have you give a time that you want to return and will hook you up with a vendor for Chairs and Umbrella.  There are food and drink vendors, but no one is wandering the beach bothering you.

[blue_water]

I see this post is too late for the OP, just want to comment on the new Cable Beach recommendation.

 

We spent two weeks on Cable Beach a year ago and there was nothing but condo properties and the new Baha Mar property, which we stayed next to. Prior to Baha Mar (years ago) you could enjoy the beach at the Sheraton or whatever hotel was there. Baha Mar does not allow day visitors on the guest beach. 

The nearest public beach access we saw in Cable Beach was next to the Bob Marley hotel, which has since been closed, and there were no vendors or facilities at the beach. We met two couples on the street at Cable Beach who had just gotten off a jitney and we suggested they take the bus back to Goodman’s but they kept walking toward Baha Mar…

 

Goodman’s Bay - vendors selling food/drinks, renting lounges and jet skis. It’s a bit busy and not a perfect relaxing beach, but much better than Junkanoo Beach, that is too close to the ship..

Anyway unless something has changed we’d head to Goodman’s Bay, or perhaps Saunders Beach which is before Goodman’s. Grab the #10 jitney at Bay Street and Frederick and just tell the driver where you are going. $1.25 each way, exact change appreciated…

[mjkacmom]

13 hours ago, blue_water said:

I see this post is too late for the OP, just want to comment on the new Cable Beach recommendation.

 

We spent two weeks on Cable Beach a year ago and there was nothing but condo properties and the new Baha Mar property, which we stayed next to. Prior to Baha Mar (years ago) you could enjoy the beach at the Sheraton or whatever hotel was there. Baha Mar does not allow day visitors on the guest beach. 

The nearest public beach access we saw in Cable Beach was next to the Bob Marley hotel, which has since been closed, and there were no vendors or facilities at the beach. We met two couples on the street at Cable Beach who had just gotten off a jitney and we suggested they take the bus back to Goodman’s but they kept walking toward Baha Mar…

 

Goodman’s Bay - vendors selling food/drinks, renting lounges and jet skis. It’s a bit busy and not a perfect relaxing beach, but much better than Junkanoo Beach, that is too close to the ship..

Anyway unless something has changed we’d head to Goodman’s Bay, or perhaps Saunders Beach which is before Goodman’s. Grab the #10 jitney at Bay Street and Frederick and just tell the driver where you are going. $1.25 each way, exact change appreciated…

Good information, I had also heard that going to cable beach is really no longer an option.

[dvan68]

We were there in September. Used the taxi station in the cruise port, and they collected a bunch of us to go to Cable Beach. When the driver dropped us off, we arranged a pick up time, and he got us a vendor for a chair and umbrella. There were no roaming vendors, and a couple of stands doing drinks and we got some cracked conch. I don’t know what beach we were on if it wasn’t Cable because that’s what we asked for. 

[blue_water]

20 hours ago, dvan68 said:

We were there in September. Used the taxi station in the cruise port, and they collected a bunch of us to go to Cable Beach. When the driver dropped us off, we arranged a pick up time, and he got us a vendor for a chair and umbrella. There were no roaming vendors, and a couple of stands doing drinks and we got some cracked conch. I don’t know what beach we were on if it wasn’t Cable because that’s what we asked for. 

Perhaps Goodman’s Bay.

There may now be a vendor renting lounges at the public access area next to Bob Marley house. 
Curious - was it a large open beach area and was there a jet ski rental there?

[dvan68]

14 minutes ago, blue_water said:

Curious - was it a large open beach area and was there a jet ski rental there?

Yes, it was an open beach, with jet ski rentals.  It seemed like there were several locals renting the loungers, and our taxi driver did the talking, then they just asked us where we wanted to be- in the shade or out near the water.  It was all very easy.  Outside of the water being very warm (it was September) we had a great time there.  Very relaxing - we were there about 4 hours.

[blue_water]

53 minutes ago, dvan68 said:

Yes, it was an open beach, with jet ski rentals.  It seemed like there were several locals renting the loungers, and our taxi driver did the talking, then they just asked us where we wanted to be- in the shade or out near the water.  It was all very easy.  Outside of the water being very warm (it was September) we had a great time there.  Very relaxing - we were there about 4 hours.

Yes that sounds like Goodman’s Bay, that’s near Cable Beach “proper” and where I recommend day visitors go.

much nicer than the more crowded Junkanoo Beach! 👍

For others looking for a beach option, your post is helpful. They can just hop a jitney in town (at Bay and Frederick Sts) and get there for $1.25/pp each way (exact change appreciated). The #10 and other buses stop there to return you to town…

[WingerSupreme]

On 3/19/2024 at 3:02 PM, blue_water said:

Yes that sounds like Goodman’s Bay, that’s near Cable Beach “proper” and where I recommend day visitors go.

much nicer than the more crowded Junkanoo Beach! 👍

For others looking for a beach option, your post is helpful. They can just hop a jitney in town (at Bay and Frederick Sts) and get there for $1.25/pp each way (exact change appreciated). The #10 and other buses stop there to return you to town…

Bumping an old thread here, but just trying to follow everything that's been said.

 

So, Cable Beach isn't a thing anymore, but Goodman's Bay is basically the same thing? 

 

If my wife and I are looking to spend a couple of hours in port at a beach, is that the best option? 

[svmodi]

Following

[blue_water]

8 hours ago, WingerSupreme said:

Bumping an old thread here, but just trying to follow everything that's been said.

 

So, Cable Beach isn't a thing anymore, but Goodman's Bay is basically the same thing? 

 

If my wife and I are looking to spend a couple of hours in port at a beach, is that the best option? 

At least from our experience when we stayed next to Baha Mar on Cable last May, that is correct.
 

One other source that I find useful for many cruise ship ports is CC’s sister site, TripAdvisor. Check that for any more recent developments.

 

There was a public beach access next to the closed Bob Marley property, but there were no amenities then…

On the “New Providence Island” forum on TA, “ScubaJC” and “Dusty-Traveler” are very helpful…

[astridwilson]

What we did:

We took the number 10 bus to Goodman’s Bay beach for $1.50 each and arrived before 10AM.  Paid $40 for 2 chairs and an umbrella.  When we first arrived, the beach was very quiet, and they set up our chairs and umbrella.  An hour later, a large crowd from the cruise ship arrived and they set them up in front of us.  The water was beautiful, warm and crystal clear.  Great for swimming but not snorkeling.  We did see a starfish, a large conch coming out of his shell and a school of Jacks swam by.  The beach did have a lot of jet ski activity, banana boats etc.  by noon there were a lot of people from the 3 cruise ships in port.  So, at 12:30 we left and took a taxi for $20 (there were 4 of us) to Saunders beach.  We ate at KFC for $28 for the 4 of us.  Katy and I walked across the street and snorkeled for 45 minutes.  My husband and grandson were hot and tired and wanted to head back to the ship or we would have gone down to the main beach.  We did see lots of small fish and 3 barracudas just across the street, but this is not a swimming beach area.  It was alongside a busy road.  Which is why we chose Goodman’s over Saunders.  The main beach did look nice and there was really no one there.  I wish we had chosen Saunders first.  We then headed back to the cruise port via another taxi for $20.  We could have waited for a bus but didn’t.  We did a little cruise port shopping and headed back to the ship.  

This Trip cost us a total of $116 for bus taxis and lunch.  We could have saved $28, making it $88 if we had waited on buses.  The Blue Lagoon beach excursion would have cost us as a family of 4, $310.