Everyone deserves a vacation. When planning a trip to a place that you have never been or have not been in a long time, it can sometimes be stressful. We don’t want you to worry or stress when planning your trip to paradise! Here are 5 tips that we recommend so that you have a chill and relaxing vacation of a lifetime. And don’t forget to visit us at Chat ‘N’ Chill® on Stocking Island!
Find The Best Vacation Rental Or Hotel
When booking private homes and villas on AirBnb and Vrbo make sure you are checking reviews before booking! Exuma is made up of 2 main islands, Great Exuma and Little Exuma, and smaller islands and cays. Do your research on where you want to stay before booking. The airport is located on Great Exuma.
Check out our running list of private homes, villas and hotels that we recommend >>HERE.
Book Your Tours Ahead Of Time
When you book your accommodations and travel for your trip, book your tours! If you are visiting during a holiday or a busy season like spring break, tours fill up so book ahead of time so that you can pick the date for the tour that works best for your group. Keep in mind that plans do change due to weather and sometimes tours need to be rescheduled or canceled.
Check out our running list of tour companies we recommend >>HERE.
You’ll Want To Rent A Car, Boat or Both!
If you are staying on Great Exuma, it is small, only 37 miles long! Depending on where your rental home or hotel is located and what your trip itinerary entails, you may want to rent a car. There are plenty of local car rental companies to choose from, some will even deliver the car to your rental or hotel! Check out, Out Island Car Rentals, Exuma Auto Rental and Take A Chance Car Rental. If you decide to skip the car rental there are plenty of taxis on the island. If you are staying at a hotel, the front desk or concierge can arrange a taxi for you.
You won’t only navigate Exuma by land but also by sea! You can rent a boat from Minn’s, Exuma Boat Rentals or Island Exclusive to explore the smaller islands and cays and spend a day at Chat ‘N’ Chill® or Da Sand Bar. If captaining your own boat isn’t what you planned to do on your vacation, you can take a water taxi, we recommend A1 Water Taxi or Elvis Water Taxi.
Consider Hiring A Private Chef
If you are traveling with a large group and staying in a home or villa, you may want to eat in some nights to enjoy the beautiful place that you are staying at. You might not want to cook on vacation or maybe you don’t want to go to the grocery store to stock up on what you need (groceries here are generally expensive and some things easily go out of stock) you can hire a private chef to come cook for your group!
At Home Chef Options:
Thai Hibachi –242-464-1293
cheftahj@yahoo.com
Chef Tahj brings his grill and cooks right in front of you just like a hibachi restaurant. He also does sushi.
Chef Gavin – 242-464-1325
Chef Gavin can cook anything from authentic Bahamian food (lobster and grouper) to a delicious lasagna that is totally worth trying. Don’t forget to ask him about his Guava Duff dessert.
Chef Shariqua – 242-808-1557
Shariqua cooks traditional Bahamian cuisine including steak and potatoes. She’s known for her large portions and she is great for family-style dinners.
Chef Khristont – 242-524-5183
Chef Khristont is the owner of Tropic Breeze and is available for breakfast and dinner catering. He also has been known to sing for his guests.
Enjoy Island Time
This is your vacation! Don’t fuss over the little things. Relax, you’re in paradise! Think like a local and have “no worries”. The infrastructure of Exuma is most likely completely different from what you are used to at home. That means the power and internet could go out at any time for no reason at all and maybe not come back on for a few days. We recommend keeping this in mind if you plan to work remotely while in Exuma. While most hotels and larger vacation rentals have Starlink, sometimes things just don’t go as planned and you will need to catch up on what you need to do the next day or when you head back home. Now sit back, relax, sip on a Bahama Mama, and soak up paradise.
