Explore the character of the islands by learning about their history and culture. Calabash Eco Adventures runs two sightseeing tours. These bus tours illuminate the island's history, from burial grounds to important milestones in modern settlement. The guides lead visitors to historic buildings and explain their significance. Each trip takes five hours and includes lunch.
Get acquainted with modern Bahaman culture by attending local events. Smith's Town hosts a fish fry every Wednesday night, where you can taste local fare and mingle with residents.
Chad4Nature Tours offers two nature tours: one to the east end of the island and one to the West end. Guests travel in clear-bottomed kayaks over reefs and underwater caverns. They see a multitude of species, from fish beneath the kayaks to birds above them.
The Rand Nature Center gives visitors the chance to wander through a 100-acre park near Freeport and experience Grand Bahama's biodiversity. There, you can see 130 species of plants and 18 species of birds that live only in the Bahamas. The center recommends birding from October to May.
Scuba divers can see beautiful reefs and abundant life near Grand Bahama. From tropical fish to dolphins and sharks, the waters teem with marine life. If you are a certified diver, you have three options when planning your Grand Bahama dive vacation. You can look for a dive shop in your area that is planning a group trip to Grand Bahama and join its group. You can also book a trip on a liveaboard. Liveaboard dive boats have living quarters where you can stay for the duration of your vacation. There may be short trips to the island, but most of your time will be spent on or in the water. Alternatively, you can contact local dive shops on Grand Bahama and make arrangements to fill tanks so that you can dive independently or join one of their dives at a local site.
The guides from Calabash Eco Adventures lead dives in Owl's Hole Cavern. Divers explore a pool of water beneath Owl's Hole, where burrowing owls nest. They are never out of sight of natural light, and they can see the eels and gobies that make the cavern their home. Groups that are intrigued by island history can add a hike to an abandoned town to their excursion.
Divers with the necessary experience and training can contact the Underwater Explorer Society on Grand Bahama to gain access to the Bahaman cave system, an extensive network of underwater passageways that is open only to certified cave divers.
