The famous swimming pigs… I know y’all have seen them all over instagram. Those sweet little pigs live in Exuma, Bahamas- aka the most beautiful place I have ever been. The water in Exuma is unbelievable! Crystal clear and bright blue! A trip I’ll dream about forever.

We went to Exuma for our first anniversary and I couldn’t think of a better place to celebrate! A quite, romantic vibe at the resort but still enough adventure to keep things interesting and fun!


WHERE TO STAY:
Exuma is a VERY small island with not too many resorts. We stayed at Sandals Emerald Bay. We actually booked this trip while we are on our honeymoon in Saint Lucia! By now, I’m sure you know how we feel about Sandals. The food is great, the drinks are good and the service is impeccable. Sandals Emerald Bay sits on a bay (Emerald Bay- hence the name lol) and it is honestly the most stunning beach I have ever seen. White sand and the clearest, calm water. We spent SO much time swimming in the ocean.

WHAT TO DO:
Swim with pigs, sharks and iguanas: Probably the coolest thing I have ever done in my entire 26 years. I’m obviously a huge animal lover but getting to interact with these types of animals in their natural habitat was unreal. We booked this tour through Robert’s Island Adventures and I would recommend them to you a million times over. First, you head out on the boat and stop at Iguana Island- there are HUNDREDS of iguanas just roaming the island. It was wild. They were actually really friendly and interacted with us.

Next, we cruised around the most beautiful water and made a stop outside of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s private island (we didn’t see them). We were soon on our way to Compass Cay to swim with sharks!!! Okay, I did not think I would be scared because I’m not really scared of sea animals but holy moly when you see 50 sharks swarming the dock it is just a little bit intimidating lol! To my surprise, Logan jumped right in with them! I had to warm up to them for a few minutes but once I got in… they we’re SO sweet!!! Like little puppies, they just wanted to be pet. I couldn’t believe it. We swam around with them for about 45 minutes and it was so freaking cool.

After that sharks, we headed to the PIGS!!! Which is what I was the most excited about. We pulled up and the pigs just swam right up to our boat and holy moly, they are HUGE! They we’re a little feisty but oh so cute! There were about 10 piglets and I got to hold one! LIFE.MADE.


Sand Bar: Exuma is surrounded by sand bars where you can be in the middle of the ocean but walking on sand. No land in site. Unbelievable. We sat on the sandbar for about an hour and I’ll never forget it. We just kept saying ‘I can’t believe this place is real”. When it was time for the boat to leave we were NOT ready to go!


ATV’s: We rented ATV’S for the day and explored the island of Exuma. I knew it would be amazing, but I didn’t know how amazing. We drove up to a Caribbean farm and the farmed took a machete and gave us fresh coconuts. So delicious! We then toured historic landmarks and then headed to Coco Plum beach! Driving the ATV’s in and out of the water. It was so, so much fun!


Rent a Car + Explore: This is a must in Exuma! There is only one road on the entire island so it is impossible to get lost. We drove up to Coco Plum Beach for low tide, down to Georgetown and to the Tropic of Cancer Beach! While in Georgetown, we stopped at the straw market and purchased two handmade straw hats- truly the sweetest locals! After the straw market, we hopped on a ferry over to Chat n’ Chill. See below for more on Chat n’ Chill.

Chat n’ Chill: We hopped on a ferry from Georgetown to Chat n’ Chill. Chat n’ Chill is a local restaurant located on a tiny little island about 10 min from Great Exuma Island. The island is known for their stingrays and their fresh conch salad! The stingrays literally swim right up to the beach and rub up against you. It was SO cool- I loved every second of it. Logan…. not so much haha he kept running from the stingrays! Definitely put this on your list if you are in Exuma!


HOW TO GET THERE:
We flew Delta from NYC to Atlanta then from Atlanta to Georgetown, Exuma! The flights were super easy and not very long at all. I will say, the Exuma airport is SMALL. Smallest I have ever been in. The drive was about 15 minutes from the airport to our resort. On the way home we were delayed for 6 hours (which I hear happens a lot) and there is no air conditioning or food so keep that in mind before you head to the airport! Delta being the amazing airline that they are (our fav) gave us food and drink vouchers for the restaurant across the street from the airport, so we spent most of our 6 hours over there.
