THE IGUANA BEACH

The Northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas are an endangered species of lizards which live on the tiny islands of the Exuma Cays. During our tour we visited a specific beach where you can see many of these little dragons. Our guide gave us some bread and wooden sticks to feed the iguanas with. They can be really fast if they see some food and ran straight to you. It’s important not to get hectic to scare the iguanas. If you move slowly you can even get close to the ones chilling in the sun.

The boats coordinate the arrivals at the different stops – so there will never be too many people at the beach. When we visited the Iguanas we have been the only boat stopping there.

Compass Cay turned into a famous spot for Nurse Sharks. The sharks stayed loyal to this place after a shop opened on the decks and the staff members threw fish scraps in the water.
Nurse sharks aren’t dangerous for humans and the ones living here don’t mind the contact with people cause they are used to it.
Nevertheless sharks should always be treated with respect like all wildlife. I experienced that if you slowly float on the surface or stand still in the water they will come very close to you and swim around your body.
Nurse Sharks suck in their food through their jaw. That’s why our guide recommended us to form fists with our hands, so the sharks wouldn’t accidentally suck in our fingers cause they missed them with some snacks 

Compass Cay is very famous for different tour companies so of course we haven’t been the only ones here. Anyway it wasn’t too crowded since not everyone hops in the water for a swim.

From the Nurse Sharks we took another short boat ride to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a lunch break. It’s a cool place to relax and to enjoy a good burger with some drinks before we continued our tour to the probably most famous beach of the Bahamas.

THE PIG BEACH

The Big Major Cay is an uninhabited island which is populated by a group of pigs which live on the beach and even swim in the shallow water.

It is still a little mystery why these cuties live here. Some say they saved themselves here after a ship accident, others say pirates left them here to cook them later but never made it back and some say they were brought here for touristic reasons.
Whatever the reason is – the pig beach developed to one of the biggest attractions in the Bahamas.

They do have little shelters on the island and also fresh water to drink but for food they are dependent on visitors which feed them with vegetables and bread.

As soon as the pigs see an arriving boat they swim in the water to get closer and waiting for some treats. If you step on the beach with some food in your hand you should always watch who’s around you. We heard of a blogger who recently got bitten by a pig.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BRING?

• towels
• bathing suits
• sun blocker
• sun glasses (for the wind during the ride)
• something to cover up (light jacket or sweater) when it gets a little chilly during the ride
• camera & GoPro

On the boat they have water, soft drinks, beer and snacks