Bahamas Ferry Services for Travelling
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Once in the country, modern Bahamas Ferry Services allow you to do island hopping between Nassau, Eleuthera Island, Andros, the Exumas as well as within the boater's paradise around Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island.
This page was last updated in
July, 2009.
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Basically There Are Three Different Bahamas Ferry Services.
Actually there were four until Summer 2004 when the Bahamas-Florida Express CAT, from Freeport in the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale in the US was suspended.The reason? The company met with to much competition from the airlines. But most importantly, the Bahamian government did not allow the planned route Fort Lauderdale to Freeport to Nassau and back to Ft. Lauderdale. This would have linked Freeport to Nassau by ferry for the first time.
So, there are three Bahamas ferry services left:
1. The Fast Ferry System within the Bahamas.
2. The Bahamas Ferry Services around Marsh Harbour, Abaco.
3. The old mail boat system connecting the 20 inhabited islands of The Bahamas to the capital Nassau. BTW, here are the Nassau Pros & Cons.
Suspended Ferry from Florida to The Bahamas (as of Summer 2004)
Your best bet really is to fly from Ft. Lauderdale (airport code FLL) to Freeport (FPO) by low-fare carrier
SpiritAir.com
They will also fly you cheaply into Nassau (NAS).
The CAT was a top modern high-speed service that got passengers from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, to Freeport on Grand Bahama within only two hours.
The 320 foot (98 meters) CAT was traveling at up to 55 mph (90 km/h). It was able to "fly" 900 passengers at highway speeds - and offered great amenities on-board. But that's history now. If that Bahamas Ferry Service should resume, I'll report it here.
1. The Fast Bahamas Ferry Services Linking Nassau to Eleuthera, Abaco, Andros and The Exumas.
Click here to go to another page of this site, for advantages & disadvantages of using Fast Ferries within the Bahamas. (Clicking pops open a new window -- when you close it, you'll be right back here.)2. The Albury's Ferries in Marsh Harbour, Abaco island.
These are scheduled Bahamas ferry services to the very interesting small islands near Marsh Harbour.
Albury's Ferries have been operating ferry services to the nearby Elbow Cay, Man-O-War Cay and Great Guana Cay for over 45 years.
Albury's also rents boats with outboard engines and Bimini tops. The area around Marsh Harbour is a true boater's paradise.
Looking For A Bahamas Beach House Rental?
We know Judy in Florida and she knows all Bahamian islands very well. Click here, view some good photos and ask Judy to find your ideal Bahamas Beach House Rental.
3. Mail Boats
It's the cheap way to get to just about anywhere in the Bahamas. To the inhabitants of the 14 main islands, mail boats used to be the only connection to the outside world.Take a look at these 14 islands of The Bahamas on the map just below.
From North-West to South-East they are...
- Grand Bahama Island, home of Freeport
- The Abacos
- Bimini
- The Berry Islands
- Eleuthera and Harbour Island
- New Providence Island with Nassau & Paradise Island on it
- Andros
- Cat Island
- The Exumas
- San Salvador
- Long Island (Yes, there's one in the Bahamas, too!)
- Acklins/Crooked Island
- Mayaguana
- Inagua
Mail boats transport freight, mail and passengers. But be forewarned... It is quite an adventurous way of exploring the Islands.
We went straight into the center of mail boat coordination which is the Dock Master's Office in Nassau, phone: 1-242-393-1064.
It is located on the right side of Potter's Cay. That's the rectangle under the two bridges below, connecting Paradise Island with Nassau.
Another problem we had to deal with was this... When we tried to get a ticket from Abaco to Nassau, we were told the mail boat scheduled for that day had a changed itinerary and is now sailing to the US.
But now (2008) the mail boat organization seems to have improved.
Mailboat Schedule
Click here to get the government's official mail boat schedule.For short legs, for example from Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, to Nassau, the mail boat "Eleuthera Express" is a viable solution.
It's cheap and you can travel quite comfortably in an air-conditioned passenger cabin where you will meet many of the friendly locals.
Here's the mail boat "Eleuthera Express" with its air-conditioned cabin at the back.
The trip from Nassau to Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, will take over five hours.
In comparison... An airplane will only take 20 minutes to do the same distance from Nassau to Governor's Harbour
Call the Dock Master in Nassau.
Phone: 1-242-393-1064 When you're in Nassau, dial 393-1064.
He will tell you on what day and the approximate time a boat will leave from Nassau to any of the 14 Bahamian islands above.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Modern Bahamas Ferries
