Exuma Cays boat tour: swimming pigs, nurse sharks and Thunderball Grotto

The long day out to the northern cays near Staniel Cay fills about eight hours. Speedboats run up the chain from Great Exuma, stopping at sandbars on the way. The pigs live on Big Major Cay, a colony of some fifty or sixty that swim out to meet the boats. They are hungry and can be pushy, so keep your fingers clear when feeding them.

At Compass Cay you step into shallow water at the marina and hand-feed nurse sharks with a guide beside you, for a small extra fee. They are mostly harmless but can bite a hand that strays near the mouth. Thunderball Grotto, where scenes from the Bond film were shot, is a cave inside a rocky islet, half full of seawater and fish and lit through holes in the roof. You snorkel in through a gap in the rock, which is easiest at low tide. Many trips add the rock iguanas on Bitter Guana Cay and stop for lunch at Staniel Cay.

The currents between the cays can be strong, so stay near the boat. Some half-day tours from Great Exuma skip all this and visit a nearer island with its own small pigs.