Rose Island snorkel and beach trip

Boats from Nassau take about half an hour to reach Rose Island, a long, thin island a few kilometres east of the city with no roads and no real settlement. The middle is a shallow lagoon, a skinny peninsula runs 11 km east, and its shore is where the Vulcan bomber crash-lands in Thunderball.

The trips land at private beach clubs on the island. The day mixes a guided snorkel over the reef (sea turtles are sometimes seen), time on the sand and the island's swimming pigs, which paddle out to meet you in the shallows. Some full-day trips include a Bahamian buffet lunch, an open bar, hammocks and freshwater showers. Think of it as a beach day with a snorkel stop rather than a serious reef trip.