Nassau on $100/day: budget travel that doesn't suck

Prices in this guide are the writer's notes from when it was written. Baha Buddy has not checked them with the businesses named, and they may have changed. Confirm current prices directly before you go.

Nassau gets dismissed as a resort port — and if you only see Bay Street and Atlantis, that's fair. But the locals' Nassau, the one off the cruise grid, is one of the most rewarding cheap cities in the Caribbean.

$100/day covers a clean private guesthouse room, three real meals, a few rum punches, and one paid activity. Here's how it breaks down.

Where to stay ($30-50/night)

Skip the resort strip. Look for guesthouses and small Airbnbs in the residential neighborhoods east of downtown — Eastern Road, Centreville, or Fox Hill. Clean private rooms with AC and wifi run $30-50/night and you're still 10-15 minutes from town by jitney.

The key is reading recent reviews. Some 'budget' listings have given up on basic maintenance. A good filter: only book places with at least 20 reviews from the last six months.

How to eat for $15/day

Conch fritters at Potter's Cay under the Paradise Island Bridge: $7 for a generous serving. The vendors there are run by local fishermen who landed the conch that morning.

For lunch, look for any storefront with 'snack' or 'takeaway' in the name. A plate of stew fish or curry chicken with peas-and-rice, plantains, and macaroni costs $8-12 and feeds you for the day. Bahamian Cookin' Restaurant, just off Bay Street, is the famous example, but every neighborhood has its own.

Dinner Friday or Saturday: Fish Fry at Arawak Cay. Pick any stall with a line. $15 gets you a fresh-grilled snapper, sides, and a coconut. The Goldie's and Twin Brothers stalls are the institutions.

What to actually do

Free things: walk through downtown (Government House, Parliament Square, the Queen's Staircase), wander the Straw Market (haggle or just look), swim at Junkanoo Beach (free, in the middle of town), tour Fort Charlotte (free entry, small donation for the guide).

Worth paying for: the Pirates of Nassau museum ($15 — much better than the name suggests), and one snorkel trip out to a reef. Stuart Cove's snorkel boat is $80 for the half-day with all gear. That's your one splurge.

Getting around

Jitneys (local buses) cost $1.25 anywhere on the island. They run constantly until about 7pm. After dark, taxis are $10-15 to most places — share with other travelers when possible.

Walking distance covers downtown plus the western tip (where Arawak Cay is). For Cable Beach or further east, take the jitney.

Buddy's tip

Three days is plenty for Nassau itself. If you have a week, do two days in Nassau, then a $90 round-trip ferry to Spanish Wells or a $60 flight to Andros. The contrast is the whole point of the Bahamas.