Swimming pigs: how to visit (and which tour to skip)

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.

The swimming pigs of Exuma are at this point the single most-Instagrammed Bahamas experience. Big Major Cay — also known as Pig Beach — is a tiny uninhabited island where a small population of feral pigs lives and, yes, swims out to greet boats in the hope of getting fed.

It's real. It's also more nuanced than the social media version suggests.

The two ways to get there

Option one: book a guided day trip from Nassau. These tours are heavily marketed, run all day, and bundle in stops at Iguana Beach, Thunderball Grotto, and the sandbar at sunset. You spend roughly 90 minutes total at Pig Beach itself, with maybe a dozen other groups arriving on similar schedules. Plan on $200-400 per person.

Option two: stay on Exuma or one of the surrounding cays (Staniel Cay is the closest base) and take a half-day local tour. Smaller groups, more time with the pigs, far less Nassau-to-Pig-Beach travel time. About $150-200 per person.

Which tour operators are actually good

The reputable Exuma-based operators include Four C's Adventures, Robinson's Charters, and Captain Marshall — all locally owned and they treat the pigs (and the tourists) well.

From Nassau, Powerboat Adventures runs the best of the larger trips: smaller groups than Bahamas Air Tours, faster boats than the catamarans, lunch included. Avoid the ultra-cheap day trips advertised on cruise ports — they overload boats and rush you through.

What you don't see on Instagram

Don't feed the pigs from your hand. Don't feed them anything except what your guide brings (usually pieces of vegetables; bread is bad for them). Don't try to ride them. Don't bring them into deep water for a photo — they're not strong swimmers, and a few have drowned in recent years from over-handling.

This is a fragile little tourist economy built on a sensitive ecosystem. The good operators know this and brief you carefully. The bad ones don't.

Best time to go

Year-round tours run, but November to April is the calmest sea and most reliable weather. June through October you may get bumpy boat rides and the occasional cancellation. Mid-morning visits are best — earlier than 9am you sometimes get to the cay before the pigs are interested in coming out.