**Accidentally made this post super long and wordy. Classic me throwing in too many minor insignificant details but I word vomited my experience going to the Bahamas and here she is! **
Well let’s be frank folks, this pandemic has really put a damper on all things fun. But the traveler lifestyle courses through my veins and I frickin hate that I have been trapped at home just waiting for things to return to normal. I hate that the government thinks they can tell me where I can and can not go, CDC guidelines and all. So I say f the no travel “recommendations” and do whatever and go wherever you want. Just be smart and cautious of the wellbeing of others and get tested/ wear a mask etc. It’s been studied that corona isn’t really transmitted on planes anyway due to the air filters sooo I say if you want to travel and you don’t mind jumping through some hoops to do it, then GO BE FREE!
Since I have had to come home from Bali at the start of this pandemic, I’ve actually left the country four times…and I never contracted the rona nor have I been vaccinated (although I do have my Pfizer appt set for Thursday). I first went to Mexico, then the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and most recently the Bahamas. I’ll write a post about how it was traveling through each of those countries in the midst of a pandemic, but this post will focus specifically on the Bahamas.
The whole idea behind going to the Bahamas actually stemmed from my college friends. I personally wanted to save some money so I could leave America when more borders were open and I could backpack normally again. Since I went to Mexico and the Netherlands, my bank account took a hard hit; but my friends easily convinced me by planning the trip during my birthday in April. The previous year I spent my 23rd birthday alone in my room because I was in the middle of my 2 week quarantine. I had just returned from Bali in the height of the pandemic and my parents were taking 0 chances. So the thought of spending my birthday in the Bahamas with my best friends was the lil push I needed to be fully on board.
Thus, the planning commenced! I LOVE lists and I LOVE traveling. So you can imagine the color coordinated google doc I put together detailing out all the best beaches, restaurants, food/drinks to try etc. I actually make this type of google doc for every trip I go on. The research makes me super excited for the trip and it helps me feel prepared so once I arrive I don’t ever miss out on the best stuff. I don’t always hit all the places on my list but I like knowing what’s out there so I can go with the flow in the moment.
So we booked two airbnbs, each on a different island. One in Nassau and the other on Great Exuma. They were super reasonably priced (assuming because nobody was booking) so we were stoked to get a deal. It was around 30 bucks a night per person for an entire condo on the water!
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Both airbnbs had a 6 person max but we planned to squeeze in one extra on the couch. This became quite the dilemma later on…more on that soon.
Ok lets get into the nitty gritty. The Bahamas was honestly pretty strict about Covid. Way stricter than the other countries I’ve been to. We had to review the requirements time and time again to make sure we didn’t mess up the forms.
So the requirements to enter the Bahamas were the following: Take a PCR test 5 days or less before the flight. Once you have the negative test results, then you can apply for the Health Visa where you upload the results and pay for $60 mandatory insurance. This insurance covers the rapid test that is required for you to take on day 5 of your trip. The tricky part was the Health Visa stated that it could take up to 72 hours to process. So you can imagine the scheduling nightmare of trying to take the PCR test and get the results with enough time to apply for the visa and get approved before the flight.
Many calls were made so everyone in our 7 person group didn’t mess up the timing. Most of us didn’t get approved for our Health Visa until the day before our flight. We ended up calling the Bahamas health hotline to check on our visas and were put on hold for hours. Some of us got through and were approved on the phone, but others never even made it to a real person before the phone just hung up automatically. This happened multiple times before it was realized that we were calling on a Saturday. Woops, dumb blonde moment. So after some fright, everyone ended up getting their visas and the trip was officially a go!!
I do want to mention that weeks before our trip Delta emailed us that our return flight was “no longer available” and they automatically switched our flight home to 2 days earlier. I’m likeeee um no thank you??? So after being on hold with Delta for an hour, I finally got through and they informed me that they just weren’t flying that day anymore. So I got a full refund and had to find a new flight home. I ended up booking on JetBlue a day later than the original return flight. Luckily half our group was planning to stay a full 2 weeks, whereas I was leaving after 10 days to save some money. Thus, the airbnb was already booked so I didn’t have to find a new place to stay for an extra night. Crisis averted. But THEN a new crisis emerged.
The woman who owned the first airbnb emailed me to say that the first night of our booking was just not available anymore??? She asked if we could come one day later instead and she would extend our stay by a day so we didn’t lose any time. She offered a 20% discount for the inconvenience so we agreed and took the deal. Now we all had to change our first flight to a day later or we could find a new place to stay for one night. To make this work we also had to ask the second airbnb owner if we could cancel the first night of our booking and come one day later instead. After our scheduling change was approved, we fixed our flights. Luckily the airlines have free change fees because of covid so it was pretty easy to change to a day later; albeit I was on hold with American Airlines for 45 mins. Jenna and Kyler decided not to change their flight and they booked a fancy shmancy hotel with their Amex points for the night.
Okkk phew so finally everything was settled and the day of the trip was here!! LAX airport had moderate traffic and everyone was wearing a mask as mandated. I had an early flight to Dallas with a tight 40 min layover and then on to Nassau. The check-in desk at LAX did ask to see my visa which I showed them and got the all clear. My flight to Dallas was pretty full and I had a middle seat 🙁 I was a bit sketched about being so close to strangers so I made sure my mask was on tight the whole flight. In Dallas I rushed to the air tram to take me to the right terminal for my connecting flight. During this time I got all these texts from Erin who was flying in from Hawaii. Her plan was to fly Hawaii to Dallas, Dallas to Miami, then Miami to Nassau. What a headache. Her first flight ended up being delayed and Miami was having weather issues so she was for sure going to miss her connecting flights. At this moment, she was stuck on the tarmac waiting to deplane into Dallas. Since I was flying direct from Dallas to Nassau, we were hoping she could make it in time to switch flights and just get on my plane instead.
Cue to me at the gate asking the agents if it was possible and they said the flight had space so if she made it on time they would be able to change her ticket for free. Erins stupid plane was searching for a gate and kept switching it around. Finally they decided on gate C9 and my flight was leaving from C15!! So all she had to do was get off the plane, run down a few gates and hop on my plane! The agents promised they would wait till the last second to close the doors so she could have the most time possible. But sadly Erins plane took too long and she didn’t make it. Defeated, I got on the plane and just as we started to taxi away Erin ran up the gate agents panting. Unfortunately, she was 5 minutes too late. It felt like a movie moment where she would run up at the last second and make the flight. But nope. Instead she had to spend the night in an airport hotel and fly out the next day. Due to the tight Health Visa time frame, Erin had to take another Covid test and apply for a new visa. She ended up getting somebody’s Whatsapp who worked for the Bahamas Visa Agency and worked it out with him. But what a fricken disaster. We all felt so so so bad for her. Not the most ideal way to start your vacation.
But the rest of us all arrived and made it to the airbnb. My flight was super empty and I had a whole row to myself. After landing I took a taxi to the airbnb which was a whopping 22 dollars for a 5 min drive. I was shook. The airbnb was in a gated condo community and the security guards took their jobs VERY seriously. They asked for my health visa, negative covid test, and wrote my name on this list. I didn’t think anything of it until the next day when Erin finally arrived. She called us from outside the gate saying how the security guards weren’t letting her in since we already have 6 people accounted for in our unit. Ahh crap.
Sarah went out to try and help (and bribe them with a Benjamin) but the security guards were not budging. After about an hour of negotiations, I finally called our airbnb lady, Rebecca, and explained the situation (with a little white lie about how we originally had 6 but last minute our friend decided to come). She said she didn’t mind one extra but the housing association sets the limit to the amount of people per unit. She didn’t want to get in trouble so we tried to assure her we would be super quiet and not make a scene. There was also the local on-site property manager, Barbara, who we were calling with as well.
After I got the OK from Rebecca I told the security guards the good news. But they didn’t believe us and wanted to talk to Rebecca themselves. But then Rebecca wanted to talk to Barbara first. And Barbara wanted to talk to the security guards. It was one big game of telephone and it was a bit ridiculous. Finally after several calls back and forth the security guard said he needs to hear it from Rebecca. So I called her and tried to give the guard the phone…but he refused. He told me she needs to call the security guard on their booth phone. I was like…”excuse me sir she’s already on the phone, here she is” and tried to hand the phone to him again. But he once again refused and made her hang up and call the booth phone. So she did and he LEFT the fricken booth so he missed the damn call!!! So dumb. She called again and finally they spoke. After a weird few minutes of uncertainty they finallyyyyy let Erin in. OY FRICKEN VEY. Another crisis averted.
After these hiccups in the very beginning, the rest of the trip was pretty seamless. There were some major pros and cons to traveling to the Bahamas during the pandemic.
THE PROS:
Our airbnb was very affordable and right on the water. We had a grand ol’ time exploring the island and the many beautiful white sand beaches with barely anybody on them.
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All the food was 10/10 and the lack of tourists made us feel like the only ones exploring the islands. We were able to get reservations or walk-up to super nice restaurants that I can assume would usually be all booked up. We even booked big tours and scuba diving the day before.
THE CONS:
Since we were basically the only tourists, a lot of the locals saw us as money bags. Lots of tipping and inflated prices. Some of the little shops or stands were shut down. Some companies had completely gone out of business and some restaurants had closed their doors. Taxis were extremely overpriced…like 55 dollars to go 15 minutes. No meters or standard pricing, the drivers just made it up as they went. We kept using the same two drivers, Big Rod and Paula. We felt so bad for the lack of business though so we paid the hefty toll to get around the island. They did provide us with a lot of insider information that was super interesting to learn. The Bahamas is extremely expensive because everything is imported so even a basic breakfast meal cost $25. Most of our dinners were $30-$60. One particular meal was $100 a head. So word to the wise: don’t go to the Bahamas unless you got cash to blow.
The only covid restriction that really sucked was the 10 pm curfew. Due to the curfew, all restaurants closed at 9, with last seating at 8:30. But everything happens for a reason because Jenna and Kyler (who were the ones that decided not to change their first flight) stayed at a hotel for one night. Therefore they knew that hotels were the only exception to the curfew. If at a hotel restaurant or casino, there was no curfew enforced! So on our way to the casinos we went. We did have to show a negative covid test taken 5 days or less before entering the casino. Since all of our tests were taken 5 days or less before our flight, we actually wouldn’t be allowed in. Well that just wouldn’t do so Ray photoshopped our tests to 2 days later so we would get in and it worked!! Slightly immoral? Sure, but hey we wouldn’t to gamble!!
Our first night at the blackjack tables went very well for me and terrible for everyone else. I won $163 where everyone else lost about $100-$300 per person. In their defense we were getting hammered with the free drinks given at the tables. I attribute most of my earnings to my dealer of all dealers: Anwar. He was so chill and would shake his head no if I hit on a hand I should have stayed at. He taught us novices about splits and doubling down too. He was the best and my good luck charm.
We all joked that we would never return to the casino but a few days later it was Sarah’s birthday and we got a late start to dinner. The only places that would be open were the hotels so we reserved a table at a sushi place….right next to the casino. I think all of my luck got transferred to Sarah because she kept winning and I kept losing. I lost everything I won the previous night and then some. Also Anwar wasn’t working and I think that was a major factor into why I sucked so bad. After that night we really promised never to return. I completely understand the gambling addiction..it’s real and it’s scary. “Just one more hand and I can win it all back”…said everyone ever.
Other than the curfew the only other annoying thing was the constant asking of negative tests. We went to Paradise Island to check out the famous Atlantis hotel and they also would not let us in without a covid test 5 days or less before. We all had it this time since we photoshopped the casino test dates, but Kyler didn’t bring his phone so he didn’t have his test. The security guard would not let him in, even with 6/7 of our group having the negative results. Real strict security guards over here.
On our sixth day we had a flight booked to the Exumas, often called the Out Islands. We thought we just had to take a mandatory rapid test on day 5 but because Erin had the in on Whatsapp with the Health Visa guy, he told us we needed to apply for another Health Visa for the Exumas. Our first one was an international visa and this one would be domestic. For the Health Visa, you need a negative PCR test taken 5 days or less before the flight. So the visa man told us that we just had to do the PCR test and not the day 5 rapid. So we all got our tests and paid a whopping 140 dollars to get it. Ouch.
At the airport check-in desk we had to show our new visa and negative covid test. There were also covid safety officers right before security that we had to show our negative test to again and have our temperature taken. The plane was a small lil guy and was relatively full. When we landed in the Exumas we were all a bit surprised by the airport. To call it an airport would be a bit of a stretch, it was more like a room. They checked our covid test one last time before we got our bags and went to our new airbnb. Luckily no security guards at this one so our 7 person party wasn’t an issue.
The Exumas were surprisingly really underdeveloped. It was very much secluded island vibes…the grocery stores closed at 6pm and the power/wifi went out pretty frequently. It was extremely gorgeous and it really felt like we had the place to ourselves. We booked an amazing boat trip for my birthday that was ~almost~ a private charter. Some people ended up coming on last minute but they had the back of the boat and we had the front. We were on the boat island hopping from 9am-6pm. Cruising along the bluest, clearest, and most stunning waters I’ve ever seen.
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We swam with the pigs and piglets, jumped in the chummy water with nurse sharks, fed prehistoric looking iguanas, snorkeled over Pablo Escobars plane wreck, went to a cool cave thingi, and even saw where the disaster of Fyre Fest took place!
There was also the most adorable puppy that spent the day with us on the boat. She loved me and I loved her and I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about her since. We also got beer and Goombay Smashes included…but it was impossible to drink when the boat was moving…we found that one out the hard way. So when the boat stopped, we chugged.
One of the days we rented a car and drove across the whole island exploring beaches. They drive on the opposite side of the road since the Bahamas was colonized by England. There are also no lanes on the roads so it was a bit of an adventure. Shoutout to Herbert, our fearless driver! Jenna and I were leaving the next day so we had to get another covid test to fly home. The current rule to enter the US is to get a negative PCR or rapid test 3 days or less before flying. Thankfully we were both negative woohoo! The test would have been 40 bucks but we ended up getting it for free by claiming our pre-paid unused covid test from our original day 5 test that we didn’t take since we took the PCR instead.
Jenna and I arrived at the “airport” far too early and played cards to pass the time. We were asked for our negative test at the airport when we checked in. We took an even smaller plane to Florida where we had a 4 hour layover until our flight to LAX. We had to go through customs in Florida and my god does Ft. Lauderdale suck. Veryyyy long lines that I had to endure alone since Jenna has global entry and left me in the dust. She waited at the gate and I didn’t catch up to her for over an hour. I was never asked for my negative test in America nor was I ever temperature checked. Yikes. But our flight home was pretty full and Jenna asked someone in my row to switch so we could sit together. When we got to LAX nothing else was asked of us and we got home safe n sound.
Overall it was an amazingly fun trip and I feel lucky as heck that we were able to see it without any tourists. We deff had to jump through hoops to do it though. We also had a daily health survey that we had to fill out which if we didn’t we could get fined 500 a day. But by the end we all forgot and nothing ever happened with that so I’m assuming it was a scare tactic.
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend the Bahamas for the budget traveler or someone who wants an easy seamless covid free trip. There are 100% other countries that are open right now with way looser restrictions. But if you don’t mind the prices and the constant testing, then go for it! It was stunning beyond belief and very clean. The locals were really excited and happy to see us so it made us feel good for contributing to their economy. So if you really crave travel then stop reading my posts and go book a trip! Life waits for no one.