RoxReels

Nassau, Bahamas was our second port of call aboard our 8 day voyage on the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas.

Based on prior experiences at Nassau, we honestly were initially not very excited when our cruise itinerary was adjusted and exchanged Puerto Plata for Nassau… but this time we had a grand time and actually spent the entire day in port!

Bahamas Rum Cake Factory

A 10 minute walk from the cruise port will bring you to the Bahamas Rum Cake Factory, where you can sample and purchase countless flavors of rum cakes marinated in Ole Nassau Rum distilled in Nassau.

Cabbage Beach

Our next goal was to find some sun and sand at Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island, across the harbor from the main island. We walked across the Paradise Island Bridge (this bridge stretches over the Unda Da Bridge food area, which you can bet we returned to afterward) to get to Cabbage Beach on the north end of Paradise Island.

I recommend coming to Cabbage Beach in the morning, before the crowds arrive. Parts of the beach are reportedly private, but a large central portion is public access. A handful of hawkers offer beach chairs and umbrellas for rent, for a wide variety of prices. Don’t forget to haggle! We were initially offered the price of $50 for two beach chairs and an umbrella, but then sealed the deal for $25 with someone else just a few feet away. The same people also sell libations in pineapples (Pina Colada is the best one, while the Sex on the Beach tasted like cough syrup) and you can pick your level of booziness for extra fun. The pineapple drinks cost $30 for 3 total fills, and one pineapple was more than sufficient to get the two of us tipsy. We walked on the beach, snorkeled, and relaxed while listening to the sound of the ocean. The snorkeling right in front of Cabbage Beach was underwhelming— we saw a bit of sea grass and very, very few fish. I read that the east end of the beach near the golf course has better snorkeling with more rock formations, but we didn’t go that far out.

Potter’s Cay “Unda Da Bridge”

After beach time, our tummies had started to grumble and we left Cabbage Beach toward Potter’s Cay (also known lovingly as Unda Da Bridge). Unda Da Bridge is a collection of food shacks near the foot of the Southbound Paradise Island Bridge, carrying traffic away from Paradise Island.

Unda Da Bridge came up several times during our pre-trip research for Nassau’s best eats. It is definitely a local option and likely not the best for families with small children or if you’re looking for ambience. You can easily navigate to the “Unda Da Bridge” food area via Google Maps (pro tip: download the maps to your phone before your cruise trip for greatest offline navigation ease)took us east toward our target destination of the “Unda Da Bridge” by searching for Mckenzie’s Fresh Fish & Conch.

Aside from walking to get there, there are plenty of transportation options including taxis and public buses, but the walk from the cruise port is doable (about a 25 minute walk).

Please have your “spidey senses” on high when you walk around unfamiliar areas, especially areas like Unda Da Bridge that are known for being a bit on the seedy side.

I highly recommend you come here to get a literal and figurative taste of the local life and cuisine, but don’t expect highbrow ambience. Most places open close to lunchtime, after 11am, so don’t plan to eat there for breakfast. Besides us, everyone there was a local. We ordered conch salad (fresh conch, onion, jalapeno, tomato, lime juice) from Skinny’s Place and fried conch and Kalik beer from Donnie’s Conch Salad. I highly recommend both. The conch is so fresh— you can see them shelling and cleaning the conch right before transforming it into conch salad, all done to order. I was mesmerized by the little mountains of discarded conch shells rising up out above the water near the conch vendors.

John Watling’s Distillery

Bellies satisfied, we then took a taxi ($5 per person) to downtown Nassau where we browsed the Bahamas Straw Market (very touristy) before continuing to sample rum at John Watling’s Distillery. John Watling’s Distillery is located in a historic estate dating back to 1789. They offer a free 10 minute guided tour which ends in a tasting room. As we had just purchased a bottle of rum during our day in Sint Maarten, we deferred the purchase of another bottle here at Watling’s. Instead, we opted for a rum flight to taste their various selections. Two different flights are available: a $10 taster of three rums or a $15 taster of three rums plus an additional single barrel rum.

Arawak Cay

Arawak Cay is on everybody’s list of things to do while in Nassau. We rented a couple of Bird e-scooters to ride to Arawak Cay, but found it a rather touristy collection of restaurants and bars. I enjoyed a Miami Vice (pina colada swirled with strawberry) frozen daiquiri at Bruno’s and an order of conch fritters ($5 for 10 fritters) at Oh Andros. I recommend the food at Unda Da Bridge over that at Arawak Cay. Unda Da Bridge is a run down area and I would not go there at night, but the larger restaurants feel perfectly safe especially for a mid-day meal, and you’ll get a far more authentic experience.

Junkanoo Beach is located right next to Arawak Cay and is another popular beach in Nassau. Especially if you’re only in Nassau for one day on a cruise ship itinerary like we were, I’d recommend skipping Junkanoo and going for Cabbage Beach. Junkanoo Beach seemed past its prime. There was a very limited sandy area to relax on, no beach chairs, and more litter scattered about.

With that, our day in Nassau was over and we speed-walked back to our cruise ship with only ten minutes to spare before “all aboard” time. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by our day in Nassau and wouldn’t be opposed to return!