Posts
Provided by the compucert My wife and I were recently in the Bahamas on vacation. We enjoy the Caribbean Islands and wanted to try out a couple of these islands.
We flew JetBlue from JFK Intl Airport in NYC to Nassau, Bahamas. We get off the plane to a far more civilized airport than we expected. Going from the plane, through customs, and to a taxi was relatively quick. At this airport there are no ripoff scams with the taxis. There are price lists posted all over the place keeps things honest.
It was a quick cab ride from the airport to the Wyndham on Cable Beach. I forget which tower we were in, but we had a great view of the beach, the other resorts, the water, and the pool. Since my wife is a member of the Wyndham Club, or whatever you call it, they had a fruit bowl and a bottle of wine ready for us in the room. Nice touch.
The people are very nice in general. Everyone says hello as they pass by. No glares. No grumbling. They know that tourist dollars pay for everything on the island, so they are happy to have you there.
Tipping. Be aware of the bills. They USUALLY INCLUDE the 15% gratuity, but still include a line for additional tip. The first couple times we were caught unaware and ended up tipping over 30%. Oops!
Across the street form the Wyndham was a little flea market and a "Daiquiri Shack." The prices at the Daiquiri Shack for a drink made with all fresh ingredients in front of you was less than the mass production ones of the hotels and local eateries. Very refreshing and tasty.
Food is a little harder to find. There are a couple restaurants in the hotels, but you hear a lot of grumblings about it. High priced and you don't get your money's worth. If you wander around, you'll find a Sbarro next door and some places to eat in town. More about town in a few moments. There are a couple other local eateries, but only a couple within walking distance.
If you feel like trekking to town, you can hop the #10 bus. It's only a buck and it may or may NOT have air conditioning. If it doesn't you'll be very unhappy. It's a little trip to get there and in the heat of the sun, you can melt. The buses only run from the morning until sundown. Plan your time very carefully. In town they have a very large flea market, but all the same carved stuff, wicker items, and the usual tourist trinkets you find in the Caribbean. Also in town you can find some very high end shops for your designer clothing and jewelry.
Outside of those diversions, you'll likely just spend a lot of time basking by the pool or the beach like we did. The sun is scorchingly hot. You must use plenty of sunblock, and higher SPF than you would normally use is highly recommended. I used SPF 30 the entire stay and still became very dark.
To be continued in THE SECOND LEG...
We flew JetBlue from JFK Intl Airport in NYC to Nassau, Bahamas. We get off the plane to a far more civilized airport than we expected. Going from the plane, through customs, and to a taxi was relatively quick. At this airport there are no ripoff scams with the taxis. There are price lists posted all over the place keeps things honest.
It was a quick cab ride from the airport to the Wyndham on Cable Beach. I forget which tower we were in, but we had a great view of the beach, the other resorts, the water, and the pool. Since my wife is a member of the Wyndham Club, or whatever you call it, they had a fruit bowl and a bottle of wine ready for us in the room. Nice touch.
The people are very nice in general. Everyone says hello as they pass by. No glares. No grumbling. They know that tourist dollars pay for everything on the island, so they are happy to have you there.
Tipping. Be aware of the bills. They USUALLY INCLUDE the 15% gratuity, but still include a line for additional tip. The first couple times we were caught unaware and ended up tipping over 30%. Oops!
Across the street form the Wyndham was a little flea market and a "Daiquiri Shack." The prices at the Daiquiri Shack for a drink made with all fresh ingredients in front of you was less than the mass production ones of the hotels and local eateries. Very refreshing and tasty.
Food is a little harder to find. There are a couple restaurants in the hotels, but you hear a lot of grumblings about it. High priced and you don't get your money's worth. If you wander around, you'll find a Sbarro next door and some places to eat in town. More about town in a few moments. There are a couple other local eateries, but only a couple within walking distance.
If you feel like trekking to town, you can hop the #10 bus. It's only a buck and it may or may NOT have air conditioning. If it doesn't you'll be very unhappy. It's a little trip to get there and in the heat of the sun, you can melt. The buses only run from the morning until sundown. Plan your time very carefully. In town they have a very large flea market, but all the same carved stuff, wicker items, and the usual tourist trinkets you find in the Caribbean. Also in town you can find some very high end shops for your designer clothing and jewelry.
Outside of those diversions, you'll likely just spend a lot of time basking by the pool or the beach like we did. The sun is scorchingly hot. You must use plenty of sunblock, and higher SPF than you would normally use is highly recommended. I used SPF 30 the entire stay and still became very dark.
To be continued in THE SECOND LEG...
0 comments:
Post a Comment