Harbour Island

It is warm all year. December to April is the driest and most popular season, so book rooms and golf carts early. May to November is hotter, more humid and wetter, and the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to November. Some hotels and restaurants close for a few weeks in late summer or early autumn.

The biggest national celebration is Junkanoo, a street festival with costumed groups, goatskin drums, cowbells and horns on Boxing Day (26 December) and New Year's Day. The largest parade is on Bay Street in Nassau, a short flight away.

• Pink Sands Beach runs almost the whole length of the east coast. The soft sand has a pink tint from tiny red-shelled sea organisms. The water is usually calm and good for swimming.
• Bay Street follows the harbour through Dunmore Town. Walk it to see the painted clapboard houses, the small vendor stalls and the boats at the town docks. The Loyalist Cottage on this street was built in 1797 and is one of the oldest houses on the island.
• St John's Anglican Church dates from 1768. It is the oldest Anglican church in the Bahamas and has pink-and-white walls in the centre of town.
• Wesley Methodist Church, a short walk north, is another historic church from the 1840s. Sunday services in both churches are a good way to see island life.
• The Lone Tree is a bare driftwood tree on the harbour beach, north of town. A hurricane left it there, and it is now the island's best-known photo spot.

The best moments on Harbour Island are slow ones on and around the water.

• Watch the sunset from the harbour side. Pink Sands faces east, so for sunsets cross to the western shore near the docks or The Lone Tree.
• Ride a horse on the beach. Local guides offer horseback rides along Pink Sands, often early in the morning.
• Take a boat to a sandbar. Boat tours visit the shallow sandbanks and reefs off the island for swimming, snorkelling and beach picnics.
• Go bonefishing. The flats around Harbour Island and North Eleuthera are known for bonefish. Hire a local guide; most trips are catch-and-release.

North Eleuthera is a 10-minute water taxi ride away, and taxis wait at the dock on the other side. You can also join a boat tour that combines several stops.

• Preacher's Cave, in North Eleuthera (≈20 min by taxi from the dock): the cave where the first English settlers, the Eleutheran Adventurers, sheltered after their ship wrecked in the 1640s. A quiet beach lies nearby.
• Spanish Wells (≈30–45 min by taxi and water taxi, or on a boat tour): a tidy fishing settlement on its own island off Eleuthera's north coast. Come for the lobster fleet, small beaches and quiet streets.
• Glass Window Bridge (≈45 min by taxi or rental car): a narrow strip of land where the deep blue Atlantic and the calm green Bight of Eleuthera almost meet.
• Gregory Town (≈1 hour by car): a small village known for its pineapples and for surfing at nearby Surfer's Beach.

Harbour Island sits next to the rest of Eleuthera, and it is easy to combine with other islands of the Bahamas.

• Nearby on Eleuthera: North Eleuthera and Spanish Wells.
• The capital: Nassau, the main air hub, with direct flights and a fast ferry to the island.
• Other Out Islands: Exuma for its cays and sandbars, and Hope Town in the Abacos, another historic Loyalist town.

• By air: fly to North Eleuthera Airport (ELH) on the main island. Bahamasair and smaller airlines fly from Nassau, and there are direct flights from some US cities, including Miami.
• Airport to the island: take a taxi for about 5 minutes to the North Eleuthera dock. Water taxis cross to the Dunmore Town docks in about 10 minutes and leave whenever they fill up. Pay the driver in cash.
• By ferry from Nassau: the Bahamas Ferries high-speed boat usually sails from Potter's Cay Dock in Nassau on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It takes about 3 hours 10 minutes, with a stop in Spanish Wells. Check the schedule and book at Bahamas Ferries, because sailings depend on the weather.

• Golf cart: the usual way to get around. Rental companies meet visitors at the town docks. Book ahead in the busy season, when carts can run out.
• On foot: Dunmore Town is compact, and you can cross the island from the harbour to the beach in about 10–15 minutes.
• Taxi: a few taxis wait at the docks. There is no public bus.
• Bicycle: bikes are available from some hotels and rental shops. The roads are short and mostly flat.

• Is a car worth it? No. Visitors do not need a car on Harbour Island. Golf carts and walking cover everything.
• Golf carts: traffic keeps left, carts included. Streets in Dunmore Town are narrow, so drive slowly and watch for children, pedestrians and other carts.
• Day trips on Eleuthera: a rental car or a taxi with driver works best on the main island. Arrange it before you cross on the water taxi.

Seafood is the focus. Look for fresh conch salad, cracked conch, grilled lobster in season and fish caught the same day. Breakfast often means johnnycake, fresh bread or cinnamon rolls from the island's bakeries.

For casual food, go to the conch stands and small takeaways along Bay Street on the harbour, where conch salad is made to order in front of you. Hotels along Pink Sands and on the hill above the harbour run the more formal restaurants. Many close one or two days a week and some close in late summer, so book ahead in the busy season.

Harbour Island is quiet and safe by Caribbean standards. Crime in the Out Islands is lower than in Nassau or Grand Bahama. Still, lock your room and golf cart, and do not leave bags on the beach.

• On the water: water-sports operators are not well regulated. Check boats and equipment before you rent, and do not swim at dusk or at night because of sharks.
• Medical care: the island has only a small clinic. Serious cases go by air ambulance to Nassau or Miami, so make sure your travel insurance covers medical evacuation.
• Sun and insects: the sun is strong all year. Use sunscreen and insect repellent, as dengue and Zika occur in the Bahamas.
• Drinking water: drink bottled or filtered water.

English Puritans from Bermuda, the Eleutheran Adventurers, settled on Eleuthera in the 1640s, and some of their descendants later moved to Harbour Island. After the American Revolution, Loyalists who stayed faithful to the British Crown arrived from the former American colonies. The Loyalist Cottage on Bay Street, built in 1797, dates from this time.

Dunmore Town is named after Lord Dunmore, a governor of the Bahamas in the late 18th century, who had a summer home on the island. The island's churches and clapboard houses around St John's Anglican Church still show this colonial past, and many island families descend from these early settlers.

Quick practical facts for the Bahamas at a glance: