Hey Friends, I am finally here to recap our dreamy trip to the Exumas. I had so many gorgeous photos to sort through and was slightly overwhelmed at how to even organize my thoughts for this post because there was so much that I wanted to tell you guys. I am going to do my best to recap our week and share our schedule.
My husband and I booked this trip almost a year in advance. We have traveled to the Exumas two times prior. Once in 2012 for my Dad’s 60th birthday and one time in 2017 where we stayed at the Sandals Resort Emerald Bay. We fell in love with this house a few years ago when we found it on Instagram while we were staying at the Sandals resort. We always said we wanted to go back down and rent the house and bring friends.
We stayed at The Salt House. It is a four bedroom, four and a half bath home with a gorgeous kitchen, large family room, dining room, and gorgeous outdoor space. It has an amazing infiniti pool and its own private beach. I truly can NOT speak highly enough about this house. The house is located in Little Exuma which is further South than we had ever traveled before. It is more remote and does take a good 30 minutes or so to get to Georgetown, where the airport is located and the main area of town. I would be remiss if I did not mention the 5 star customer service that the owners provide before, during and after your stay. We have rented quite a few vacation rentals over the years and I have never experienced service the way Rob & his wife do. They take such pride in this house and add all the special touches to make sure their renters have a first class experience. They send a full packet of professional marketing material that shares everything you need to know about traveling to the Exumas: restaurants, excursions, car rentals, taxis, chefs, babysitters, etc. It’s super helpful.
We had 8 adults staying in the house. We were torn about renting a car while we were on the island or not. There were two things to consider:
1. The fact that we had 8 people and we would need a car large enough for everyone as well as luggage for both to and from the airport.
2. They drive on the opposite side of the road from us in the States.
After weighing those two things as well as the fact that we would need a designated driver and that a large SUV would be about $1200 for the week, we decided to just use taxis all week. We knew taxis weren’t going to be cheap either; but in the end, I am still glad we decided to do that!
I am going to share some of the gorgeous photos from the house and then I will talk a little bit more about our schedule for the week!
GORGEOUS, RIGHT??
-We arrived to the Georgetown, Bahamas airport on a Sunday and thankfully we had pre-planned and had some groceries delivered to our house before our arrival. On Sundays in The Bahamas, just about EVERYTHING is closed. So we were thankful to have some food, drinks and snacks set up at the house. We also planned for Chef Gavin to come cook dinner for us the first night we arrived! That made it so fun because Chef Gavin is the MAN! I am ready to plan a trip back just so he can cook for me again. He helps you pick out a menu and he shops for all the food and comes to the house to cook. He is not included in the house, you book him and pay him separately. We ended up booking him for three nights and he made it so relaxing and wonderful for us. As I mentioned above, you are a bit remote at the Salt House; so having dinner prepared at our home took all the stress out of the night and having to worry about getting taxis, making dinner reservations and being on time to get somewhere.
Monday was our first full day and we booked a half day excursion with Exuma Water Sports to do the swimming with the pigs excursion. We requested, Justin who Matt and I had previously done an excursion with and loved so much and we were so happy to get him again. We set this excursion up for the afternoon so that we could use the morning to go to the grocery store and settle in before we headed out for the day. The boys were so kind to go do all the grocery shopping for us and load up on food, beer, ice, etc for the week. As I mentioned before, we did have some groceries delivered to the house upon our arrival; but that was just to get us started on the first day or two. We did not have a car, so we did have to plan ahead with our cab driver, Luther, to get to the store when we needed.
Around 11:30am or so we hopped in a large van and made about an hour trek up to Exuma Water Sports to get on our boat for the afternoon.
So we pretty much had the best day ever on this first day! Everyone was so excited to be out on the water and experience some of the most pristine waters in the world in my opinion. Our guide, Justin, is an expert on the water and shows you some of the most secluded little beaches around as well as pointing out all of the famous peoples houses and/or islands. We were sad to see this day end. But we kept the party going on the way home. We stopped at Island Boys restaurant on the way and grabbed some wings and pretty much everything else on the menu and then had a pool party back at the house. And I don’t think I mentioned above, but my luggage didn’t arrive when we landed in the Exumas. I was so sad. There was only one Delta flight a day, so my luggage was hopefully arriving the next day. I was ecstatic when our taxi driver showed up with my luggage for me!!
On Tuesday, we spent the morning relaxing at our house and then took a water taxi over to Stocking Island to a bar called Chat N Chill. We used Elvis Water Taxi at the Georgetown dock. You have to take a taxi to the dock to jump on the boat and then its just a short boat ride to Stocking Island.
We headed home after eating the most delicious Conch Burgers at Chat N Chill and went back to play at our pool. I brought the most ridiculous crown float down with us and we blew it up and played with it in the ocean and the pool! We also had reservations this night for one of the nicest restaurants on the island called Rusty Anchor at February Point.
After playing at the house for a bit, we all managed to shower in about 15 minutes and make ourselves presentable for a nice dinner out. Dinner was outdoors in a cute little restaurant. In typical island fashion, the restaurant was out of about half of the items on the menu which we just had to laugh about. We ultimately ended with an ‘okay’ meal and we all agreed that we could enjoy dinner in with Chef Gavin every single night 🙂
On Wednesday, we planned a 6 hour excursion with Out Island Adventures to Sandy Cay. This was a boat tour down South of where we were staying. They take you to some absolutely gorgeous areas of water and sand bars as well as a spot that The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 or 3 was filmed.
On our way back North from the excursion, we had lunch at Santana’s Restaurant. It was such a fun, outdoor locals spot with great food. We would all recommend this place for sure.
The cutest Hubby 
Santana’s Restaurant Gorgeous Sandbar 
The Softest Sand Ever
When we finished our excursion for the day, we headed back home to the pool again and then we had Chef Gavin come back to the house to make lasagna, salad and garlic bread. He told us that he made a really good lasagana, so we went with it! And it was incredible!
Thursday was our day to explore the island a little bit by car and foot. We went into Georgetown and had Lunch at Peace and Love. They had a great lunch spot but it is also and adorable little hotel if you were looking for a place right in the middle of town. They have several great little shops to hit around there and a locals straw market.
Peace & Love Hotel 
Conch Burger Luther’s Taxi Service
After eating and shopping, we went back to enjoy our pool and beach for the afternoon. We had chef Gavin back for the third and final time to cook us some lobster and a pineapple tart. It was so incredible and we were all ready to pack Gavin and his wife in our suit case and bring them back home with us!
Friday was our final full day and we were excited to book a full day, private tour with Justin again at Exuma Water Sports. This was not in our original plan, but since we had such a blast on our first trip; we decided we wanted to get back on the water and explore more of the Exumas. This full day trip takes you up to Thunderball Grotto to snorkel and then all the way up to Compass Cay to swim with the sharks and Staniel Cay Yacht Club for a first class lunch!! We had an unforgettable day.
This was a long day of boating plus the hour each way in the car to get to Exuma Water Sports but it was SO WORTH IT in my opinion. We got to see so much and we loved being on the water. Swimming with the sharks was definitely a highlight for me. I had never done it before and I was so scared, but so proud of myself (and all of us!) for getting in to swim with them! Compass Cay where the sharks were is so pretty because you get to see these huge, extravagant yachts parked in the marina. It seems to be a really small island, otherwise.
When we got home that evening, we all just cleaned the refrigerator and ate leftover lasagnas and some frozen pizzas that we had. It was the perfect last night at home even though we were all so sad to leave!
Saturday was our last morning and we pretty much just spent the morning sad we were leaving, but also taking one million more photos of this unbelievable house. I can’t say enough amazing things about it and now I’m ready to book another week here.
I was actually so excited to hear from several of you via Instagram that you are traveling to the Exumas and some of you were actually going to stay at the Salt House. I am sorry this recap has taken me so long to put together (two months), but I am so glad to finally get it published!! I would love to hear how you enjoy you trip when you return too!
:: VACATION RECAP ::
:: Where We Stayed ::
The Salt House
:: Where We Ate ::
At home with Chef Gavin
Island Boys
Santana’s
Rusty Anchor at February Point
Chat N Chill
Peace & Love Hotel
:: What We Did ::
Pig Excursion with Exuma Water Sports
Day Trip via Water Taxi to Chat N Chill
6 Hour Boat trip to Sandy Cay with Out Island Adventures
Full Day Trip with Justin at Exuma Water Sports to Compass Cay
:: What We Didn’t Do ::
Boys Fishing Trip because it was too rough
Boat Rental from Minn’s Water Sport
:: SHOP THE POST ::
Annie – we are so pleased that you all enjoyed your Exuma vacation and stay at The Salt House. And I’m impressed that you used taxis for all of your travel! We loved seeing your pics – especially the ones of you and Matt and then everyone on the steps to the beach. I was blushing reading your compliments of our beach house and level of service. 😉 Thank you again for choosing The Salt House.
You guys are amazing Rob! You take costumer service to the next level and we so appreciate that! You have an absolute beautiful home! We can’t wait to go back.