It has only taken me almost a year to write this post, but here we are. This was truly one of the most amazing trips our family has been on and I felt so lucky to be able to bring our kids along with us! We traveled with some of our best friends and their kids as well as two high school friends that helped with the kids! It was magical.
This island holds a special place in my heart because my Dad who passed over 8 years ago loved this place so much and brought us here for the first time over 12 years ago. Matt would say the Exumas are his favorite place in the Bahamas and I can’t completely disagree, but I might like Harbour Island better. Here’s the thing. The water doesn’t get prettier than in the Exumas. It’s absolutely gorgeous. But Harbour Island has the restaurants and shops and a little night life if you want it. The Exumas is fabulous, but I always say that you just have to bring your own fun. Don’t plan on having great meals out there, cook in. Enjoy the gorgeous days out on the water, but on the island itself, there is not a ton to do. Harbour Island offers the gorgeous beaches, beautiful water and it is built up enough to offer nice dining experiences and a few fun shops and experiences around the island.
Okay, I’ll move on, but I thought it might be helpful to give my two-cents on comparing the two islands.
Flying to Harbour Island
We flew from PNS to ATL, then from Atlanta direct to ELH, the North Eleuthera airport. You will go through their customs and then from there, we hopped in a taxi van that is just outside of the building and took it a few minutes down the road to the ferry dock. Someone will put your bags in a ferry boat and off you go! It’s about five minutes from the ferry dock to the government dock at Harbour Island.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Infinity House which is part of the Runaway Hill Inn. I stayed at this house 10 years prior on a trip for my Dads birthday and we fell in love with the house. So when we were booking this trip, I knew it would fit us all perfectly if it was available. The house is a 4 bedroom (all the rooms are waterfront) and then it has a detached bedroom and half bath for a total of 5 rooms. So the house sleeps 1o which was perfect for our group.
The beauty of being part of the Runaway Hill Inn was that we had all the advantages of the hotel. So we were able to utilize the pool at the hotel and we had many of breakfasts over at the restaurant as well as they had “room service.” So we could order food if we wanted and they would deliver and we also had daily housekeeping which was pretty awesome for a weeks stay.
Being beachfront is hard to beat and the back deck is the perfect place to relax and enjoy cocktails.
Getting Around Harbour Island
Golf carts are the main mode of transportation on Harbour Island. We rented with Major’s Rentals. They were kind enough to leave the golf cart for us at the government dock, so we can hop on and head to our rental house. But we did see this cute Moke and I wouldn’t have minded this to have been our ride!
Things to Do in Harbour Island
We spent several of days out on the water which is our favorite thing to do, but there is also plenty to enjoy right on the island. We spent two days on charters with Tyman’s which was a true highlight. It is a father/daughter team that have it down! Tyson is the captain and his daughter Breanna is the mate but also the unbelievable photographer that captures all these amazing underwater photos. She takes all of them throughout the day and then will airdrop them right to your phone at the end of the day.
We spent other days enjoying the beach right outside our house, the pool at the Runaway Hill Inn and then taking time to shop and dine all around the most charming island that I know. Another fun thing to do is to just go check out all the beautiful resorts on the island. We took an afternoon to have lunch and have cocktails at a few different hotel bars to check them all out.
I haven’t done this yet, but I am dying to go check out the Blue Hole. You can look into different options for getting there, but it is a little drive to go see. It is really beautiful and people jump inside of it. It looks scary, but I think I would do it!
Restaurants and Dining Options in Harbour Island
- The Dunmore: Exquisite ambiance, great food and a fun vibe.
- The Landing: We loved our dinner here the most of all the dinners we ate out! It was delicious. We also ate here for breakfast several mornings.
- Sip Sip was closed when we were there and hopefully will reopen soon or may be reopened already!
- Pink Sands/Malcolm 51: We ended up not going here which I was sad about!
- Romora Bay: A nice place to go for happy hour and watch the sun set. We ate upstairs at Aquapazzo which is an Italian restaurant our first night which was a nice spot too.
- Coral Sands: Love going there for lunch while overlooking the beach.
- Cocoa Coffee: A delicious coffee spot and great acai bowls.
- Valentine’s: We had lunch here a couple of times and the food was awesome and you get to watch all the Yachts pull in and out and the fisherman bringing in fish for the day. I felt like I could sit there for hours on end.
- Rock House: This was sadly closed when we were here but is now reopened! We had my Dad’s birthday dinner here 10 years ago and it was our favorite meal. I can’t wait to go back one day soon.
- Ocean View Club
- Da Vine Sushi & Wine Bar: We never made it here for sushi but I hear its wonderful and I think could be a great spot to grab food to go and take back to your house if you wanted one night.
- Chef Portia: We hired chef Portia to cook for us at the house one night and it was such a treat. It was so nice to be able to hang out and relax at our house and have them serve us for a sit down dinner on our beautiful back deck. I highly recommend this option for a night.
Ramora Bay
Other Favorites
We celebrated Brody’s 8th Birthday while we were there and I had the girls from Nico & Lala make us the cutest travel swag for the trip and to celebrate his birthday at home one night. I’m telling you, this swag makes me so happy and elevates your vacation to the next level 🙂 I love any excuse to use their swag.
We also ran into one of our friends from college while we were there which was so fun. Her and her husband were staying at the Dunmore for a little post-baby getaway!
The whole gang 🙂 An unforgettable trip!
Covid Testing
Since I am a year late writing this post, I won’t speak too much on this because things are constantly changing. But we did have to test before we left the island to enter back into the USA and the process was super smooth and easy. They literally had a tent set up in town and we just popped in and got all 11 of us tested and could wait on the results. I think it was $50 or $75 bucks, I can’t remember, but it was cheaper than scheduling to have someone come to your house and do it.
I hope this was helpful! These posts always feel overwhelming to write because there is so much to share. But I am so glad that I finally stopped to write it and share with you. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them below or send me a DM.
Loved ur harbor island trip. My favorite place