Cable Beach

Cable Beach takes its name from the submarine telegraph cable that first connected the Bahamas to Florida, landing here in 1892, and it has been the island's resort strip since the middle of the twentieth century. It faces north across the sheltered side of New Providence, so the water is generally calm and shallow a long way out, which suits families in a way the Atlantic beaches do not. Several kilometres of pale sand run past the hotels, with public access at points along West Bay Street. The old Sandyport area at the western end has canals and a marina, and Goodman's Bay just to the east is where Nassau itself goes to swim.

History

The beach is said to owe its name to an 1892 submarine telegraph cable linking Jupiter, Florida, to Goodman's Bay. Tourism here goes back to the 1940s, by the 1950s it was a centre of hotel building, the Emerald Beach Hotel of 1954 being the first air-conditioned hotel with the largest casino in the Bahamas, Howard Deering Johnson opened his first venture outside the United States here in 1958, and after redevelopment in the late 1980s, with the Crystal Palace Resort and Casino, the area was sold as the Bahamian Riviera (Wikipedia, Cable Beach, Bahamas).

Highlights

• The calm shallow water - sheltered on the north side of the island.
• Goodman's Bay - the local beach at the eastern end.
• The Sandyport canals - the residential marina district west.
• Sunset - facing northwest along the strip.

When to go

December to May is the dry high season. Weekday mornings are quietest. Goodman's Bay is busiest at weekends with Nassau families. Water sports operate along the resort stretch through the day.

What to expect

It is a resort strip, and the stretch in front of the hotels is heavily worked by vendors and jet ski operators; jet ski hire in Nassau has a poor safety record and repeated disputes over damage charges. Development along the strip has been uneven, with a large closed hotel complex that has sat unfinished for years. The beach narrows in places after storms.

Nearby

Downtown Nassau is fifteen minutes east; Fort Charlotte is on the way.

Key facts