Great Guana Cay

Great Guana Cay runs for about eleven kilometres in the Abacos with a settlement at one end, a barrier reef offshore and an Atlantic beach that people describe as seven miles long and largely empty. Its reputation rests partly on Nipper's, a painted beach bar on the dune with a Sunday pig roast that draws boats from across the Sea of Abaco. The reef along the ocean side is one of the better snorkelling runs in the northern Bahamas.

What you actually see

• The Atlantic beach - a long empty ocean-side strand along most of the cay.
• The barrier reef - coral close inshore, snorkelled from the beach.
• Nipper's - the painted beach bar and its Sunday roast.
• The settlement - a small village at the western end with a harbour.

When to go

November to April is the dry season and the peak. Sunday is the day for the pig roast, when the cay is busiest. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 hit the Abacos hard and recovery continues.

Honest expectations

The Sunday roast draws a large boat crowd and the bar is not a quiet spot then. Dorian damage is still evident across the cay and services are thinner than before. Golf carts are the transport and there are few of them.

Nearby

Marsh Harbour is across the Sea of Abaco, and Man-O-War Cay is south.