Rose Island

Rose Island is a narrow strip of land about eleven kilometres long running east of Nassau, uninhabited apart from a handful of private houses, with a chain of beaches along its southern side and reef offshore. It is the standard escape from New Providence: boats leave Nassau harbour through the day and reach the western beaches in twenty minutes, and once ashore there is nothing but sand, casuarina trees and shallow clear water. Sandy Toes and a few other operators run day facilities at the western end, while further east the beaches are empty. Snorkelling on the reef and the sandbar at the western tip are the other reasons to make the trip.

What you actually see

• The beaches - a chain of them along the southern shore.
• The western sandbar - exposed shallow sand at the tip.
• The reef - snorkelling off the north side of the island.
• The emptiness - most of the island has nothing on it at all.

When to go

December to May is the dry season. Cruise ship days fill the organised day clubs at the western end; going with a small operator to the emptier eastern beaches avoids that. Trips are cancelled in wind.

Honest expectations

The organised day clubs are crowded and expensive when ships are in, and the experience is nothing like the empty beach the photographs suggest; ask which part of the island a trip actually goes to. There are no facilities away from the clubs. Currents around the sandbar are strong. Reef health near Nassau has declined considerably.

Nearby

Nassau is twenty minutes west; Paradise Island is on the way.