The Bahamas

Nassau is the gritty, vivacious alter ego to the relaxed character of most of the Bahamas. The country's only city, it teems with haring jitneys, bawling straw-goods vendors, rum-happy locals and endless waves of cruise-ship passengers.

It's appropriate that Nassau has some hustle to it – it's been a redoubt of hustlers for centuries. From the 18th-century pirates who blew their doubloons on women and wine to the Confederate steamers smuggling cargo past the Union blockade during the American Civil War, the city has long sheltered daring dodgers on the make. The make-a-buck spirit of this global tax haven animates the duty-free shops and cigar salesmen of Bay St, while the historic wealth of the ruling classes finds tangible expression in grand, Georgian government buildings and homes. Whether you come to shop, eat, party or sightsee, Nassau is the place for a dose of urban excitement.

Stuart Cove’s Dive & Snorkel Bahamas is one of the Bahamas’ best and largest dive operators. It offers a range of diving, PADI certification and snorkeling choices, including a buttock-clenching shark wall and shark-feeding dive (BS$182); a two-tank dive trip (BS$134); and a three-dive ‘Seafari’ trip to the blue holes and plunging walls of Andros island (by prior arrangement).

The colorful village of conch stands, bars, jerk joints and seafood restaurants at Arawak Cay, known collectively as the 'Fish Fry', is one of Nassau's great experiences. Come for conch salad, fried chicken wings, fritters, blackened snapper, ‘sky juice', Rake’n’scrape bands, reggae DJs, Junkanoo dances and friendly chatter.

‘Briland’, as locals and repeat visitors call it, is renowned as one of the loveliest, most stylish and enjoyable islands in the Bahamas, if not the Caribbean. Just 5km long and 2km wide, it's a photogenic bric-a-brac of pink-sand beaches and colonial houses that once served as the national capital. Now it's a tourist-brochure-designer's delight: humble pastel cottages abut BS$800-a-night boutique hotels, chickens peck the dust in front of sleek French bistros, and local fishermen wave to millionaire businessmen as they speed past each other in identical golf carts.

Quaint Dunmore Town, on the harbor side, harks back 300 years: it was laid out in 1791 by Lord Dunmore, governor of the Bahamas (1787–96), who had a summer residence here. The clip-clop of hooves may have been replaced with the whir of golf carts, but the daily pace since Dunmore's time hasn't changed all that much.

Separated from Marsh Harbour by 10km of clear, shallow sea, Elbow Cay is just lovely. Greeted on arrival by the most photogenic lighthouse in the Bahamas, visitors glide into a broad sheltered harbor flanked by sturdy timber cottages, studded with sails and framed by low greenery. This is Hope Town, founded in 1785 by Loyalists fleeing the fledgling United States, and still housing their descendants today. Strict building controls and a ban on cars make it a delightful village to perambulate, admiring tiny gardens full of bougainvillea and flowering shrubs that spill blossoms over picket fences, and ducking into diverting little museums and convivial inns. The reefs off the Atlantic side of the cay are excellent for diving and snorkeling. The waters near Hope Town and the northern tip of the cay are calmer and easily reached by swimming from shore. Staghorn, elkhorn, star and brain coral are abundant.

This 16-hectare national park is Grand Bahama’s natural treasure. About 40km east of Ranfurly Circle, the park is known for its underwater cave system, which is one of the longest in the world. Visitors can easily check out two of the caves – Ben’s Cave and Burial Mound Cave – via a short footpath. Ben's Cave provides a refuge for tiny buffy flower bats, while bones of the island’s earliest inhabitants, the Lucayans, were discovered in Burial Mound Cave in 1986.

Out Island Explorers' six-day-five-night all-inclusive guided sailing trips (B$1895 per person) are one of the loveliest ways to see the Exuma Cays. For something more low-key it also runs guided kayaking trips and rent out kayaks.

Blue Holes – deep vertical 'caves' formed by karst limestone subsidence that fill with rain and seawater, forming unique ecosystems – are more abundant on Andros than anywhere else. This 40,000-acre national park comprises vast tracts of Caribbean pine and coppice forest pitted with these phenomena. Trails and info boards introduce you to the flora, fauna and geology. The most accessible is Captain Bill's hole, with a swimming platform, toilets and parking area.