If you’re naive and geographically challenged like I was, you probably think of The Bahamas as just a handful of islands that aren’t necessarily easy to get to and were completely wiped out by Hurricane Dorian.

Hurricane Dorian did tragically impact the lives of many Bahamians in September of 2019. What some people don’t know, however, is that The Bahamas are actually made up of more than 700 islands and all of the storm’s major damage fell on just two of the northern islands; Abaco and Grand Bahama Island.

Cruise ports, airports, hotels, resorts and other tourist attractions on other islands including Nassau, Paradise Island, San Salvador, Exuma and many other Out Islands are open for business.

I recently went down to The Bahamas and have put together this ultimate guys guide to a long-weekend trip to the islands.

How To Get There (It’s Easy)

It’s 2019, so it’s pretty simple to find direct flights into Nassau. I personally took an early morning direct flight from JFK in New York and the flight was a little over three hours.

Now, if you’re living anywhere in Florida or even as far north as Atlanta for that matter, you have no excuse not to make a long-weekend trip to The Bahamas. It’s a short, simple flight that shouldn’t break the bank, either, given when you book.

There are also direct flights into Nassau from Houston and even as far north as Toronto just to name a couple of other cities you may not imagine have direct flights over.

Which Long-Weekend To Go

It’s tough to pick a bad weekend to go enjoy these islands and crazy blue waters, but as far as a guy’s trip goes, there’s no better time to go than Hero World Challenge week.

There is no other tournament like the Hero World Challenge. First and foremost, tickets were on sale for just $50 this year and Albany Golf Course is only 15 minutes from Nassau’s airport. The course is about a 25-minute drive from Baha Mar, which is where I stayed for my four-night trip and can’t recommend it enough.

Paying $50 to see a small field event with names like Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose and others up close and personal without 20+ rows of people following Woods’ every move was pretty surreal.

I mean, just look at this video of Spieth, Woods, Thomas and Reed on the putting green. It’s like they’re just getting set to go play in some random money game together, that’s how laid back and chill the entire event is.

Simply put, you’re not going to find another tournament anywhere else with that sort of access for fans and at that price point nonetheless, point-blank, period.

Must Stop Places To Grab A Drink, Or Three

There’s absolutely no harm in flying to Nassau, hopping in a cab, checking into your hotel and then spending every single second of your trip on the beach drinking too much, but there’s plenty of other things to do on the island as well.

You name it, we did it on this trip, so I have plenty of recommendations.

John Watlings Distillery

Who doesn’t love a quick, free tour of a rum distillery that’s jam-packed with free samples? John Watlings Distillery is located in Nassau at an old estate and is a really cool spot to get a drink while also having a quick 10-minute history lesson about The Bahamas themselves as well as the rum.

You’ll want to just go ahead and order two pina coladas for yourself because you’ll drink the first one so quick due to it being so good in about 14 seconds. It’s an all-time pina colada.

Bon Vivants

This place truly is one of a kind. I know that term gets tossed around far too much, but that’s the only way to describe Bon Vivants. Every piece of furniture looks like it was literally made for the place and the decor honestly makes you want to sit there, drink too much and make some strangers your friends.

If you want a great, and super unique drink, this is the spot. Whether it be for a date or a classy, yet laid back stop for the guys to go grab a couple of pre-dinner drinks, this place checks both of those boxes.

We were able to sample pretty much every specialty cocktail on the menu and I can confidently say you could close your eyes, simply point to a drink on the menu and it will blow you away.

Here’s a look at just one of the many wildly awesome drinks on the menu.

Skybar At Baha Mar

Sure, we’ve all been to a rooftop bar, it’s like they’re popping up on top of every other building in every other city, but the Skybar on top of Baha Mar’s SLS is tough to beat when it comes to rooftop spots.

It’s a laid back bar that overlooks the property and ocean meaning there’s no better place to catch a Bahamas sunset with a cocktail in your hand. There are very few things better than catching a sunset with a cold one in-hand with great music playing in the background.

This is the kind of spot you order one drink then all of a sudden you realize you’ve been up there for three and a half hours simply staring out at the ocean.

T2 Cigar Bar Baha Mar

This is a cool spot located in Baha Mar just off of the casino floor. It’s a nice, covered outdoor spot to grab any sort of cigar you can think of and sip on a nice drink at the same time. They even have a guy rolling cigars in the corner most nights.

Plus, where else are you going to find some of Tiger Woods’ favorite Monster infused cocktails on a menu?

The Food, Oh, The Food

This is The Bahamas we’re talking about here, so you can imagine how excellent the seafood is.

If seafood is your thing then be sure to order it everywhere you go because after all, you’re on vacation and this stuff most likely doesn’t really exist in your hometown.

The Poop Deck

Don’t let the name throw you off here, The Poop Deck is legit. It’s located just off the water and as soon as you walk in the door you literally see the catch of the day waiting for you on ice. It literally can not get any fresher than what you get here.

Anything and everything on the menu is A+ stuff, but make sure you don’t skip dessert. You have to order guava duff. Don’t leave without ordering this dish, it’s a life-changing Bahamian specialty that will change the way you look at every other dessert from that moment forward.

I know ordering dessert when it’s a guy’s trip always seems a little strange, but don’t skip out on this, please.

Any Of The 20+ Restaurants At Baha Mar

As I stated before, I stayed at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and was able to check out a handful of the food experiences at the resort.

Based on my experience, you really can’t go wrong in picking any restaurant at Baha Mar. Cleo is a Meditteranean spot that was fantastic, Shuang Ba is an incredibly awesome fine Chinese restaurant, Costa is a relaxed, but very vibey Mexican style restaurant while Swimming Pig is a sports bar with dozens of TV’s, cold drinks and fantastic bar food.

Take A Day Trip To Exuma

You probably know Exuma for two things: swimming with pigs and the site of Fyre Festival.

From Nassau you can catch a 25-minute flight over to the island and it’s absolutely, 100% worth it for a quick day trip for a couple of reasons. While Nassau has more of a bustling city feel in a lot of areas outside of the resorts, Exuma has that island time feel to it.

If you go you can now say you have been to the place where Fyre Festival was supposed to go down, but it also has a fantastic golf course (more on that in a bit) and the bluest water you will ever see.

You know the water is blue when it’s legitimately bluer than the blue-painted pool in front of the ocean. The water looks fake, one person on the trip described it as the color of blue mouthwash, which is pretty spot-on.

This video doesn’t do justice as to how clear and bright blue the water is here. Let’s put it this way, astronauts say this is one of the most recognizable places on the planet from outer space, that’s the type of blue water we’re talking about.

The Golf Courses To Play

Royal Blue

This Jack Nicklaus design is part of Baha Mar and is located just across the street from the resort, but don’t let the fact that it’s a ‘resort course’ throw you off, this is a solid track.

As soon as you step on the property you realize this isn’t your typical resort-style course. The clubhouse and dining area have a homie country club feel. As for the course, the first thing that stands out is just how fantastic of shape the place is in. You won’t see anything out of place out there.

What’s also fun about this place is how different both nines are. The front is your more traditional style, while on the back nine you get exposed to limestone moonscapes and the signature 16th hole that features an island green.

Ocean Club Golf Course At Atlantis

It’s got the word ocean in the name and yes, you see plenty of it at this Tom Weiskopf design.

Very similar to Royal Blue, this course was in great shape, especially when you think about the amount of play it gets throughout the year.

Ocean Club has everything you can ask for. From undulated greens, wide-ish fairways and incredible ocean views it’s exactly what you want from a course in The Bahamas. This course also hosted an event on the Symetra Tour in years past.

Sandals Emerald Bay

This Greg Norman design is located in Exuma and is 100% worth a quick flight over from Nassau to go play; it’ll be the surprise of your trip.

We got the opportunity to have breakfast with the club professional Rich Gibson and he pitched to us that the back nine rivals Pebble Beach. That’s a pretty tall comparison for a resort course, but he was not far off. This is one of the more scenic golf courses you’ll ever see.

As soon as you turn the corner from the 10th green to the 11th tee you’re surrounded by Exuma’s insanely blue water. You may feel like you flew through the front nine, but trust me, you’ll slow down on the back nine because you’ll want to take a picture or video before every single shot.

This is also the course that hosts The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, so that should tell you that it’s a legitimate track.

Last But Not Least, The Casino At Baha Mar

Baha Mar’s casino is unique, to say the least. First of all, it’s the largest in all of the Caribbean, so it has that going for it, but it also looks at the pools and the ocean. It’s not like your typical casino because it has actual windows where you can look out at everything else going on at the resort.

It also has a large sportsbook and let me tell you, the place was jumping during the Thursday Night Football game that was going on during my trip.

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There you have it, this is the ultimate guy’s guide for a trip to The Bahamas. If you’re thinking about some sort of Caribbean vacation, look no further than The Bahamas. On top of having an awesome time, you’ll also continue to help the islands out amid their incredible Hurricane Dorian relief efforts.

There’s no better time than right now to visit this country that offers so many great things.

Special thanks to The Bahamas Ministry Of Tourism for such a memorable time.