Swimming alongside pigs stands out as my primary motivation for wanting to explore the Bahamas. However, it’s essential to understand that a visit to Pig Beach offers much more than just swimming with these charming animals. Allow me to provide you with a comprehensive insight into what to expect when booking a Pig Beach excursion. From snorkeling near the sunken plane wreckage to embarking on adventures within concealed sea caves and discovering remote beaches inhabited by an abundance of iguanas, our journey to Pig Beach guarantees a plethora of unforgettable moments.
Whether you are arriving from Nassau for a day trip or using Staniel Cay as your home base, most Pig Beach tours follow a similar pattern. The sole exception is the high-speed boat tour departing from Nassau – for more details on this, and essential considerations when booking a Pig Beach excursion, please scroll to the end of this description.
I arranged my trip through 3 N’s Vacation Services, and I can’t praise them enough. Our captain, Kuenson, demonstrated a remarkable commitment to ensuring the well-being of everyone on board. He consistently made sure that we had all the necessary provisions, captured the photographs we desired, and offered assistance to those who might not be strong swimmers.
What can you anticipate on a Pig Beach adventure?
The journey to Pig Beach encompasses a plethora of activities beyond just swimming with pigs, and it typically kicks off early. Since I was already staying on Staniel Cay, I had the luxury of sleeping in. The rest of my travel companions flew in from Nassau, starting at 6 AM. I spent a leisurely morning on the deck of my villa at Embrace Resort until I heard the planes landing at the nearby airport. That’s when I made my way to meet my fellow adventurers.
Two American couples and I boarded the boat, which was conveniently docked just a stone’s throw away from the airport. Within fifteen minutes of the plane’s landing, we were all on board and en route to our first stop: Thunderball Grotto. The boat ride from Staniel Island to Thunderball Grotto took us just five minutes.
Thunderball Grotto is renowned as the filming location for the 1965 James Bond movie “Thunderball.” When we anchored the boat, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. From the outside, all we could see was a massive rock protruding from shallow waters. Following Captain Kuenson, we ventured into a small cave-like entrance on the rock, which was the gateway to the grotto. Without him, we would have never found that tiny entrance! Slowly and carefully, we swam inside, making sure not to bump into the rocks. In less than a minute, we found ourselves within a stunning sea cave.
The water inside the cave was teeming with fish, and we snorkeled alongside them for a while, admiring the beautiful underwater rock formations and stalactites hanging from the cave’s ceiling. The cave had three circular openings in its ceiling, and depending on the weather and the time of day, sunlight created breathtaking rays that illuminated the cave’s depths. Captain Kuenson asked me if I wanted to swim out through another cave entrance, pointing to another small hole in the rock. We exited the cave through this passage. Our trip had gotten off to a fantastic start, and the cave exploration certainly got my adrenaline pumping!
Back on the boat, we barely had time to dry off, as just five minutes later, we reached our second stop: Pig Beach.
Swimming with the pigs at Pig Beach was a highlight of the trip. Pig Beach is a small beach on Big Major Cay, an uninhabited island except for the 30 or 40 resident pigs. It lived up to our excitement, and we spent some time playing with the pigs in the sand, taking photos, and even getting the opportunity to bottle-feed some of the piglets. It turns out that piglets really enjoy belly rubs, and I spent most of my time sitting in the sand, indulging them. I wasn’t sure if anything could surpass this stop, but Captain Kuenson assured me that there were plenty more adventures to come and reminded me to keep my camera ready.Sure enough, it didn’t take long before we arrived at one of the most picturesque sandbars I’d ever seen: Pipe Creek Sand Bar.
Perfect Photo Opportunities: Pipe Creek Sand Bar
The Exuma Islands boast numerous beautiful sandbars, and every Pig Beach excursion includes a stop at one of these paradisiacal locations. Our visit to Pipe Creek Sand Bar was simply perfect: the white powdery sand was so dazzling that it almost hurt our eyes, surrounded by crystal-clear shallow waters that made it almost unbelievable it was a real place. Here, you can capture the most awe-inspiring Bahamas photos to post on Instagram and make your friends green with envy (bring your props!). Our captain made sure that everyone in our group got all the photos they desired, and we had plenty of time for swimming. Most of the sandbars in the area are entirely submerged during high tide, so when they emerge during low tide, they look completely untouched.
Because our next boat ride would be a bit longer, as we climbed back onto the boat, Captain Kuenson had some snacks prepared for us. My 3 N’s Vacation Services tour included sweet and savory snacks, along with beer and soft drinks. After leaving the sandbar, I once again wasn’t sure if anything could surpass this beautiful stop. However, when we arrived at Compass Cay, we discovered that we would be swimming with nurse sharks here.
Compass Cay – Swimming with Sharks
This stop isn’t for the faint of heart: you’ll actually be jumping into waters frequented by sharks from the boat. But don’t worry, these are nurse sharks, known for their friendliness and harmlessness unless provoked (even then, they’re not known to cause much harm). They are often referred to as “pet sharks” because they’ve become accustomed to fishermen feeding them scraps when they return to the dock, which is why they linger around Compass Cay’s dock.
The size of the sharks varies, with some being quite small at about 3 feet long, while others are as long as 7 feet and can appear a bit intimidating. However, the sharks gave us no reason to fear them – they were all playful, swimming around us and patiently waiting for us to feed them scraps.
After this exhilarating experience, we were ready to take a break, so we welcomed the longer boat ride back to Staniel Island. There, we would have some downtime, enjoy lunch on the island (included in our tour), and then head to our next stop: the sunken plane wreckage.
Sunken Plane Wreckage – Snorkeling Above
The plane wreck we stopped at was located in shallow waters, making it one of the most easily accessible plane wrecks in the Caribbean. The water was so shallow that you didn’t even need to swim; you could simply walk and peer into the sunken plane using a snorkel mask. This plane was used by the drug lord Pablo Escobar to transport drugs from Colombia through the Exuma Islands to Miami and crashed near Staniel Cay in the 1970s. Being able to get so close to a sunken plane without the need for scuba diving is quite unusual, so it was another fantastic stop.
Beach Time with Iguanas
Why did we visit Bitter Guana Cay? To spend time with the iguanas! Bahamian Rock Iguanas are found on only a few islands in the Bahamas and are an endangered species, with estimates of only around 5,000 remaining. However, on Bitter Guana Cay, there are plenty of them. When our boat anchored on the deserted beach, we were welcomed by dozens of colorful reptiles. Some iguanas strolled along the beach, while others hid behind the bushes. They weren’t as welcoming as the pigs that ran to greet us on the beach, but they weren’t unfriendly either. They kept a safe distance and observed us from afar.
As we strolled along the beach, which was entirely our own, we also spotted a large stingray in the water and a few starfish. What was astonishing was that this pristine beach wasn’t crowded with people! After we got back on the boat, Captain Kuenson offered us a cold beer. This marked our last boat ride of the day, taking us back to Staniel Island.
As we glided through the azure waters, I reflected on all the incredible experiences we had encountered: meeting the famous swimming pigs, swimming with sharks, snorkeling in caves, and witnessing some of the most picturesque Caribbean islands. It was more adventure than most people experience throughout their entire vacation, and we managed to do it all in a single day.
Booking a Pig Beach Tour: Details
The Staniel Cay Vacations tour I joined is a standard tour offered by most travel agencies that provide Pig Beach Tours. You can also book Pig Beach tours departing from Nassau. The itinerary may vary slightly depending on the weather conditions, the company you choose, and whether you’re taking a speedboat tour from Nassau or a tour from Staniel Island.
All the Information You Need Before Visiting Pig Beach in the Bahamas
My tour included snorkeling equipment, towels, snacks, soft drinks and beer, all entrance fees and taxes, hotel/airport transfers, and an excellent guide who doubled as our photographer (don’t forget to tip your guide!).
Staniel Cay Vacations also offers private tours that can be customized to your interests. I went on another trip with them, which included snorkeling with sea turtles on a small island in the southern part of Black Point. Of the seven sea turtle species in the world, four can be found in the Bahamas, and we swam with the green sea turtles, which was a marvelous experience. I’ve swum with turtles in many countries, but on this trip, one turtle was particularly friendly and swam with us for an extended time. It wasn’t afraid of us at all! This was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had swimming with turtles.
On the same trip, we also visited the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, an ecological reserve and wildlife sanctuary. The entire park is a no-fishing zone and features mangroves, the Rocky Dundas Cave system, and a marine aquarium. We anchored at Warderick Wells and saw the skeleton of a 52-foot sperm whale – a very impressive sight. Sadly, the whale had died due to ingesting too much plastic trash, highlighting the grim reality of our world’s plastic pollution problem in our oceans.
The Marine Aquarium was also part of this trip, a small snorkeling spot near the coral reef known as the “Marine Aquarium” because it attracts such a colorful array of fish and marine life that it feels like swimming in an actual aquarium. This is where my underwater camera ran out of battery because I was taking so many videos of the tropical fish!
If you have specific requests – some people want to include the underwater piano, which can be a fantastic photo opportunity – I recommend booking a private tour so that you can tailor the places you want to visit to your liking.
