Long Island & Ragged Cays: 10 Unmissable Bahamian Highlights
The Long Island Bahamas Top 10 highlights the best places to explore on one of the Bahamas’ most underrated cruising destinations. From blue holes and caves to remote cays and historic ruins, Long Island and the Ragged Cays offer a mix of adventure, solitude, and natural beauty. This guide outlines the must-see stops for cruisers venturing beyond Georgetown.
10. Stella Maris
Towards the northern end of Long Island you will find Stella Maris Resort, which is a community that was planned for second homes for foreigners. It doesn’t appear like it took off as much as the developers thought it would, but there is still some fun stuff to see here including a cave where they sometimes have a nightclub, the nice ruins of Adderley’s Plantation, a beach on both the Atlantic side and the sound side, an airport, and several restaurants.
9. Columbus Monument
At the far northern tip of Long Island is a monument to the voyage of Christopher Columbus. It sits up on a cliff around 60 ft off the water and provides some fantastic views of the gorgeous lagoon, you only wish you could sail your boat into, and out onto the Atlantic. The monument is fine but it’s the views you come here for.
8. Diamond Crystal
Towards a southern end of Long Island is the ruins of the Diamond Crystal salt plant. This was a huge place that produced a lot of salt before it shut down in 1982. Now it’s fascinating to walk around and see the ruined salt pans, buildings, equipment laying around, and more. But to me the coolest thing was finding a tugboat in the middle of the tropical pine forest. Apparently, there was a dredged-out harbor that has since filled in leaving the boat high and dry.
7. Shrimp Hole
If the idea of swimming in an open-air cave with little red shrimp everywhere fascinates you then this is a place you want to visit. You will park by the old Spanish church, which is worth a visit by itself, and take a 5-minute walk to a cave. The ceiling has many holes in it letting in lots of daylight. The shrimp are only one inch or smaller, but it’s really cool to swim with their bright red bodies in the crystal-clear water.
6. Hamilton’s Cave
There are many caves around Long Island but this one is the biggest, the best, and the most famous. You have to get a tour guide to let you in since it is on private property, but it’s worth the price. The cave is quite extensive and someone has even carved a bust of a beautiful woman from a stalactite. Don’t think you’re going to be the first person here because there’s actually a letter graffiti-ed on the wall that was written in 1865. How’s that for a long-standing tourist spot?
5. Baracorde Pools
All over Long Island, and practically every key of the Ragged Cays, you will find beaches and you can’t go wrong with almost any of them. With that said, I found these rock protected pools on the Atlantic side of Long Island to be one of my favorites because of the calmness of the water regardless of the sea state. It’s kind of cool to simply hang out on the beach or swim around in the pools looking for various critters.
4. Raccoon Cay
We now have our first of two entries from the Ragged Cays. All the cays are nice, but don’t necessarily have anything making them stand out except for the next two. Raccoon Cay has a fairly extensive salt pan ruins where I was able to scoop up sheets of salt. The beach is very nice and has a sandbar going to a small rock that is fun to play on. Right off this sandbar and I found a beautiful little reef and took one of my favorite pictures of Christmas tree worms. Spending a day here definitely was not a waste of time and did not get boring.
3. Flamingo Cay
The second entry from the Ragged Cays was even bigger and provided a nice little walk from one end to the other. There is a light tower on the island that gives a great view if you climb to the top of it. There is also a cave right at the water level, lots of curly tail lizards, a plane wreck on the north beach, and the wreck of the John T Davis against the shore.
2. Dean’s Blue Hole
You cannot visit Long Island without a stop at one of, if not the, deepest blue holes in the world. At 663 feet deep this blue hole holds an annual competition where world records are set all the time. I love how the cliffs protect it from the Atlantic and since the water goes straight down you can do some fun cliff jumping into the blue hole. When we were there the world free diving champion was practicing, which was fun to witness while chatting with his wife to learn more about the sport.
1. Clarence Town
If you’ve read my Top 10 articles over the years, you’ll know I rarely pick a settlement over nature, but Clarence Town is so adorable. My favorite part of the town was the two Father Jerome built churches. The first built was the Anglican church and then he converted to Catholicism and built the other one 20 years later. The Flying Fish Marina has some very polite staff, but if you prefer to anchor out there’s some protected spots. We also had a blast playing and the wide, although not very deep, blue hole. The sand dunes came right to the edge so it was fun to run down and into the water where it went from a foot to 30 ft deep within one body length.
There you have it The Top 10 for Long Island, which many cruisers will take the time to visit from Georgetown, and the Ragged Cays, which surprisingly few cruisers visit and you will have the 60-mile chain to yourself. I was surprised when I asked fellow cruisers if they would like the buddy boat down the Ragged Cays and the responds I got was” oh, that’s remote and you have to be self-sufficient to go there.” You are living on a boat, you have to be self-sufficient no matter how many people you have around! Haha.
Key Questions
What is Long Island Bahamas known for?
Long Island is known for dramatic blue holes, extensive cave systems, quiet beaches, and access to the remote Ragged Cays.
Why does it matter?
For cruisers, Long Island offers a rare combination of natural attractions and low traffic, making it one of the most rewarding off-the-beaten-path destinations in the Bahamas.
What to Do Next
Planning a cruise through the Bahamas? Start by exploring the Exumas and Georgetown, then extend your route south to Long Island and the Ragged Cays for a quieter, more adventurous experience.
For more destination guides, anchorage tips, and cruising insights, explore additional Caribbean routes on All At Sea.
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