Nassau Water Activities: Snorkeling, Shark Diving, and Swimming Pigs

Updated April 2026 | 4 min read

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar for four days in January and the water in front of the resort looked beautiful. It also had almost nothing to snorkel. The real water activities in Nassau require a boat, and the best ones are not the most obvious.

Snorkeling from Baha Mar Beach: Skip It

The beach at Baha Mar is gorgeous. White sand, turquoise water, perfectly maintained. But the snorkeling directly off the beach is underwhelming. There is some sea grass and the occasional fish, but no reef structure worth putting a mask on for. Cable Beach has the same issue. If you want to snorkel in Nassau, you need to get on a boat.

Clifton Heritage Park: The Best-Value Snorkel in Nassau

Clifton Heritage National Park is on the western tip of New Providence, about 30 minutes from downtown. A guided snorkel tour runs $48 per person and includes gear. The site has the Ocean Atlas, which is the world’s largest underwater sculpture — a 5-meter, 60-ton figure by Jason deCaires Taylor — plus the Lady of the Coral sculpture and a James Bond airplane wreck from an old film shoot.

The reef around the sculptures is healthy because of the marine protected status. TripAdvisor reviewers from 2025 consistently report sea turtles, stingrays, and schools of reef fish with visibility over 50 feet. For under $50, this is genuinely the best dollar-for-experience snorkel option near Nassau. Reddit travelers consistently recommend it over the bigger-name operators.

Stuart Cove’s: The Main Operator

Stuart Cove’s runs most of the organized water activities on the southwest side of Nassau. Their snorkel trips cost $119 per adult and run twice daily at 9am and 1:30pm. You hit 2-3 reef sites at 10-25 feet depth, including the Nari Nari sculpture garden and shipwrecks. Hotel transfers and gear are included.

The bigger draw is their shark diving. The Shark Adventure is a two-tank dive at $242 per person. First dive is a free swim along the wall with Caribbean reef sharks cruising past naturally (no feeding). Second dive is the main event: you kneel in a semicircle on a sand patch while a feeder brings in the sharks. TripAdvisor reviews from 2025 are overwhelmingly positive, and it is on our list for the next trip. If you have a PADI certification and want to see sharks up close, this is one of the most accessible shark dives in the Caribbean.

For non-divers, Stuart Cove’s offers a Shark Encounter snorkel where you observe the feeding from the surface. Reviews are mixed — visibility is not as good from above, and some people found it anticlimactic compared to the dive version.

Swimming Pigs Day Trip

The famous swimming pigs are in the Exuma Cays, about 130 miles southeast of Nassau. Getting there is the challenge. Powerboat Adventures runs full-day speedboat excursions from Nassau for about $329 per person. The trip is long — roughly 90 minutes each way — and rough if the seas are up. You get the pigs, iguanas, nurse sharks, and a beach lunch.

We booked through Viator and the pickup was at 7:30am from the Nassau cruise port area. The pigs are real and they really swim at you for food. It is exactly as absurd as the photos suggest. Is it worth $329? If you are already in Nassau and the swimming pigs are on your list, yes. If you are on the fence, Clifton Heritage or a Stuart Cove trip will give you more time in the water for less money.

There is also a flight option: Bahamas Air Tours runs a day trip from Nassau to Exuma by small plane for about $450 per person. Faster, less seasickness, but significantly more expensive.

Rose Island and Blue Lagoon Island

Both islands are short boat rides from Nassau and offer beach-day-plus-snorkel packages. Blue Lagoon Island is the more commercial option, with stingray and dolphin encounters (starting around $100). Rose Island is quieter and cheaper, with better natural snorkeling. A private charter to Rose Island runs $200-400 for a small group.

TripAdvisor reviews note that Blue Lagoon gets extremely crowded when cruise ships are in port. If you are staying at Baha Mar and want a beach day, you already have a beautiful beach. These islands make more sense if you want snorkeling in coral reef habitat, which Rose Island has and Baha Mar does not.

What We Spent on Water Activities

Over 4 days in Nassau (January 2024):

• Swimming pigs day trip (Viator): $329/person
• Snorkeling gear for beach use: brought our own (dry-top snorkel set from Amazon, $30-50)
• Beach time at Baha Mar: free with resort stay

If we went back, we would add Clifton Heritage ($48) and a Stuart Cove’s snorkel trip ($119). The shark dive would be on the list too if we had a fifth day.

Book Nassau water activities on Viator. Compare flights to Nassau on Skyscanner.

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