What You Need To Know Before Traveling to Bahamas During The Pandemic
For my sister’s 30th birthday, she wanted a quick get away where can can relax and reset. She also wanted to visit a country that she had never visited before. We made a list and eventually narrows down our travel option to Nassau, Bahamas! This was my second time visiting the Bahamas, with the first time being for work. When I had previously visited, I stayed in a hotel that they covered and basically chilled on the beach that was located behind the hotel my entire stay. Therefore, I thought visiting again was necessary since I didn’t get to “experience the Bahamas” during my last visit. After our travel experience, there were so many things that I wanted to share so that if you are planning on visiting Nassau, Bahamas during this time, you are well prepared:
Pre-Requisites
As we all know, we are still in the middle of a global pandemic- even though outside is “open”. Therefore, when it comes to travel, almost every country has specific requirements that you must complete before hand in order to enter their country. For travel to the Bahamas from the United States during our time of travel, it was required that you produce a negative PCR COVID test at least 72 hours before the departure time of your flight and purchase a Bahamas Health Visa.
I got my COVID test done at CityMD on 8th Avenue between 33rd Street & 34th Street. This was my first time visiting a CItyMD & getting my COVID test done here, so I was lowkey nervous lol. However, the process was easy and seamless and I received my results in less than 24 hours!
Once you receive your negative COVID results, you can then go on the Bahamas website to complete the steps to get your Bahamas Health Visa - click here! After I submitted my application, it was approved in less than 5 minutes and then I had to click the link that was emailed to me to pay the $40.00 for my Bahamas Health Visa. Note that the price of your Bahamas Health Visa depends on the amount of days you will be staying in the country and whether you are vaccinated or not.
After you pay for your Bahamas Health Visa, you will be emailed with a link to a QR code - which is what you present at your boarding gate when leaving the United States and upon your arrival to the Bahamas.
Check This Video Out To Watch Me Prepare For The Trip to Bahamas!
Flight
We flew with Jetblue from JFK to NAS since it was the cheapest option available when we booked our trip. We paid $300 roundtrip for our direct flight. I did check a bag both ways so I had to pay an extra $35 each way. I believe if you are flying Jetblue and check your bag online at least 24 hours before the time of your flight, you will be charged $30 per bag vs. $35 but y’all know me, always waiting until last minute lol. When we arrived at JFK Terminal 5, it was a zoo!! I have been traveling since last August and this was the craziest I have saw the airport since the global pandemic! It took more than an hour for us to get through the security line - definitely need to sign up for Global Entry (which I believe includes TSA Pre-Check). However, we arrived at the airport early enough where this was not an issue for us. Overall, I would just recommend that if you are traveling during this time, arrive to the airport early enough so that you are not rushing for your flight!
Airbnb
We decided to stay at an Airbnb during our stay because the hotel prices???? Honey - they wanted to garnish my wages!!! The Airbnb options for The Bahamas were not the most aesthetically pleasing (the best way I can phrase it). A lot of listing were small spaces, shared apartments, had outdated furniture or just looked sketchy overall. It took us a while to find the Airbnb that we stayed at because we had to skim through so many uninteresting options.
The Airbnb that we stayed at was located on Westbay Street and was about a 15 minute drive from the NAS airport. It was an apartment in a family home. We had our own area in the house and the host + family were not disruptive at all. The only thing that I would want to note & emphasize is that this Airbnb is not close to the downtown area. Therefore, if you want to be “on the scene” or island hop, it makes more sense to stay in the downtown area so that you are within the vicinity of these attractions.
There was a supermarket walking distance (15 minute walk) from the Airbnb location. As well as a COVID Testing Center, restaurants, salons, a liquor store + more in the same shopping center.
What We Did
We were in the Bahamas from Monday, July 12, 2021 to Friday, July 16, 2021 (a total of 4 days). Before arriving to Nassau, Bahamas, we had an idea of what we wanted to do during our stay. We had planned to visit Sandy Toes Rose Island to swim with the pigs and the other excursions they offer. We also wanted to visit Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island. However, Sandy Toes Rose Island ended up getting booked until July 27th (would highly recommend to book early before your date of travel & check their refund/change date policy in case the weather ends up being bad on expected date of excursion). Therefore, we cancelled those plans. The ferry that we looked into taking to Pink Sand Beach changed it’s schedule post-pandemic where it only runs on Friday, Saturday & Sundays, therefore we were not able to visit here either.
Once we realized that our plans had to be altered, we decided to make our agenda for the trip very relaxing and chill. The day we arrived, July 12th, we arrived around 2pm and went to our Airbnb to change and went downtown to grab some lunch. We did not know this day was the country’s independence day. Therefore, everyone was outside and there was a lot of activity going on, especially in the downtown area. We ate at Goldie’s Conch House (per our driver’s recommendation) - the food & drinks were OKAY, would recommend trying a different restaurant in this area. There was a whole strip of restaurants and bars. After we ate, we went to Junkaroo Beach to lay out and relax. When we got to the beach, it was also crowded. We paid $10 for 2 beach chairs and a little table for our belongings. I would not recommend Junkaroo Beach if your objective is to lay out and relax without much interruptions or distractions.
The next day, July 15th, we went to Love Beach which was less then a 5 minute walk from our Airbnb. It started raining shortly after we arrived, so we ended up going back to the house and relaxing for the remainder of the day.
On our third day, July 16th, we went to Jaws Beach to chill and relax. I would highly recommend this beach if you are interested in a beautiful beach to lay out and relax. The water is so clear and beautiful so you can also snorkel at this beach. You just have to bring your own snorkeling gear because it is not offered at the beach.
Check This Video Out to See My Experience In Bahamas!
Restaurant Recommendations
While we were in the Bahamas, we ate at Naughty Johnny’s twice. The first night that we went there for dinner, I had ordered the Lemon Chicken Sandwich and fries and three, YES THREE lol, guava lemonades. The chicken sandwich and fries were EHH. However, the guava lemonade?? SLAPPED!! We ended up going back for lunch a following day and had wings and guava lemonade and the wings were so good!!
We went out for dinner to Aqua Fire Bar & Grill and this was honestly the best mean that we had while we were in the Bahamas. I had the fried chicken basket with fries and veggies & a strawberry lemonade — so GOOD!! Would highly recommend to check out this restaurant if you want some good food with a great vibe!
During our last day, we were chilling at the house and didn’t want to leave to get food. Therefore, we ordered food via Kraven (use code RXiRLFXa to sign up!)— which is basically like an UberEats in Bahamas. We ordered food from a restaurant called Twisted Lime. I ordered the jerk chicken wings and sweet potato fries - so good!!! The food did take over an hour to be delivered but I did not mind.
Here are some additional restaurant recommendations we heard about but were not able to try out:
Compass Point - live music band on Thursday night.
COVID Testing
As mentioned earlier, you need a negative PCR test in order to enter the Bahamas. We also needed a negative rapid or PCR test to return home to the US. Our Airbnb host recommended that we went to Edenwell Testing Center to get our test done to return back home. We did not need to schedule an appointment in advance. We walked in and had to create an account to house our personal information and to see our test results afterwards. The rapid test cost $30 and the entire process was 20 minutes from walking in to leaving - with majority of the time being us setting up our profiles online. We received our test results in less than 20 minutes.
Transportation
During our stay, we decided to take taxis to get around since our initial plans changed last minute and we really just wanted to relax and not have to worry about driving ourselves around. However, be aware that taxi prices in The Bahamas are veryyyyy expensive! Therefore, it makes more sense to rent a car to get around. The average price for a car rental in The Bahamas is $50 a day. You can either rent cars via car rental companies (i.e. Hertz, Avis, etc) or through local taxi companies. I would recommend to do your research on renting cars, car insurance, etc. within The Bahamas so that you can make an educated decision of if you rather take taxis to get around or rent a car.
I hope that all of this information and tips help with you considering your travel to The Bahamas and planning your trip. Be sure to check out all three of the Youtube videos I included within this blog post for further details and to see more about my trip. If you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave it in the box below! :)