Freeport City, The Bahamas

The fourth largest and second most populated island in the Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island has recently enjoyed a spurt of commercial growth. While the island was originally developed in the 1950s, the cruise ship traffic tended to bypass it in favor of nearby Nassau. However, lately ships such as the Discovery have begun to make Freeport their main port of call, revitalizing the tourist trade on this sleepy island.

Although 41,000 people live on Grand Bahama, they are spread out over such a wide area as to make the island seem nearly uninhabited in parts. Wide stretches of road and miles of white sandy beach are empty for days at a time. You can walk for hours without seeing anyone. On the other hand, if you travel a few miles to bustling Port Lucaya or the International Bazaar, it becomes obvious that while the island is not a tourism capital, it's on its way to becoming one. An interesting piece of trivia is that locals call Freeport “The City” and Nassau “The Town.” One would think it would be the opposite, after all, Nassau is several times larger. However, downtown Nassau is a pell-mell collection of shops, services and businesses, squeezed together wall-to-wall with no real logic. Freeport, on the other hand, is composed of a few separate districts, distinctly separated by land and highways, and each possessed of its own specific qualities.

Port Lucaya

As far as tourists are concerned, Port Lucaya is the center of Grand Bahamas. The cruise ships dock here, the activity boats depart from here, and the night life is concentrated here for the most part, in the Port Lucaya Marketplace. Several large hotels are also located in Port Lucaya. They are scattered around the Marketplace, with the most famous of them, the Lucayan, being directly across from it. As far as lodging goes, many people feel that Port Lucaya is the best bet, because guests of a Port Lucaya hotel have instant access to the beach, restaurants, activities and shopping. The Marketplace is perhaps the best shopping center on the island, with about 85 specialty stores and restaurants, not to mention a hopping Straw Market. The Straw Market is the place to haggle for local goods and cheap souvenirs.

The port itself is very busy during the daytime, all the way up to the sunset hours. During the morning hours, dozens of activity brokers, barkers and ship captains try to draw in customers for activities ranging from sport fishing to snorkeling to parasailing. Buses full of tourists from major hotels arrive at the port and line up for the Robinson Crusoe Shipwreck Cruise, the Glass-Bottom Party Boat, and other favorite daytime adventures. At sunset, the ever-popular Bahama Mama Booze Cruise departs from the dock, full of rowdy vacationers ready to get drunk. An hour after sunset the same ship returns, full of drastically changed people. Half of them stumble out of the ship looking for the nearest bed. The other half charge happily out, looking for the nearest bar—which, in this district, is easy to find.

Nighttime options in Port Lucaya vary a tiny bit. There's live music in Count Basie Square, a half-dozen little bars (frequented by locals and tourists alike) and a few hotel lounges. Fortunate guests of the Lucayan can splash around in the gigantic rock-formation hot tub. For people who want to make a mellow night of it, several open-air restaurants and casual sweet shops are open till around 10p. Enjoy dinner, a snack, or coffee with friends. Ice cream at Marie's Kookies is a great way to beat the heat. Pisces Restaurant, located at the front of the Marketplace, is a popular pizzeria and hangout spot, serving fruity cocktails and doses of boisterous cheer.

International Bazaar

It's a toss-up whether this district or Port Lucaya is the hottest spot in Freeport. Since they're several miles away from each other, it doesn't make much sense to go to both districts in one day—especially if you're taking a cab (since there is almost no public transportation in Freeport, cabs are usually the best option). While the Bazaar doesn't have a busy harbor to draw people, it has something that is for some even more tempting, a Las Vegas-style casino. Located at the Resort at Bahamia, this casino is 20,000 square feet in size, and has every kind of table game as well as over 400 slot machines. A production show is presented nightly in the Casino Showroom. The rest of this area's nightlife is scattered; the Resort at Bahamia boasts a few bars, while the club of the moment, Ruby Swiss Restaurant, is behind the Resort at Bahamia.

During the daytime, the Bazaar is a great choice for shopping. It has nearly 100 specialty shops and restaurants, many of them purveying duty-free goods such as liquor, perfume and fine jewelry. Most people who shop in the Bahamas are looking to buy either souvenirs or duty-free merchandise. At places such as The Original Columbian, Colombian Emeralds, Parfum de Paris and Arcade Liquors, tourists can enjoy savings of up to 30 percent on domestic prices on luxury goods. When shopping begins to become tiresome, several restaurants and sidewalk cafes are nearby.

Another seemingly minor but actually important feature of this area is the 24-hour ATM located in the Casino at Bahamia. It's the only one on the island that is accessible on weekends. While this may not seem important at first, at midnight on a Friday night, it becomes the deciding factor in many people's plans for the night.

Downtown Freeport

This is the epicenter of local business in Freeport. While it isn't nearly as aesthetically appealing as the pristinely manicured Bazaar area or the brightly touristy port, it is where the majority of locals choose to shop and conduct business. If you're looking for a lawyer, a doctor, a phone card or a bargain, this is the place to find it.

Two downtown businesses that draw a steady stream of tourists are the Batelco headquarters and the Cyber Café. Batelco is the one and only phone company of the Bahamas. It charges exorbitant rates and is unreliable, but any visitors who wish to make long-distance calls will need to go through it. As an alternative to paying hotel long distance rates, which can often skyrocket up to US$6 a minute or more, it's recommended that you stop by Batelco and pick up a phone card. They can also be bought at Zorba's Greek Restaurant in the Port, but more options are available at the downtown Batelco. Private phone booths are also available.

The Cyber Café is another way of communicating with loved ones in far away places. About a dozen computers are in the café, and there's often a wait. However, pay-per-view movies play and snacks are for sale, making the wait fairly pleasant.

There are a few hotels downtown, including the Royal Palm, but for the most part, the area is not particularly interesting to tourists.

Beaches

Aside from the three main districts on Grand Bahama Island, there are a number of small villages and beachfront resort communities. They are spread out around the perimeter of the island, and make for entertaining daytime excursions, if one is of a mind to sightsee. Most of the resorts offer a full range of amenities and activities, making it unnecessary for guests to leave the secluded property and venture into town.

Xanadu Beach is a very popular swimming and sport beach, and has two water sport companies located onsite. The Xanadu Resort, located on the beach, has its own restaurant and bar.

Mather Town and Fortune Beach are located about a ten minutes driving distance from Port Lucaya. A few restaurants are on the seven-mile strip of beach. Banana Bay and Margaritaville are popular with locals. Margaritaville, located next to Club Caribe, is a seedy little bar that changes identities constantly. Recognize it by its beachfront location, low prices and cheerfully dilapidated appearance. The name is likely to change within months. Club Fortuna Beach, the islands only all-inclusive resort, occupies a large chunk of beachfront property between Margaritaville and Banana Bay. A number of condominium complexes and hotels are currently in construction nearby; Club Fortuna won't be alone for long.

The West End and the East End of Grand Bahamas are both very secluded areas. What little tourism trade exists caters to nature lovers. Paradise Cove on the western tip offers some of the best snorkeling on the island, while the East End Safari Adventure Tour explores the underbrush and the open sea. Old Bahama Bay, slated to open soon on the West End, will be a luxury hotel and golf course. The easternmost beach on the island, Gold Rock Beach, is also the island's most famous. With transparent aqua water that is shallow for a mile out and dusty-fine white sand, it's a breathtaking spot. The largest underground surveyed cave system in the world is located a bit north of Gold Rock Beach; the caves are popular with scuba divers the world over.

One interesting thing to keep in mind while traversing Grand Bahama Island: Freeport is the main city on the island. For the purposes of addresses, it is also the only city. Every business, from the downtown BatelCo to secluded Old Bahama Bay, is listed as being in Freeport. Put simply, Grand Bahama Island is Freeport, and vice versa.

Grand Bahama Island likes to call itself a cosmopolitan center, but as of yet it hasn't reached that level. It does, however, boast an array of outdoor activities and natural wonders that are largely unspoiled by the human touch. It also has a decent amount of shopping and dining options. While no one finds it to be a whirlwind of activity, anyone who enjoys the outdoors and the early morning is going to find much to see and do on the island.