Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In 1996 a development group, Sun & Sea Estates, began a major redevelopment project
in Lucaya. The five-year, $290 million multiresort project has integrated existing hotels
with new hotels, vacation clubs, restaurants, shops, theme parks, a new golf course and golf
school and a marina.
Many hoped that this massive investment would do for Grand Bahama what the Atlantis
resort did for Paradise Island. It is certainly successful. However, hurricanes such as
Frances and Jeanne in 2004 badly damaged residential communities, nature reserves and
woodlands, as well as many hotels, and certainly dampened the island's hopes. Grand Ba-
hama is now attempting a modest rebound as an affordable family getaway and cruise ship
destination.
National Parks
Grand Bahama has some of the country's best and most accessible parks, which are perfect
for those interested in hiking, biking and kayaking, as well as those wanting to sunbathe,
stroll and lounge in the shallows. For more information see
Click here
.
Lucayan National Park
(
Click here
) contains one of the world's longest known under-
water cave and cavern system, with caves that are habitats for rare underground crustaceans
and migratory bats, and mangrove wetlands. It's also home to Gold Rock Beach, one of the
island's most stunning and secluded stretches of sand.
In town, the 100-acre
Rand Nature Centre
(right ) has distinctive flora and fauna.
Peterson Cay National Park
(
Click here
) is a small cay that has a striking coral garden.
Freeport & Lucaya
POP 27,000
Freeport, Grand Bahama's only urban settlement, was built seemingly overnight in the
1950s to serve as a duty-free tourism destination for Rat Pack-era pleasure-seekers. Half a
century and several major hurricanes later, it's now an uninspiring grid of banks, strip malls
and government buildings, with little appeal for travelers.
Lucaya, a modern coastal suburb of Freeport, is where most of the vacation action takes
place. Its tidy - some might say antiseptic - strip of shops and restaurants appeals to a
largely cruise ship-based tourist contingent, who appreciate its safety and walkability. On
warm nights when the music's thumping at the Port Lucaya Marketplace bandstand, this is
the place to be.
SIGHTS
Garden of the Groves
BOTANICAL GARDENS
