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The 7-day Exumas charter loop is the Caribbean week that does not require a Caribbean delivery. Nassau is 4 hours from New York, 2 hours from Miami, and a 40-minute flight from Fort Lauderdale. The week covers 165 nautical miles and eight cay anchorages between Nassau and Staniel. Peak-season weekly rates on a 45m to 55m motor yacht run $200K to $380K plus 25 to 30% APA, as of May 2026. Christmas and New Year weeks command a 30 to 50% premium over the rest of peak.
The Exumas is also the Caribbean destination where draft matters more than LOA. The Bahamas Bank water on the eastern side of the Exumas chain is 3 to 6 meters deep across hundreds of square miles. A 55m motor yacht with a 4m draft has a different week than a 55m motor yacht with a 5.2m draft. We name the route below for a yacht with a 4m to 4.5m draft, which covers most of the charter fleet running this region.
The base case: Nassau to Staniel Cay and back in seven nights
Boarding Saturday afternoon at Albany Marina south of Nassau, Atlantis at Spot Island, or Hurricane Hole. Most charter clients fly into NAS and take a 30-minute transfer. The yacht clears port by 17:00 and runs 8nm east-southeast to Rose Island or Athol Island for night one.
Day 1 (Saturday): Nassau to Rose Island 8nm. Soft opener. Anchor at the south side of Rose Island in the cut between Rose and Athol. The Sandy Toes beach bar is the closest dinner-ashore option to Nassau. Holding is good in 5 to 9m, sand. Dinner aboard or at Sandy Toes. The yacht sleeps here.
Day 2 (Sunday): Rose Island to Highbourne Cay 35nm southeast across the Exumas Bank. Cross the deep water of the Exuma Sound on the east side or the shallower Bank on the west. The west-side route requires shallow-draft navigation and most 50m yachts run the east side via the Highbourne Cay entrance. Anchor at the Highbourne Cay anchorage in 4 to 8m, sand. Holding is good. The Highbourne Cay marina has a beach club, a small restaurant, and an excellent fuel stop. The cay is privately operated by the Highbourne Cay company and the beach club requires a reservation. Dinner ashore or aboard. Yacht sleeps here.
Day 3 (Monday): Highbourne to Norman's Cay 8nm south. Norman's Cay is the former drug-runner cay that has been redeveloped as a single-resort island under the MacDuff's brand. The west-side anchorage at the airstrip is the easiest. Lunch ashore at MacDuff's beach club for the famous beach bar. Afternoon swim or kite-surfing at the cay's south end. Yacht sleeps here.
Day 4 (Tuesday): Norman's to Shroud Cay to Warderick Wells 22nm south. Morning swim and tender exploration of the Shroud Cay mangrove channels. The mangrove run from the west side to Camp Driftwood on the east is the best tender activity on the route. Lunch on board. Afternoon push to Warderick Wells, the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Pick up a mooring buoy in the north or south field. Holding by buoy is the rule inside the park. Beach hike to Boo Boo Hill at sunset. Yacht sleeps here.
Day 5 (Wednesday): Warderick Wells to Compass Cay to Big Major (Pig Beach) to Staniel Cay 20nm south. The famous-attractions day. Morning at Compass Cay for the nurse sharks. The Compass Cay marina charges a per-person fee and the nurse-shark dock is the activity. Late-morning tender to Big Major Cay for the swimming pigs. Lunch aboard. Afternoon snorkel at Thunderball Grotto, the cave that filmed the James Bond underwater scenes, accessible at slack tide. Pick up a buoy or anchor in the Staniel Cay anchorage. Dinner ashore at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club. Yacht sleeps here.
Day 6 (Thursday): Staniel Cay area to Black Point Settlement to Bitter Guana Cay 12nm south. Morning swim at the Staniel anchorage. Run south 6nm to Black Point Settlement, the largest settled community in the central Exumas. Lunch ashore at Lorraine's or at the Scorpio Inn for conch fritters. Afternoon move 4nm south to Bitter Guana Cay for the iguana beach. Yacht sleeps at anchor in the area, often back at Big Major for the calmer overnight.
Day 7 (Friday): Staniel area to Allan's Cay back toward Nassau 60nm north. The return leg. Long sea day, ideally underway by 09:00. Lunch stop at Allan's Cay for the rock iguanas. Late-afternoon arrival at Rose Island or Athol Island for a final night close to Nassau. Final dinner ashore on Spot Island or aboard. Yacht sleeps near Nassau and disembarks Saturday morning.
This is the standard 7-day version. It can extend to 10 days by adding Long Island, the Jumentos chain, or Cat Island. Most 7-day clients stay above Staniel.
What the brochure version gets wrong
The standard brochure puts the famous-attractions day (pigs, sharks, Thunderball) on day two or three. The arithmetic does not work because guests are still acclimatizing on the first 48 hours and the famous-attractions day works better as the midpoint, not the opener. The version above puts it on day five, which lets the first three days build the route into the chain rather than rushing south.
The second mistake is over-allocating Staniel. Staniel is the central hub of the Exumas and the standard charter base, but two nights at Staniel is one too many. The 7-day version above gives Staniel one anchored night for the famous-attractions day and uses Black Point and Big Major for the other central-Exumas nights.
The third is omitting Shroud Cay. Shroud Cay is the mangrove tender activity that no other Exumas cay offers and the captain who runs it well builds it into day four. Brokers omit it because it is in the Exuma Land and Sea Park and the buoy schedule has been over-subscribed since 2019. The fix is to swim and tender at Shroud in the morning, then move to Warderick Wells for the buoy night.
Yachts that work for this route
This is a 35m to 60m destination with one critical constraint: draft. Yachts with 4m draft or less run the full chain comfortably. Yachts with 4 to 5m draft run most anchorages but lose access to certain Bank crossings. Yachts above 5m draft run the deep-water route on the east side and choose anchorages carefully.
The hulls running the Exumas in 2026 are 40m to 50m Sanlorenzo SX, 47m Heesen FDHF, 45m to 50m Benetti Custom Line, the Westport 130 series, and the 40m to 50m Princess Y range. Catamarans in the 30m to 45m range are a strong Exumas pick because the shallow draft opens up Bank anchorages that monohulls miss.
A yacht we would pass on for the Exumas is a 60m+ monohull with a 5m+ draft. The week is technically possible. The captain spends two days routing around shallow water that the rest of the fleet crosses directly. The trip loses texture.
APA and the Exumas fully-loaded cost
APA on the Exumas runs 25 to 28% of charter fee. The Bahamas customs clearance and cruising permit run a few hundred dollars per yacht per week. The Exuma Land and Sea Park mooring fees are $40 to $80 per night. Highbourne Cay dockage is $4 to $7 per foot per night. Staniel Cay Yacht Club dockage is similar. Provisioning is the meaningful APA line. The Exumas provisioning is more expensive than Nassau or Miami because everything ships in by mail boat, so charter chefs provision heavily in Nassau before departure.
The fully-loaded delivered cost of a 50m Exumas week in peak February 2026 is approximately $280K charter plus $80K APA, or $360K all-in. That is for 10 guests over 7 nights with at-rest stabilizers and a Bahamas-experienced captain.
Passed on: variations we do not recommend
We do not recommend a one-way Nassau to Staniel charter. The one-way leaves the yacht 60nm from Nassau on the final day, and the broker still charges the delivery. The loop is cleaner.
We do not recommend booking the Exumas first week of January with no buffer. The Bahamas Christmas-New Year handover is intense and the marinas, fuel, and provisioning are all under strain. Mid-January onward is the calmer window.
We do not recommend the Exumas as a first-time Caribbean charter for clients with seasickness sensitivity. The Bank crossing between Nassau and Highbourne is exposed and the 35nm crossing on day two is the most uncomfortable leg of the week.
Booking lead time
The 45m to 55m motor yachts running the Exumas book Christmas and Easter weeks 12 to 18 months ahead. As of May 2026, the Christmas 2026 to New Year 2027 week is gone on the better shallow-draft hulls and the New Year to mid-January window is tight. February and March have wider availability. The April and early-May shoulder is the best-value window with rates 20 to 30% below peak.
FAQ
Is the Exumas a deep-water destination? No, and this is the single most important fact for a charter client. Most of the Exumas chain runs on Bahamas Bank water that is 3 to 12 meters deep. Yachts above 4m draft choose their routes carefully. Above 5m draft, the captain plans every leg around tides and the deep cuts.
Where do yachts pick up for an Exumas week? Nassau is the standard. Atlantis Spot Island marina, Albany Marina south of Nassau, or Hurricane Hole at Spot Island. Albany is the most-used for 50m+ hulls. Staniel Cay can be a pickup for charters that fly into Staniel via private aircraft.
Are the Exumas swimming pigs worth the visit? They are the postcard. The pigs at Big Major Cay are real and the tender stop is part of every standard Exumas week. The Nurse Sharks at Compass Cay and the Thunderball Grotto at Staniel are the other two postcards. All three together fit in a single day.
Can a catamaran charter run this route? Yes, and a 30m to 45m catamaran is one of the better Exumas charter options because the shallow draft opens up Bank anchorages and the wide beam gives stable swim platforms.
Best month for the Exumas? Mid-February to mid-April. December is too unsettled. January is busy with handover from Christmas. May is the shoulder closer with reduced rates and water temperatures climbing into the mid-80s.