Eat & drink

Conch, mostly. And it’s best outside.

The best meals here are rarely in a dining room: a shack by the road, a picnic table on the sand, a bowl of conch salad made while you watch.

What to order

The Bahamian table

Conch shells on a sandy beach
A plate of rice and peas with fried plantains
Spiny lobsters on an outdoor grill

Conch salad

Raw conch diced with tomato, onion and sweet pepper, cured in lime and hot pepper. Made to order.

Cracked conch & fritters

Tenderized, battered and fried. Fritters are the snack; cracked conch is the meal.

Peas & rice

Pigeon peas and rice, the side that comes with everything.

Grilled fish & lobster

Snapper, grouper or Bahamian lobster (spiny lobster, no claws) when in season.

Johnnycake & guava duff

Dense, slightly sweet bread, and a rolled guava dessert with rum sauce.

Kalik & Sands

The local beers. Or a Goombay Smash, if you’re not driving the buggy.

Where to go

Three places that are the island

A queen conch shell on the sand at the water's edgeNear George Town

The Fish Fry

A row of colorful roadside shacks just north of George Town, each with its own following. Busiest on Friday nights.

Drone view of people on a beach in Exuma, the BahamasStocking Island

Chat ’N’ Chill

A boat-access beach bar on the sand, with conch salad made in front of you and a Sunday pig roast that draws every yacht in the harbor.

Swings standing in the shallow water of a beach in ExumaLittle Exuma

Lunch on the south end

Combine Tropic of Cancer Beach with a long lunch at a seafood spot on Little Exuma. Ask locals what’s fresh that day.

Opening days and hours change, especially in the off-season. Call ahead or ask your hotel.

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