Day Trip Exploring in the Grand Bahamas

Did you know that if you fly or drive to Fort Lauderdale (I drove since I was in Tampa for three weeks), you can catch a 3-hour ferry and end up in a different country for the day?

Yes, for a day!

I had NO idea you could go to the Grand Bahamas for a day until a coworker told me about this. If I must go to Florida for three weeks, I might as well explore a new country for a day, right?

Full disclosure: I am not the biggest Florida fan, but I will say I enjoyed this little adventure during my limited time in Fort Lauderdale.

But enough about that! Let’s go to the Bahamas and swim with pigs, shall we?

What to Expect

You can book your tickets with Balearia Caribbean online, costing $225-$245 for a round-trip from Port Everglades. Remember to bring your passport. The ticket recommends arriving 2-3 hours early, but at this port, it’s unnecessary—there’s little to do, and waiting can be tiring, especially as I’ve been battling a cold for over two months. When booking, you can also purchase food and drinks at discounted prices and add priority boarding for trips between Florida and the Grand Bahamas.

I only bought priority to disembark faster in the Bahamas, which worked well as I reached the ‘Welcome to Grand Bahamas’ sign before the crowd. I even had time to do my famous headstand, which I do on all my trips! Here you will catch the bus for the swimming pigs.

Travel tip: For the return journey, I'm uncertain if paying for priority boarding is worthwhile. I carried a small bag, and customs was swift, but disembarking still took a minute, which I found annoying. It took around 15-20 minutes to get off the ferry. However, it was nearly 10 pm, and I had already had a full day of adventures, so do what feels right for you.

You can book excursions via the website or on the ferry. I booked the swimming with the pigs tour for $110. I considered hiring a taxi for about $40-$50 round trip, plus $65-$70 for the swim, which might be a cheaper option.

But!

The tour included a shuttle to a nearby beach bar, six minutes away, or you could walk for 15 minutes, depending on the water level. Then they bring you back to the port.

Sadly, I recommend booking a tour for your day trip. That is, unless you're staying in the Bahamas over the weekend; then, doing it yourself might be better. But I only had one day, from around noon until about 4:30 or 5, to catch the ferry, so there was limited time. That’s why I suggest taking the bus from Balearia.

Swimming with Pigs

This might be the most touristy and silly activity, but I still highly recommend it!

I have an oinking (sorry, I had to!) that you are wondering, “How is this a thing?” There are many different theories on how this started, ranging from a scheme to bring tourism to the Bahamas to the pigs being brought to the island to be raised for food. To be fair, the original Swimming with Pigs was in Big Major Cay.

It felt amusing because the next day, I would be swimming with sharks in Jupiter. There was an actual theme of me swimming with animals in the ocean!

Here, you can meet Oreo, the island's most famous pig, and her friends while being waist-deep in water, as they swim around trying to grab apple pieces from sticks you hold. You can feed as many sticks as you like until they’re gone.

Though I’ve grown up in PA and often seen pigs, I’ve never been more excited to see them—especially now, calling the pigs over while you’re swimming in crystal-clear waters.

After feeding them, they return to their little beach homes, and you go back to dry land to meet the next group: a bunch of tiny piglets! These piglets are between 6 and 8 weeks old and can’t swim until they’re at least 6 months old, but you can hold them while standing in the water.

Be warned: if you have long hair like me, the pigs might cuddle into it and even fall asleep, as one did! You spend about 45 minutes to an hour with the pigs, then enjoy free time at the beach bar with a local drink and food, or swim in the ocean until the bus arrives. There’s also a small gift shop or vendors selling snow globes, T-shirts, and more souvenirs.

Another beach, another bar!

After boarding the bus and riding for about 5-6 minutes, they drop you off at a different part of the ocean where you can rent snorkel gear, buy some food or drinks, or relax on these big mats floating in the water! Naturally, I rented gear and swam quite far between two rocks, where I saw many kinds of marine life. There were various fish, and I even spotted a stingray!

I also befriended a woman and her husband, who encouraged me to venture a bit farther than I was used to without a boat. I’ll admit, I was a little nervous because the current was strong, and there was a lot of fire coral. If you’re not familiar with fire coral, let’s just say that touching it will end your snorkel adventure and your day!

I hoped I might see a shark, and I knew that I would miss out on seeing one the moment I swam back to shore. My gut was right; just a few minutes after I told the woman and her husband that I was heading back to shore, a shark appeared! She told me later when we were on land. To be honest, I was disappointed. Yes, I was planning to swim with sharks the next day, but I wanted to see one in the wild, not baited or guided toward me! But overall, it was really a blast.

I pushed past my comfort zone, managed to eat my food, and enjoyed my coconut on the large mat afterward. The bus driver informed us that it was time to depart, and we began our 20–30 minute bus ride back to the port, where we joined the line to board the ferry.

Returning to the Port of Everglades

Returning from the port can be challenging, as the main gate is often closed, forcing Uber drivers to take a longer route. My two ride requests were declined, despite my refusal to accept a taxi that charged twice as much. Sadly, those drivers were waiting outside and favored cash payments, which was frustrating. Nonetheless, I managed to negotiate the fare lower because I only had $20 in cash remaining.

Would I Do This Again?

My answer is yes; I’d prefer to try a weekend trip instead of a day trip, though. Honestly, the three hours there and back were a lot, especially at the end of the trip. Not all the chargers in your seat work, and the food was okay. It didn’t quite match the prices, though. I wish they had upgraded their seats or at least equipped them with charging ports for phones, and that you could pay for internet if you wanted it during those three hours. Luckily, I had a book and was able to sleep a little on the way back.

Though it was a long day, I would still highly recommend taking this adventure! They offer trips to the Grand Bahamas and Bimini, and if swimming with the pigs isn’t your thing, you can pay the $90 for the resort pass or explore and shop in Freeport!

Have you tried a day trip to the Grand Bahamas? If not, would you?