A First Time Visitor’s Guide to Andros Island, Bahamas
Visiting Andros Island in the Bahamas is the perfect way to get a taste of what this incredible island country is really like away from the crowds and the cruise lines.
I’d wager that most people who’ve heard about the Bahamas know Nassau, Paradise Island and Freeport, but very few have even heard of Andros despite it being the largest island in the Bahamas.
Seriously, you're missing out because Andros is one of the most incredible places in the entire country, if not the entire Caribbean.
I’ve visited many of the islands in the Bahamas both before and since, but I chose Andros to study abroad because of its rural charm, amazing recreational opportunities and history.
The guide below breaks down everything you’ll need know about what became my home away from home, so that you can plan your own unforgettable first visit to Andros Island!
I’m including must-visit restaurants, attractions, tours, and hotels so that all you need to do is do book everything.
Palm trees at Fresh Creek in Andros Island, Bahamas
This post contains affiliates. If you purchase through the links below, I will receive a commission at no charge to you.
Visiting Andros Island, Bahamas: An Overview
After studying abroad in London, I thought that my time overseas as a student was probably over.
But, when a friend of mine at Clemson mentioned that he’d signed up for a Geology course that included a significant component on-site in the Bahamas, I knew that I had to make it work in my schedule.
That class, and my study abroad experience in Andros, redefined my understanding of the Bahamas, and now, whenever I hear of someone looking for the perfect tropical getaway, I can’t help but try and convince them to go to Andros Island.
My study abroad group at Fossil Reef in North Andros (I’m in the red shirt on the left!)
If you’ve been to Nassau or Grand Bahama Island, you might think you know the Bahamas. But, until you get to the Out Islands, you won’t truly understand the incredible history and culture of this island nation.
Yes, it’s super easy to get to Nassau or Freeport since it seems like every Caribbean cruise stops at one or both, but visiting Andros is one of those times that the more difficult travel experience is totally worth it.
I’m walking you through everything you need to know in order to convince you that you need to add Andros to your bucket list immediately.
Where is Andros Island?
The western coast of Andros from our airplane
As the crow flies, Andros isn’t far from the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area—only about 175 miles across the gorgeous blue waters of the Strait of Florida.
But, given how remote Andros feels once you’re on the island, you might think you’re halfway around the world from the mainland U.S.
The northern tip of Andros Island lines up almost perfectly with Key Largo, Florida, so you’ll get the same year-round warm weather that you can get in the Florida Keys, only without the hordes of tourists.
Andros is just west of Nassau, south of Grand Bahama Island (where you’ll find Freeport), and southeast of Bimini.
Ultimately, the Bahamas are one of the closest and easiest to access island escapes from the U.S. east coast. Andros, being the largest of all of the islands in the Bahamas, has unprecedented opportunities for fishing, snorkeling, diving, and exploring, just a few hours from the coast of Florida.
Areas of Andros, Bahamas
There are 2 main parts of Andros: North Andros and South Andros. The two sections are divided by the Bight, which is a stretch of shallow marshy water that is prized for its excellent fishing.
North Andros
North Andros is the more populated of the two sections, but honestly, the term “more populated” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here as the entire island is quite laidback with few roads and houses outside of the handful of towns.
In North Andros, you’ll find Nicholls Town, which has the largest population of anywhere on the island and has about 800 residents.
You’ll also find Red Bays here, a settlement that was essentially unknown to the outside world for decades, Blue Holes National Park, Fresh Creek, and Andros Town.
There are 2 airports in North Andros:
Andros Town Airport, unsurprisingly in Andros Town, and
San Andros Airport, off of Queen’s Highway south of Nicholls Town.
For a first time visitor to Andros, Bahamas, I highly recommend sticking to North Andros simply because of convenience and the more robust infrastructure.
South Andros
You really have to want to get to South Andros, as there is even less infrastructure here than in the northern part of Andros.
There is only one airport on this part of the island at Congo Town, and it is only served by one airline: Makers Air.
South Andros is actually divided into two sections: the remote Mangrove Cay section to the north, and the larger chunk containing Kemp’s Bay, Deep Creek, and Mars Bay to the very south of the island.
Both sections of South Andros have just one main road running from north to south along the island’s eastern edge.
Getting to Andros Island
That URL doesn’t exist anymore.
As I noted before, both parts of Andros, Bahamas, require a bit of navigating to get to.
It’s not like London or Paris or New York, where you’re assured of getting a flight from nearly anywhere in the world with multiple arrival and departure times a day.
Don’t fly into Nassau.
You could fly from Miami or Fort Lauderdale to Nassau and then get a flight or ferry from Nassau to northern Andros, but I don’t recommend this route for a couple of reasons.
1) You’ll be waiting around a lot between the 2 flights or first flight and ferry, and no one wants to waste their vacation at a ferry terminal or airport.
2) It’s slower this way, and you may have to overnight in Nassau since the ferries and interisland planes don’t run every day.
3) You’re at the mercy of weather conditions, and ferries and airplanes can be canceled for rough weather.
Instead, you’ll want to fly into one of the airports on Andros, preferably to Andros Town or San Andros in North Andros.
(The only reason I’d suggest going to South Andros on a first trip here is if you were staying at one of the fishing lodges there and had specific arrangments through them to get to/from the Congo Town airport.)
Get a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.
Me with the tiny plane I rode from Fort Lauderdale to San Andros airport
It’s going to be expensive, but plan to get a private or semi-private plane ride from the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport directly into North Andros.
Makers Air runs these flights regularly to both Andros Town and San Andros.
This is the easiest and most direct way onto the island and it is well worth it to avoid being routed through Nassau.
The flight will take less than an hour as you bounce around in your tiny tin can in the sky, but you’ll get incredible views of the Strait of Florida as you approach Andros.
When you get to the airport landing strip, don’t be surprised if the pilot has to wait while the airport staff has to shoo a cow or two off of the runway before you can touch down!
Customs in Andros
When you arrive, know that the Andros airport is going to be tiny (all of them are this way, so you’ll get the same experience no matter which one you fly into). As in, there is one mobile home-sized building that houses your single customs officer, who also doubles as the person who calls the taxi for you.
There isn’t any baggage claim, and you’ll disembark directly onto the tarmac.
Visiting Andros truly is a homespun experience, and arriving this way immediately makes you feel like a local.
You’ll get your passport stamped by the employee on duty, and he or she will arrange a taxi. There are only a couple on the island, so if you like who comes to get you at the airport, ask the driver if he or she (probably he) can come back to shuttle you around the island throughout your trip.
If you don’t like your airport taxi driver, that’s okay. Just get your hotel front desk staff to call you a taxi whenever you want to go somewhere, or ask the front desk for a recommendation on a local guide.
Everyone knows someone on the island who can serve as a guide, so you won’t have to ask around for long.
Where to Sleep and Eat in Andros
While there aren’t a ton of hotels and restaurants on the island, there are enough that you can choose to be a little picky depending on what you want to get out of your visit.
Recommended Hotels
Here are my top 3 recommendations on where to stay (all in North Andros):
Forfar Field Station
This incredible place was my home base while I was studying abroad here, and I cannot recommend it enough.
While there are many high school and college groups that come through here throughout the year, Forfar also offers guided tours for adults and non-school camps that are fantastic.
You’ll be able to learn about the wildlife, biology, ecology, and geology of the island while living directly on the beach and exploring the island in your free time.
Learn more about Forfar Field Station and my study abroad experiences here.
Love at First Site Hotel and Restaurant
This small, bright pink hotel is located at the mouth of Stafford Creek right on Queen’s Highway.
Each of the simple but clean guest rooms opens into the courtyard where the swimming pool is located.
There’s also a restaurant on-site, which serves up home cooked meals. While I was studying abroad here, we had such a large group that we couldn’t all stay at Forfar Field Station, which is just down the road.
Instead, some of the group lived here in this hotel, and the entire group would eat breakfasts and some dinners at Love at First Site.
The food was fantastic, and, while the rooms weren’t particularly luxurious, they had comfortable beds and clean bathrooms that worked well for us.
The hotel isn’t a full service resort, so you’ll need to head elsewhere on the island to do fishing charters, guided tours, and the like, but the owner, Ms. Sheila, is really helpful if you need her to give you recommendations on who to call on the island.
Small Hope Bay Lodge
While I was studying abroad in Andros, my sister and I would drive past this resort as we traveled between Forfar Field Station and different sightseeing area.
I got so enamored with the property that I finally went to see the hotel in full, and I knew that it would be the place that I’d come back to on my next trip to Andros.
This all-inclusive lodge is so cute with rooms decorated in Androsian batik fabric (learn more about that below), 1960s cottages made from local pine and coral, and glistening white sand.
Small Hope Bay Lodge is a great destination for families where part of the group wants to go fishing or diving while the other part wants to sunbathe or take guided tours of the island.
The Lodge arranges everything for you from fishing charters with a local guide to personalized visits to the blue holes.
Where to Eat in Andros
Turning Tides Restaurant
This is the restaurant inside Love at First Site hotel (above). You don’t have to be a guest to eat here, and it is open 7 days a week from 8 AM to 10 PM.
The meals are hearty and delicious, and rotates constantly. You might have eggs and bacon with toast for breakfast one day, and sausage and pancakes the next.
You can find it in the building facing Stafford Creek on the Love at First Site property.
Below Deck
Below Deck is at Morgan’s Bluff on the very northern tip of Andros near Nicholls Town. It’s a bit of a hole in a wall, but that’s one reason to love it.
You’ll find plenty of locals here, who come for the sunsets off the tiny back deck, fried appetizers, and cold drinks.
To get here, head north on Andros Road out of Nicholls Town, following it until it begins to curve to the left.
Look for the handpainted blue sign on your left just as the road begins to straighten out again.
Conchy Joe’s Bar and Grill
This is another no-frills hangout where you’ll find conch fritters, great conversations, and the perfect sunset spot.
In Andros Town, Queen’s Highway makes a nearly 90 degree turn. Conchy Joe’s is just north of this bend on the highway. Look for the wooden building with the small, sandy parking area.
10 Things You Must Do in Andros
Get out on the water.
If you love fishing, kayaking, snorkeling or diving, you’re going to love Andros Island!
The tourism industry that does exist here almost exclusively revolves around these 4 pursuits, so you won’t have to look hard for a guide or excursion to hop onto.
The water in many areas along the western coast is so shallow that you can wade out for more than a 100 yards and still be in waist deep water, making it fantastic for fishing and kayaking.
There are some great snorkeling areas off of the eastern side of the island, and the Tongue of the Ocean (also known as TOTO) has been intriguing divers for years.
TOTO is this incredibly deep trench the wraps around the eastern side of the island, and you can find all sorts of interesting sea life right on the edge of it.
Visit Red Bays
A group of Black Seminoles traveled to the northern tip of Andros in the early 1800s to escape from the slavery in America.
It wasn't until the 1930s when a researcher on Andros stumbled upon the descendants of those original Black Seminoles in a village called Red Bays.
Even today, the villagers choose to live simplistic lives without most modern amenities or medicine.
Learn more about my trip to Red Bays here.
Try a conch fritter.
To visit the Bahamas without trying a conch fritter is like going to Paris and never seeing the Eiffel Tower. It just isn’t right.
Thankfully, you can try these fried delights at just about any restaurant on the island since they’re a staple of traditional Bahamian food.
If you like fried oysters, you’ll probably like these, though I think that conch fritters are much tastier than fried oysters.
Explore the blue holes.
While I found these places super creepy (I'm wary of water where I can't see my feet), they are incredibly interesting geologically-speaking.
Andros is made of limestone, which is a soft rock.
Over the millenia, the limestone has been eaten away by the saltwater and created caves that can be entered from the top of the island.
The blue holes can be hundreds of feet deep and usually have a thermocline where the salt and freshwater meet. If you’d been to Central America, you may have hear these referred to as “cenotes,” which are the same thing.
Learn more about the blue holes of Andros Island here.
Walk in the footsteps of pirates.
The Bahamas are filled with old hideouts of the pirates who plied these waters looking for treasure and glory back in the 1700s.
On the northern end of Andros, you can find Morgan’s Bluff, which is where Captain Morgan (of both rum and historic fame) supposedly hid some of his treasure.
While I checked for the gold while I was there, I didn’t find anything, but maybe you’ll have more luck that I did.
Be sure to poke around in some of the caves under the cliff!
To get here, head north of Nicholls Town towards Morgan’s Bay on Andros. Take the first left that you come to, following this road until you get to the first fork.
Take the right hand side of the fork (the road will be sandy now), and follow that until you can’t anymore. From there, walk along the path to Morgan’s Bluff through the shrubby trees.
The caves aren’t well marked, so look for the entrances as you walk along.
Learn more about Morgan’s Bluff here.
Tour the Androsia batik factory.
One of the things that Andros is best known for is its handprinted, colorful batik fabrics.
These are all made at the Androsia Factory near Fresh Creek, and they’re a fantastic souvenir. The factory does do tours, but you don’t need to make reservations ahead of time.
Just show up while the factory is open, M-F 9:30 AM-4 PM, and ask when they’ll be doing another tour. You’ll have to pay for this tour (it’s about $25) but I found the it fascinating and well worth the money.
On the tour, you will follow the employees as they go through the entire batik dyeing process, from prepping the long pieces of fabric to printing them to hanging them to dry.
You can also stop by the factory just to shop. The batiked fabric is incredibly bright when it is dry, and the employees them stitch it into everything from napkins and placemats to overnight bags and beach cover ups.
Learn more about the Androsia fabric factory here.
Enjoy a Bahamian beverage while watching the sunset.
While in Andros, try an authentically local drink: the non-alcoholic Goombay Punch or the adults-only Kalik beer.
I discovered Goombay Punch on one of my first trips to the Bahamas, and was so excited to find it again on Andros. It’s carbonated and very sweet with lots of pineapple and banana flavor.
Explore the coast at Money Point.
This spit of land along North Andros Cove is beautiful and has all sorts of aquatic wildlife to see.
It’s not far from Morgan’s Bluff (above) if you wanted to combine the two in one day trip.
From Nicholls Town, take Andros Road to the first left turn. Follow that road, holding left when you get to the fork in the road.
Take your next left (these roads are sandy, rutted, and tiny, so be aware), and then keep going until the road runs out at Money Point.
Tips for Visiting Andros Island
Keep in mind that there’s little tourism infrastructure.
Don’t expect a lot of signs letting you know how to get to different points of attractions (or even an actual street sign!).
That being said, it’s really hard to get lost on the island since there are very few main roads.
Don’t be afraid to ask a local if you are having trouble finding something, whether that’s one of the blue holes or a place to get souvenirs.
Chances are, whoever you’re talking to will know exactly how to help you, and might even call a relative to open up a store or restaurant to serve you.
Know that the locals are really friendly.
One of the little roadside shops in Andros
During my study abroad program, I met so many Androsians on our excursions and tours.
This isn’t exaggerating: every single person I met would go out of their way to talk with me, wave to the group from their vehicles, and give us advice on what to do or where to buy something.
They could have looked at all of us as annoying college kids and ignored us, but instead they were welcoming and happy to share their beautiful home with us.
Here’s a great example of that.
One day, I really needed to get some snacks for my sister, who was also in the study abroad program with me. She’s a picky eater, and was eating exactly none of the food that was available to us at our program at Forfar Field Station.
I'd heard that there was a little convenience store just down the road from where we were staying, so I headed out to get some chips and cookies for her.
The convenience store turned out to be a little cinderblock hut in the owner's front yard, and I had to knock on the front door of her house and explain that I wanted to buy some snacks from her. Immediately, she opened up the store just for me.
Talk about some customer service!
You’ll need a rental car to see the island.
But again, don’t expect to walk up to a huge rental car counter where you can choose from Budget, Avis, and the like.
Instead, you can just ask at the customs counter for the local car rental service, which is probably a person on the island who has a couple of extra cars.
For example, at the San Andros airport, you should contact Maureen Romer, who runs a car rental business by email (maureenwilson58@hotmail.com) and phone (242-329-1999).
Consider hiring a local guide.
Because there isn’t a lot of infrastructure on the island, it’s really, really helpful to have someone who knows the nooks and crannies of Andros to lead you around.
As I mentioned above, there are many well known guides who are local to the island; just ask your hotel’s front desk for a recommendation.
Things run on their own time here.
In many ways, visiting Andros Island is like stepping back in time. There aren’t any fancy airports, everyone knows everyone, and there isn’t a high rise in sight on the coast.
Bahamian culture is very laid back, which is perfectly in sync with the fact that they are living in the middle of a tropical vacation all of the time.
And that’s evident in Andros, too. The store down the street from your hotel probably doesn’t have posted open and closing times, since it’s likely run by the older lady living in the apartment behind it.
She’ll open the front doors to customers when she gets up and moving, or whenever you go knock on her door and let her know you want to shop.
Don’t be daunted if you see a shop that looks closed. If it’s midday, you can usually find someone who will open it up for you! This is the best way to find a souvenir, since these roadside stores have Androsian batik clothing, locally made woven baskets, shell and conch items, and much more.
There are huge piles of shells on the beach.
Large pile of conch shells at Fossil Beach
These are conch shells, and locals are only interested in the conch meat, and not the pretty pink and cream shells.
You’re welcome to pick these up and take them with you if you want. There will be a small 2 or 3 inch chip in the small, pointy end where the locals pried out the conch animal, but, other than that, the shells are usually in great condition.
NOTE: Legally, you can bring a cleaned conch shell or two back with you to the United States if you want a great souvenir!
There are half-finished houses everywhere.
As you wander the island, you’ll see what look like cinderblock buildings in various states of being built.
No, the islanders didn’t start a construction project and then forget about it.
Instead, this is how homes are built here. You’ll buy the land when you have that money, then wait until you can get the land prepped and leveled.
A few years later, you might inherit a little money from a relative, and that will allow you to lay the foundation. A couple of months later, you’ll add the walls, and so forth until you’ve got a finished house.
Because of the number of hurricanes that the Bahamas get, people almost exclusively build these squat, cinderblock homes, which aren’t going to warp the way that stick built houses would if you left them exposed to the elements for years while you finished them.
