Recently Amanda, our bookkeeper, took some time for herself and went on a trip to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, via ferry from Florida. Check out her story!
So, it feels like I am working all the time lately and finding time to get away or even take a short break has become a challenge. We also just renewed our passports, which was super easy and much faster than I expected. Receiving the new passports in the mail really gave me the itch to travel so I started doing some research into short cruises. I was unable to find something affordable and close to us that would fit into our short timeline and tight schedule. I remembered seeing an article or ad about a fast ferry to the Bahamas from Ft Lauderdale and decided to take a chance to try it out.
I booked a daytrip to Bimini on the Baleària website and found it easy to follow. The site let me look through several options before confirming the trip. I chose to pay extra for premium economy seating for the priority embark & debark to spend as much time on the island as possible. I was also able to add a resort pass to the purchase for a small discount. We decided to do the resort pass for our first visit to the island to avoid planning and figuring out what to do once we arrived. This turned out to be a good choice for first time visitors but I don’t think I would do it again simply because of the cost of everything at the resort- $9 local beers and $15 Bahama Mamas are reserved for concerts and sporting events—not tropical beaches…
We booked a room for 3 nights at Homewood Suites-Airport to be close to the cruise port as they advertised being a few miles away and had an onsite shuttle. I snuck out of work a bit early and hubby took the day off Friday so we could make the most of our trip, as Ft Lauderdale is about 4.5 hours from home. The hotel was easy to find, check-in was fairly easy, and after a quick room change due to cleanliness issues, we settled into our Suite and started searching for a dinner spot. We were close to the airport but only Dunkin and Wendy’s were visible in walking distance. We always look for local places and enjoy finding local craft breweries. We settled on Tarpon River Brewing Company as they were the closest local brewery with food. They did not disappoint! We lucked into arriving at happy hour and took advantage of a few appetizer specials and BOGO 12 oz pours after trying a flight to decide on full pours. Their beers tend to be New England Style IPAs but they had a good variety of styles to please any palate—try the Buffalo Cauliflower and the Juicy Dubs, a big double IPA with citrus. It was a great combo!
Although the hotel advertises shuttle transportation to the cruise port, it doesn’t start until 10am which was long after our departure time. We scheduled a Lyft for our super early pickup and it worked out well. Our driver was early and waiting for us when we walked down. Baleària instructs passengers to arrive as early as possible and doors close 1 hour before departure. We were scheduled to depart at 9, check in starts at 6. We arrived at 6:15 and checked in easily with no lines. Thankfully we were able to carry coffee and snacks past security because there is nothing available on site. Boarding started just before 9 and other passengers were arriving up to that time. We paid extra for premium economy seating which came with priority boarding, reserved seating area in the port and on the boat, and a snack which was served almost right away as we finished boarding. If you pay for the premium economy, there is no reason to arrive super early. The ride over to Bimini was about 2 hours and uneventful. The boat has a full bar and café, but lines were long for the entire trip, making it really nice to have servers available in the premium seating area.
When we docked, day trippers like us got priority to disembark and breeze through customs with no interview based on the wristbands issued on board. Shuttles pick up all passengers and transport off the pier. The shuttles run all day between the resort areas and the port. The driver was great about calling out the stops and checking wrist bands to make sure we got off in the right spot. We paid for the Hilton Resort day pass and were the first stop off the shuttle. This was a good idea for our first visit to the island, but we probably won’t do it again. Access to changing rooms, bathrooms, and a controlled beach area were really important to us for our first visit. They also have a pool with DJs, a bar, mobile bars, a restaurant and plenty of loungers with umbrellas for beach seating. We did accomplish our goal of soaking up sun, sand, and saltwater for the day. The food and drinks were really good, but pricey--$9 for a local beer.
Departure was scheduled for 8pm so we headed back to the shuttle pickup at 430 only to find out the boat would be late coming back. The shuttle driver dropped us at Fisherman’s Village to shop and check in with the Baleària on-island staff for updates. Unfortunately for us, Fisherman’s Village is only open when cruise ships are docked. Once the Carnival ship left, the shops all closed up. We found a small convenience store by the marina and a bathroom by the dockmaster’s office. Sue and Joy’s General Store turned out to be a great find as we went back a couple of times to grab cold drinks for a much more reasonable price than the resort—$9 got us 2 local beers and 2 bottles of water, which we enjoyed in the shade of the local dive shop to escape the heat. We chatted with the dive shop staff and decided to stop there first on our next visit to do a kayak trip and relax on Kayak beach adjacent to the village.
After much mix-up and lack of communication from the Baleària staff, we finally boarded the shuttles to head back to port at about 8pm. We later found out that in the summer, they frequently run late on Saturdays because the boat goes to Grand Bahama Island after they drop off at Bimini. We will definitely plan for that delay next time. The customs process wasn’t as easy on the way out, and as we all arrived at the same time, the line was long and slow moving. We finally boarded the ferry around 9 for the 2 hour return trip. It was midnight by the time we got back and made it through US Customs but the taxi stand was full of waiting drivers so we quickly found a driver for the 10 minute trip back to the hotel.
We are already planning another trip on the ferry so we can explore more of Bimini. If you choose to go, check out Sue and Joy’s General Store and take cash. The Bahamian dollar is a 1 to 1 exchange for USD and both are accepted. The Hilton Resort World is cashless, so credit cards only for them, but the rest of the island appreciates the cash and taxi drivers were happy to haggle a little for a ride into town if you pay cash. The entire weekend, including hotel stay, cost us just under $1000.
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