travel guide: the abacos islands, the bahamas

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nowhere else is there water as clear, clear, clear as the Abacos. 

If you're looking for the Bahamas the way the Bahamas should be - they're here in the Abacos Islands. A serious of islands, most uninhabited, make up the Abacos. It's a serene part of the Bahamas, where there's no one hustling you to buy stuff at the straw market and all there is to do is a whole lot of nothing (unless you count eating cracked conch and drinking rum punch as doing something). 

It costs just about the same to fly private on an uber small charter and the flight is just a tiny bit over an hour, so that's what we did. Oh, and that way you can take whatever cargo you want. In our case that included my parent's dog Monty and a whole lot of Trader Joe's groceries. 

We didn't stay at a hotel, we stayed aboard a boat, so I can't recommend hotels, but the Bahama Beach Club (Treasure Cay) and the Bluff House (Green Turtle Cay) are both lovely looking. What I can recommend with confidence is renting a boat so that yu can explore the neighboring islands; there's one with pigs on it (pictures coming soon!) and no human inhabitants, you won't want to miss that one, and there's one where the sting rays come eat out of your hands - don't forget some bait (turns out they don't like ham). 

You'll definitely want to make a pit stop on Green Turtle Cay. The Green Turtle Cay Club and Marina's bar, a nice spot to spend a day playing board games and sipping rum bunch surrounded by dollar bills that people have signed and stapled onto the walls over the years. Definitely make time for a meal at the local's favorite Wrecking Tree. Have the cracked conch and take some conch salad for later. 

For a nice meal, have dinner at Treasure Sands a beachfront restaurant with a pretty fancy menu for the laid-back islands and two wild dogs for company. 

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we flew Noble Air. there's literally no swankier place in Miami than the Orion Jet Center in Opa-Locka. I know, that's not a sentence you ever thought you'd read. 

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here's Monty, my parent's pup, taking a little nap on the sand. This dude spent two months in The Abacos so if you want to get the real down low just ask him. 

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The Bluff House. 

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cracked conch from The Wrecking Tree. A must. You can never have too much conch, I has the conch salad appetizer to go with this. 

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natives of Treasure Sands. 

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sunset at Coco Beach Bar & Grill. didn't eat here, but no joke I think I was roofied. I ended this night gnawing the steak my dad grilled off the bone, yelling about the importance of the arts in children's lives, and then blacking out. 

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home sweet home. The Sea Sorolla is named after my childhood Coral Gables street. 

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my Bahama mama out on the town

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the cutest packaging there ever saw #amirite?

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behind the Sea Sorolla. Not that we needed to "get any sun," it was everywhere and I got TANNED, but these chairs are perfect for sunning. 

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so long Bahamas, I'll be back soon (wink wink).