Chat ‘N’ Chill: Best of the Exumas
Chat ‘N’ Chill is the barefoot Stocking Island beach bar, a boaters’ hub since 1998: Sunday pig roast, conch salad, and hand-fed stingrays in Elizabeth Harbour.
Chat ‘N’ Chill is the barefoot beach bar on Stocking Island that has been the social heart of the southern Exumas since 1998 — a stretch of sand with hammocks, a volleyball court, a smoking grill, and no road to reach it. You get there by boat, full stop. What almost every guide skips is the best way to arrive: not the cash-only water taxi, but anchored in Elizabeth Harbour aboard a crewed Bahamas yacht charter, with the tender running you straight onto the sand across the islands of the Bahamas.
What is Chat ‘N’ Chill?
Chat ‘N’ Chill is a barefoot beach bar and grill on Volleyball Beach, Stocking Island, that Exuma native Kenneth “KB” Bowe opened in 1998 as a day camp for the boaters living aboard in Elizabeth Harbour (according to the bar’s own history). Nearly three decades on, it’s the social hub of the southern Exumas — the place cruisers, charter guests, and locals all end up.
There are no roads on Stocking Island, so the whole scene is built around the water: you arrive by boat, kick off your shoes, and settle in among the hammocks and twisted shade trees. There’s a volleyball court, a beachfront conch shack, a grill, and a bar, open daily from late morning into the evening. Nobody is in a hurry, which is the entire point.
Chat ‘N’ Chill opened in 1998 as, in the founder’s words, “a day camp for people who lived on their boats in Elizabeth Harbour.” It has no road access and sits on Volleyball Beach, Stocking Island, about a mile across the harbour from George Town, Great Exuma, in the southern Exumas.
What is the famous Sunday pig roast?
The Chat ‘N’ Chill Sunday pig roast has been Stocking Island’s biggest social event since 2001 (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism). Every Sunday a whole Bahamian pig goes over the fire around midday, and the beach fills with boaters, locals, and visitors until it runs out — usually by early evening.
The plate is pure island Sunday: slow-roasted pork with sides like macaroni and cheese, peas ‘n’ rice, cinnamon-glazed carrots, fresh conch salad, and KB’s garlic cabbage slaw. It’s less a meal than a weekly gathering — the closest thing the southern Exumas has to a town square, held on a beach.
Conch is the national food of The Bahamas, and Chat ‘N’ Chill’s beachfront shack makes conch salad to order — fresh conch diced with tomato, onion, sweet pepper, and lime and lemon juice (Nassau Paradise Island). Order it, watch it chopped in front of you, and you’ve eaten one of the most Bahamian things there is.
Can you feed the stingrays?
Yes — feeding the wild southern stingrays is one of the biggest draws at Chat ‘N’ Chill. They glide into the shallows beside the beachfront conch shack, waiting for scraps, and you can wade in to hand-feed and gently touch them (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism). These are wild rays that turn up for the free conch, not captive animals in a pen.
It’s a hit with families and first-timers. Southern stingrays are docile bottom-feeders, but they’re still wild animals: keep your feet shuffling, hold the conch flat on your palm, and let the crew or staff show younger kids how. Done right, standing in warm, waist-deep water while a ray slides across your feet is the memory people take home from Stocking Island.
How do you get to Stocking Island?
Chat ‘N’ Chill is reachable only by boat — there are no roads on Stocking Island. From George Town it’s a roughly five-minute water-taxi ride across Elizabeth Harbour (hail the service on VHF 16), but on a crewed charter you skip the ferry schedule entirely and anchor your own yacht in the harbour, with the tender dropping you right on the beach (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism).
That difference is bigger than it sounds. Elizabeth Harbour is sheltered between Great Exuma and the long ridge of Stocking Island, giving some of the most protected anchoring in the country, with a string of beaches — Hamburger, Monument, Honeymoon, Volleyball (home of Chat ‘N’ Chill), and Sand Dollar — to choose from. Anchor off Volleyball Beach and the bar is a two-minute tender hop; no cash, no queue, no watching the clock for the last taxi back.
On a crewed charter, reaching Chat ‘N’ Chill means anchoring in Elizabeth Harbour off Volleyball Beach and tendering two minutes to the sand — no cash-only water taxi, no ferry schedule, no last-boat-back deadline. Elizabeth Harbour is one of the most protected anchorages in the Bahamas, sheltered between Great Exuma and Stocking Island.
Where does Stocking Island sit in the Exumas?
Chat ‘N’ Chill sits at the southern end of the Exuma chain, off George Town on Great Exuma — a different world from the central Exumas’ swimming pigs and Thunderball Grotto around Staniel Cay, roughly 45 nautical miles north (savvy-navvy). The Exumas are part of the Bahamas’ Out Islands, the quieter two-thirds of the country: in 2025, nearly a third of the Bahamas’ overnight visitors headed to the Out Islands rather than Nassau (Bahamas Ministry of Tourism).
View data table
| 2025 overnight (stopover) visitors | Share |
|---|---|
| Nassau & Paradise Island | ~70% (about seven in ten) |
| The Out Islands (including the Exumas) | ~30% (nearly a third) |
Of 1.8M+ overnight (stopover) visitors in 2025. Source: Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, 2026.
George Town is the hub of the southern Exumas, with its own airport (Exuma International, GGT) for a fly-in start and Elizabeth Harbour as its legendary anchorage — in peak winter season the harbour holds cruising boats “sometimes 400 strong” (Southern Boating). If you’re weighing north versus south, our full Exuma Cays charter guide maps how the chain fits together; Chat ‘N’ Chill is the anchor of the southern end.
When should you visit — and is it worth it?
The best time to visit is the winter dry season, December through April, when the weather is settled and Elizabeth Harbour fills with cruising boats. Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, peaking around mid-September (NOAA). For the biggest scene of the year, the George Town Cruising Regatta takes over the harbour for about two weeks, typically mid-February to early March (George Town Cruising Regatta).
When you’re ready to plan it, start a yacht search at Vital Charters, and we’ll build your Exumas week around the southern harbour.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get to Chat ‘N’ Chill?
Chat ‘N’ Chill is reachable only by boat — there are no roads on Stocking Island. From George Town, a water taxi crosses Elizabeth Harbour in about five minutes (hail it on VHF 16). If you’re on a crewed charter, you skip the taxi entirely: your yacht anchors in the harbour and the tender runs you straight to Volleyball Beach, where the bar sits.
What is Stocking Island?
Stocking Island is a long, narrow, largely uninhabited island that shelters Elizabeth Harbour opposite George Town, Great Exuma, in the southern Exumas. It has no roads and is reached only by boat, with a string of beaches — Hamburger, Monument, Honeymoon, Volleyball (home of Chat ‘N’ Chill), and Sand Dollar. It’s the center of the George Town cruising scene.
What day and time is the pig roast?
The pig roast is every Sunday. A whole Bahamian pig goes on the fire around noon and the beach party runs into the early evening — or, as the bar puts it, until the pig runs out. It’s been Stocking Island’s biggest weekly social event since 2001, drawing boaters, locals, and visitors together on Volleyball Beach.
Can you feed the stingrays, and is it safe?
Yes. Wild southern stingrays gather in the shallows beside the conch shack, and visitors wade in to hand-feed and gently touch them. They’re docile bottom-feeders, but still wild animals: shuffle your feet, hold the conch flat on an open palm, and supervise young children. It’s one of the most family-friendly experiences in the southern Exumas.
Is there an entrance fee?
No. There’s no cover or entrance fee at Chat ‘N’ Chill — you pay only for food and drinks, and the made-to-order conch salad is the value pick. Bring cash: the George Town water taxi is cash, and some beach transactions are cash-preferred. On a charter, provisioning and the tender are handled, so it’s an easy afternoon ashore.
Which part of the Exumas is Stocking Island in?
Chat ‘N’ Chill is in the southern Exumas, on Stocking Island across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town, Great Exuma. That’s a separate region from the central Exumas — the Staniel Cay area with the swimming pigs and Thunderball Grotto — which lies about 45 nautical miles north. A crewed charter can link the two across a week.
Is Chat ‘N’ Chill worth visiting?
Yes, for most visitors — the Sunday pig roast, fresh made-to-order conch salad, and wild stingrays are genuinely fun, and the setting is classic Exumas. The common complaints are logistical: midday crowds, the cash-only water taxi, and waits. On a crewed charter those largely vanish, since you have your own tender, a private anchorage nearby, and the freedom to visit off-peak.
Anchor off Stocking Island
A crewed captain drops the hook in Elizabeth Harbour and tenders you straight to Volleyball Beach — no water taxi, no cash, no wait.
