Should you charter a yacht in the Abacos or the Exumas?

For most charter guests the Exumas beat the Abacos: the wildlife, sandbars, and that famous yacht-charter water are unmatched, while the Abacos win on harbor towns, short passages, and easy nights ashore. The Exumas run 120 miles of mostly uninhabited cays (swimming pigs at Big Major Cay, nurse sharks at Compass Cay, the Thunderball Grotto) with almost no provisioning, which suits a crewed yacht that arrives fully stocked. The Abacos ring the sheltered Sea of Abaco instead. Hope Town’s candy-striped lighthouse, the boatbuilding village on Man-O-War Cay, Nipper’s beach bar on Great Guana Cay: passages rarely top two hours, so newer sailors and restaurant-lovers settle in fast. In winter the Abacos sit a touch cooler and breezier; the Exumas stay calmer. Compare both routes on the Bahamas destination page.