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, all 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.