"Oh it's soooo touristy"... is a normal reaction from anyone that mentions the Bahamas. Well this should surprise no one as it is an affordable and lovely place that is located near the United States. I was actually surprised at how affordable it was. Of course, i went there in the early 90's so things might have changed a bit.
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nothing like seeing a plane in the water near the runway that you are about to land on
I am from the East Coast of the US, and our beaches, while fun, do not have clear water.... ever. So when I first landed in the Bahamas this truly amazed me. The water clarity was just unreal. We were staying in a mid-range hotel and to be honest I don't remember how much it was, probably like $50 a night or something like that. I had recently graduated from high school and this was my "beach week" which also happened to be a wedding ceremony for one of my best friend's Dad.
You can snorkel right off the beach and see for what seems like forever into the distance. It was actually a bit creepy for me because at that time in my life I felt like a sitting duck for sharks. But really, the most dangerous thing I encountered was the intense sunburn from being a moron with the sun tan lotion.
Our hotel was very close to Xanadu beach, and while we did have to take a short bus ride (nearly every hotel includes this service for free) it was close enough that in my mind then and now, it was well worth the much smaller hotel price. I had never seen a beach as beautiful as Xanadu at that point in my life. I don't really think I have now either and I live in the tropics near beaches. It is really something else. The water is warm, but the currents in that area make it a bit cooler than say, Thailand, where the water feels like a warm bath all the time.
If you live in the US, particularly in the part of the country that has direct flights to the Bahamas, I think you should ignore the nay-sayers about it being overly touristy. Are you going to have the place to yourself? Of course not. But the ocean is a big place folks, and if you want to stay somewhere that is both this lovely and this inexpensive, you are going to have accept the fact that other people are also going to be there.
