San Salvador Activities and Attractions

Like many of the other Out Islands of The Bahamas, San Salvador provides excellent locations for scuba diving.

San Salvador may be a small island, but it is dotted with monuments, ruins, and other things to do and see out of the water.

Winding around San Salvador's dozen or so land-locked lakes, you can see plantation ruins in the towns of Fortune Hill and Sandy Point, including the well-known Watling's Castle.

Island Attractions

Farquharson Plantation

Locally referred to as "Blackbeard's Castle" because the legendary pirate may have held court here, these are the most famous plantation ruins in The Bahamas. They include what might have been a great house, a prison and a kitchen. There is also a cattle trough cut out of solid rock.

Dixon Hill Lighthouse

Built on a former plantation by the Imperial Lighthouse Service in 1887, this is one of the last hand-operated, kerosine-lit lighthouses in the world and the last of its type in The Bahamas Islands. You can climb 160 feet to the top of the lighthouse, which has a visibility of 19 miles.

Columbus Monument, Long Bay

A white cross, erected on 25th December 1956 by Ruth Durlacher Wolper, to commemorate the landfall of Christopher Columbus on San Salvador, during his discovery of the New World in 1492.

Watlings Castle, Sandy Point Estates

Once the headquarters of the buccaneer George Watling these substantial plantation ruins include buildings once used for industrial or storage purposes, a main house, a cookhouse, and slave quarters.

New World Museum, Palmetto Grove

Housed in a 1910 building formerly used as the government's administrative offices and jail the Museum was founded in 1958 by Ruth Durlacher Wolper. It contains many important artifacts, Lucayan pottery, paintings of Columbus' landfall and artifacts from an original Arawak Indian settlement.

Bahamian Field Station

Occupying an old U. S. Navy base the field station was formerly used by a consortium of Colleges in upstate New York. It is now operated by the College of The Bahamas in Nassau. It is set up for academic research in the areas of Archaeology, Biology, Geology and Marine Sciences.

Pigeon Creek Indian Site

Archaeological excavations have shown that the Arawak Indians had villages here.

Water Sports:

Water sports are naturally a popular vacation activity with water temperatures averaging about 80ºF year-round throughout The Bahamas.

Snorkeling:

View caverns, unique ocean life (such as bonefish, barracuda, and the spotted eagle ray), and coral clusters. Become acquainted with the stunning beauty of the Bahamian reefs. San Salvador diving operators can take you out on an organized trip. Or, if you want to venture out on your own, just head to the water from the beach at your hotel or any public beach.

Diving:

San Salvador has shallow reefs teeming with tame and friendly marine life. First discovered by scuba divers in the 1970s the water has a stunning clarity, with a typical visibility of 100 feet to 150 feet; and more than 20 miles of dramatic vertical walls, beginning at a depth as low as 40 feet.

Nightlife:

Driftwood Bar & Lounge

Located in Cockburn Town the Driftwood offers beer, wine, sodas and a wonderful variety of blended island drinks from expert local bartenders. You can also enjoy sports games via cable TV, try the ring toss game or relax on the open air patio and enjoy great views of San Salvador's western shoreline and beach. Tel: 242-331-2631

Harlem Square Club

Also in Cockburn Town the Harlem Square Club features Bahamian and American cuisine with disco on weekends. Tel: 242-331-2777

Tours:

Nat Walker´s Island Adventures

Nat Walker is the island's Warden for the Bahamas National Trust and has a unique understanding of the islands nature and history. Tel: 242-331-2111

Island Tour

This tour follows the island's only road, covering 36 miles of history and Bahamian culture. Your tour guide will point out Farquharson's Castle, the beach where Christopher Columbus first made landfall in the New World, the Club Med resort, Low Cay which is home to the endangered iguanas, and more. You´ll also visit the working lighthouse, one of only three remaining hand-wound lighthouses in the world. Your tour can be customized to include horseback riding along the beaches or lunch in a local Bahamian restaurant.

Lakes Nature Tour

This morning nature tour, includes boating within untouched miles and miles of salty inland lakes which make up the majority of San Salvador. You will have perfect photo opportunities for white egrets, cormorants, iguanas, and the classic San Salvador lighthouse. Giant cactus, palm trees, and mangrove swamps are alive with wildlife. You´ll see how the mail boats used to bring supplies to the lighthouse, and where the British constructed rock canals for boat traffic. Lunch can be a shore picnic on the unique beaches made from millions of tiny shells, or a delicious conch meal served at a local restaurant after the tour.