Caribbean Islands: Eleuthera & Harbour Island

On the heels of Mr. Harper’s recent visit, the Harper Traveler talks with our hotel partners on three of the most spectacular islands of the Bahamas.

If time could be rewound, the history of the Bahamas would unfold here, on these two islands. Eleuthera is just a short plane ride from mainland Florida, with daily flights available, but it feels a world apart. British loyalists arrived in the 18th century, inspiring the blue-and-white New England architecture that now defines the entire region. The attitude is decidedly laid-back, as Mr. Harper elucidates in his recent report from the island.

DID YOU KNOW? Eleuthera claims to grow the sweetest pineapples in the world, an agricultural tradition that dates from the mid-18th century.

There are few distractions to steal one’s eyes from the incredible dual-toned waters, he says: the restless, deep topaz waves of the Atlantic, and across a slice of land sometimes less than a mile wide, the placid turquoise blanket of the Caribbean. Take both in simultaneously on a drive across “Glass Window Bridge,” a rocky ribbon only a car’s width across that joins Gregory Town and Lower Bogue, sometimes referred to as the narrowest place on Earth. Harbour Island’s pink-sand beaches are some of the most iconic in the world, but this same pink sand also extends across more than 35 miles of Eleuthera’s Atlantic coast as well.

It’s truly a destination for escaping, as Mr. Harper notes, with not much on the agenda save for snorkeling, beach reading and perhaps a Jeep ride to the northern tip of Eleuthera for a quick water taxi ride over to Harbour Island. “Eleuthera offers the appeal of a somewhat under-the-radar island with a magnificent shoreline, peaceful beaches and crystal-clear water,” says Marcos Casillas, vice president of Enchantment Group, which owns and operates The Cove Resort on Eleuthera.

See & Do

Plan a sea-to-table experience. The Cove Resort’s staff leads a four-hour trip to dive for conch and snorkel through the clear blue waters; afterward, enjoy a beach luncheon, including conch ceviche made from the shellfish caught that day.