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Everything you
need to know
before visiting
Pig Beach in
the Bahamas
The Caribbean

Last Updated on October 24, 2023

The main draw for me to visit the Bahamas

was to meet the swimming pigs. Prior to my
trip, I hadn’t done much research – I had no
idea where the pigs were living (did you know
that the Bahamas are made up of 700 islands
and 2,400 cays? But only 30 of the islands are
inhabited.) or how to get there from the
international airport in Nassau (the capital of
the Bahamas).

As I delved deeper into the topic of how to

swim with the pigs in the Bahamas, I learned
that they live on a small island named Big
Mayor Cay, which doesn’t have any
inhabitants other than a few dozen pigs. In
this article, I am sharing everything you need
to know before visiting Pig Beach in the
Bahamas – all the things that I wish I would’ve
known prior to my visit, and some facts I
learned while I was there. If you have any
questions you don’t find answers for here, feel
free to contact me via the comment section
below.

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Swimming with the

pigs in the Bahamas
Pig Beach

Table of Contents

Things to know
before visiting Pig
Beach in the
Bahamas
Where exactly in the
Bahamas is Pig Beach?
Pig Beach is located in a part of the Bahamian
Islands known as The Exumas. The Exumas
are an archipelago of 365 cays and islands
which begin about 80 miles (130 kilometers)
southeast of Nassau. The majority of visitors
tends to stay in Nassau, but there are various
resorts, hotels and vacation rentals scattered
across the Exumas.

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The island the pigs live on is called Big Major

Cay. Apart from the pigs, the island is
uninhabited. The closest inhabited island to
Big Mayor Cay is Staniel Cay – a tiny island
with a population of around 110 people, but
luckily it has an airport. If you want to visit the
swimming pigs, you have two options: you can
base yourself on Staniel Cay (from where you
can get to the pigs in only ten minutes!), or
you can take a day trip from Nassau. No
matter if you’re visiting from Nassau or from
Staniel Cay or another island in the Exumas,
the only way to get to Pig Beach is by boat.

Tip: When booking a trip to Pig Beach, be

sure to ask if the tour visits Big Major Cay.
There are other “pig beaches” that have
popped up in the Bahamas, but the original
Pig Beach is in the Exumas.

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How did the pigs get

to Pig Beach?
There are various stories about how the pigs
ended up in Big Mayor Cay, including a
shipwreck that they swam away from, a group
of sailors who left them behind, and the pigs
being relocated to the deserted island from
nearby Staniel Cay because of their
intolerable smell. Most often recited as the
real origin story is the story of two farmers
who brought the pigs to Big Mayor Cay in the
late 1990s, preparing for the anticipated Y2K
computer crash, which was expected to cause
supply chain issues and possibly food
shortages. The Y2K crash never came, but
the pigs stayed on Big Mayor Cay – and they
propagated.

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The best time to visit

Pig Beach
You can visit Pig Beach year-round, but take
into consideration that there are more visitors
during high season, and that the weather may
not be perfect during hurricane season.

Off-season is between September and mid-

November – that’s when you can expect to
share the piggies with only few other visitors.

Peak season is in December and January –

that’s when Pig Beach can get pretty busy
(especially during the Christmas Holidays).
High season lasts all the way through April.

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Low season is from June to September. But

while you’ll run into less visitors during the
summer months, you may encounter a
hurricane or severe tropical storm, along with
rainy days and clouds.

Morning vs. evening: The pigs tend to be

more active and excited about visitors in the
mornings. In the afternoon, they are sleepier,
and you may have a harder time convincing
them to go for a swim with you. The mornings
are also busier, since almost all of the tour
operators stop at Pig Beach in the morning.
When I visited in the late afternoon, our group
was the only boat docked at the beach, and
we had the pigs all to ourselves.

However: you will have a great time with the

pigs no matter what time of the day you’re
visiting!

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Tip: If you charter a boat / visit with your own

boat, you can plan your visit for a time when
no tour boats are docked at Pig Beach. You’ll
have the pigs all to yourself between 7am and
9am and at certain times in the afternoon.

What’s the closest

island to Pig Beach in
the Bahamas?
Staniel Cay is only a short boat ride from Pig
Beach – you can get to Big Mayor Cay in less
than ten minutes from Staniel Cay! But even if
you’re not staying on Staniel Cay, there are
ways to visit the swimming pigs:

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How to get to Pig

Beach
You have different options to visit Pig Beach in
the Bahamas, but unless you travel in your
own boat, they are all part of a guided tour:

Visit Pig Beach from Staniel Cay (a small

island near Big Mayor Cay, the island on
which the pigs live) – 10 minutes away by
boat

Visit Pig Beach from Great Exuma – 2

hours away by boat

Visit Pig Beach from Nassau – a 35-min

flight to Staniel Cay, or 3-hr speedboat
ride

Visit Pig Beach on a day trip from Florida

(a 1-hr flight to Andros Island, followed by
a 45-min flight to Staniel Cay)

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All options are usually full-day trips that

include other stops in addition to the
swimming pigs. You can read a detailed
rundown of my Pig Beach Tour here. You can
also opt for a private tour vs. a group tour, if
you’re willing to pay a premium fee for some
private time with the pigs. If you’re visiting Pig
Beach from Nassau, you can choose between
speedboat and airplane to Staniel Cay.

From Nassau by plane

From Nassau by speedboat

See below for how much each option costs:

How much does it cost

to visit Pig Beach
Note that prices are apprx. – just to give you a
rough idea about how much you can expect to
spend on your trip to Pig Beach.

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Pig Beach from Nassau by speedboat:

$260 per person

Pig Beach from Nassau by plane: $675

per person

Pig Beach from Staniel Cay: $300 per

person

Pig Beach from Staniel Cay private tour:

starting at $999 for the smallest boat (up
to 4 people)

Pig Beach from Florida: There are three

companies offering day trips to Pig Beach
from Fort Lauderdale’s Executive Airport:
Bahama Air Tours and Makers Air. Prices
range from around US$849 to US$900 –
depending on time of year and availability.
It’s worth checking all companies for
special offers.

Children under two usually don’t pay

anything.

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Prices vary slightly, depending on what

tour company you book your tour with.

A note about the speed boat tours: The

cheapest way to visit Pig Beach from Nassau
is by speedboat. However, this is also the
most uncomfortable way to visit the piggies,
since the ride is quite bumpy, and you’re
spending hours on the boat. It’s also an open-
air boat, which means that on rainy and windy
days, you’re exposed to unpleasant weather
conditions. Tours are sometimes canceled on
short notice because of rough weather
conditions. Tours by plane are more reliable
and are rarely canceled.

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What to expect when

visiting Pig Beach
Don’t expect to spend all day with the
pigs. If you’re on a boat tour from
Nassau, you’ll spend only about 15
minutes at Pig Beach. If you’re on a boat
tour from Staniel Cay, you get to spend a
little bit more time with the pigs, but if you
want more than half an hour with the
piggies, you’ll have to fork out the money
for a private tour. (If you think half an hour
with the pigs doesn’t sound like much
time: there’s not much else to do on Pig
Beach, other than snap a few photos of
the pigs, swim with them, and coo over
the piglets). The tours all include a
number of other stops in addition to Pig
Beach – for example swimming with nurse
sharks, a sandbar, and a sea cave (stops
may vary depending on tour operator and
weather conditions).

Don’t expect there to be pigs in the

water. They do swim, but not always.
When I visited Pig Beach in the afternoon,
most of the pigs were asleep on the
beach.

Expect to share your experience with

other tourists – most days, several boats
stop at Pig Beach at the same time. If you
want the pigs all to yourself, you’ll have to
pay for a private tour.

Expect to be in or on the water pretty

much all day. If you can’t swim, don’t
worry – there are usually life vests on
board which you can wear to feel safe in
the water. You’ll have to wade through
shallow water to get to Pig Beach, the
Iguana Beach, and the sandbar, and you
will have to swim into Thunderbolt Grotto.
If you don’t feel comfortable swimming,
you can stay on board during the beach
visits / snorkeling excursions.

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