Bimini, the westernmost island chain in the Bahamas, just landed the No. 2 spot on Skyscanner's trending destinations for 2027, with searches up 150% year over year. That might be the nudge you needed to skip Nassau: while the capital's cruise port handled 6.1 million visitors in 2025, Bimini saw 1.46 million — a very different pace for a place barely 50 miles from Miami.
The chain has two main islands. North Bimini holds most of the action; South Bimini has the airport, which got its first-ever non-stop US flight in February 2026 when American Airlines launched from Miami — likely a big part of why the island is suddenly trending. Ferries hop between the two regularly.
Beach-wise, Alice Town on North Bimini's west coast is the hub. Radio Beach, a 1.5-mile crescent widely called the island's prettiest, comes with vendors selling fresh coconut water, chair and umbrella rentals, jet skis, and food right on the sand — Big Mike's Fresh Conch Salad (4.9 stars on Google) is a local standout. Walk a bit further to Spook Hill Beach for quieter swimming and snorkelling, or cross to South Bimini's two-mile Tiki Hut Beach if you want even fewer people around. For a real escape, boat out 30 minutes to Honeymoon Harbour on Gun Cay: a sandbar cove where stingrays cruise around your ankles at low tide. Mind your step — and your feet.
Beyond the sand, Bimini punches above its size. It's considered one of the best places on earth to swim with wild dolphins, and hammerhead sharks pass through from roughly November to April. Divers have the Bimini Barge wreck (sunk 1980) and the so-called Road to Atlantis, a J-shaped line of limestone blocks that Atlantis enthusiasts like to claim is man-made. Anglers have even better company: Ernest Hemingway fished here, as did Martin Luther King Jr., and charters chase tuna, wahoo, marlin and swordfish depending on the season.
Getting there is easier than you'd think. American flies direct from Miami in under an hour, three times a week. Tropic Ocean Airways and Aztec Airways run small flights out of Fort Lauderdale — Tropic lands in North Bimini itself — and a ferry from Fort Lauderdale takes about two hours. Cruise lines including Carnival, Virgin Voyages and MSC also call in.
Who's this for? Anyone who wants the classic Bahamas hit of white sand and turquoise water without Nassau's crowds, plus divers, anglers and dolphin-seekers who like their paradise low-key. Go before the 2027 wave does.
