Some hotels earn loyalty points. Others earn repeat visits. Kamalame Cay, a resort on its own 96-acre private island off Andros in the Bahamas, has done the latter for one Condé Nast Traveler contributor, who has returned four times since May 2023 — and counts it as the one place she can truly switch off.
Getting there is half the appeal. Most guests fly into Nassau and hop on a 10-minute connection to Fresh Creek Airport; the flashier option is booking the resort's Coco seaplane direct from Fort Lauderdale, which drops you right at the shoreline. Once you arrive, there's deliberately not much else. Andros is the Bahamas' largest island by land mass yet home to fewer than 8,000 people, and the resort's sandy paths stay unpaved and unmarked — guests get around by golf cart, past palm groves crowded with hermit crabs, in a low-key attempt to make you feel pleasingly marooned.
The property itself is barefoot-chic rather than glitzy. There are 21 seaside rooms and suites decked out in whitewashed wood and linen, plus a set of villas sleeping anywhere from 4 to 12 guests for families or small groups. An overwater spa uses Osea Malibu skincare products, and the kitchen builds menus around whatever the island and surrounding waters are producing. Borrowed fat tyre bikes, paddleboards and kayaks are there if you want to move; sea turtles, stingrays, rays and tropical fish show up regardless.
The real magic sits offshore. Andros fronts the third-largest barrier reef in the world, running nearly 200 miles along its coast — a serious draw for snorkellers and divers. The island also holds the world's highest concentration of blue holes, with more than 200 sinkholes and cave systems to explore in the forest and offshore. Back at the resort, the boat crew can take you reef fishing, lionfish spearing or bonefishing, or ferry you to a neighbouring sandbar island — some of which vanish at high tide — for a picnic or a private sunset drinks session.
What keeps guests coming back, according to the writer, is the combination of genuine isolation and unpretentious service. Staff treat visitors like family rather than VIPs, and the island is far enough from everything that even a media professional glued to the headlines can fully detach. Expect to share the beach with almost no one.
Who's it for? Couples after a romantic hideout, solo travellers who want quiet without roughing it, and families or friend groups who can take over one of the larger villas. If your idea of luxury leans more towards butlers and buzzy beach clubs, look elsewhere — but if 'off the grid' is the goal, this is about as good as the Bahamas gets.
Via Condé Nast Traveler
