Living in Canada, winters are COLD! The snow is beautiful but after a while of cleaning it off my car the warm ocean air starts to call my name. As the saying goes, “you always want what you cant have,” that goes with me and snow I enjoy seeing it but I also miss warmth when its hear.  This is why my family and I usually choose a warm destination to travel to in the winter months.  We only go for a week getaway therefore we we like to pick locations that have a short flight, family friendly, safe, and gives us the opportunity to see the destination of choice outside of the resort. Don’t get me wrong, I love laying on the beach, but I can’t do that for a week straight without going on some sort of adventure.  🙂

Bahamas was our pick for the winter of 2019 – Why? – because Sunwing’s  Black Friday sale had an amazing deal for the Bahamas and we couldn’t pass it up! Most people think of Bahamas and think of, Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, I know that is all I knew of the Bahamas before I did a bit of research once I purchased my vacation package. Interesting fact that I found out was that Bahamas actually consists of 700 islands, where only about 30 are inhabited, and surrounded by several coral reefs, which makes Bahamas a great destination for snorkelling, and diving. We ended up staying on Grand Bahama Island – the northern most island of the Bahamas. Only down fall of staying here is we went the second last week of January and it was still a bit chilly! The Island was beautiful, but warmer weather is important especially when your trying to get away from the cold, therefore, would definitely suggest to go anytime mid February and on. 

Resort: Viva Wyndham, Fortuna Beach (3.5 star rating)

We usually always opt to stay at an all inclusive resort for our winter get away. I don’t want to worry about the extra expenses of food and drinks, having to go grocery shopping and cook, therefore I like the all inclusive options. After all I am only there for a week and want to make the most out of it.  The resort we stayed at was Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach.  It was the smallest resort I have ever stayed at but I absolutely loved the small resort feel! I could easily keep an eye out on the kids, the staff was personal, it was easy to get around (as I have been to some bigger resorts and sometimes its impossible to get around or they are just to busy), and it was easy to get a spot by the pool or the beach.    

Our room was not an ocean view but we had a great view of the gardens and well we are in our room to sleep so my motto is why spend more money upgrading when your only there to sleep? We had a joining room with my brother-in-law and his family so that made it easy for the kids to go back and forth and play.  The service was fantastic, entertainment was excellent, kids club kept the kids occupied, and the food was delicious!  I really enjoyed the buffet at dinner, the food was so flavourful (they did have À la carte options that were delicious as well but easier to eat at the buffet with the kids).  Of course its only a 3.5 star resort…  but why?  The check-in process was unorganised (and based on recent reviews does not seem to have changed), it took a long time to check in once we arrived at the resort. The resort does need updating, its not horrible but I could see why people would complain – luckily our rooms were not awful, so I could not complain. Edited: I recently went on the Viva Wyndham website and it seems they claim that they are newly renovated! The beach could have been cleaner, there was a lot of sea weed on shore. Mind you the time we went the weather was not great – windy and rainy, and a bit cold to be swimming but we made the best out of it – you cant control mother nature. 

Would I stay here again? ABSOLUTELY! 

Excursions: 

We decided to do two of the offering excursions that they had at the resort. One was a Jeep tour of the Island, and the other was snorkelling with a stop at Freeport Marina.

Grand Bahamas Nature Tour is the company that completed the Jeep Tour.  I HIGHLY (can you hear me say that loudly??) recommend doing this tour. It has been one of the best tours I have done on any vacation get-away to the Caribbean Islands.  I am saying this even though I was stuck in a Jeep with my daughter who had a stomach bug that day and couldn’t keep her food down, she was a trouper though and did the whole 7 hour tour!  The cost was expected, it was $90.00US per person – but we got to drive our own 4×4 Jeep with removable top and doors (it was raining off and on so we didn’t remove our doors or top). 

The tour picked us up at our resort, and brought us to the location of the Jeeps (in Freeport). Each family got their own jeep – you can opt between stick shift or automatic. Some of the jeeps were a bit older – but it brought the character to the tour and humour! It was the first time I had driven on the opposite side of the road without having an experienced driver — ODD especially when turning, Bahamas used to be owned by the British so they drive on the opposite side of the road.  We drove one behind the other – there were 5 jeeps in total the day we did the tour. Our tour guide, obviously always in front, used a walky-talky system that could be heard throughout all Jeeps, telling us of the islands history, the industry, birds, plants, and more.  He brought us inside their pine-tree forest, stopped at — where we went into Ben’s Cave and walked Gold Rock Beach, drove down million dollar row (yup you guessed it a strip of million dollar plus homes— these houses are amazing to one can only dream!), and we stopped at The Garden of the Groves where we spent time walking through the park, looking at the waterfall and had a tasteful lunch, next to the pond and waterfall.  We then headed back to resort – our tour guide was amazing (especially since we had a sick tween) – he was very charismatic and knew the islands history very well! 

The second tour we did was offered through our resort – a snorkelling tour and Freeport Marina shopping tour. The unique thing about this was that we got picked up in a small boat at the beach of our resort – went about a 10 minute drive to Treasure Reef where we then moved onto a catamaran that was docked at the reef and geared up to snorkel.  I love snorkelling! To see the corals, the bright coloured fish, and the stink rays hiding in the sands it is just a different and fascinating world! The coral reefs are very protected in the Bahamas.  We got off the catamaran the waters are so clear and blue, but you can’t see the variety of fish until you put your head under water, the fish were swimming all around your feet (I couldn’t believe how close they were to us)!  Once we were done snorkelling we headed back on to the catamaran, dried off and our boat came back to pick us up, and headed to Freeport Marina where we did some shopping! The locals are so friendly, we felt completely comfortable walking around this marina going from shop to shop! You defiantly have to do a snorkelling tour (or diving if certified) while in the Bahamas!

The only tour I would suggest doing that I didn’t complete is a kayak tour through Lucayan National Park! I have seen videos and pictures and it looks breathtaking, completely different view then on foot.  The two excursions that we did complete were great for families with children (and without obviously) as there is much for them to do and keep their minds stimulated while exploring and learning about the Bahamas. 

Have you been to the Bahamas before? Where did you stay, what Islands have you visited? I plan on exploring more of the Bahamas Islands when I have a longer span of time off so that I can explore multiple of the Islands at once and I cant wait to go back! I often tell my husband that Grand Bahama Island is our retirement home #goals!  

Until next time! And remember ~ Live Laugh E Amar!