Plan Your Pearl Island Visit | Ferries, Timing and What to Bring
Ferry times, packing list, cruise timings and everything you need to make your Pearl Island day effortless. Your only decision left: sun lounger or cabana?
Four Steps to the Island
Pick your experience
- Two hours or a full day, pigs or reef, beach or private cabana.
Book direct
- Best price, no booking fee and free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Get to the dock
- Most experiences depart from the same dock. Your ticket tells you which.
Arrive on the island
- About 25 minutes on the water and the sand is under your feet.
What Do You Need to Know?
Getting Here
Where the ferry leaves and how to reach it from your hotel, the cruise port or the airport.
Cruise Passengers
Off a ship? Check whether you'll make it back before all-aboard.
FAQ
Lunch, kids, lockers, weather, cancellations and what the pigs are actually like.
What to Bring
You need less than you think. Almost everything else is already on the island.
What to Bring and What to Leave
🎒Bring
- Swimwear (wear it under your clothes and save time)
- Reef-safe sunscreen (mineral, no oxybenzone or octinoxate)
- Towel
- Hat and sunglasses
- Your booking confirmation, on your phone or printed
- Credit Card for drinks & extras (WE ARE CASHLESS)
- Waterproof phone pouch, for reef photos
🚫Leave behind
- Ordinary sunscreen (it bleaches coral)
- Single-use plastic you'd only carry back
- Glass bottles
- Drones (no drone flights over the island)
- Valuables you'd be sad to lose on a beach
- The idea that you'll need your phone much
The Five Most-Asked Questions
Depends on your experience. Everything except the Swimming Pigs Express departs from the Paradise Island Ferry Terminal, East Dock, behind Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. The Swimming Pigs Express departs from Elizabeth on Bay Marina on East Bay Street, a short walk east of the Nassau Cruise Port. Your ticket shows your departure point, and our team in yellow or navy-blue polos is easy to spot at both.
Almost certainly and thousands of cruise guests visit us every year. Our 5-hour experiences return around 4:00 PM, the Swimming Pigs Express around 2:00 PM and most ships sail in the evening. Check your all-aboard time before booking, and if it's tight, ask us. We'd rather tell you honestly than have you sprint down a pier.
On most experiences, yes: a traditional Bahamian lunch is part of the Beach Escape, Reef Snorkeling, Sunken Sculpture and All Inclusive Pigs packages. The Beach Escape Economy and the Swimming Pigs Express don't include lunch, which is why they cost less. Drinks beyond your package are available at our bars.
Very. Children 3 and under visit free, child pricing runs from 4 to 12 and the beach shelves gently into calm, clear water. The Aqua Park is a $10 add-on kids tend to talk about for weeks. Snorkel tours require a minimum age of 8 and confident swimming. Please remember: Guests under 18 need an accompanying adult.
A passing shower rarely stops an island day, and sunshine usually wins. If sea or weather conditions ever make the crossing unsafe, we cancel the departure ourselves, and you choose between a full refund or a free reschedule. You can check the live island view on our website before you travel.
Ready for the Ferry
About 25 minutes on the water and you're on a private island. Pick your experience and book direct: best price, free cancellation up to 24 hours, no booking fee.
