The Bahamas

Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport is 16km from downtown. Spend the first day in Nassau exploring the colonial downtown before heading to the Out Islands. Bay Street — the main commercial street of downtown Nassau — has the Parliament Square (colonial pink-and-white British government buildings from the 18th century), the Queen's Staircase (66 steps carved from solid limestone by enslaved workers in the 1790s), Fort Fincastle, and the Nassau Public Library (a converted British colonial jail of 1799). Cable Beach, 3km west of downtown, is Nassau's main resort beach — long, gentle, and beautiful with Atlantis visible on Paradise Island across the harbor. The Arawak Cay Fish Fry, an outdoor seafood market that operates every afternoon at the western edge of Nassau Harbour, is the best introduction to Bahamian food: conch fritters, cracked conch, grilled grouper, and Sands beer.

Take the 35-minute water taxi or short flight from Nassau to Harbour Island — the most beautiful island in the Bahamas and one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean. Dunmore Town, the island's only settlement, is a perfectly preserved colonial fishing village of pastel-painted wooden cottages with white picket fences and bougainvillea — unchanged in character since the 18th century when it was the first capital of the Bahamas. The Pink Sand Beach on the Atlantic side extends 5km along the entire eastern shore: the sand is indeed pink, a result of the crushed shells of the Homotrema rubrum foraminifera mixed with white silica sand, creating a shade that deepens to rose as it dries. The water is extraordinarily clear and calm, protected by the reef offshore. Lunch at The Landing, dinner at Rock House, and a sunset rum swizzle at Gusty's bar on the beach.

Harbour Island has no rental cars — golf carts are the transport of choice, and renting one for the day allows exploration of the entire island in a couple of hours. The Atlantic pink sand stretches the full length of the island; the harbor side has the calmer turquoise water of the bay and the daily catch being unloaded from the fishing boats. Snorkeling is excellent off Harbour Island's offshore reef. Lunch at Sip Sip, a legendary lunch spot on the pink sand with tables on the beach and a menu of lobster quesadillas and conch chowder that is universally considered the finest casual lunch in the Out Islands. The Sunday fish fry in Dunmore Town is a local institution. Photography at the pastel cottages of Dunmore Town in the golden hour is extraordinarily beautiful.

Fly to Exuma (Great Exuma) or the Staniel Cay airstrip — the gateway to the Exuma Cays, 365 islands and cays extending 120 miles across some of the clearest water in the world. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park has water of extraordinary clarity — in the shallow tidal flats between the cays, the water is turquoise over white sand at depths of 1-5 meters, creating colors that rival the Maldives. The Swimming Pigs of Big Major Cay are the Bahamas' most famous attraction: a colony of feral pigs that swim out to greet boats arriving at the beach, fed by the boat crews and extraordinarily photogenic. Thunderball Grotto — a sea cave filmed in James Bond's Thunderball (1965) —tat Staniel Cay has extraordinary snorkeling: nurse sharks, rays, and tropical fish in a cathedral cave that floods at high tide.

A full day in the Exuma Cays by private boat charter is the ideal way to explore. Stocking Island, across the harbor from George Town, has Chat N' Chill — the most famous beach bar in the Bahamas, a Sunday volleyball game and pig roast that attracts yachties from across the Atlantic. The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is entirely protected — no fishing or collection of any kind, making it the region's finest snorkeling and diving destination. Allen's Cay has a population of 200 endemic Bahamian iguanas that approach the boat landing to be fed (iguanas only — carrots and grapes are the correct offering). The coral gardens between the cays in water of 5-15 meters have large grouper, sea turtles, and occasional reef sharks. A private picnic lunch on an uninhabited sand cay.

Return to Nassau by short flight for the final night. Paradise Island, connected to Nassau by bridge, is home to the Atlantis resort — the Caribbean's most spectacular resort complex, built around a theme of the lost city of Atlantis with water slides, a massive aquarium (one of the largest open-air marine habitats in the world), casino, and 11 pools. Even if not staying at Atlantis, a day pass for the Aquaventure water park and the Dig (the extraordinary aquarium installation in the resort's lower levels) is excellent. The Nassau waterfront at dusk — the parade of cruise ships anchored in the harbor, the British colonial buildings in the fading light — and a final conch salad from a beach vendor at the fish fry.

Nassau Lynden Pindling International Airport has direct flights to most US East Coast cities, with Miami (50 minutes), New York (2.5 hours), and Atlanta (2.5 hours) all offering multiple daily departures. A final Nassau morning: the Straw Market on Bay Street for straw hats, baskets, and Bahamian crafts (bargaining is expected); the Nassau Public Library in its remarkable octagonal British colonial jail building; and a final Kalik beer (the national Bahamian beer, brewed in Nassau since 1988) at a harbor bar. Take home Bahamian rum, Nassau conch fritter recipe cards, and the specific shade of turquoise that the Bahamas water achieves on a calm morning that you'll be trying to reproduce in photographs for years.