Living the Top Ten Bahamas Moments

Along with scuba diving and snorkeling — which are phenomenal all over The Bahamas — here are other unforgettable adventures you can consider putting at the top of your "to do" list while vacationing in the Bahamas.

Are you in the mood for a romantic stroll through manicured English-style gardens? Or is a ride in a horse-drawn carriage along the history-packed streets of Nassau more up your alley? Ever wondered whether pink sand is as soft as the snow-white variety? The Bahamas has it all!

Walking on the (wet and) wild side

You can walk on the ocean floor without wearing scuba gear. You don't have to take lengthy classes, either — you just do it. While you're getting up close and personal with fish and coral, your face and hair stay dry. This fun activity is called helmet diving. To partake in this adventure, join one of Hartley's Undersea Walks in Nassau. To do so, you wear a lead and glass helmet as you descend a ladder into the ocean. A tank on the boat pumps air through a long tube into your aquatic helmet.

Taking a carriage ride through Nassau

Because Nassau, located on New Providence Island, is so full of the country's history, a good way to see this harborside city is from an old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage. You can take a leisurely ride along busy Bay Street (the main thoroughfare) past Parliament Square, with its 18th- and 19th-century Georgian-style government buildings (painted pink and white) and a statue of a young Queen Victoria, among other sights.

Wandering through Versailles gardens

On Paradise Island, you can enjoy a setting that you'd expect to find only in the countryside of France. Studded with bright flowers, shady trees, a lily pond with turtles, and bronze and marble statues, Versailles Gardens is the site of a 12th-century monastery. Dramatically perched on a rise, it was built by the Augustinian monks in France. In 1962, Huntington Hartford, the island's original developer, had it moved to the island and reassembled, stone by stone.

Making a date with dolphins

Dolphin skin feels like warm, buttery leather. Pet one and you'll see what we mean. (Some marine studies, however, suggest that dolphins don't like human contact. They're such friendly animals, though, you don't get that impression.) You can commune with dolphins on Grand Bahama or an island off New Providence. Some sessions allow you to wade in the water with these mammals while trainers tell you everything you ever wanted to know about them. In other programs, you can scuba dive with Flipper's cousins in the open ocean.

Feeding the stingrays

If you find dolphins too tame, try feeding the stingrays that swim gracefully through the shallow waters around a tiny island off Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos. If you don't know how to snorkel, your guide can teach you on the spot, or you can take to the water dressed in scuba gear. Either way, you're also treated to a beach picnic after your captain grills the fish or lobster that he just caught.

Digging your toes into a pink sand beach

Harbour Island's Pink Sand Beach may be only 3 miles long, but it seems to go on forever. The unusual color comes from shells and coral that the waves have pulverized over the years. This beach is pretty enough to make you roll out of bed in time to catch the sunrise.

Watching the sun set on Dunmore Town

For some of the best sunsets in The Bahamas, head to Harbour Island's western coast. The spectacle is special here because of the glow that the sun casts on the 18th-century wooden cottages along the harborfront. Sip a Bahama Mama or a Goombay Smash at a waterside restaurant while you watch the show.

Visiting a candy cane-striped lighthouse

Sail through Hope Town Harbor, which is filled with small pleasure boats, or munch some conch fritters at the water's edge, and you can see the whimsical red-and-white striped lighthouse. For a sweeping view of narrow Elbow Cay, edged by fabulous beaches, climb to the top of the beacon, which has stood here since 1838.

Living it up at Miss Emily's

In New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos stands Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar, the most famous watering hole in the Out Islands. The rum-laced drink, the Goombay Smash, may as well have been invented here. It's called the Abacos' answer to atomic fission. Miss Emily is gone now, but she left her secret recipe in the hands of her daughter.

Boating in the Abacos

No matter where you've boated before, nothing compares to sailing the Abacos in one of the vessels that you can rent at Marsh Harbour. Marsh Harbour is aptly known as "The Boating Capital of The Bahamas." In charge of your own vessel, you can visit uninhabited cays and seek out deserted beaches where you can go shelling, exploring, and picnicking in peace — and no one's around to witness if you want to go beachcombing in the buff.