The Bahamas vs Jamaica: which to choose for your Caribbean getaway?

08.01.2024 - 20:38 / lonelyplanet.com / Daniel Boulud / Jean Georges Vongerichten / Marcus Samuelsson

​It’s cold out there. A Caribbean getaway has never sounded better. We get it.

As you weigh your options in paradise, we’re sure you’ll be drawn to two island nations that have a special hold on visitors’ imaginations: the Bahamas and Jamaica. Yet since we’re equally drawn to the two countries’ stunning beaches, perfect weather and lively nightlife, recommending one over the other is above our pay grade.

Enter a pair of passionately partisan writers, here to make the case for why each of their picks makes the better choice. Seconds out, it's Jamaica vs the Bahamas.

Born-and-bred Miami native Jackie Gutierrez-Jones has traveled extensively in the nearby Bahamas, and once lived there part-time for several years.

Growing up in Miami, the Caribbean was my backyard. Since road trips to other states required hours and hours of driving (not to mention extraordinary amounts of patience), there was no reason not to catch a quick ferry or flight over twinkling turquoise ocean waters to experience an island paradise in as little as 45 minutes. I’ll take “Island Hopping” for a budget $200.

Each of those islands became a tropical playground for me, where the sun – ever closer to the equator – would bake the impossibly clear salt water onto my skin and into my hair. This was a tingling, crunchy, warmth that I longed to bottle up and take with me everywhere. And no islands quite captivated me like the Bahamas. Indeed, no other destination. When my husband’s career path brought me to the island as an adult for six months out of the year, I found it heart-wrenching every time I had to leave.

I hear you – yes, you in the back, sipping a Red Stripe. “But, but, but… Jamaica!” And I can’t knock those mountain views, waterfall hikes and languid afternoons nursing a hangover with a pile of Jamaican patties. There’s also a lit nightlife scene, set to homegrown reggae sounds and dancehall. I’ll give you that.

And while it’s great Jamaica boasts 49 different islands, can we talk about the Bahamas’ more than 3000 islands, cays and inlets, some 30 of them inhabited? You can spend a week hopping from island to island, taking in some of the most crystalline waters you’ve ever seen in your life (oh, hi, Exumas), and barely scratch the surface.

All that island hopping works up an appetite. Luckily, the Bahamas boasts a roster of celebrity chefs that would make Michelin blush: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Marcus Samuelsson, Daniel Boulud, Nobu Matsuhisa, Jose Andres and other culinary stars want to feed you – and well. If you’re not the fancy type, follow your nose to the conch shacks in Bimini or the Fish Fry in Nassau – and try to convince me that the fried fish and conch salad there doesn’t stand far above any other island’s offerings.