The votes are in – here are our favorites from the time we spent in Bimini.
The best shark encounter – Hammer Headquarters
Going in order of priority, first up is obviously about where to spot sharks. Hammer Headquarters is the unofficial name of the area where the different dive operators unload tourists and chum the waters to bring in the great hammerheads from the nearby deep waters. We do not agree with nor advocate for chumming the waters, but we do admit that we still took advantage of it. Rather than directly support such activities (and spend a whopping $300 per person!) we simply took our own boat over to the anchorage nearby and dropped our hook. We spent some time snorkeling around our boat, spotting a few nurse sharks who came to check us out. After the dive boats were leaving for the day, we ventured a little further out towards where they had been. What we saw was simply amazing! There were at least a dozen nurse sharks swimming around in 20 feet of water and near the bottom was the prized great hammerhead!
It was really quite remarkable to see such a magnificent creature and so close up. This was by far the number one item on my wish list for Bimini. We spent several minutes snorkeling around admiring all the sharks (but mostly the hammerhead) before heading back to our boat. We quickly noticed that several of the nurse sharks were following us back – things were getting a bit weird. The nurse sharks seemingly annoyed that we hadn’t provided any food yet got closer and more curious, certain that we’re about to dish out. At one point, I kicked (gently) one of them in the head with my flipper and then stuck the GoPro in his face as a polite “get out of my personal bubble” message. He sort of got the hint.
If you’re in Bimini, I have to recommend trying to get a glimpse of one of these amazing sharks, but recommend caution as we clearly observed the negative effects that chumming the water and feeding sharks is having. The hammerhead itself acted normal (uninterested in being near us), but the nurse sharks were way to comfortable and pushy.
The best anchorage – No Name
Unfortunately, the anchorage is so new that it doesn’t have a name yet. In fact, on the Garmin GPS or Active Captain app it shows it being on land. It has recently been dug out though to be a perfect circular area of 13-15 feet water with strong, sandy holding. It is just east across the channel from the large Resorts World complex (e.g. the casino) at the northern most end of the North Bimini channel. It is protected from all sides with zero movement of the boat; though there is some current that flows through the area.
Technically there is no public land/dock nearby to take your dinghy, but we had no issues with leaving our dinghy at the nearby Mega Yacht Marina or Fisherman’s Village Marina which are part of the Resorts World complex. We would then walk to a local grocery store nearby, Edith’s pizza, or Stuart’s Conch Stand for $3 beers. We did also support the restaurants, grocery store, and casino of the Resorts World complex as well. If the channel is calm enough, you can travel further and dock your dinghy at Big Game Club to be more in the action of Alice Town.
The best snorkel spot – The Victories
The Sapona Wreck is good – worth going to once, but really nothing to write home about. The best snorkel spot in Bimini is at The Victories on Cat Cay. We were able to anchor nearby and do a drift snorkel holding onto the dinghy floating behind us. We spotted a nurse shark, turtle, couple rays, barracuda, parrot fish, angel fish, and lots of larger schools. The coral was also really healthy.
We approached The Victories from the north, anchoring off to the east side in a sandy patch 8 feet deep. We used the dinghy to explore the whole area, checking for where there was the most sea life. We saw little on the east side of the rocks and even less at the southern tip. We got in the water about halfway down on the west side of the rocks and drifted north to the last Victory. It was really quite a remarkable snorkel. Given that it’s only about 15 feet deep, you could dive but I’d probably just stick to snorkeling here.
Read our post [Fish and sting rays and sharks, oh my] to hear more about our day snorkeling The Victories and hanging out with the sting rays at Honey Moon harbor.
The best pool
Several of the marinas in the Bimini islands have swimming pools. Resorts World alone has 5 or 6 pools on site! We spent one night at the Fisherman’s Village marina when we had guests visiting and as such, were able to use all the different resort amenities. Although, I’m pretty sure we could have used any of the amenities at any time by just dinghying over from anchor. You know what they say – beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission. Anyways – there was an incredible infinity pool on the fifth floor that overlooks the Bimini channel and bay area. It was breathtaking – both figuratively and literally because of how freezing cold the water was.
The best local spot
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but we were not overly impressed with the food and restaurants on Bimini. The one place we were quite impressed with was Nate’s Bimini Breads. It is not actually a restaurant, but a bakery within the owner (Nate’s) home. They make different breads, pastries, and pizzas which you can pick up or have delivered. We stopped by one afternoon and left with a giant loaf of cinnamon raisin bread and cream cheese guava rolls. His daughter helped us pick out our items and made change once we paid. Seeing such a polite, intelligent young girl and a clearly very well run family business probably swayed my opinion on this place even more.
The best restaurant
Speaking of unpopular opinions – this one will really upset people. Our favorite restaurant on the island was Hemingway’s, which is the sports bar with the casino at Resorts World. The food was good, large portion sizes, and as cheap if not cheaper than the local spots. They cooked a burger to perfection and the grilled cheese on Bimini bread was decadent. Other tasty items included the fish tacos, Caesar salad, and flatbreads. We ate here two nights and considered doing so a third night during our time in Bimini.
Note that they do add both a service charge (tip) and a VAT charge (basically a European version of tip), which totaled around 30%. So that made the food slightly less affordable I suppose. On the weekends, this place also turns into a wannabe club complete with DJ and scantily clad young Miami girls – so keep that in mind.
What are your favorites from Bimini? Let us know in the comments!
