Do It Yourself - Rent a car

If you’re planning on doing a lot of touring around an island, it can make sense to rent a car or a jeep, giving you the freedom to explore as you please. Ask about local rentals when you book your hotel as often there are one or two car operations.

Before setting out on your own on a new island, get good directions from a local and – very important on some of the Out Islands – ask about the condition of any side roads you’ll be using. On the long, skinny islands of Eleuthera and Long Island, for example, turning anywhere off the fine main road puts you onto a dirt-and-sand track that can be a shock-shaking exercise in off-road driving at certain times of the year, especially after a rain has carved gullies and gulches.

Signage on many of the Out Islands is, shall we say, informal. The locals get to know their islands intimately from childhood, so they don’t need street signs and reassuring “This Way” arrows. Set off for Surfer’s Beach on Eleuthera or Pete’s Pub on Great Abaco, and you’re sure to feel like you’re lost several times. When five minutes turns into ten and the road bends around yet another curve or tops yet another hill and presents nothing but scrub forest as far as the eye can see, you’ll wish you’d brought a Sherpa or at least some signal flares. Keep going, though, and you’ll get there (always make sure you’ve got plenty of gas in your tank, and plan to get to and from your destination in good light – with no lights on the dirt roads, it’s very easy to miss turnoffs in the dark). Google maps can assist in finding the more popular places on many of the islands.

There are actually few roads in the Out Islands, so it’s actually hard to get too lost. And one of the best things about these islands is how friendly the people are. Any time you’re not sure about where you’re going, simply stop and ask. Chances are, you’ll not only find out how to get to the restaurant you’re looking for, but the person you ask will turn out to be related to the woman who owns it and you’ll get the inside scoop about how she bakes the best pineapple tarts on the island.

Island Rental Car Companies