The Best Hotels and Apartments to Book in Long Island, the Bahamas

Calling all watersports lovers. Cape Santa Maria is tops for snorkeling, scuba diving and fishing – tours are a cinch to sort through the resort. Feeling lazy? This place is right on the beach: pick from two-bedroom villas and one- or two-bedroom beachfront bungalows – with direct views of the ocean from your private veranda. The decor blends dark wood furniture, oversized ocean-themed artwork and soothing blue and yellow on the walls. When you’re ready to eat, meal plans include half-board or all-inclusive.

The Stella Maris Resort Club has a whole spectrum of spaces to suit your budget: hotel rooms, one- and two-bedroom cottages and apartments, even three- and four-bedroom villas and homes. Whichever you pick you’ll have comfortable interiors: brown wicker furniture and brightly patterned bed linens. You’re also guaranteed big windows to let in the island sun. Top tip: look into the all-inclusive rate. It’ll give you three meals a day, snorkeling excursions and use of the resort’s sailboat, kayaks and paddleboards.

Grab your camera – the 14 one- and two-story villas here are a two-minute walk from the beach. Overlooking Clarence Town Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean, these abodes are for fatigued professionals needing seclusion: most have private balconies and inside you’ll find smart new appliances, high ceilings and tropical-patterned bedding. Stepping out, you’re close to Long Island Museum, Columbus Harbor and Dunmore Town – just sound the hotel out about that rental car.

Clarence Town is just a short drive from some of Long Island’s best beaches and it’s got a winner in Winter Haven Bahamas: a clutch of 15 guest rooms with ocean views, most with king-sized beds for long, long lie-ins. Pick this place if your priority is laid-back simplicity. The restaurant, Rowdy Boys Bar and Grill, is open daily for breakfast, lunch or dinner – perhaps locally caught fish or conch. If pork is your thing, every Friday night there’s a hog-roast buffet.

Just six private cottages line the low-key beach here, making this spot great for intimate vacations and escapes from urban stress. The action need not extend beyond eating at the oceanfront restaurant, which serves European and Caribbean cuisine alike.

The amicable husband and wife owners bring personal pizzazz to Grotto Bay Bahamas, with its two beachfront studios and two-bedroom beach house. These are comfy homes from home, with direct beach access and grocery stores as well as restaurants within shuffling distance. Overlooking water or tropical gardens, they’re painted in bright Caribbean colors with matching nautical-themed bedding. Lie back and do nothing, unless it’s June – when the beach is the starting line for the Long Island Regatta, an annual sailboat racing competition.

Is apartment living your thing? Pick one of these four studios, each with a kitchenette for cooking your own meals. They’re nicely priced, with separate dining and living areas, plus king, queen and double beds in connecting rooms – ideal should you want to supervise little ones. No worries about crowded beaches – guests loll on a stretch of private beachfront, whilst deep-sea fishing, diving and snorkeling are all easily sorted.