Grand Bahama is the second most popular destination in The Bahamas - meaning that it's largely overrun with North American snowbirds and its attractions are geared appropriately. Unless you come for the smattering of natural attractions, you'd better be sure that gambling, duty-free shopping and beach lounging are your thing. Luckily, the island's few natural assets are worth the trip: sugar-white beaches, thick forests of Cuban pine and abundant wildlife.

The island's most popular area, Freeport/Lucaya, is a modern, planned affair with little charm and less that's authentically Bahamian. On the western end of the southern shore, Freeport is home to the Rand Memorial Nature Centre, which boasts excellent horticultural displays and nature trails, and the Garden of the Groves, a lush Eden filled with 5000 species of exotic plants and shrubs from around the world. The Gardens also contain the Grand Bahama Museum, dedicated to the history of the island from the time of the Lucayans. Lucaya, the district just south of Freeport, is in the midst of a ritzy upgrade. Lucayan National Park is a 40-acre treasure. It encompasses the world's largest known underwater cave system, complete with bats and blue holes; a mangrove swamp; kayakable estuaries; and great beaches. You can get here by car, or you can hire a boat at any Freeport/Lucaya marina.

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