Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and the closest point in the archipelago to the United States mainland, sitting 50 miles due east of Miami. North Bimini is the main island, 11 kilometers long and no more than 200 meters wide at any point. Most of the island's roughly 2,000 residents live in Alice Town, a single road of shops, restaurants, and bars called King's Highway. South Bimini holds the airport and little else. A five-minute ferry connects the two.
- Nearest airport: South Bimini Airport (BIM / MYBS), South Bimini
- Climate: Tropical. Warm and dry December to April, hot and wet June to October.
Why people visit Bimini
Fishing is the first reason. Bimini sits at the edge of the Gulf Stream, the warm current that runs north past the Bahamas carrying blue marlin, tuna, sailfish, and swordfish. The island calls itself the sport fishing capital of the world. Ernest Hemingway arrived in 1935 for the fishing and stayed two years. He lived at the Compleat Angler Hotel, fished aboard his boat Pilar, and wrote sections of To Have and Have Not and Islands in the Stream on the island. A 500-pound blue marlin caught off Bimini is said to have provided the basis for The Old Man and the Sea. The Compleat Angler burned to the ground on January 13, 2006, taking with it decades of Hemingway photographs and memorabilia.
Diving is the second reason. About a mile offshore in 15 feet of water lies Bimini Road, an underwater formation of large limestone blocks extending roughly 450 meters. Discovered in 1969, the formation has been claimed by some to be part of the lost city of Atlantis. Geologists describe it as a natural beach rock formation. Whatever its origin, it is one of the most visited dive sites in the Bahamas. The SS Sapona, a concrete ship used to store bootleg liquor during Prohibition, ran aground in a 1926 hurricane south of Bimini. The upper half sits above the waterline. Divers explore the submerged hull.
Martin Luther King Jr. visited Bimini in 1964 and worked on his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech while there. Two bronze busts of King stand on the island today.
What made Bimini
The Lucayan Taíno were here before Columbus. The Spanish removed them after 1492. Bimini's five founding families were licensed wreckers in 1834, the same year Britain abolished slavery in the Bahamas. Their descendants make up most of today's population. During Prohibition, Bimini and the nearby cays of Gun Cay and Cat Cay served as offshore warehouses. Schooners loaded with liquor anchored here while American rum runners ferried the cargo north across the Gulf Stream. The Bimini Bay Rod and Gun Club, the island's first hotel, was destroyed in the same 1926 hurricane that wrecked the Sapona.
A Lucayan legend spoke of a place called Beimini where a fountain of eternal youth could be found. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León heard this story and searched for it. Historians note that the Lucayans were describing a location in the Gulf of Honduras, not the Bahamas. De León's expedition brought him to Florida, not Bimini. A small freshwater well on South Bimini near the airport carries a plaque marking the spot as the Fountain of Youth. The historical basis is disputed. The well is real.
What you find
North Bimini is narrow enough that you can see the Atlantic from the Gulf Stream side on a clear day. The western shore is one long beach. King's Highway runs the length of the island with the water visible on both sides in places. There are no traffic lights. Most people move by golf cart or on foot. The Gulf Stream runs close enough to shore that deep water fishing is possible within minutes of leaving the dock. Wild spotted dolphins live in the shallow sandbanks west of the island and can be encountered by boat.
