Eleuthera is a long, thin island running 180 kilometers north to south and barely 1.6 kilometers wide at most points. At its narrowest, the Glass Window Bridge, it is 30 feet wide. The name comes from the Greek word for freedom, given by the Eleutheran Adventurers, English Puritans who settled here in 1648 as the first English colonists in the Bahamas. Harbour Island sits just off the northeastern tip of Eleuthera, a five-minute ferry crossing away. It was once the capital of the Bahamas. No cars are permitted on Harbour Island. Residents and visitors move by golf cart.
- Nearest airports: North Eleuthera Airport (ELH / MYEH), Governor's Harbour Airport (GHB / MYGB)
- Climate: Tropical. Warm and dry December to April, hot and wet June to October.
Why people visit Eleuthera and Harbour Island
The pink sand is the first reason most visitors come. Harbour Island's Pink Sands Beach runs three miles along the eastern shore. The color comes from crushed coral and shell fragments mixed into the white sand. The same pink sand appears along more than 35 miles of mainland Eleuthera. Travel and Leisure has ranked Pink Sands Beach among the best beaches in the world.
The Glass Window Bridge is the second reason. Eleuthera narrows to 30 feet at this point, and the road crosses a strip of rock with the Atlantic on one side and the Bight of Eleuthera on the other. The Atlantic side runs deep blue and rough. The Bight side runs turquoise and calm. The contrast is visible from the road without leaving the car, and stark enough to look artificial. The original crossing was a natural stone arch. The American painter Winslow Homer painted it in 1885. It was destroyed by hurricanes. The current concrete bridge has been damaged and rebuilt multiple times. Atlantic waves called rages, driven by distant storms, can reach heights of 30 meters at this point even on clear days.
Eleuthera still grows pineapples. The variety is called sugarloaf. Gregory Town hosts an annual Pineapple Festival each June. The farms are small and family-run, and some offer tours.
What made Eleuthera and Harbour Island
The Eleutheran Adventurers arrived in 1648, the first English settlers in the Bahamas. Their ship wrecked on a reef off the north coast. The survivors sheltered in Preacher's Cave, a limestone cavern on the northern tip of the island. Recent excavations at the cave have uncovered Lucayan Taíno remains, evidence that the Lucayans were there before them. The Adventurers named the island Eleuthera, from the Greek for freedom, reflecting their goal of establishing a colony free from religious persecution.
Harbour Island became the administrative capital of the Bahamas under British rule and held that status until Nassau grew large enough to take it. The colonial architecture of Dunmore Town on Harbour Island reflects that history. The streets are narrow, the houses pastel-colored and built to the street, and the pace has not changed noticeably in two centuries.
What you find
Eleuthera is long enough that the north and south feel like different islands. The north holds the Glass Window Bridge, Preacher's Cave, the surf beach, and the ferry to Harbour Island. The center holds Governor's Harbour, the administrative capital, and the pineapple farms of Gregory Town. The south holds Lighthouse Beach, a long stretch of Atlantic-facing pink sand at the island's southernmost tip, reachable only by an unpaved road that requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle. The payoff is miles of beach with almost no one on it.
Harbour Island has three miles of pink sand on the Atlantic side and Dunmore Town on the other. The town's streets are too narrow for cars. A barrier reef runs along the Atlantic side of the island, and the water between Harbour Island and Eleuthera is shallow enough to see the bottom from a boat at most points.
