Feed Swimming Pigs in Exuma, the Bahamas.

The Swimming Pigs of Exuma: What the Photos Don’t Show

Big Major Cay in the Exuma Cays is an uninhabited island in the southern Bahamas where a colony of domestic pigs lives on the beach and swims out to boats. The origin story is contested – sailors, a shipwreck, or (the most plausible version) a local entrepreneur who put pigs there for the tourism potential in the 1990s – and none of it matters much because the pigs exist, they do swim, and the experience is genuinely strange in ways photographs cannot communicate.

What the photographs do not show: the pigs have learned that boats mean food and they are not shy about it. A large sow will put her front trotters on your boat hull and stare at you with focused intention if you are not distributing grapes quickly enough. The piglets are small and photogenic. The adult pigs are substantial animals with assertive personalities that are not what you expect from a children’s petting zoo encounter. This is not soft. It is a beach encounter with farm animals who have been trained by the tourist economy.

Several of the Pig Beach pigs have died from tourist-inflicted food poisoning over the years. The Bahamian government now enforces rules against bringing inappropriate food: no alcohol, no processed food, no salty food. Grapes are the accepted pig currency – they float and the pigs can grab them easily.

Getting There

Big Major Cay is not accessible directly from any major airport. Fly to Georgetown on Great Exuma (direct flights from Nassau, and connections from Miami, Toronto, and New York), then join a boat tour or charter to the Exuma Cays roughly 30 miles north. Day tours from Georgetown or Staniel Cay (the nearest inhabited cay to Pig Beach) typically combine the pigs with Thunderball Grotto, Nurse Shark Beach, and one or two other cays. A full day on a decent boat costs around USD 150 to 200 per person.

Staying at Staniel Cay Yacht Club or one of the small rental properties on Staniel Cay puts you 10 minutes by boat from Pig Beach and eliminates most of the logistical friction.

Thunderball Grotto

The sea cave near Staniel Cay was briefly used for filming in the 1965 James Bond film of that name. The cave is worth visiting on its own terms: enter through a hole in the ceiling at low tide, or swim in through an underwater entrance. Inside, light from above hits the water and the walls in patterns that change through the day. Fish life is dense. Go in the morning when the ceiling light comes through most strongly.

The Rest of Exuma

The Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park is 176 square miles of protected water where no fishing or collection is permitted, which means the marine life is notably denser than in unprotected areas. The fish will eat from your hand. Chat ‘N’ Chill beach bar on Stocking Island across from Georgetown does excellent conch salad and a Sunday pig roast.

Practical Notes

The Bahamas uses the Bahamian dollar pegged 1:1 to the US dollar; both are accepted. Card payments work in Georgetown hotels and restaurants; cash is preferable for boat tours. Peak season is December through April. Hurricane season runs August through October and the Bahamas are not immune, though they are less exposed than some Caribbean islands.