Bimini

A small Bahamian island just 80 km from Miami, famed for Hemingway's fishing legend, the underwater stones of the Bimini Road and great hammerhead diving.

Bimini is the westernmost island group in the Bahamas, just about 80 km from Miami, Florida. It consists of North Bimini, South Bimini, East Bimini and smaller cays to the south such as Gun Cay and Cat Cay, with a permanent population of about 2,000. Known as the "Big Game Fishing Capital of the World", it is where Hemingway fished for marlin and wrote in the 1930s, and during Prohibition it was a transit hub for rum-running. The climate is tropical: Dec–May is the dry season, with calmer seas and lower humidity, and is the best time to visit. From Dec to Apr you can dive with great hammerheads, while May–Sep brings calm seas ideal for snorkeling and swimming with wild spotted dolphins. Jun–Nov is hurricane season, with the highest risk in Aug–Oct. North Bimini is the center of daily life and activity: the main settlements of Alice Town and Bailey Town line the King's Highway, with beaches, restaurants, conch salad stands and Hemingway sites, and Resorts World Bimini lies to the north. South Bimini has the airport, the Bimini Shark Lab and the Fountain of Youth site. The real highlights are at sea — the underwater stones of the Bimini Road, the SS Sapona wreck, the stingray flats at Honeymoon Harbour and the Healing Hole — all reached on half- or full-day trips with dive shops or boat operators. Getting there: small planes fly direct from Miami and Fort Lauderdale to South Bimini Airport (about 30 minutes), followed by a water taxi to North Bimini; there are also fast ferries from Fort Lauderdale, and cruise ships call here. On the island, people get around on foot, by bike or by golf cart. Plan on 2–4 days. The currency is the Bahamian dollar, used interchangeably with the US dollar at 1:1.

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