Yes, there really is a drift of domestic pigs living on the beach of an uninhabited island in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas. After years of boaters coming to the beach with food, the pigs have learned to swim out to approaching boats to get first crack at the snacks. The Bahamas Swimming Pigs are one of the cutest things I’ve seen pretty much anywhere.
We put the Bahamas Swimming Pigs on our bucket list after seeing them steal the show on Bachelor Season 20. After a few years of research, planning, and saving, we finally got the real skinny on swimming with the Exumas pigs in the Bahamas.
Where are The Bahamas Swimming Pigs?
There’s an island in the Bahamas called Big Major Cay. It’s at the center of the Exumas Island Chain, 60 miles Southeast of Nassau and 50 miles North of Georgetown. The island is uninhabited, aside from a drift of domestic pigs. There are many stories about how they got there, but more importantly, they are still here. The pigs live on Pig Beach, located centrally on the west side of the island.
A few enterprising tour operators have recognized the popularity of the Exuma Swimming Pigs at Big Major Cay. This has resulted in the establishment of a few other pig beaches elsewhere in the Bahamas. Some of these may be closer to where you find yourself vacationing here, but they are private and can only be accessed through the tour operators that maintain them. The original Pig Beach, here at Big Major Cay, is open and free to anyone with a boat to access the island.
Highs
- Feed, pet, and selfie with free range pigs on a friggin’ beach
- Busiest place in the Exumas is still not that busy
- Easy anchoring
- FREE! No cover charge or reservation required
Lows
- Long distance from major resorts
- BYOB&C (bring your own bread and carrots)
Are The Bahamas Swimming Pigs Really Worth the Trip?
Oh, yes it really is hard to take a bad picture of a pig swimming in that blue water or wandering on that white sand. If you like pigs, you’ll love the Swimming Pigs. If you like dogs, you’ll love the Swimming Pigs. If you like clear blue water and white sand beaches, you’ll love the Swimming Pigs. That said, a visit to Pig Beach is not a vacation in itself. It only makes sense in the context of a larger trip to The Bahamas, unless you are already at least as close as South Florida.
However, if you aren’t fond of farm animals at home, you probably won’t like them in The Bahamas either. A friend of ours traveled to the Bahamas to vacation at the nearby Staniel Cay Yacht Club last year. He told us that Pig Beach turned out to be a big disappointment: it was smelly and disgusting with pig poop everywhere; he said he couldn’t leave fast enough.
After seeing Pig Beach with my own eyes, I respectfully disagree. It didn’t really smell at all. I looked hard for poops, and yes, I did find two giant Baby Ruths in the water. I had to wade out to snap the photo below for you. You’d have to really go out of your way to have it ruin your day. The sanitary conditions here are better than any petting zoo I’ve ever been to. Also keep in mind that fish, sharks, lobster, and conch poop in the water too.
Are the Bahamas Swimming Pigs Living their Best Life?
Anytime you are doing something with animals, it’s good to consider the ethical aspects and whether it is humane. However, I realize there are lots of perspectives on this topic, and I’m not here to tell you where to draw the line, only to give you context to inform your own decision.
The pigs seem content and well taken care of. Based on my unscientific and uninformed opinion, there’s no doubt that these piggies live better lives than farm pigs. So, if you partake in conventionally raised pork products at the dinner table, you should not feel guilty about spending time with these pigs. They are well fed, have room to roam, shade, fresh water, and lots of loving attention. There are stories of some of the pigs dying a few years back, possibly from being fed beer, getting too much sand in their food, or overexposure to the tropical sun. As unfortunate as it was, the community seems to have learned from this and is doing a better job caring for them than ever.
A number of tour operators now responsibly depend on the pigs to earn a living. As such, they’ve put together some shelter to protect the pigs from the hot Bahamian sun and keep the beach well stocked with feed and fresh water. They’ve also placed clear signs with instructions for visitors to keep the pigs and humans safe and healthy.
There is another side to this discussion in that a remote subtropical island in the Bahamas is not a natural environment for pigs. Additionally, the pigs likely have an outsized impact on other wildlife on this otherwise uninhabited island. However, being an island, there are natural barriers to the pigs becoming more widespread and invasive; a clear juxtaposition to the feral hog issue plaguing much of the US. The ecosystems throughout The Bahamas were destroyed centuries ago by sugar cane production, so Big Major Cay was not a pristine habitat when the pigs first arrived anyway.
What to Bring for The Bahamas Swimming Pigs
Food for The Swimming Pigs
I recommend bringing two types of food to Pig Beach to get the pigs’ attention: floaters and sticks. Read on to find out more.
Floaters
The tour boat operators brought loaves of bread to chum the water. The pigs definitely preferred this to fresh produce when swimming out into the deeper water. It sits on the top and is easier for them to eat while swimming. The pigs at our boat quickly swam away from our sinking watermelon rinds as soon as they heard a nearby boat opening a loaf of white bread.
Sticks
If you want the pigs to approach and eat from your hand, you need something long and stiff to keep your hand a safe distance from their toothy mouths. Carrots are the food of choice here. We forgot to buy carrots when provisioning our boat, so we sliced up a watermelon and fed them the watermelon rinds. If you have any doubts about pigs’ passion for fresh produce, watch this video to see their personal recommendations.
Other Items to Pack to Swim With the Pigs
Camera
You’ll definitely want to bring a camera with you to Pig Beach. If you have a waterproof camera since their is lots of sand and potential to be splashed. However, you can probably get by with just a cell phone, especially if you’ve got a waterproof case or dry bag.
Water and Hand Sanitizer
There are no facilities for fresh water reserved for the Swimming Pigs), hand washing, or restrooms at Pig Beach.
Beach Wear
You’ll get just as, sandy, sunburned, and wet as any other beach. Pack accordingly.
Where to Anchor at Big Major Cay
Dinghies and outboard center console boats approaching Pig Beach can drive right up to the sand here as the beach and anchorage are clear of coral and rocks. If you arrive in a yacht that isn’t designed for beaching, you’ll find one of the best anchorages in the Exumas.
Despite the dozens of boats anchored here, there was plenty of room for easy anchoring when we arrived around 5:30pm on a Saturday during Spring Break. As more boats fill in, the newcomers end up further West of the beach. While the wind in the Exumas is usually form the east, with the west side of the islands (where Pig Beach is) protected from the weather, this particular anchorage is also very well protected to the south as Big Major Cay juts out about a 1/4 mile at the south end. It’s further protected to the north by nearby Fowl Cay. This entire area has a sandy bottom ranging from about 6 to 9 feet deep.
The pigs are on the beach in the southeast corner of the anchorage. Even anchoring behind a number of other boats, we could see the pigs wandering around on the beach from our boat.
Steps for a Successful Visit to the Pigs
Okay, so you’ve got your pig food and you’re anchored off Big Major Cay where you can see the pigs wandering around on the beach. Before heading ashore, its important to understand the rules to keep the pigs safe, and think about how to approach the pigs so your crew feels safe.
First, lets go over the rules:
- Only feed the pigs in the water, from the boat; don’t bring food ashore
- Don’t pick up the pigs
- Don’t feed the pigs alcohol
- Do pick up your trash
- No fireworks (wtf?!?!)
Now that we have the rules out of the way, let’s talk about how to execute a successful visit, making sure the pigs are safe, your crew feels safe, and everyone gets some quality time with the pigs and a few good photos. The pigs are big, strong, and can be intimidating, even though these pigs are quite friendly and comfortable around people. They will fight with each other over food and throw their weight around, quite literally. Being very deliberate about how you and your crew interact with the pigs will ensure nobody gets hurt and everyone has a great time. To do this, I suggest dividing the visit into three phases:
Phase 1: Approach
As your boat gets close to the beach, a few pigs will swim out to greet you. This is perhaps the cutest most unique part of the experience. Get control of yourself, discipline is very necessary at this point to ensure that your crew is safe and able to comfortably enjoy the rest of the visit. You see, pigs are not designed to eat in the water, but they care called pigs for a reason. So they will make every effort to get food while swimming. Duh, did you think they were swimming out to your boat to sing Christmas carols?
Okay, so when you try to feed the pigs in the water, they will lunge and snap at you. It comes off as aggressive behavior that can scare your crew…especially the one with food in their hand. So if you try to feed them a carrot in the water, you have to hold it until they eat it, risking life and limb, or drop it into the ocean where it will float to the bottom where the pigs can’t get it. Solution: bread. The guides feed the pigs bread in the water. Its easier for them to eat out here and it floats, so you can simply chum the water instead of trying to get it into their mouths. The key here is to avoid any sense of aggression from the pigs; they really aren’t aggressive, but a bad experience out here can ruin the rest of your visit.
Phase 2: Wading at the Beach
Once you beach your dinghy, the big pigs will rush you looking for food. Be patient here, the know better.
Once you are comfortable and calm, you can get some carrots out and feed the pigs. They are used to being fed by humans, so they will sit and hold their mouths open for you to drop carrots in. They just can’t go through these motions in the deep water. Be sure to only feed the pigs while they are standing in the water. Do not feed them in the sand. If any food gets dropped in the sand, the pigs will eat it and ingest sand. This may have killed some of the pigs in the past. Staying in the boat also provides a buffer between you and the hungry pig.
I don’t recommend feeding the little ones because the big ones will chase them and you could find yourself in the middle of a melee. If you do want to feed the babies, just be very aware of where the adults are; maybe have another crew member distract them with another carrot.
Phase 3: Playing on the Island
Once you are out of food, you can venture onto the island. Calmly get out of the boat, and if the pigs feel uncomfortably close, hold your hands in the air and say ‘no more’. Pigs are smart and they can understand that you don’t have food. They may leave, or they may circle and sniff around your boat to keep you honest. Don’t worry, they have a low center of gravity and cannot climb into an inflatable dinghy.
If you want to pose with or pet the babies, this is your chance. The babies will wander around and lay down in the sand. Just follow your favorite patiently until they get into a good position for your photo. All of the pigs like to (or at least don’t mind) be pet. However, there are signs asking you not to pick them up. We obliged.
The pigs are living active lives here. I wandered into the trees and found a few babies digging for buried treasure in the sand. Soak it all in.
Getting to The Bahamas Swimming Pigs
The only way to get to Big Major Cay to see the Swimming Pigs is by boat. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be an experienced boater, or take an open ocean passage. In fact, the neighboring island of Staniel Cay is one of the most developed in the Exumas with an airport and a resort. You can read about most options to get here in our Exuma Destination Guide.
The Busy Boater crew decided to charter a private yacht for the week and make this part of a larger trip. However, shorter jaunts just to see the pigs are more within reach. If you are on Nassau or Great Exuma, you can take a day boat tour, which may also include other stops within the Exuma island chain. There’s an airport on nearby Big Major Cay, so you can fly in from Miami just for the day as well.
When to Go to See The Bahamas Swimming Pigs
The pigs are out all year, and even when it’s busy here, it isn’t that busy. Groups seem to only spend about 20 minutes on the beach, so the crowd ebbs and flows quickly. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to have your favorite pig/pigs to yourself and find clear shots for photos matter when you go.
We got to Pig Beach on our rental yacht and anchored out the evening ahead of our visit. This enabled us to go early in the morning; assuming that there would be less tour boat visitors from other islands…and the pigs would be hungrier. I don’t know if it gets busier later, but when we went around 10am on a Sunday during Spring Break, there were maybe a dozen or so other people on the beach. There were more people on boats that never came to the beach, and dozens of yachts anchored out behind us.
While the Swimming Pigs were the primary reason we chose to come to the Exumas Islands in the first place, I recommend planning a much larger trip to the Bahamas, and fitting this in where you can. While it is very worthwhile, you’d be hard pressed to spend more than an hour here. Also, consider that you can see the pigs regardless of the tides. However, many other sites within the Exumas are tide dependent. So, consider fitting this in between some of your more time sensitive plans.
