The Bahamas is having a moment. Granted, the 700-island country – with its clear blue waters, fruitful fishing and welcoming culture – has never been out of style, but when it came to yachting, the conventional wisdom was it was a winter destination for smaller, shallow draft vessels. Not anymore.
“I would say within the past four years, the change in the yachting industry there is dramatic like you cannot believe,” says Peter Vazquez, an American who's been entrenched in Bahamas yachting since 2003, and prior to that in the aviation field. He and his wife and business partner, Kim, both captains, own the charter yacht Island Time and manage a fleet of charter yachts based in Nassau. In addition, they purchased Leaf Cay in the Exumas just over a decade ago.
In 2003, he ran one of only two charter yachts, both 115ft, that spent the summer in the Exumas. When he bought the 110ft Island Time in 2007 it was one of the larger yachts there. More recently, as he was piloting his plane from Nassau to Staniel Cay, he counted eight yachts of at least 250ft.
“Can you imagine a flyover in 2003 – there were two of us. Now it's filled with gigayachts!” Vasquez says.
If you need further proof, the 384ft Oceanco Infinity – which briefly held the title for the Netherlands’ largest yacht after her launch in 2022 – was spotted in the Exuma cays in May this year.
So, what happened?
