Freeport and adjacent suburb, Lucaya, are home to a majority of Grand Bahama Island's permanent residents. With bright blue skies and several easily accessible white-powder beaches to hand, most visitors vote for spending a majority of their time either out at sea, under the sea or lounging next to it. Big cruise boats dock just west of Freeport; depending on how long you've got on the island, plan to get a mix of modern and ecological pleasure before you embark again for other points of call.

Shop till you drop at the 10-acre International Bazaar or Port Lucaya Marketplace for curios. The curious can just wander and take in the sights of smells of foreign destinations even further a field than the Bahamas. Shore up your tennis elbow or play a round of golf at a Lucaya Resort before divesting yourself of pocket change at the casino.

Stop in at Rand Nature Center, a short jaunt out of Freetown, for indigenous flora, fauna and West Indian Flamingos. For more birdwatching, wander the Old Freetown Road, keeping a close eye out for butterflies and more botany. Taino Beach, just east of Lucaya, is one of the best in the Bahamas, though nearby beaches Churchill, Silver Point, and Lucaya offer sand just as white and waters arguably as blue. For less crowded stretches of sea and sky, head away from the urban areas.

Freeport and Lucaya are on Grand Bahama Island's southwest sweep, just east of the Cruise-Ship Port and Mail Boat Dock.