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How to visit the swimming pigs of Exuma
Where the swimming pigs are, how to reach Big Major Cay from Great Exuma, Staniel Cay or Nassau, what a day trip includes, and how to behave around the animals.
Pig Beach on Big Major Cay
Big Major Cay is an uninhabited island next to Staniel Cay in the northern Exumas, and its beach is home to the colony of pigs that made the Exumas world famous. The pigs swim out to meet arriving boats, and visiting them is the centrepiece of most Exuma boat tours.
Getting there
Big Major Cay has no airstrip or dock for visitors; everyone arrives by boat. From Great Exuma it is about an hour by tour boat; from Staniel Cay a few minutes; from Nassau a long day trip. Tours usually combine the pigs with Thunderball Grotto, the iguanas on Bitter Guana Cay and a sandbar stop.
Rules for visiting
The pigs are cared for by residents of Staniel Cay with government support, and feeding rules are enforced after animals were harmed by visitors in 2017. Feed only what your crew provides, in the water rather than on the sand; keep alcohol and packaged food away from the animals; give the large pigs room; and take nothing from the beach.
The pigs and their neighbours
The colony numbers a few dozen animals of all sizes, from piglets to very large adults, and is looked after by caretakers from Staniel Cay who provide fresh water and food and keep an eye on visitors. Staniel Cay itself, a settlement with an airstrip, a marina and a few places to stay, is the base for visiting the pigs at quieter times; Nassau and Great Exuma tour boats arrive late morning.
Most tours pair Pig Beach with Thunderball Grotto, the iguanas on Bitter Guana Cay, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay and a sandbar stop. Trips run all year; the sea is calmest in summer and winter cold fronts can bring a choppy day or two.
What to see and do
Swimming pigs tours
Full-day cays trips from Great Exuma and day trips from Nassau.
Thunderball Grotto
The cavern snorkel minutes away, usually in the same tour.
About this place
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Common questions
Is Pig Beach the same as the swimming pigs?
Yes. Pig Beach is the popular name for the beach on Big Major Cay where the swimming pigs live.
How do the pigs get there?
Nobody knows for certain. The stories include shipwreck survivors and pigs left by sailors; what is certain is that the colony has been there for decades and is now looked after.