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The cheapest way in is an express trip to Rose Island or Pearl Island: three hours, pig time and a guide, nothing else.
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Confirm the landing or pig fee is in the fare before you pay; on some boats it is charged separately.
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Take the morning slot: the pigs are hungry before 10 am, and you get hours of buffer before all-aboard.
Some Nassau pig tours charge a separate landing or pig interaction fee on top of the ticket price, collected at booking or in cash on the day. Read what each tour includes before you book and carry extra cash, so a per-person landing or dock fee never comes as a surprise at the boat.
What much cost swim with pigs - photo tour Gallery
Swimming with pigs Nassau prices for every option
pigs are hungriest before 10 am
Four ways to meet the pigs run out of Nassau, and three of them fit inside a morning. There is the express shuttle, which covers pigs and beach and nothing else.
There is the multi-stop combo, which folds in snorkeling, turtles, lunch and drinks. There is the beach club day pass, built around loungers and showers. And there is the full-day run to Exuma, the odd one out on both time and money.
| Boat ride | Pig time | What's included | Hidden fees | Cash and tips | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Express shuttle | 20-30 min each way | 20-30 min | Pig beach and guide only | Landing or dock fee extra | Bring $50-100 cash backup |
| Multi-stop combo | 20-30 min each way | 20-30 min | Snorkel gear, lunch, drinks | Landing or pig fee extra | 10-15% tip, cash advised |
| Beach club day pass | 15-30 min each way | 20-40 min | Loungers, showers, lunch | Locker and aqua park fees | 10-15% tip, cash advised |
| Full-day Exuma trip | 2-3 hours each way | 15-40 min | Sharks, iguanas, stingrays | Compass Cay landing fee | 10-15% tip, cash advised |
- Boat ride
- 20-30 min each way
- Pig time
- 20-30 min
- What's included
- Pig beach and guide only
- Hidden fees
- Landing or dock fee extra
- Cash and tips
- Bring $50-100 cash backup
- Boat ride
- 20-30 min each way
- Pig time
- 20-30 min
- What's included
- Snorkel gear, lunch, drinks
- Hidden fees
- Landing or pig fee extra
- Cash and tips
- 10-15% tip, cash advised
- Boat ride
- 15-30 min each way
- Pig time
- 20-40 min
- What's included
- Loungers, showers, lunch
- Hidden fees
- Locker and aqua park fees
- Cash and tips
- 10-15% tip, cash advised
- Boat ride
- 2-3 hours each way
- Pig time
- 15-40 min
- What's included
- Sharks, iguanas, stingrays
- Hidden fees
- Compass Cay landing fee
- Cash and tips
- 10-15% tip, cash advised
Read the rows together and the choice comes down to what the boat ride buys. The express is the bare ticket. The combos turn the same crossing into a fuller day at a modest step up.
The full-day Exuma trip is the one that costs and takes dramatically more, and most cruise passengers should leave it alone.
Hidden fees and extra costs on Nassau pig tours
The fare on the board is not always the whole bill. On certain tours the pig encounter sits outside the ticket: a landing fee for the beach, or a per-person charge for feeding, holding and photographing the pigs, collected at booking or in cash on the sand.
Boats boarding at private marina docks can also add a round-trip dock fee per person on the day.
Some tours collect a landing or pig-interaction fee separately, at booking or in cash on the day Ask at booking whether the fee is in the fare, and carry cash as a backup
Some boats simply price the beach separately, and one question at booking settles it: is the pig fee in the fare? The answer decides which boat is genuinely cheapest.
A few islands also restrict personal cameras on the beach, which leaves a photo package as the only way home with pictures, so leave room in the budget for that if it applies.
The cheapest way to swim with pigs in Nassau
The budget route runs east, to the small cays just offshore. The cheapest entry-level trips head for Rose Island, Athol Island and Pearl Island, and skip Exuma entirely.
A water taxi fare covers the pig beach entry and a guide, and nothing more: no meals, no drinks, no snorkel gear. Plan lunch for before or after the boat.
On the water the day is simple. A 20 to 30 minute crossing, up to 35 in a chop, then about half an hour with the pigs in knee-deep water and the rest of the visit on the sand.
Groups usually find between 3 and 10 pigs waiting. Rose Island itself feels a world away from the city: uninhabited, no roads, sand soft as powder, and beach clubs quieter than Nassau's public beaches.
One of these express trips is the Swimming Pigs Express tour, three hours start to finish, with the pig feed included and time to swim and explore at Pearl Island on the way back.
Know what the low fare buys in comfort: cheap boats run full, so expect a busy deck and book the morning slot if you want the hungriest pigs.
Express shuttle or multi-stop combo for better value
Whether the upgrade pays off depends on what you would buy anyway. Arranging separate boat transport, snorkel rentals and a lunch stop adds up quickly, so a combo that folds all three into one fare usually wins on plain arithmetic.
Snorkeling gear and life jackets come free from the crew, and lunch on these boats runs to burgers, hot dogs and veggie options, with gluten-free available on some.
Pace is the trade. A four-hour half-day comfortably fits three stops: roughly 20 minutes watching turtles at Green Cay, 45 minutes snorkeling the reef, and up to two hours at the beach club. Squeeze in more and the pig encounter shrinks to 10 or 15 minutes, which is the part people actually came for.
On the water you mostly stand in the shallows feeding pigs from skewers the crew hands out. Swimming with the bigger animals further out does happen, though only now and then. If you want to be fed and watered while lying on a lounger, the express wins.
If variety keeps you happy, the multi-stop Nassau: 3 Islands Tour, Snorkel, Pig Beach, Turtles & Lunch does the pigs, the reef, the turtles and a Rose Island lunch inside the same four hours.
Nassau or Exuma and what the price difference buys
Part of the price confusion comes from geography. The pigs in most photographs live at Big Major Cay in the Exumas, the official home of the swimming pigs, about 20 animals on an uninhabited cay more than 80 miles southeast of Nassau.
That is a two to three hour speedboat run each way over open water. The local pigs on Rose Island and Athol Island are domesticated animals placed there for tourism, reached in half an hour.
What the long crossing buys: proper out-island scenery, emerging sandbars, nurse sharks, rock iguanas, and a full day on the water.
What it costs: six to nine hours end to end for perhaps 15 to 40 minutes at the actual pig beach, plus a ride that winter fronts from December through March turn wet and rough often enough that operators reschedule.
Cruise passengers should treat Exuma as off the table unless the ship stays in port 10 hours or more.
The honest rule: if the pigs are the whole point of the trip, stay local. Exuma day boats price themselves several times above a Nassau half-day, and they suit travelers who want the whole out-island day with the pigs folded in.
The months tell the same story from two ends. The Exuma crossing runs calm on nearly every day from March through September, while the winter fronts that sweep down from North America every five to ten days from December through March keep the back of that window wet and rough.
March is the hinge, when the fronts taper off and the sea settles. The short local hops to Rose Island stay largely sheltered all year, which is part of why the cheap trips run on schedule when the long ones get cancelled.
Morning or afternoon pig tours and booking ahead
Timing is free, and it changes the trip more than the fare does. Between 8 am and 9:30 am the pigs are hungry and swim out to meet the boats, and the shallows are at their cleanest before the day's traffic churns them up.
By an early afternoon departure the same animals are fed and sleepy, though the beaches empty out and the crowds thin with them.
Early departures wrap up around midday
Late morning trips wrap up in mid-afternoon
Afternoon excursions wrap up between 5 pm and 5:30 pm
The hours behind that pattern: tours run between 8 am and 5:30 pm.
Morning slots leave between 8:30 and 10 am and are back by early afternoon; afternoon departures around 1 pm wrap up by 5:30 pm Cruise passengers should take the morning slot, which returns with hours of slack before all-aboard. An afternoon trip only works for a ship that sails late.
Peak season prices your time as well as your money. From December through April, and especially in March and April, half-day pig trips sell out two to four weeks ahead, and spring break dates up to six.
There is a consolation for afternoon arrivals: by then the larger pigs have eaten their fill, so the smaller piglets are the more likely ones to wade out for your visit.
Cash, tips, waivers and weather refunds in Nassau
Tips stay outside the ticket on many boats. A tip of 10 to 15 percent of the tour cost is standard for the crew, handed over in cash at the end and split among captain and handlers.
US and Bahamian dollars trade one to one, so either works. One express boat runs entirely cashless, which takes the guesswork out of on-board spending.
Carry a cash backup for Rose Island, because card terminals at the beach bars occasionally go down, and an à la carte beer and rum punch at a non-inclusive stop adds up fast. Before boarding, certain tours also require a signed waiver; you sign at the dock and it takes a minute.
Weather is the last line. Squalls and high winds cancel boat runs, and when that happens operators give a full refund or a new date. Reputable operators cancel and refund when the seas turn rough, so a weather day costs you a date and keeps your money.
What else to do near the Nassau pig boat docks
A morning pig trip is back by early afternoon, and the departure docks sit inside the old town, so the rest of the day costs nothing but shoe leather.
The Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle on Bennet's Hill take 20 to 45 minutes together, an easy walk from the harbour. The Straw Market, Parliament Square, the National Art Gallery and the Pirates of Nassau Museum all sit within the same 15 to 20 minute radius.
- 1Express shuttle20-30 min each wayDirections
- 2Multi-stop combo20-30 min each wayDirections
- 3Beach club day pass15-30 min each wayDirections
- 4Full-day Exuma trip2-3 hours each wayDirections
Whichever format you booked, they all start from that same handful of docks east of the harbour, which is what makes the half-day shape work. Eat where the boats do not go.
Waterfront restaurants and cafes line Bay Street, and just west of downtown Junkanoo Beach and the Arawak Cay Fish Fry serve the local plates. Under the bridge at Potter's Cay, conch salad stalls feed the fishermen. A conch salad by the water is the better souvenir than anything in a gift bag.
One of the best excursions I've ever done! Keenan and his assistant were amazing and professional. Relaxing, fun, and the pig beach was spotless. Snorkeling with fish and turtles too. Definitely recommend!
Cheaper than the stories say
Swimming with pigs from Nassau costs a standard half-day excursion fare, well below the luxury budget most people fear. The express shuttles sit at the bottom of the range, and the combos with snorkeling, turtles and lunch usually beat buying each piece separately.
Check the pig fee before you pay, take the morning slot, and carry cash for the bar. Exuma is a different trip for a different day.
How much a Nassau pig swim costs and what to know before you book
Keep your cruise SeaPass card handy, because the port security desk checks it when you come back aboard. One express tour also asks for a passport or ID card from every guest, children included.
Some Nassau pig tours have every guest sign a waiver before boarding, and the crew hands the form over at the dock. Arrive about 15 minutes before departure so the paperwork does not hold up the boat.
The express tours do not take children under 5, and nearly every operator excludes pregnant travelers. Some speedboat trips also rule out guests with back problems, heart conditions, respiratory issues, or epilepsy.
On some tours the pig encounter is billed on top of the fare, either at booking or in cash on the beach, and boats boarding at private Paradise Island docks collect a round-trip dock fee per person on the day. Check what the ticket covers before you pay.
Most tours give you about 20 to 30 minutes of direct feeding and interaction time in the water, with 3 to 10 pigs on the beach at once. The rest of a half-day goes to snorkeling, beach club time, and lunch.
Departures between 8 am and 9:30 am find the pigs hungry and swimming out to meet the boat, and the shallows cleaner. By afternoon runs around 12:30 pm the pigs are usually full and prefer to doze in the shade.
Snorkel masks and fins come from the crew at no charge, life jackets are on every boat, and the pig feed is part of the fare. Nothing gets added for handing the pigs their apple slices.
Gratuities are not part of most fares, so the crew expects a cash tip at the end of the trip. US dollars and Bahamian dollars work the same, and the captain shares the tip out among the crew.
“Such a fun day! Mansa Bay was lovely, easy swimming, and the pigs were sweet.”
How much does it cost to swim with pigs in Nassau?
How much does it cost to swim with pigs in Nassau?
It depends on the format. A short express trip that covers the boat ride, the pig encounter and little else is the cheapest way in; tours that add snorkeling, sea turtles, a beach club and lunch sit a step above, and private charters top the range.
What is the cheapest way to swim with pigs in Nassau?
The entry-level trips go to Rose Island, not Exuma. A direct water taxi with the pig beach entry fee and a guide, no food or gear included, is the lowest ticket on the board, and three-hour express trips sit close behind.
Do tours charge extra fees once I am there?
Sometimes. On some trips the pig interaction is billed separately at booking or in cash on the day, and boats leaving from private marina docks collect a round-trip dock fee per person. The inclusions list on each tour shows what is covered.
Is food and drink included in the price?
Express trips leave it out, so eat before or after. Multi-stop combos usually bundle lunch with water, soft drinks or rum punch. Ordering drinks one at a time at a beach bar adds up quickly, so tuck some cash in your bag as backup.
Do I have to pay extra to feed the pigs?
No. The crew hands out the feed, usually apple slices on skewers, and it is part of the ticket. Bringing your own snacks for the pigs is against the rules.
Is a combo tour cheaper than booking activities separately?
Yes. Lining up boat transport, snorkel rentals and a lunch stop on your own stacks up fast, while a single combo tour pairs the pigs with the reef, the turtles and a beach club meal for one fare.
How much cheaper is a Nassau tour than going to Exuma?
Far less, because the boat ride is minutes instead of hours. A half-day Nassau trip runs two and a half to five and a half hours with a short crossing, while Exuma takes a full day of open water each way.
Do children pay full price on pig tours?
Policies differ by operator. Some let small children ride free, others charge the same per-person fare at any age, and a few set minimum ages. Each tour card spells out its own rule.
What times of day do the tours run?
Departures run between 8 am and 5:30 pm. Morning boats leave from around 8:30 to 10 am and are back by early afternoon, which leaves cruise passengers a wide buffer before all-aboard.
Do I tip the crew, and how much?
Gratuities are usually not in the fare. Ten to fifteen percent of the tour price is standard for guides and captains, handed over in cash at the end; US and Bahamian dollars work equally well.
Do I get a refund if bad weather cancels the trip?
Yes. When wind or sea conditions cancel a crossing, you get a full refund or a rescheduled day, so booking ahead of your cruise date carries little risk.
What time of day should you book?
Tours run between 8 am and 5:30 pm. Morning departures catch the pigs hungry and paddling out to the boats; by afternoon they are often fed full and dozing in the shade, though the beaches are quieter.
