A cute tour of Freeport led us to Cooper's Castle via a coastal tour in a sleepy part of the island that was preparing for a Good Friday fish fry!

This was an OK place to shop while visiting. Our last trip here was in 2016 while staying at Memories Resort. Lots of little shops and almost any souvenir imaginable. Even a store for Harley shirts. Those of you who ride know what I mean. We found something for everyone here. Love all the sundresses the locals have.

Decent market place .. have lot of local vendors selling hats, dresses, wristbands etc and shell necklaces . There are a few high end stores as well. There are few restaurants too

Great place to shop, there is a duty free store and alot of local gift shops. In our opinion this is the best place to go shopping if you want a bang for your buck. One side of the marketplace has restaurants. There is a Cuban cigar store we liked. Prices are about what you would expect to pay for Cuban Cigars. There is a local yogurt shop, it reminded me of Cherry Berry from the US, just a lot more expensive. For two yogurts with limited toppings was over $17.00 which I thought was high. We purchased bug spray from the duty free store, it was around $15. Any toiletry item in our opinion was always high. Towards the back of the marketplace there are small little shops with different local merchandise, we had alot of fun. It was about 10 minutes away from it hotel and costed $26.00 one way per taxi ride. Hope this review helps

Nice place to meet locals and shop. Some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Come with cash. Lots of shops close early so get there during the day for the best experience. Ask the taxi drivers what they will charge to drive you home up front.

Super straw market definitely want to visit number 616 and friends with the people that own those little kiosses and bought lots of family gifts for everyone. They are super nice and fair with their prices. Definitely go to the run runner, great little bar. Big TV karaoke lots of put it on your to-do list when you get to Freeport.

The right place if u are looking for local / handmade souviner such as magnets, keychains, shirts, bahamian crafts , etc.. ..few bars or restaurants to hangout tho..the most happening place for nightlife in grand bahama, i woud say..

Loved shopping and talking with the local shop owners and eating great food! Nica made some amazing watermelon Grey goose drinks, we already miss you!

Open air market with usual fare. Clothes, purses, jewelry, candy, eateries and liquor store. Seemed slow considering Carnival cruise ship was in. Check out the tardis. In the US, pay phones are a rarity.

Nice large outdoor shopping and restaurant area near a couple extremely large (however closed at the time of our visit) resort hotels. There are several large open areas with seating and live music. As to the straw market stores - look around, there is a lot of imported generic tourist items (hats / shirts / key chains / etc...) however there is a lot of local things mixed in. Take your time and don't feel the need to buy what you see at the first store. This area is for tourists, there is a cruise ship schedule posted for local vendors and there is a presence of local police who walk the marketplace.

Disappointed. All the vendors carry basically the same thing and it’s mediocre quality at best. Some of the jewelry shops are decent enough but still nothing special. Be prepared to haggle about price or they will happily overcharge you. I didn’t try any restaurants and they looked good. All in all I’ve seen better stuff at ABC stores.

A great marketplace! Nice local goods. The shop owners can be a bit pushy.

Market is okay. Many shops and restaurants closed on a Sunday. $14 round trip from cruise port. Shopping is the same as you can get at the port. There is a beach across the street worth visiting. A very underwhelming downtown. The locals said it's because of the hurricane in 2019.

A bit over priced but a fun place, pretty, lots of shops and excursion center

This place has restrooms. Nice little place to walk around and take your time in. This place has a few selections to eat from.

Pay close attention... When you visit Grand Bahama Island, the local taxi services are all very tightly runned when you come off ship... in order to keep prices down, they huddle all the wandering passengers into TWO groups when you disembark... One group is taken to "the beach," the other group is taken "shopping," and that shopping group gets dropped off here, at the Lucaya Marketplace... For those anticipating a robust "downtown area," and chose the "shopping," taxi, you may be disapointed that its really just a large outdoor one-story mall, and not a "downtown area" per say... One side of the island has the "beaches," and the other side, Lucaya Marketplace... so you are forced to chose which group you want to jump in on... This "huddling" taxi technique, allows large vans to take multiple passengers per destination, and, keep the cost at an affordable $7 each way... But impatient travelers may get frustrated at the lack of autonomy associated with choosing your own taxi and going "where you want," and, having to WAIT until they huddle ENOUGH passengers to actually send a taxi out... Otherwise, if you try to find your own private taxi, out side of the organized clan in port, you're looking at about $35 each way... The marketplace is "ok," nothing spectacular, you may want to chose "beach" when they ask you "where do you want to go?" when you come off the ship...

I enjoy walking through and seeing the different ladies selling their products. Different food options. A great, touristy area.

Super chill location that is perfect for some down time while on vacation. It will take about 1.0 to 1.5 hours to walk the garden. The restaurant that is on premise is a perfect place to wrap up the garden with some excellent food and some amazing rum drinks. Glad we added this to our tour.

This was a nice little retreat while in the Bahamas. However, I was expecting it to be more of a day trip. After about an hour, we had seen everything there was to see! I think $17 admission is a little pricey for what you get, but the animals are cool to see! We loved listening to the birds and watching the turtles.

Such a lovely garden to visit. I loved the labyrinth. I walked it and then worked through each of the 6 petals of the center rose. Was so peaceful. I enjoyed the statue of St. Francis. He's my favorite Saint. Loved seeing the beautiful trees and flowers.

Lovely tranquil place to visit for a walk and to eat or just to chill out in a 'zen' environment. Lots of shade too if it gets hot. Turtles, raccoons, fish, parrots, lizards 🦎 and butterflies .

If you aren't a nature person, this is not the place for you. If you love nature and the outdoors, you can appreciate every step you take. They do entertainment large groups. Rating reflects - rebuilding and natural disaster took a toll on the area.

What a beautiful garden! It's relatively small but has a lot of character. There are ponds with fish, turtles, and ducks in them. You can have delicious lunch by the water and watch the stray cats walk around the area (but don't feed them!). Other notable mentions are that the bathrooms are clean and staff are incredibly helpful and friendly. I went with the tour guide Marilyn who had a plethora of information about the garden and was a great storyteller.

Nice and helpful staff. Entrance price is now 12$ for adults. Good café food options but the service was a little slow for the many of us. The path around the ponds is accessible but there are many side paths leading to observation areas or secluded sections that require walking up steps or steep climbs. Closes late on Fridays.

This is a pretty little garden. It is old and a little overgrown in a few places. The map was hard to read but we did see some pretty plants and flowers. The price was fair, they need money to keep it going. Maybe they will get some donations to help. Going I August was very HOT, make sure to wear sun screen and take water.

Our guide was AMAZING. I wish I could remember her name. She was so genuine and welcoming, and the gardens were really beautiful. After the initial tour we got to wander on our own and explore and there were so many things to discover. It was really fun and the local flora and fauna were beautiful.

After a long bike to the garden, I didn’t get to explore every corner of it. But I mainly lost interest after noticing that the garden needed to be well kept and cleaned up. I was hoping to see many different plans and flowers but didn’t get lucky. Bushes and trees needed trimming. The children playground needed attentions and definitely replaced if not painted. I was simply disappointed…. It looked abandoned. The only place that looked decent was the restaurants where most tourists hung out. Other then that I was not impressed…. I hope they put to use the $17 fee. I didn’t take any fotos of the areas that needed attention since I was so tired from pedaling over 3 hours. And there was not much that captivated my attention. Beside the restaurant area, the church and labyrinth!

Went as part of the ATV excursion. Glad we didn't pay separately. Gardens seem to need a manicure. The waterfalls were not turned on until we were on our way out. Took a look at the menu and food was definitely at a tourist price so we just got a soda. The food wasn't open when we entered first thing anyway. The church was very cute and found some good shells.

Extensive landscaped gardens with powered waterfall, open air bird area, open air butterfly garden, restaurant, bar and shops. Birds and butterflies were scarce. 17$ admission is quite expensive considering many areas need work. I understand the harsh environment and the chapel is quite nice. Perhaps I've been jaded in my 50 years of travel and in no way am I disrespecting their efforts. Go and see for yourself as you may find it to be different for you.

We had a nice day in the garden. The flora and fauna are beautiful. The ducks, turtles and other animals were amazing. We also enjoyed the Labyrinth! The restaurant had a variety of options. The staff were friendly and accommodating. Trails are easy and make for a nice walk!

Was probably a nice attraction before the 2019 hurricane. Now it suffers from an extreme lack of attention. Unmended walkways, ragged plants needing a trim, fading paint, crumbling infrastructure, and most sadly, unmaintained ponds, waterways, and waterfalls. $17 per person is not worth it, but hopefully the money will go to the rebuilding effort. Hardly any staff except at the restaurant and souvenir stalls.

We recently visited the Garden of the Groves as a shore excursion while visiting Freeport on a Carnival Cruise. We weren't sure what to expect when booking this tour but knew that we wanted to get away from the cruise ship area and see something new. This was a WELL-KEPT secret! We had a wonderful time with Marilyn (our tour guide) who absolutely loves this place, loves to share it with guests, and it shows! We would highly recommend a visit to this place!

A few spots here are beautiful but I can’t imagine staying here long. Maybe this is the off season? It was ok. Glad we didn’t make it an all day thing. We stayed for about 45 minutes. It is fine but if you have limited time here, I would definitely recommend other excursions first. It’s worth stopping for about an hour if you’re in this area for a long time. One of the tour groups spent a lot longer than us there and they seemed SO ready to go by the end lol

Visited Garden of the Groves yesterday and it was very tranquil and beautiful. I thought it would make a beautiful place for a wedding. I was disappointed that there was little signage to identify plants so I was no more educated leaving as when I arrived. It ended up being a very expensive walk. Even the labyrinth sign was in such disrepair you couldn’t read the whole thing. Seems as tho they could easily make some improvements in this area.

Lots of plant life is about it. Which is ok if you're looking for that. Cafe wasn't that great. Workers there were playing loud unappealing music, and the cafe didn't look inviting. All the waterfalls were not on. All the ponds were dirty and looked terrible. Save your $17 per person and do something else. This place could be so awesome, but it has been let go...

Has not been taken care of or very long time. The paths are falling apart. Trees are across some of the past so you can't get through. You can't even go to the area where the waterfall is. It needs major help is there for each group? Is there a master gardeners group? Is there somebody that can volunteer their time? It needs so very much work. Trimming, raking, planting etc. But you take a picture in some of the spots. It looks like it's amazing, it's $17 a person to walk through

Beautiful beach with calm, clear, warm water and nice sport areas. Not too crowded. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is the sheer amount of beach peddlers! We were approached multiple times and harassed to buy jewelry, shells, etc. We had to to leave because it was so irritating. We went on vacation to relax, not to have people badger us!

Really enjoyed this beautiful beach. There is bars and restaurants on the public side that are much more reasonable than the beach club. Dorsett's conch salad was fresh and delicious

Beautiful beach. Mostly empty when there are no cruises around. Has good restaurants around.

One of my favourite place in the Grand Bahama island. Very peaceful, serene and calm. Here you'll find local street food and beverages.

Beautiful beach and was a gorgeous day when we visited. We were on a cruise so unfortunately had less time than we'd want but still was amazin.

Overall...decent beach. Rocks in the water when you get past waist deep. They literally had something for everyone there from hammocks to jet skis...massage to zip line...I just wish you got to zip line into the water. The bar was great and I want to give Sandi a shout out. She was our best bartender on our mini vacation. Would I go back...yeah...is there some place better...maybe. Hope this review helped and don't forget your sun lotion!

Awesome beach with crystal clear water and white sand as far as the eye can see ⛱️

Really nice beach, white sand, calm waters, great for swimming. There are a few bars with sunbeds to rent across the shore. Apart from Pirate's Cove though - a stylish beach bar + actives centre - which had plenty of people, the rest of this beach is pretty quiet. You can go for a good a walk and take really good shots. I'd definitely recommend for families given the quietness of the beach but still having a few options for good and drinks.

The locals were super friendly and made $10 coconut /pineapple alcoholic drinks and offered lobster tails for $25 a plate. I had the fried Red-snapper for the same price, it was nice to eat fresh local food by the beach. They had tables and umbrellas set up and made it easy to eat comfortably with music playing in the background.

Beautiful and busy beach especially during peak cruise ship tourists time. We were not part of the cruise ship hence stay way long after and we got the beach to ourselves. It’s as beautiful as Gold Coast Rock beach when it’s not busy. Water is shallow and calm. We get to see fishes very close up to shore. Others complaint about paying an entrance fee, that is, if you want to be able to enjoy an exclusive section of the beach with other paying tourists. The beach is public, you don’t have to pay a fee to get in. You are at a tourist trap hence will also pay tourist price beverages.

I could have stayed here longer! This was a carnival excursion. The bus ride was not long. Even though we came in November and the water was a little cold it did not stop us from getting in! Food and drink stand were available. Beach umbrellas and chairs were available. Bathrooms were clean. I would come back!

Great local beach. With all the chairs and the shuttered hotels and unkept beaches I imagine this place gets crowded when cruise ships dock for more than 3 hours. They charge for everything ( eg entering the beach, chairs, food drinks, umbrellas, etc.)

We found this fantastic beach after touring the Lucayan National Park. You walk across the road from the parking lot and walk down an elevated wooden walkway to the ocean. This is the best beach we have ever visited. The ocean is calm and you can walk out several hundred yards in the gradually sloping beach on the white sand beach. If you didn't bring an umbrella or drinks, there is a private vendor who rents umbrellas and lounge chairs and sells drinks and food. We noticed a dirt road entrance after the park entrance which you could park for free and walk to the walkway. We would do this if we returned. However, there is no bathroom on the beach so you might want to pay at the park to use their bathroom and park safely in their lot. We didn't drive further down the road, but believe the beaches further to the east would be just as excellent if you can find a public entrance to the beach. I recommend renting a car and visiting this amazing hidden gem. The beaches along the east end are much better than those to the west end of the island.

Beautiful beach, but the hurricane killed the trees, so it looks a little desolate.

Great beach. This is a wonderful location for families with little kids, as there is a large beach with many shallow areas for kids to play in. It is probably a 10 minute walk from the parking lot to the beach, so be prepared for that. But it is an interesting walk through mangroves and worth every step.

When I say this is beautiful, it’s an understatement!! The water is so clear and pristine. I was so happy we came here. I would love to rent a car next time and just go back and spend the day here. This is where Johnny Depp came for the filing of some of the Pirates of the Caribbean. There is also a quite a little walk on boardwalk through the mangrove to get to the beach, so wanted to throw that out there Incase someone can’t walk as far. I had ankle surgery and I was having a hard time walking it. A local man is on the beach and rent outs chairs and umbrellas incase anyone doesn’t want to sit in the sand.

Part of the national park, but I can imagine people getting here without paying for the ticket, which by the way is very nominal. An absolutely amazing beach.

Beautiful sandy beach, good snorkeling out by the rock although it's about a 15-20 min. swim. Lots of corals and fish but we did encounter a 5-6 ft. shark that kind of hung around. Luckily it didn't follow us back.

Great place to visit. The beach was clean and we had a lot of fun.

Lucayan National Park has the most breathtaking beach that I have ever experienced so far. The shell variety and sizes were incredible! This beach was very remote and there were very few footprints to come across other than our own. We rented a car and drove out to the park, took the self guided cave tour on the other side of the highway and then made our way down to the beach to spend a portion of our day there. Worth the experience!!

Wonderful iconic beach where Pirates Of The Caribbean Dead Man's Chest was filmed. Make sure you park at the Lucaya National Park building. It is currently $11 a person and you get to see some cool caves too. Beach is pristine!

Great beach and a very nice gentleman with a small stands of drinks and other treats to drink and taste while we waited for our guide, Charlie from Mama Gal.

One of the best beaches on this island. Do not miss it when you are there for more than a day or two! Even it was a long way with the scooter but it was great….

By far the best beach in Grand Bahamas and one of the best I have been to. It is flat, gentle waves, secluded and not crowded at all.

The most beautiful beach, definitely recommended visiting!! Worth the drive over even if you are stopping off for the day on a cruise.

Beautiful beach with calm, clear, warm water and nice sport areas. Not too crowded. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is the sheer amount of beach peddlers! We were approached multiple times and harassed to buy jewelry, shells, etc. We had to to leave because it was so irritating. We went on vacation to relax, not to have people badger us!

Really enjoyed this beautiful beach. There is bars and restaurants on the public side that are much more reasonable than the beach club. Dorsett's conch salad was fresh and delicious

Beautiful beach. Mostly empty when there are no cruises around. Has good restaurants around.

One of my favourite place in the Grand Bahama island. Very peaceful, serene and calm. Here you'll find local street food and beverages.

Beautiful beach and was a gorgeous day when we visited. We were on a cruise so unfortunately had less time than we'd want but still was amazin.

Overall...decent beach. Rocks in the water when you get past waist deep. They literally had something for everyone there from hammocks to jet skis...massage to zip line...I just wish you got to zip line into the water. The bar was great and I want to give Sandi a shout out. She was our best bartender on our mini vacation. Would I go back...yeah...is there some place better...maybe. Hope this review helped and don't forget your sun lotion!

Awesome beach with crystal clear water and white sand as far as the eye can see ⛱️

Really nice beach, white sand, calm waters, great for swimming. There are a few bars with sunbeds to rent across the shore. Apart from Pirate's Cove though - a stylish beach bar + actives centre - which had plenty of people, the rest of this beach is pretty quiet. You can go for a good a walk and take really good shots. I'd definitely recommend for families given the quietness of the beach but still having a few options for good and drinks.

The locals were super friendly and made $10 coconut /pineapple alcoholic drinks and offered lobster tails for $25 a plate. I had the fried Red-snapper for the same price, it was nice to eat fresh local food by the beach. They had tables and umbrellas set up and made it easy to eat comfortably with music playing in the background.

Beautiful and busy beach especially during peak cruise ship tourists time. We were not part of the cruise ship hence stay way long after and we got the beach to ourselves. It’s as beautiful as Gold Coast Rock beach when it’s not busy. Water is shallow and calm. We get to see fishes very close up to shore. Others complaint about paying an entrance fee, that is, if you want to be able to enjoy an exclusive section of the beach with other paying tourists. The beach is public, you don’t have to pay a fee to get in. You are at a tourist trap hence will also pay tourist price beverages.

I could have stayed here longer! This was a carnival excursion. The bus ride was not long. Even though we came in November and the water was a little cold it did not stop us from getting in! Food and drink stand were available. Beach umbrellas and chairs were available. Bathrooms were clean. I would come back!

Great local beach. With all the chairs and the shuttered hotels and unkept beaches I imagine this place gets crowded when cruise ships dock for more than 3 hours. They charge for everything ( eg entering the beach, chairs, food drinks, umbrellas, etc.)

Small but busy shopping area. Large variety of vendors offering a range of good and services. A little on the pricey side. Great dishes, drinks and super friendly people

Fantastic glass bottom boat excursion. Only 3 hours long, and we saw lots of fish and sharks. Cute coffee/chocolate shop. Lots of places to eat and shop. Very clean, friendly environment. Beautiful marina.

Good place to walk around and explore, Lots of local shopping and places to eat.

While visit Free Port Bahamas The Port Lucaya Marina seemed to be where all our tour launched out of! there was a nice lil shopping area for souvenirs and plenty of places to eat.

Great place to buy local hand made gifts, jewelry, rum, and a delicious Fresh fruit smoothie!

Typical tourist town /port. Nothing beyond that though.

Still lots of hurricane damage but a beautiful place we enjoyed the time there and hope to see it back to normal soon