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Twenty-plus years voted the best beach in cruising — no slides, no lines, just walk left until it's yours.
Half Moon Cay — recently rebranded "RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay" — has been voted the best private island in cruising for over twenty years running, and the reason is simple: the beach. A two-mile crescent of the softest sand in the Bahamas, on an island that's 2,400 acres but only about 2% developed. The rest is a protected bird sanctuary.
Tell your kids this: you can ride a horse INTO the ocean here — the horses actually swim.
One thing that changed in 2026: a new pier opened on one end of the island, so depending on your ship, you'll either walk right off or take a short tender boat to the classic side. Either way, you land on the same spectacular beach.
This is the anti-theme-park island, and you should set that expectation with the kids on the way in: no waterslides, no big pool, no thrill anything. What it has instead is arguably the best beach in the Bahamas — calm, shallow, lifeguards at every station — plus a pirate-ship splash zone with water cannons that reliably buys parents an hour. Lunch is a free BBQ. Chairs are free. The move that changes the whole day: walk. The beach is two miles long, and the crowd never makes it past the first quarter-mile — ten minutes of walking gets you a stretch that feels private.
Two money notes: your ship's drink package doesn't carry over here, so budget for drinks separately or stick to the included stuff. And the stingray lagoon encounter is the one paid thing that consistently rates as worth it with kids — gentle, shallow, and the photos are forever. Cash for the straw market; cards don't always fly there.
Do you want a set-and-forget day, or are you winging it?
Either way — we've got you covered.
This is the easy button. Every excursion below is built for cruisers — pickup at the pier, drop-off at the pier, timing that respects your all-aboard, and a day where the logistics are somebody else's job.
Pick one, click, done. Want more options than our three favorites? Everything at this port is one tap away 👇
There's nothing to book and nowhere to be — this island is a beach with lunch attached, and that's its superpower.
**The main beach** is the whole show: powder sand, gradual entry, lifeguards everywhere, and free chairs as far as you can see — claim shade early, then relax. **The pirate ship splash zone** is the kid magnet, with water cannons and a three-story ship to climb (the top deck is the best photo spot on the island). **The walk down-beach** is the insider move — every hundred yards past the food pavilions, the crowd thins until it's basically just your family and the birds.
If your ship lands you at the new pier side, there's a free tram connecting everything. If you tender to the classic side, everything's a short walk. Either way: sunscreen, water shoes optional, expectations set to "nap."
