While Eleuthera is incredibly beautiful and it’s people friendly, make no mistake it is also an adventure! Eleuthera is very rural as are most of it’s beaches. There are no amenities on most beaches, so you will need to provide them yourself.

The first thing that I would suggest is having a cell phone with you while exploring the beaches more off the beaten track. The Island has pretty good cell coverage since it is so narrow. Bringing your everyday cell phone may prove not be the best idea because of roaming charges that can be extremely high. In stead go to amazon.com and look for a cheep Unlocked GSM cell phone. Be sure it is “Unlocked.” Once on the island of Eleuthera there are BTC offices in most of the settlements. You can go into one of these offices to purchase a SIM card that you’ll insert into the GSM phone you bought and you’ll have local coverage. You can expect to spend around $15 for a phone.

Again the island is rural so there are lots of mosquitos and sand flies (no see ums). You will need to prepare for dealing with them. During the day the bugs are not that prevalent, but as the sun begins to set they come our with ferocity! My favorite device for keeping them at bay is the Thermocell Mosquito Repellent also available on Amazon. We would start this device up when we are outside and put it under the table we are sitting around, or upwind if the breeze is blowing a bit.

I’d also take a camping hammock or two with me as the beaches have stands of trees that will support the hammocks offering for great relaxation in the shade of the trees. Don’t get the type that has the boards to spread the hammock out. They are really hard to pack.

A swimmers towel is a great addition to the travel kit. The swimmers towel dries quickly and ads tremendous convenience over traditional towels that get wet and stay wet for a long time. The swimmers towel is also small and easy to carry. Before the swimmers towel was available we would use synthetic chamois, still an option in my mind.

There are many other things that you can use on the beach. I’ll leave those things to your imaginations, but in my mind the items that I have listed above are not generally considered for travel. They will make your trip to an island like Eleuthera much easier. Have a great adventure!