Full Review of Swimming with Pigs in the Bahamas!

If you’re heading to the Bahamas and looking for a fun, cute, and unforgettable experience, you have to try swimming with pigs!

Over the past few years, I’ve slowly been crossing off my bucket list of creatures I want to swim with: sea lions, sea turtles, and whale sharks—and in February, I finally crossed off pigs! (We also swam with reef sharks, but that’s for another upcoming post.) Now, I can’t even tell you how long taking a dip with these chonky critters has been on that bucket list, but as soon as I found out it was even an option, it went straight to the top!

At the end of February, we took our first-ever cruise through Carnival, with three stops in the sunny Bahamas, including Bimini, Nassau, and Freeport. Now, if you’ve ever heard of swimming with pigs before, chances are you saw them in Nassau, where you can find multiple piggy-centric excursions in the bright blue Bahamian waters. I did learn that there are options in Freeport as well, but we opted for the Nassau tour, which was longer and included some extra perks, like lunch and beach time.

Because we booked directly through Carnival, we only had a couple of tours to choose from, but I am super happy with how ours turned out! They’ve partnered with Pigs Beach to give guests a seamless experience from start to finish. And if you are visiting the Bahamas with a cruise, there are actually some good reasons to book right through the cruise line, which I’ll dive into later.

So, if you’re ready to add an extra dose of cuteness to your Nassau visit, here’s everything you need to know about swimming with pigs at Pigs Beach!

Booking Your Swimming with Pigs Experience: Cruise Excursions Vs. Independent Bookings

If you do a Google search, you will find all kinds of different swimming with pigs experiences to choose from, with lots of different options. I found packages that included snorkeling with sea turtles and boat tours, as well as quicker excursions that didn’t include any add-ons or food. It all depends on what you want to do with your time. The package you choose will determine how much you pay, so keep that in mind.

As I mentioned, we booked our Pigs Beach experience directly through the Carnival Cruise Line. They only had two options for swimming with the pigs: a 2-hour tour and a 5-hour tour. I personally wanted more time with the pigs, so the 2-hour option didn’t really interest me. But I loved the 5-hour tour option, which also included a traditional Bahamian lunch and beach time at Sun Cay on Pearl Island.

We ended up paying about $150 per person for the 5-hour tour, which was very comparable with most of the other long tours I found online. This was also about $40 cheaper than booking directly through Pigs Beach because the cruise line gets you special deals. So I felt like it was a great price.

Although a few independent tours cost less, the price difference was definitely worth it to me in this case because of the cruising situation. If you’re not aware, if you’re on a cruise and don’t get back to your boat on time, they will leave you. However, if your excursion is booked through the cruise line, you have a guaranteed return on the boat, even if the tour runs late. That guarantee was well worth the extra money, in my opinion. The cruise line also has staff lead you directly to the tour departure point and arranges transportation to make sure everything is effortless.

On the downside, booking through the cruise does mean you have limited flexibility and occasionally may pay a bit more. It just depends on what you want to prioritize while you’re in port.

The Swimming with Pigs Experience: What to Expect at Pigs Beach

Whether you book independently or through your cruise, you’ll have to meet at the Nassau port at a specific time—usually about 15 minutes before your tour is scheduled to leave. Since we booked through the cruise line, we lined up outside the cruise ship, where a crew member gave each of us a wristband and led us directly to the boat at the drop-off point to ensure we got there smoothly.

Getting to Pigs Island

After loading up on the boat, we had a 30-minute ride to Pearl Island and Pigs Beach. If you can, I highly recommend getting a spot outside because the views are absolutely gorgeous! The waters are so blue, and you’ll be able to see the famous Atlantis resort, all the mansions on Paradise Island, and possibly some cool wildlife.

Throughout the trip, one of the staff members also went around and shared some fun facts and stories about the area and his life growing up in the Bahamas, so there was a little extra entertainment factor as well.

When we arrived at Pearl Island, the crew split us up according to wristband color and told us to stay on the boat because we had the first time slot to swim with the pigs. After the other half of the group disembarked, we headed right over to Pigs Island, which you can see from Pearl Island, and is only about 3 minutes away by boat.

Enjoying Pigs Island

Our Pigs Island experience was actually fairly different from what I expected, but I loved it!

When we arrived, we spent a few minutes getting settled into beach chairs, then walking around to greet a few of the pigs. Most of them were penned when we arrived, but a select few of the smaller ones seemed to have free roam of the beach the whole time, and they were so friendly! There were a couple very young ones and an adorable pot-belly pig who were pretty open to being loved on.

The pigs actually reminded me of dogs with a lot of their behavior. The pot-belly was constantly wagging its tail, and another one did little hops for treats. My absolute favorite part is that they’ll even roll over for belly rubs! Yep! If you walk up to one of these cuties and rub its belly, it will lie down and roll over for you! It was so cute!

Swimming with the Pigs

Swimming with pigs in Nassau, Bahamas — *Daniel feeding one of the pigs*

But the highlight of the day was swimming with the pigs, of course! Once everyone was settled in, the staff handed everyone a wooden skewer and a plastic cup filled with apple chunks and poultry sausage. (I was very happy with how big and full the cups were because we were able to feed quite a few pigs!) Then, they gave us a quick briefing on how to safely feed the pigs, told us to get in the water, then they opened the pen and let them run out.

These pigs were much bigger and very eager for treats. I absolutely loved their enthusiasm! They were so cute cruising from person to person, just grabbing treats off the skewer in little drive-by bites!

They did a lot less swimming than I’d anticipated, but that’s largely due to the fact that everyone stayed in the shallows where these bigger pigs could still walk. The little ones did venture out occasionally, but they mostly stayed on the beach. We did make a point to seek them out, too, and make sure they got plenty of treats.

Taking Pictures with Piglets

Once everyone had handed out all their treats, the staff rounded the pigs back up and told us they had three piglets we could hold and take pictures with! Of course, we had to do that! The piglet we held was literally sleeping in our arms, and he made the cutest little grunts when we passed him from person to person. I had no idea we would be able to hold one of the piglets, so that little surprise absolutely made my day!

Enjoying the Beach

Pearl Island seen from Pigs Beach — *Pearl Island off in the distance*

After the piglet photo op, we had about 30 minutes to just enjoy the beach. We spent some time checking out their souvenir table, taking photos in their swings, and handing out more belly rubs to any pig that wanted them.

Once the sand settled, the water was also incredibly clear, and we enjoyed exploring the shallows to see the fish! We saw a parrotfish, several needlefish, and lots of schools with smaller fish, too.

We didn’t use our beach chairs at all because there was just so much to do and enjoy!

The Swimming with Pigs Experience: What to Expect at Sun Cay

After we finished swimming with the pigs, the crew loaded us back on the boat, and we returned to Pearl Island’s Sun Cay beach club.

Because this is something you can actually book as a separate excursion, I am going to do a full, in-depth review of this fun island, very soon, with a lot more details. But I did want to give a quick overview here as well.

Sun Cay is the perfect spot to soak up some sun rays or dive into some more watery fun! You can book a lot of extra activities here for an additional fee, like snorkeling, parasailing, and banana boats, but just be conscious of the timeframes since you’ll only have a couple of hours here.

If you’d prefer to stick to the included activities, you’ll still have plenty to keep you occupied!

Bahamian Lunch & Conch Salad

Our tour package included a delicious traditional lunch on Sun Cay. When we boarded back at the Nassau port, a crew member gave us each a meal ticket and instructed us not to lose it—otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to eat! So, be sure to put that somewhere safe so you can enjoy your included lunch.

Everybody got the same meal: barbecue chicken, fish fingers, rice and peas, and a coleslaw salad. They also had unlimited cold water, so be sure to take advantage of that and hydrate!

The dining area is shaded and offers a fantastic view of Pearl Island and the surrounding waters, so it’s a great place to chill for a bit while you enjoy your meal. There is also a bar right at the center of the dining patio, where you can purchase other drinks for an additional fee.

If you’re still hungry or just want something extra special, head just down the path to the conch station, where they’ll whip up the freshest conch salad/ceviche you’ve ever had. We literally watched someone drop off the fresh-from-the-water conchs that went into Daniel’s salad! It was pretty cool to watch the guy pull the conchs out and chop up all the ingredients to make it, too. It did cost about $20, but it was big enough to be a full meal, and Daniel absolutely loved it! (I’m allergic to seafood, so I unfortunately couldn’t have any.)

Iguana Cay

One of my favorite unexpected parts of Pearl Island was Iguana Cay! Right at the tip of the island, they have a large enclosure where you can get up close to their orange iguana. We got to learn a little about him from one of the staff members, then we had the opportunity to pet or hold the iguana, too!

This doesn’t cost any extra, but there is a tip jar for the staff if you enjoy the experience.

Beach Access

The main draw of Sun Cay is obviously those beautiful blue Bahama waters. The island has tons of places to chill, from semi-covered seating areas to row after row of beach chairs. You can also upgrade for a private cabana if you want.

The actual beach areas are pretty small, but there is lots to do in the water, including kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, a water trampoline, and more that you can use on a first-come basis. There’s also a small infinity pool near the restaurant.

We had no problem finding beach chairs with great water access, even though we didn’t look for them until the last 45 minutes or so. The water was pretty cold since it was February, so we didn’t spend much time wading around, but the sun felt very nice on shore.

See Us Swimming with the Pigs on YouTube!

Closing Thoughts on Swimming with the Pigs & Sun Cay

If you couldn’t tell, I had an incredible time on this 5-hour Nassau tour! For me, it was the perfect mix of action and relaxation in the gorgeous Bahama sun. I loved getting to spend time on the beach, and swimming with the pigs was so much fun! I also loved all the surprises, like holding the piglets and iguana.

I definitely feel like it was worth the $150 we paid through the cruise line, and I wouldn’t have felt bad if we paid full price either. Everything was so efficient, and we didn’t have to worry about anything other than enjoying ourselves, which just added to the experience.

The only downside was that we didn’t have much time to explore anything else in Nassau because the cruise line cut our port day short. So if you’re hoping to do some shopping in Nassau, visit the Atlantis, or do anything else, you might want to opt for a shorter excursion.

But if you’re like me, there’s no better way to spend your day in port than with sun, sand, and adorable pigs.

Thanks so much for stopping by to read this post! I hope it answered your questions and helped you decide whether swimming with the pigs is a good fit for you! If you have any additional questions or comments, just drop them below, and I’ll get back to you.

I’ll be posting much more about our Bahamas trip in the next few weeks, so be sure to stay tuned. The easiest way to do that is to sign up for the blog newsletter! You’ll get a couple of freebies for signing up and the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.

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I also encourage you to check out some of my other posts while you’re here! We’re slowly making our way around the world, so there’s plenty of inspiration waiting for you.

Until next time, happy travels!