Abaco is a long chain of islands and cays in the northern Bahamas, anchored by Great Abaco and its commercial hub, Marsh Harbour, with a reputation built on sailing, boat building, and some of the clearest water in the country, protected along its Atlantic side by one of the largest barrier reefs in the world. Elbow Cay’s Hope Town is one of its best-known addresses, a car free village centered on the candy-striped Elbow Reef Lighthouse, one of the last hand cranked lighthouses still in operation anywhere. Abaco took a direct, severe hit from Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and the islands have spent the years since rebuilding, drawing significant new investment in the process.
Real estate spans waterfront homes, cottages, and lots across Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay, Hope Town, Green Turtle Cay, and Man-O-War Cay, each with its own character. Hope Town’s Elbow Cay is known for colorful, historic cottages in a walkable, golf cart village setting, with new construction subject to Bahamian architectural guidelines, while Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club, a members only residential community on Great Guana Cay developed by Discovery Land Company, offers waterfront villas alongside its golf course and marina. Montage Cay, a private island resort near Marsh Harbour, is in development with a branded hotel and residential component, and new resort and residential projects are also moving forward at Sandy Point in South Abaco and at Treasure Cay.
The Elbow Reef Lighthouse in Hope Town remains a working 1864 landmark, and Baker’s Bay Golf & Ocean Club’s golf course, marina, spa, and beach club anchor Great Guana Cay. Man-O-War Cay’s boat building heritage is still visible in its working boatyards, and Green Turtle Cay’s New Plymouth settlement is known for its Loyalist era architecture. Further north, an ongoing private revival at Walker’s Cay has restored the marina for yachts and sportfishing, with further development planned in phases. Deep water marinas and protected anchorages run throughout the chain, long considered one of the premier sailing and boating destinations in The Bahamas.
Marsh Harbour Airport serves the islands, with connections through South Florida and Atlanta, and several of the smaller cays, Elbow Cay and Great Guana Cay among them, are reached by boat rather than directly by air. Rebuild and renovation status still varies property by property across the islands, so asking about a given home’s history, current condition, and wind or flood insurance is worth doing before an offer, and supplies on the smaller cays often arrive by barge on a set schedule, worth understanding for day-to-day living.
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