HARBOUR ISLAND/ELEUTHERA
Vital Stats: Just three miles long and a half-mile wide, Harbour Island still packs a punch, and is just a five-minute ferry ride from neighboring Eleuthera. Founded in 1648, 100-mile-long, five-mile-wide Eleuthera was the first settlement of The Bahamas.

Claim to Fame: Pink sand graces the entire length of Harbour Island, courtesy of billions of conch-shell bits. Add the quaint Dunmore Town, charming architecture, intimate inns and hotels, and you've got a picture-perfect island many return to annually. Watersports are the name of the game in Eleuthera, from surfing at Gregory Town to snorkeling and diving at Gualding's Cay Beach.

Sleep: Many of Harbour Island's unique small inns are perched on a hill overlooking the sea. The Runaway Hill Club (242-333-2150) is a 10-room manor overflowing with romantic ambience. On Eleuthera, The Cove Eleuthera (800-552-5960) and the Rainbow Inn (800-688-0047) are good choices.
See: The Glass Window Bridge, Eleuthera's narrowest point, has spectacular views. On one side are the deep, dark waters of the Atlantic; the other side the light, ice blue waters of Exuma Sound.

Play: As in much of the Out Islands, golf carts are the modus operandi, and a wonderful way to tour these delightful islands. Divers love the Arch and the Plateau, two impressive coral structures off the coast of Harbour Island.

Local Insight: Eleuthera has its own powdery, pink sand on the east coast from Governor's Harbour to out-of-the-way James Point.

THE EXUMAS
Vital Stats: Spans more than 100 miles in the middle of the Bahama chain. Made up of Great Exuma, Little Exuma, and 365 small cays.

Claim to Fame: Thunderball Grotto is a legendary marine cave used as the gorgeous backdrop for 007's Thunderball and Never Say Never and the mermaid movie Splash.