Albany Marina … New Providence Island (Nassau), Bahamas

Over our commuter cruiser years, we’ve stopped at some pretty amazing marinas. But Albany Marina wins hands-down for luxury and mega-yachts.  I was going to write a post about being on the Million Dollar Boat Dock at Marathon Marina.  With all the Flemings, Kadey Krogens and Grand Banks, it was an amazing walk to the shower.  Then we ended up at Albany Marina — lifestyles of the rich & famous has nothing on this place!   When we had to fly home unexpectedly we were lucky to find a marina with no notice to leave the boat …at the height of spring break and over easter weekend.   (Note:  the photo is not mine, darn!  but from the Albany website, click below.)

Although expensive, they did have a slip available and could accommodate us within the next hour, so the anchor came up and away we went.  The wind was on the nose (of course), so it was a bit slower than we wanted, but we were thankful we didn’t have to buck into the winds for over 15 miles to get around to Nassau Harbor.

Albany Marina —  Featuring the latest in amenities and dock design, Albany Marina is the ultimate yachting destination in The Bahamas. Easily accessible by sea and a safe and convenient port-of-call for mega-yachts cruising the Caribbean, Albany Marina offers state-of-the-art berthing facilities, easy clearance procedures and the highest level of service for luxury vessels.

Although alot of the complex is still under construction and certain amenities are not available to cruisers yet, you have to click on the marina website, link above, to see what it’s like. Mega-yachts everywhere, and unlike most marinas we’ve visited lately, this one is packed FULL.  Winterlude is tucked away in the “cheap seats” – the smallest slips are 50 feet long.  It’s the only time in our cruising lives that we’ve been beside a NordHavn 65 and it was tiny by comparison to all the mega-yachts.  Our slip only had 50 amp power available, and we only use 30 amps, luckily the marina had an adapter after ours wouldn’t work – it was 10 years old, never been used, but nonetheless, it didn’t work.

Here are some photos.

If you’re in the area, we would highly recommend Albany.  It’s more expensive than most marinas – for Winterlude it was $3/ft.  I think the rates are comparatively low because the complex isn’t complete – lots and lots of construction.   Other “luxury” marinas charge $5/ft and up — mostly up.  Comparatively, we pay $12.50/ft for an ENTIRE MONTH at Burnt Store Marina, our current “home” marina.