Is Nassau good for solo travelers?

Our 4.2/10 solo-traveler safety score (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index) is driven mainly by Nassau's street-crime record, not by beach risk. The US State Department has held The Bahamas at Level 2 for several years, and its advisory names Over-the-Hill, the grid of streets south of Shirley Street, as the part of town visitors should avoid. In daylight, the stretch of downtown between Rawson Square and the British Colonial Hilton on West Bay Street stays crowded and policed, cruise passengers from Prince George Wharf filling the pavements. By about 7pm the shops have pulled down their metal grilles, the street empties, and the walk back to a guesthouse on West Hill Street feels much longer than it did at midday. We draw the line at 8pm. After that, take a licensed taxi from a hotel rank and agree the zone fare before the door closes.

The jitney is the cheapest way for a solo traveller to get around Nassau, and also the easiest way to get stranded. These minibuses leave from Frederick Street and Bay Street and cost about $1.25, paid in exact change. Routes 10 and 10A run west along the water to Cable Beach in roughly 20 minutes, windows open to diesel and salt air and reggae thumping throughout. Most stop running around 7pm, and no published timetable will warn you. Women riding alone tend to take the front seat next to the driver, because unwanted conversation usually starts in the back row. At Lynden Pindling International Airport, taxis charge fixed zone rates posted at the rank. Ask the dispatcher for the fare, not the driver.

Arawak Cay is the easiest place in Nassau to eat alone. Locals call this row of painted shacks the Fish Fry, and it sits 15 minutes on foot west of downtown, where Twin Brothers and Goldie's both have bar stools. The conch salad is chopped to order with lime, onion and goat pepper, and on Friday and Saturday nights the speaker bass and the slap of dominoes make it the most sociable spot in the city. Potter's Cay Dock on East Bay Street sells the same conch for less, though we go there at lunchtime. If you want company without needing a table for two, Tru Bahamian Food Tours runs small-group walks through downtown. The Ministry of Tourism's People-to-People programme has paired visitors with volunteer Bahamian hosts since the 1970s, free of charge. Apply a few weeks before you arrive.

Solo travellers pay a hidden tax in Nassau. The Cable Beach resorts charge per room, so one guest pays the double rate, and some all-inclusives add a single surcharge on top of that. Guesthouses downtown near the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on West Hill Street cost less and are within a 10-minute daytime walk of Bay Street, and the gallery's air-conditioned rooms are the coolest place to spend an hour when the midday heat settles over the harbour. Women travelling alone should turn down the beach jet-ski operators at Cable Beach and Junkanoo Beach, because the same federal advisory links them to sexual assaults. Book snorkelling trips to Rose Island through an operator with a fixed office and published reviews.