A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in Bimini
Bimini's dock-and-dine question has an unusual answer, and it is a priced one.
Bimini Big Game Club's rate card carries landing dock fees for non-registered vessels — $30 for boats to 30 feet, $60 for boats to 60 feet, and $100 for boats to 130 feet, plus 10% VAT. That is a tie-up-and-walk-in tariff, stated in dollars, on the operator's own site. If you are anchored off or berthed elsewhere and you want to bring the boat in for a few hours, that is the number.
The second answer is Brown's Marina's boardwalk. Brown's states that it "shares 200 feet of waterfront boardwalk with Big Johns Bar Hotel", and that it is the first marina as you enter Bimini Harbour, close to the beach, the straw market, the Bimini Museum, the ferry and the airport water taxi, and to Customs and Immigration. Tie up at Brown's and the bar is on the dock.
Beyond those two, dining in Bimini works the way it always has: berth, then walk. The conch stands and the beach bars along the King's Highway are a short walk from any dock on this chart — North Bimini is a few hundred metres across at its widest and roughly seven miles end to end. At the Big Game Club and at the north-end resort you are already tied up, and the terms are the marina's.
The chart below runs the island the way a boat does — the cuts at the south end, the harbour entrance, then the docks in order as you run up North Bimini.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Bimini Big Game Club landing dockA published price for coming ashore for a few hours rather than for the night. If you are anchored off or berthed elsewhere and want to bring the boat in to eat, those are the operator's own stated numbers. | Alice Town, North Bimini | Landing dock fees for non-registered vessels: $30 to 30 ft, $60 to 60 ft, $100 to 130 ft, plus 10% VAT |
| Big John's Bar & Hotel · Brown's Marina boardwalkBrown's states that it "shares 200 feet of waterfront boardwalk with Big Johns Bar Hotel", and that it sits close to the beach, the straw market, the Bimini Museum, the ferry, the airport water taxi and Customs and Immigration. Tie up at Brown's and the bar is on the dock. | Alice Town, first dock inside the harbour entrance | Dockage is a Brown's Marina transaction at $2.00 per foot; the bar is on the marina's boardwalk |
| The Alice Town waterfrontDining here works the way it always has: berth, then walk. The conch stands and beach bars along the King's Highway are a short walk from any dock on this chart — North Bimini is a few hundred metres wide and roughly seven miles end to end, so the dock you pick is a matter of the boat, not of the table. | King's Highway, Alice Town | Berth at any marina on the chart and walk in |
| The marina restaurantsThe Big Game Club and the north-end resort both run restaurants at the dock. Berth at either and dinner is a walk down the pontoon — the moorage is the marina's transaction, so there is no separate guest float to look for. | Alice Town and the north end | You are already tied up; the terms are the marina's |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.