The golden age of pirates is a favorite setting for books and movies, but in the Bahamas stories of pirates are local history. In Nassau, one of the most visited cruise ports in the world, this history is explored in the Pirates of Nassau Museum. While we were on a Caribbean cruise this winter we visited the museum to learn more about pirate history.
What You Will See at the Pirates of Nassau Museum
This museum is set up to give you an experience. The whole thing is highly reminiscent of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, except that you walk through it and the wax figures don’t move.
You enter the museum through what feels like an old alley, buy your tickets ($13.50 for adults) at a window in the wall and then enter a recreation of a dock town with the pirate ship Revenge siting at anchor.
You will enter the pirate ship and then make your way through several rooms of scene exhibits and art. The museum is nice because it is mostly visual with a small amount of text on plaques to help you understand what you are seeing. My experience was really enhanced because I on this trip I had been reading a book about pirate history.
How to Find the Pirates of Nassau Museum
We honestly had a harder time finding the museum than we should have. We had explored around Nassau for a bit because we thought it would open up later in the morning, but it turns out actually opens at 8:30 am. To get there you just find the Straw Market on Bay Street and then go a block up George street. The museum is a large red building. You walk down the side pedestrian street to get to the entrance.
Sum Up
The Pirates of Nassau Museum is a tourist trap, which should be what you expect in Nassau, which is built on tourist dollars. But it’s a fun tourist trap, and the information it conveys through its exhibits is accurate to the history of pirates.
I wish the museum had been a bit longer considering the price, but it is definitely not the most expensive museum I have ever visited. Going through the whole thing will take you between 30 and 60 minutes. There are restrooms located in the courtyard where you exit the museum.
