How much does it cost to live in Long Island Bahamas?
Typical Month (Mid Range)
$3,528 (BSD 3,528)
Updated September 2026 · Sources cited: airbnb.com, vrbo.com
- Typical Month (Lower End)
- $2,325 (BSD 2,325)
- Typical Month (Premium)
- $5,768 (BSD 5,768)
Good to know
Good to Know
- The Bahamian dollar (BSD) is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and both currencies are accepted interchangeably everywhere on the island, so budgeting in USD works fine.
- Long Island is a remote Family Island with very little furnished short-term rental inventory — expect to negotiate directly with a handful of Airbnb/Vrbo hosts (concentrated around Stella Maris and a few Long Island cottages) rather than choosing from a deep market.
- Groceries and dining are noticeably pricier than in Nassau or the US mainland because nearly everything is imported and then trucked/shipped again to reach this outer island — stock up when you can and expect limited fresh-produce variety between supply boat/plane deliveries.
- There is no coworking space or nomad community on the island; anyone planning an extended stay should confirm internet reliability directly with a host before booking, as connectivity can be inconsistent outside the main settlements.
- Long Island is a remote Out Island with no coworking spaces, cinema, or public transit — nomads here typically work from vacation-rental or resort wifi rather than a dedicated workspace, and a rental car is close to essential.
- The Bahamian dollar (BSD) is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, and USD cash is accepted everywhere on the island interchangeably with BSD.
- Most Western passport holders (US, UK, Canada, EU) get a free 90-day visa-on-arrival stamp, which is enough for a short nomad stint without any visa cost at all — the paid BEATS permit is only needed if you want a legally documented stay beyond that or up to a year.
- Healthcare on the island itself is limited to small public clinics for basic care; plan on travel (or emergency airlift) to Nassau or Miami for anything serious, and carry international travel/health insurance rather than relying on local private care.
Monthly Totals
- Mid-range month
- BSD 3,528
Includes 5 estimated components
3 components missing
- Lean month
- BSD 2,325
Includes 4 estimated components
1 component missing
- Comfortable month
- BSD 5,768
Includes 6 estimated components
3 components missing
Living Costs
- Where nomads live
- Long Island has no documented digital-nomad or expat rental cluster — it is a sparsely populated Family Island (roughly 3,000 residents) with no coworking spaces or nomad community. The closest reasonable proxies are Stella Maris (the island's airport, marina and dive-resort hub, where the small number of furnished monthly listings we found are concentrated) and Deadman's Cay (the main commercial settlement with the island's larger grocery stores). All housing and grocery figures below are grounded in that Stella Maris / Deadman's Cay corridor.
Housing (per month)
- Mid-range 1-bed
- BSD 2,500
Estimated
Estimated furnished 1-2 bedroom apartment/cottage monthly rate for Stella Maris/Deadman's Cay; no specific dollar figure was exposed in the Airbnb/Vrbo search snippets retrieved, so this is a judgment estimate rather than a page-stated price.
- Budget studio / 1-bed
- BSD 1,500
Off-season or holiday-rate price — not comparable with other cities
Estimated
No exact monthly dollar figure appeared in retrieved listing snippets for Long Island (Airbnb and Vrbo list furnished studios/cottages such as a Stella Maris apartment and small Long Island cottages but show ratings/descriptions, not prices, in the sources we checked). Estimated as a furnished studio/small cottage monthly rate, informed by nightly rates on comparable Bahamian Family Islands and the general pattern that Family Island short-term furnished units run well above mainland-Bahamas averages due to limited inventory.
- Premium apartment
- BSD 4,500
Estimated
Estimated furnished beachfront villa/larger cottage monthly rate. Expat Exchange notes beachfront and upscale properties on Long Island carry significantly higher costs than standard housing, which informs this upper-tier estimate; no exact monthly listing price was retrieved.
Groceries
- Groceries for one (month)
- BSD 550
Estimated
Estimated using the Bahamas-wide grocery cost premium (roughly 11-24% above US prices per Bahamas-wide aggregator data) applied to a typical single-person, cook-at-home budget, then adjusted upward for Long Island's added remoteness and import logistics beyond what mainland Nassau prices reflect.
Sample prices
1L Milk
- 1L Milk
- BSD 6.00
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
Fresh White Bread (500g Loaf)
- Fresh White Bread (500g Loaf)
- BSD 5.00
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
Eggs (12, Large)
- Eggs (12, Large)
- BSD 7.00
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
White Rice (1kg)
- White Rice (1kg)
- BSD 4.00
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
Chicken Fillets (1kg)
- Chicken Fillets (1kg)
- BSD 14
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
Bottled Water, 1.5L (Store)
- Bottled Water, 1.5L (Store)
- BSD 2.50
Estimated
Estimated from Bahamas-wide import-premium context; no Long Island-specific retail price was retrievable.
Eating out
- Cheap meal
- BSD 15
Estimated
world-prices.com (drawing on HikersBay/Numbeo aggregation) lists an inexpensive-restaurant meal in The Bahamas at BSD 20 as of a 2018 data point; this is country-wide, not Long Island-specific, and likely understates current prices given inflation since 2018. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 20 BSD reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
- High-end meal
- BSD 75
Estimated
Estimated for a resort/dive-lodge style dinner (e.g. near Stella Maris), scaled up from the mid-range estimate; no specific menu pricing page was retrieved.
- Mid-range meal
- BSD 34
Estimated
No single-person mid-range figure was retrieved for Long Island; estimated as roughly double the cheap-meal benchmark, consistent with the general restaurant-price premium noted for the Bahamas versus the US. [Adjusted 2026-09-18: the source's 45 BSD reduced by 25%; see "adjusted".]
Work, Transport & Essentials
- Cinema ticket
- Not available
Long Island has no cinema; nearest movie theaters are in Nassau.
- Coworking Monthly Hot Desk
- Not available
Same as day pass — no coworking operator has a physical presence on Long Island; nomads here typically work from vacation rental/resort wifi rather than a dedicated space.
Coworking
- Venue
- None documented on Long Island
- Day pass
- Not available
No coworking space could be documented on Long Island itself. The island is a small, sparsely populated Out Island (population under 4,000); the nearest confirmed coworking spaces (e.g. Incudesk, Crypto Isle) are in Nassau, well outside the proximity range for this island.
Transport
- How to get there
- informal taxi / rental car (no public transit)
- What the pass covers
- No public transit system exists on Long Island; a rental car (often the biggest recurring transport cost for nomads here) or informal taxi arrangements are the norm.
- Single ride
- Not available
No metered taxi or bus fare structure found; informal taxi fares are negotiated per trip and vary by distance on this long, thin island (over 130km tip to tip).
- Monthly pass
- Not available
Long Island has no public bus or transit authority. Getting around is done via a rental car, personal vehicle, or informally arranged taxi/driver — there is no fixed-route service to build a monthly pass around.
Mobile & data
- Carrier
- BTC or Aliv (both serve Long Island / the Out Islands)
- Monthly plan
- BSD 70
Estimated
Estimated mid-tier prepaid plan from one of the Bahamas' two national carriers (BTC or Aliv), both of which confirmed to serve the Out Islands including Long Island; exact current Long Island-specific plan pricing was not found at the time of research.
- Data allowance
- Roughly 10-15GB estimated; coverage on Long Island is generally reliable in settlements (Clarence Town, Deadman's Cay, Simms) but weaker in remote stretches.
Short Stays (per night)
- Seasonal pricing
- No
- Why
- Distinct winter high-season (December–February) with peak tourism and materially higher rates, contrasted against cheaper off-peak months (September–November); dry season aligns with Northern Hemisphere winter travel demand. [OVERRIDDEN 2026-07-13: Step 3 real price research twice found no meaningful high/low swing despite this Step 1 reasoning — trusting the direct price evidence over the lighter classification.]
Low season
- Budget
- BSD 180
Stella Maris Resort Club, 2-star equivalent hotel room, direct resort rate
- Luxury
- BSD 491
4-bedroom beachfront villa/private Airbnb, premium oceanfront location
- Premium
- BSD 328
1BR Airbnb, comparable to 4-star hotel standard, Stella Maris area
- Standard
- BSD 240
Stella Maris Resort Club, 1-bedroom cottage, direct resort rate
High season
- Budget
- BSD 180
Stella Maris Resort Club, 2-star equivalent hotel room, direct resort rate
- Luxury
- BSD 491
4-bedroom beachfront villa/private Airbnb, premium oceanfront location
- Premium
- BSD 328
1BR Airbnb, comparable to 4-star hotel standard, Stella Maris area
- Standard
- BSD 240
Stella Maris Resort Club, 1-bedroom cottage, direct resort rate
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this cost of living research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Long Island Bahamas
- Visas in Long Island Bahamas
- Safety in Long Island Bahamas
- Connectivity & Internet in Long Island Bahamas
- Best Neighborhoods in Long Island Bahamas
- Emergencies in Long Island Bahamas
- Walkability & Transport in Long Island Bahamas
- Climate & Weather in Long Island Bahamas
- Getting There & Away in Long Island Bahamas
Data last updated September 2026 · Verify anything important.