I wanted to respond to the comment of EXORBITANT $300 entry fee to the Bahamas.
A few years ago I had an extended conversation with a customs officer when entering the Bahamas. He was defending the charge to enter the Bahamas in the following way. The Bahamas rely on tourism for a large part of their revenue, this includes hotels, restaurants, shops etc.. When processing arriving boats they have the authority to remove all the food and alcohol from a boat, as is the case in the US. I operate a corporate jet and experience this on every arrival in the US, we are required to re-cater the aircraft prior to continuing and are charged as much as $400 to dispose of perfectly good (now considered toxic) food. The officer pointed out that cruisers are not normally required to relinquish their food and drink, likely do not stay in land based accommodation or eat in many restaurants, let alone have to replace all their stores in a local store. He pointed out that the $300 (or $150) fee was not extravagant in his or for that matter my opinion.
I personally think the $300 is a cheap price to pay for all the Bahamas have to offer and is certainly less expensive that replacing the stores that are allowed to be taken into the country. The country is already struggling to recover from recent major Hurricanes. I for one am happy to contribute this small fee.
