Cabbage Beach

On a previous Carnival cruise, I heard about a local area called Cabbage Beach. The folks who'd gone there said it was very nice. You can rent an umbrella for $25/day and loungers for $10/day. They also sell a drink card for $20/day. My sister and I went on Sat, Sept 28, and all of what I'd heard was true.

However, the day we were there, the surf was very rough and the beach was very steep. We had to carefully time exiting the water by out running the next wave. I mistimed one exit and got caught in a rip current. It dragged me out, rolling me so much that I couldn't tell up from down, and then someone landed on top of me when the wave crashed toward shore. This went on for several waves. I was unable to get my feet under myself to try to walk perpendicular to the shore to escape the rip. I tried to yell for help, but only got a stomach full of water, so each time I was hurled back toward shore, I only had time to take one breath before being dragged back into the sea.

I was terrified that I would drown and very nearly did. Although there were people 15 feet away, there weren't any lifeguards (which I knew before I went) and no one tried to help me. Finally, a huge wave deposited me close enough to the beach that I was able to crawl on my hands and knees to get far enough away to not get sucked back in again.

I feel lucky to be alive and to have escaped with only scratches, bruises, a burst ear drum and a broken toe. Not enough damage to ruin the rest of my cruise, but I will avoid Cabbage Beach in the future.

Wow.. So glad you are alright.. Sounds terrifying:(

Thank you for telling your story this info could save someone else.. The ocean is a dangerous place, we don't spend much time in it and I am always concerned with this with my family.

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It had to be the weather and the surf. We also went there and had gentle seas and it was the end of our trip and the best part. We would go back again but always respect the sea. Glad you escaped serious harm.

Where is Cabbage Beach?

Where is Cabbage Beach?

I was wondering the same.

Nassau, Bahamas.

Paradise Island near Atlantis.

I've never been to Cabbage Beach. I have heard of it here on CC.

A few months back, while watching one of the true crime shows, they did a story about 2 tourists, women, who were murdered at Cabbage Beach.

One from Va., the other from Britain. Their bodies were discovered not far off the beach, near a narrow walkway.

A local teen had strangled them. This was in 1998.

Murder in paradise.

Despite my bad experience, Cabbage Beach is beautiful and there were lots of people there, so we felt safe. Another downside was all of the locals walking up and down the beach selling T-shirts, necklaces, cigars, etc. I rewalize they are trying to make a living, and we bought a few items, but it was not relaxing.

I'm glad you're okay! We witnessed a similar scary incident a few years ago at the same beach. We were aware that the rip current was very strong so we stayed out of the water. As we were sitting on the beach, we looked out and saw a teenage girl just floating in the water, up near the shore. My husband and another man and I ran and pulled her out of the water and we carried her up the beach. Finally, her family came up to assist her. My husband and I and our friends were freaking out because the girl kept saying she couldn't move. We were concerned her back was broken. We waited as long as we could to see what the outcome was, but our ship was leaving sooner than theirs and we had to go. By the time we left, no rescue operation or ambulance had come. I always wondered what happened to her. I hope she was just scared, cold, in shock and in spasm and that everything was okay.

We have been to Cabbage beach 6 times. 5 times it was calm and beautiful and 1 time it was just like the OP said.

Got2GoGo, I'm very glad you are OK! What a terrifying experience.

I've seen Cabbage Beach when it was rough like that and people were getting wash boarded in the surf. When we were there last fall, the water was calm but even then there was some undertow and a steep drop off. It's really not a swimming beach.

We were there in September 2010 at the time Hurricane Igor (I think it was Igor) was hitting Bermuda. We were at Atlantis for a few days for DH's mother's birthday. Atlantis Beach is part of Cabbage Beach and when we were there, due to that hurricane hundreds of miles away, the water was very rough the whole time and probably some of the roughest water I've seen and I've been to the Outer Banks of NC many times. It can get rough there, but I've never seen it as rough as Cabbage Beach. Atlantis had their beaches closed, no swimming and no loungers. If you wanted to walk the beach, it had to be up beyond the high tide line and their were lifeguards watching to make sure. We asked about just getting our feet wet and couldn't even do that. We did notice people in the water at Cabbage Beach near the Riu (right next door to Atlantis) and thought they were crazy. The beach wasn't closed in that section because it wasn't on Atlantis property. No way were we walking down that way and getting in...too chicken and didn't feel it was worth the risk.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and concern. I'm sure Cabbage Beach is fine most of the time. I was trying to be careful, but that one wave came out of nowhere!

Cabbage is my personal fav beach in Nassau. Always respect the ocean as it can be unforgiving. If you are not a strong swimmer then I would avoid entering an ocean that appears to be rough. If you have any doubts...go with your gut and stick to a beach chair instead