What You Need To Know About The Pirates Of Nassau Museum | Bahamas Information Guide (2024)

Pirates of Nassau Museum

Located in the Downtown Area west of the Prince George Dock about a 5-8 minute walk, lies a large maroon building with the infamous scull and cross bones but its not nefarious its actually the Pirates of Nassau museum.

This symbol as many may know was the sign of a pirate ship that sailed the high seas. The Bahamas was notorious for pirates back in the 16th century mainly because of the many small islands and dangerous reefs.

Bahamian history has not told the full history of pirates in the Bahamas as there are bits and pieces scattered about the place in various books.

This Attraction however takes you back to that era and gives you a good idea of the life of the city of Nassau during that time and the life of pirates on the seas.

How to get there visit Pirates of Nassau museum

Using Rawson square aka Parliament Square, as the center point and beacon when finding other locations. this location is considered the heart of Downtown Nassau and is easy to find.

Standing in front of the Queen Elizabeth statue you will be facing south. Travel west along bay street which is to your right. Travel along bay street until you reach the 5th corner. This is directly across from Pompey Museum. Take a left turn through this corner and at the next corner you will see the Pirates of Nassau Museum.

Walking up to the building you are greeted by interestingly clad person in clothes that are obviously not from this era. The staff are dressed up in old pirate gear and often greet you with an ‘arrr me matey’. I found that rather funny but fun to hear as it lends to the overall theme of the museum.

How much does it cost to visit the Pirates of Nassau Museum?

There is a cover charge to enter the museum;

Inside pirates of Nassau?

Entering the museum there is a replica of the city of Nassau back in the 1700’s with sounds to match and even wax statues depicting the life of person during that time. The dock is dark and the portion of the ship is really an awesome replica of a wooden ship.

It will take some time for you eyes to adjust but once it does you can take you time and view all the details the developers placed into this museum. I was quite impressed by the small things put into place like signs and sounds, ropes, barrels and much more.

A note to persons with cameras a digital camera that can handle low light situations would be ideal for this location as flash does not do the area any justice, if you do not have a low light camera I suggest you take a tripod with you.

Inside the Pirate Ship

Upon entering the ship itself to see how things were inside you can get the sense, as the mini signs written around the display suggest, that life on a ship was hard.

The space is limited and small and it is easy to see how disease could spread quickly among the crew. Narrow walk ways and low light could make any land lover go mad quickly.

The pirates of Nassau museum continues with life on board the ship, the living space of the pirates were not any better than those on land. Jammed pack on board was food, weapons and even live cattle the pirates must have found it hard to find any personal space.

Pirates of Nassau museum continued to astound me with their attention to detail with the galley area which was shared by humans and animals and even some huge rats that they thought of to place in strategic areas.

The beauty is that once you and take your time and look around this area, there is so much to see that you will not get bored.

The ship of pirates of Nassau museum soon changes to life on the high seas for a pirate, depicting a battle with other ships, pirates take a shore leave and even the worst fate of a pirate being marooned on a desolate island.

Back on land the pirates of Nassau museum has many artifacts that they included with great detail in their descriptions.

Also the museum shows how piracy was dealt with, those pirates that were caught, those that were tortured and the men who plotted their downfall for the restitution of commerce in the Americas.

As a side note for photographers

If you want to use flash I suggest you use off camera flash. It may be better if you have someone else with you to hold it off camera as having a camera tripod and a light stand may get in the way of other patrons.

Here is an image I decided to take using the Nikon CLS commander mode and a SB900 off camera. If placed in the right area a little added light can help to shed some illumination to the displays but as you may not have all day to spend in the museum quick shooting may not call for this.

Are there still pirates in Nassau?

Fortunately for the many cruise ships and millions of cruise passengers that visit the Bahamas yearly, There are no sea pirates in Nassau or anywhere else in the Bahamas.

The high cost of living and the price of many items may feel like piracy but its just the cost of doing business in the Bahamas.

All in all I would say this area is a great location for photographs and to learn alot about the history of the City of Nassau and the life of a Pirate in the 1700’s. The Pirates of Nassau museum definitely worth a look.

More information

You can find out more information on the Pirates of Nassau Website.