You could spend a whole year exploring the Exumas, a 120-mile necklace of 365 islands and cays in the central Bahamas surrounded by waters and sea life deemed the most exquisite by international yachtsmen, sports fishermen and divers. Not surprisingly, the Exumas have produced some of the Bahamas’ best boat builders and sailors.

The islands are sparsely populated, with the majority of its approximately 3,600 people living on Great Exuma and Little Exuma. Tourism, fishing and agriculture – the islands’ sweet onions are famed – are the main industries today.

Steeped in a rich history marked by Lucayan Indians, settlers and pirates, cotton plantations and salt mines, the Exumas are also an important part of The Bahamas’ future. Here you will find the luxurious Four Seasons Resort at Emerald Bay, the $240 million Crab Cay development and million-dollar-plus homes at Grand Isle Villas and February Point.

No wonder The Washington Post named Great Exuma as one of the top 10 hot international destinations for 2004.

Once the closely-held secret of yachtsman who considered it a boating paradise, the Exumas have been discovered by the outside world. And the result has been an investor’s paradise. Property values in Great Exuma and the nearby cays have increased two and three-fold in less than a year – and there is no indication that prices will do anything but continue to escalate. If the best time to buy was yesterday, today is better than tomorrow.

Dillycrab Realty, the number one name in Exuma real estate, the trusted name in properties in paradise.

For more information on the Exumas, check The Bahamas’ official tourism website.