Columbus Isle Bahamas

We have been to Columbus Isle 25 times. The resort is beautiful, its 2 minutes from the airport. The food is amazing. The tennis team is always excellent. Love the yoga. Snorkeling we saw so many beautiful fish and on the way to snorkeling we saw a whale shark. The rooms are fine nothin special, but you dont spend much time in them.

Had an amazing holiday at Club Med Bahamas.l! Trip started off a bit rocky as the plane couldn't land due to a bad storm - so we were re-routed to Miami. Had to spend the night in Miami (Air Canada payed for our hotels). We finally arrived the next morning at this great resort. We had a top floor room - large size, clean, nice size deck and an amazing view of the beach/sea (Wow!). The hotel staff (housekeeping, pool cleaners, bartenders, cooks) are all super friendly! Food was really good - buffet restaurant was excellent with lots of options and the La Pinta restaurant is a la carte for dinner (must make reservations the night before) - get the rib eye steak - fantastic! The freshly squeezed orange juice in the morning is the best I've ever had !
Beach is spectacular and the sea is nice temp for swimming.
There are only 3 flights a week that arrive on the island (Montreal, Paris and Miami).
Lots of things to do: tennis, kayaking, paddle boarding, sailing, snorkeling, scuba - you are never bored ! Will 100% be back !

Every days we had been taking care of an amazing team of coaches on the tennis courts! Max and his teammates made a wonderful experience and all of us certainly enjoyed it! I recommend Club Med of Columbus Island without any doubt. Many thanks to the amazing staff of Club Med.

Outstanding site, optimal size (around 400 guests) and great Tennis and Sailing Team.
As reference the sunset sailing organized by the sailing team is now one of the greatest experiences of my life.
On the other hand, it had been a long time (I have been attending Club Med since 1987) since I had seen a tennis team promoting guest integration so well.
For me (allergic to smoke) it was not so good to have a lot of smokers in non-smoking designated areas (Bar and Restaurant)

This is our 14th club med trip.
From my experience whenever you go to a club med over 1/2 the vacationers there are repeat offenders. Something about club med calls you back.
First time however at Club med Columbus Isle. It was my wife and me Jan 28 2025-Feb 4

Flights.
Apparently only 3 major flights per week (all charter I think). Tuesday from Montréal. Thursday from Paris (English widely spoken but wouldn't hurt to brush up on your French). Saturday from Miami I believe. Tiny Island no other major resorts except club med and apparently ~1/2 the entire island population works for club med. So essentially no one flies to this Island except to heed to the siren call of Club Med.

Thus not an easy place to get to. We have been hesitant to travel club med Bahamas since we're from the Toronto area and the connection is tenuous. We had a 45 minute connection window from YYZ at YUL (which is the legal minimum for a connection) . It's winter so de-icing plane snow storms etc can easily wreck your travel plans. If you miss your flight I guess you would have to take some circuitous route to get there since no other flight from Montreal/Canada until the next week. Same thing for luggage. If you make it and your luggage doesn't it could be a big problem. Next time I go I would do what some other Torontonians did--> fly in the night before stay one night in Montreal and save yourself some stress. I imagine that they will try to hold the plane since the flight from Montreal to Club med Bahamas is a Club med charter. They did hold the flight about 15 minutes for us but we still had to run across from one end of airport to the other to catch our flight; however if there is a major delay from Toronto I could see them leaving without you and you wouldn’t have many flight options available to you.
Once you get to Columbus Isle you can take the shuttle to the resort or walk to resort 10-15 minutes. It’s that close. (you can do a google maps satellite view) It’s a very sleepy airport and apart from the 3 flights a week as mentioned before and maybe a daily flight from Nassau not much happens at the airport. More importantly on your departure date you can basically wait to the last minute at the resort and enjoy your last meal/drink and walk to the airport.

Resort
Beautiful resort,clear waters and white sand as you would expect for Bahamas.
It can be a good walk to main restaurant from your unit. Layout of buildings can be a little confusing and you can get disoriented. Units are clean and recently renovated. Air conditioner works well but the thermostat servo mechanism did not seem to work in our unit. It was essentially turn it on or off, forget about it maintaining a certain temperature. Hot water was also somewhat limited during peak shower times (ie just before dinner). Water is not potable but they bring you canned water daily to your room.
Room safe integrated to your on wrist door key ->convenient
Kids are allowed but no official kids programs like many other club meds.
Resort closed late summer early fall during hurricane season I believe

Food
Not particularly fancy. However, food was generally quite good. What they provided was quite delicious. Yummy outdoor barbecue was available for almost every lunch supper. Pizza was great. Soups were unexpectedly good. Limited fresh fruit selection though. Dining at La Pinta --> essentially you had the same menu as main restaurant but it was sit down and the restaurant is beautiful. You get freshly squeezed OJ at La Pinta for breakfast and the coffee at the bar there is the best at the resort.
But all in all I think it was one of the better club meds re dining.

Snorkeling Scuba
I have my PADI but haven’t dove in over 10 years. Refresher course (paid) was available in the pool and I was good to go for a dive (paid) later that day. Saw 2 reef sharks, moray eel, grouper and Barracudas. Shout out to Roberto. Excellent instructor. Knowledgeable, calm and kind. Clear waters enable snorkeling off the beach and they also have complimentary daily boat trips for snorkeling as well. This is a popular Club med resort if you're a diver.

Tennis Tennis Tennis
The main reason I come to club med. Excellent tennis program. Shout out to Guedi and Charles! Enthusiastic, welcoming, knowledgeable, fun to be with, they bring a smile to your face every time. For those who have never been to a club med-> usual complimentary advanced, intermediate and beginner tennis lessons 6 days a week. They have some sort of tournament every day. If you have no racquet/no balls/no partner/no friends lol-> no problem-> Club med tennis instructors will find you a partner for the tournaments and often there are people who want to play more after the complimentary lessons. Hard not to make new friends. You will be saying hi to all the Tennis players and GOs as you bump into them at the resort by the end of your week.
10 well maintained green clay courts. 3 are lit w LED lighting. There were always free courts available during our trip. Can be windy at times. Wind is a double edged sword--> keeps you cool but can interfere w the ball movement. Some issues with biting insects they come out at night so recommend bug spray if you’re going to play late afternoon/evening tennis.

Courts are pickle ball free. I say this with mixed feelings since tennis is my first love. Pickle ball is a great game to get people moving and enjoying themselves but Club med also got rid of Tennis program at Club Med Cancun and replaced it with pickle ball. So if Club Med is listening please do not add Pickle ball at the expense of Tennis. The two sports can thrive side by side. I would not return to any Club Med without tennis.
Hope review was helpful. Enjoy your time at the Club!

David C