Map › Bahamas › Chat 'N' Chill (Stocking Island)

Exuma · Stocking Island, off Great Exuma · George Town

Chat 'N' Chill (Stocking Island)

also known as Stocking Island, Stocking Island / Chat'n Chill, Volleyball Beach

flat wateradvanced onlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Chat 'N' Chill (Stocking Island) has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy15-25mixed Launchokaccess rules on record, below Waterflat/chop29°C in summer · 8 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section

Schoolsnone named here

From the airport10 minGeorge Town

When it fills in

Synoptic wind, not a thermal: the trades and the frontal wind blow through the day and overnight rather than filling in at an hour. What decides your day is the direction, and on this beach that means waiting for S or SE. No hour-by-hour local record exists.

Chat 'N' Chill is the beach bar on Stocking Island across Elizabeth Harbour from George Town, and it is a kite spot on the days the wind goes south. That is the catch.

Exuma's normal wind is NE to E trades, 15-25 knots from November to April, and this beach only works in S or SE, so on most trade-wind days you are eating conch salad and watching the yachts.

When it does line up the water is clear green, flat to choppy in the harbour, warm enough for boardshorts most of the year (29 C in summer, 25 C in winter), and the tide makes no difference. Launch from the east end of the beach, away from the bar crowd.

It is not a beginner launch: the George Town water taxis run through here all day, yachts anchor close in, and there are people everywhere on the sand, which is why it is rated intermediate and up.

There is no road or bridge; you come over by water taxi or rented boat from the government dock with your gear on your lap. Exuma Kitesurfing in George Town does lessons and boat trips to the sandbars by appointment, which is the better plan for a first Exuma session.

The wind

locals call it trade winds and frontal winds

Direction

Kite sizes

67891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Synoptic wind, not a thermal: the trades and the frontal wind blow through the day and overnight rather than filling in at an hour. What decides your day is the direction, and on this beach that means waiting for S or SE. No hour-by-hour local record exists.

Typical strength

15-25

The Exuma wind season is good; this launch is not. It needs S or SE, and the usual NE/E trades do not work here.

Best months January-April and November-December. The windy season is November-April, with a second window in July-August; the wider Bahamas pattern is November-May, with lighter wind June-October.

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic

The quiver, in words

A 9 m and a 12 m cover the 15-25 knot trade season for a 75-85 kg rider. Exuma trips run the 9 to 14 m range across a stay, and an 8 m is the kite you want when a winter front pushes the wind past 30 knots.Light-wind riders add a 14 m or bigger for the summer months. Indicative for Exuma as a whole - nothing is measured at this beach.

Direction to shore

SE and S are recommended for this launch, and the beach works only with southerlies; exact shore-angle labels are not published.

Dominant direction

N/SE/NW regionally; NE/E trades are common in Exuma, but this specific beach works only with southerlies.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month88
Feb, riders' month88
Mar, riders' month92
Apr, riders' month93
May73
Jun82
Jul91
Aug80
Sep73
Oct78
Nov, riders' month91
Dec, riders' month86

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Nov, Dec.

16Jan26°
17Feb25°
17Mar26°
16Apr27°
14May29°
14Jun30°
15Jul31°
14Aug31°
13Sep31°
15Oct30°
17Nov27°
17Dec26°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	88%	15.6 kt	E	24.4°C	25.6°C
Feb	88%	17 kt	E	24.1°C	25°C
Mar	92%	16.6 kt	ESE	24.6°C	26.1°C
Apr	93%	16.3 kt	ENE	24.9°C	26.7°C
May	73%	13.8 kt	E	26.2°C	28.8°C
Jun	82%	13.8 kt	ESE	27.7°C	29.8°C
Jul	91%	15.4 kt	E	28.7°C	30.8°C
Aug	80%	14.4 kt	E	29°C	30.7°C
Sep	73%	13.1 kt	E	29°C	30.8°C
Oct	78%	14.6 kt	ENE	27.9°C	29.6°C
Nov	91%	16.7 kt	ENE	26.7°C	27.3°C
Dec	86%	17.1 kt	NE	25.1°C	25.9°C

modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

flat/chop

Standing depth

Shallow off the beach; the lesson water elsewhere in Exuma is waist-deep, but how far you can stand at this launch is undocumented.

Tides

The spot is listed as tide independent.

Temperature

29°C summer · 25°C winter

Wetsuit

Boardshorts or swimsuit most of the year; a shorty can help on colder winter days.

Currents

Nothing off the beach itself. The Exuma cuts run hard; treat them as boat-supported riding only.

25–31°C water

Harbour-side clear green water, flat to choppy, with sailboats/yachts anchored nearby in Elizabeth Harbour.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Intermediate and up, and the boat traffic close to the beach is why the expert-only note exists. Exuma in general is beginner-friendly; this launch is not. Learn with the school at one of its own spots, then come here.

The scene

What riders come here for

cruisingbeach bar social scenebeginnersflatwatersocial beach-bar sessionsintermediate freeride

A barefoot beach bar and cruiser hangout. It gets packed, with locals, the yachties from the anchorage and day visitors off the water taxi all sharing the sand.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

No school names this spot

Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.

On your own

Room to launch: ok

access rules on record

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

No kite rescue and no patrol. Water taxis cross all day but they are a ferry, not a safety boat, and the yachts at anchor are not a rescue service either. The only boat support you can arrange is the George Town school, by appointment.

This matters most if you leave the protected harbour water: the cuts run hard and drifting out of them is not a self-rescue.

Launch

Use the sandy beach at Chat 'N' Chill on Stocking Island; walking to the east end of the beach to launch is advised. Access is by boat or water taxi from George Town because there are no roads or bridges to Stocking Island.

Space

Rules & access

2026: no kite rules at Stocking Island / Chat 'N' Chill and no Exuma regulation specific to the beach on record.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

Launch from the east end of the beach, clear of the bar and the swimmers.
Keep out of the water-taxi line from George Town and give the anchored yachts a wide berth; boats pass close here.
Check that the forecast is actually S or SE before you carry gear over from George Town; the NE trade days do not work at this beach.
Book Exuma Kitesurfing for the sandbars and cuts; the current in the cuts is strong and you want a boat behind you.
There is no road: take the water taxi or a rented boat from the government dock on Elizabeth Harbour, about 10 minutes across.

Getting there

Airport

George Town, Exuma (GGT/MYEG)

Route

Fly to George Town on Great Exuma, then cross Elizabeth Harbour by boat; there is no road or bridge to Stocking Island. Water taxis run from the government dock all day - A1, Martin's and Elvis all do the run - and the crossing is short, five to ten minutes, for around USD 10 return (2026).A skiff can be rented instead from Minn's Water Sports in George Town, less than a mile from the dock, on 242-336-3483.

Transfer

10 min

Cost level

high

Staying

Stay on Great Exuma, around George Town or in one of the beach resorts, villas or rentals; Chat 'N' Chill is a day trip, not somewhere you sleep.

No-wind days

beach bar · fresh conch salad · Sunday pig roast · stingray viewing/feeding · snorkeling · boat rentals · SUP tours · Stocking Island beach walk

Photos

Bahamas 1989 (581) Great Exuma Stocking Island (25265242850) — Rüdiger Stehn from Kiel, Deutschland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kitesurf Chat 'N' Chill?

Best months are listed as January-April and November-December, within a broader Bahamas windy season of November-April.

Is Chat 'N' Chill suitable for beginners?

Rider ability is listed as intermediate and expert, with a note recommending experts only because boats pass close by, so beginners should use a school-guided Exuma lesson spot instead.

What is the wind like at Chat 'N' Chill?

Winds typically run 15-25 knots, but this beach works only with southerly wind even though NE and E trades are more common around Exuma.

Where do you launch at Chat 'N' Chill?

Launch from the sandy beach at the east end, reached by boat or water taxi from George Town since Stocking Island has no road or bridge access.

What hazards should kitesurfers know about at Chat 'N' Chill?

Hazards include boat and water-taxi traffic from the George Town run, anchored yachts nearby, and bystanders on the beach.

Last updated: August 2026