We hired Marco for a private tour of the island. Very affordable and a great guy. He found us at the cruise port and negotiated a price per person. He gave us a great tour of island then took us to Taino Beach for an hour of beach time and he stayed with us. He stopped us off at the free public beach access area. We found Bernie there. She sold Bahama Mamas and other drinks for $5 and lobster meals for $20. I think we paid $15 for a conch plate. It was a relaxing time on the beach and finding Marco and Bernie were a god send.

We did plenty of reading of reviews about The Marlin at Taino beach. First let me say this island was decimated by hurricane Dorian in 2019 and then COVID.. enough said. We traded through RCI. Our room at the Marlin was a studio, very clean, bed was very comfy, small cooktop, mini fridge and surprise… a whirlpool tub. Very limited cookware, dishes and utensils , but we managed. Shuttle to Solomans grocery store was $8 a couple, liquor store if needed is also there. Prices are on the high side but everything is expensive on the island. You can take the ferry over to Port Lucaya for $8 pp. I must admit there was a lot that was closed, some never returned after Dorian and we went at peak hurricane season, so not many tourists. We did find some great souvenirs and a nice rest for an ice cold Kalik! The resort itself is covered in beautiful landscaping which the workers are always sweeping, pruning and picking up. The lazy river pool is awesome, which I enjoyed very much. The swim up grotto bar is very cool, you can swim through the waterfalls or enter from the patio area. Drinks are $$ but heavy on the alcohol and yummy! Yes the restaurant closes at 5 we just worked around it. The staff did host a welcome party complete with a full plate of tasty local food and rum punch! Then a dance off to win prizes…you guessed it rum ! The beach is awesome! A tractor comes early every morning to comb the beach. Plenty of huts and chairs to hang all day which we did ! Jet skis there for rent. The people who live and work anywhere in the Bahamas are truly the best. It’s a very quiet resort and working very hard to recover. We will return !

This resort looks nothing like to the pictures. It looks old and needs major upgrades. The bed is hard due to the very thin mattress. It has only one restaurant that closes either 6p-7p depending on the day. The pool is the worst I've ever seen. There are three fees due up front, one for the towels, returnable at checkout. One fee for staying at the property, non refundable and a third refundable fee that a security deposit. You must provide them your copy of the receipt for the refund to happen, except that you never get the refund. My husband handled this and didn't fight it as I would have. This place is a rip off. And unfortunately there's not a lot to do here. We travel several times a year and this place has been the worse I've visited. We did meet really nice people on the island.