Travel advisor Nicholas Ruge had dreamed of visiting one of the Bahamas' most remote luxury resorts for years, and when he finally stepped off a puddle jumper in Congo Town, South Andros, he found a destination that quietly rewrote everything he thought he knew about the islands.
At a Glance
South Andros offers a quieter, community-focused alternative to Nassau's resort corridor. Seru Lamar, an oceanfront property built by the Baumlers, employs only local staff, sources artisan goods from Bahamian islands, and provides access to pristine snorkelling reefs, mangrove paddling, and blue holes. The island suits anglers, divers, honeymooners, and adventurers seeking uncrowded, authentic Bahamian lifestyle.
The flight from Nassau to Congo Town, South Andros, takes only minutes. But when Nicholas Ruge stepped off that small puddle jumper onto the tarmac last December, he felt the distance between the two worlds immediately. The noise, the crowds, the polished commercial energy of Nassau's Grand Hyatt Baha Mar dissolved behind him. What replaced it was quieter, slower, and entirely real. Within five minutes, he was checking into Seru Lamar, an oceanfront resort built by Brian and Sarah Baumler and made famous by the HGTV series Island of Brian. It was, Ruge says, a long time coming. "It's been a longtime dream of mine to visit the property and to be able to complete a full site inspection and to experience all of their local excursions and Bohemian lifestyle."
That dream, carefully saved and deliberately planned as a last-minute December escape for Ruge and his partner, became one of the most professionally formative trips of his career. What he brought home was not just a collection of memories, but a precise, lived understanding of a destination that most travelers, and even many advisors, have never considered.
Two Bahamas, One Itinerary
Ruge's journey was designed with intentional contrast. The trip opened with nights at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in Nassau, absorbing the vibrant, high-energy atmosphere of one of the Caribbean's most celebrated resort corridors. Then came the pivot. A commercial flight to Congo Town, a short drive, and the world changed. "Experiencing it myself firsthand, it was nice to experience going through Nassau and combining both that fun entertainment and vibrant side of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and then switching gears to South Andros at Seru Lamar, where it's a lot more relaxed and slower paced and a truer essence of the Bahamian lifestyle."
The resort itself sits oceanfront, steps from a local barge, bodegas, and community gathering spots that have nothing to do with tourism. Ruge describes the sensation of checking into a beautifully maintained luxury property and then cycling a few kilometres down the road to watch shipments arrive at the barge, stop into a local shop, or share a drink with islanders. That proximity to real local life, he says, is not incidental. It is the point. "Seru Lamar is only five minutes driving distance away from the Congo Town airport, and it's such an amazing experience to check into a property that's oceanfront but then footsteps or a short bike ride away from the local barge and shops and bodegas where the locals use and congregate."
A Resort Built on Community
What Ruge found at Seru Lamar was not simply a well-designed escape. It was a philosophy made physical. Every staff member on property was hired from South Andros itself, speaking the native language and carrying an intimate knowledge of the island that no training manual could replicate. The boutique stocked hand-knitted artisan goods from Bahamian islands, original artwork from native citizens, and locally sourced products that told the story of the culture rather than simply decorating it. The clubhouse suites offered apothecary-style bath products made from Bahamian ingredients. Even the maintenance crew worked with visible dedication, keeping the property immaculate against the demands of hurricane season and the standards of the luxury market.
For Ruge, this hyper-local model was one of the trip's most powerful revelations. "Everyone on site was hired from that island, speaks the native language. Their focus is on supporting the community, elevating the lifestyle there, providing access to jobs, adventure tourism, and really bridging the gap for tourists and locals to come together." He describes it as a ripple effect, one that reaches far beyond the resort's boundaries and gives every guest interaction a depth that commercial resorts simply cannot manufacture.
The Surprise on the Plate
If the community philosophy was expected, given the property's story, the food was not. Ruge arrived anticipating competent resort dining. What he found was something closer to revelation. The Baumlers had sought out a celebrated chef with roots in New Jersey and Miami, whose dishes Ruge describes with the kind of careful enthusiasm that suggests he has been reaching for the right words since he landed home. The cafe operated like its own patisserie, producing fresh croissants, homemade granola, baked treats, and house-made elixirs each morning. For a property that stands as one of the only resorts on the island, the culinary ambition was extraordinary. "For being on such a remote destination, where it's one of the only resorts that exists on this island, they certainly brought their best foot forward, and it definitely shows with their guest feedback and retention."
Into the Blue
South Andros is, at its core, an aquatic destination, and Seru Lamar's adventure team proved to be its finest ambassadors. Ruge and his partner were taken out on private boat charters to snorkelling reefs where the coral felt untouched, paddled through mangrove channels that filtered the light into something cathedral-quiet, and swam the island's iconic blue holes, natural open-water formations that sit somewhere between cenote and dream. "They did just a standout job of taking us out on private boat charters to some incredible snorkelling reefs, paddleboarding through some of the mangrove sites, and then of course their iconic blue holes for some open water cenote swims." The guides, all local, brought a knowledge of the island's hidden corners that transformed each excursion from an activity into an education.
Is This Trip Right for You?
Ruge is precise about who belongs on South Andros and who would be better served elsewhere. Avid anglers, whether sport fishing or bonefishing, will find the island extraordinary. Scuba divers and snorkellers will run out of time before they run out of reef. Honeymooners seeking a bespoke, uncrowded escape will find the private oceanfront bungalow villas, where sunrise arrives over the water without another soul in sight, quietly perfect. Solo adventurers and couples who prefer to fill their days off-property rather than poolside will feel entirely at home, particularly with Seru Lamar's complimentary bicycles and the freedom to roam the island at their own pace.
Those who expect a full-service resort with on-demand entertainment, a sprawling pool scene, and wall-to-wall amenities should look to Nassau. South Andros is not that. It is something rarer, and Ruge is careful to say so before a single booking is made.
What Only a First-Hand Visit Can Teach
Ruge returned from South Andros carrying two things most advisors cannot offer: direct experience and logistical clarity. He now guides clients through two distinct routing options. Those flying from Toronto or other Canadian cities can connect through Nassau, where a one-to-two night stopover is recommended before the commercial flight to Congo Town, which operates only on select days of the week. For clients departing from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, a more direct private charter service, operated in partnership with Seru Lamar, provides a faster but more premium route. He also advises every client heading to Seru Lamar to select a full board or half board meal plan before arrival. "I highly recommend adding the full board or half board service when you stay at Seru Lamar," he says, noting how quickly a la carte dining costs can escalate on a remote island with limited alternatives.
The trip has also shifted something broader in how Ruge approaches client conversations. When a traveller mentions they are considering a familiar all-inclusive resort, he now introduces South Andros as an alternative worth considering, not as a replacement, but as a counterpoint that reveals what travel can feel like when it goes deeper. The layered itinerary, Nassau's energy balanced against Andros's stillness, gives a journey a sense of substance and duration that a single-destination holiday rarely achieves.
The Gospel Brunch at Atlantis Paradise Island, experienced on the return leg during the Christmas season, became the trip's final flourish: a French colonial-themed cafe filled with music and festivity, a joyful contrast to the quiet mornings at Seru Lamar that preceded it.
Ruge is already looking ahead. His next research journey takes him to the Ionian Islands of Greece, where he plans to visit Zakynthos and Corfu, stop on the mainland to walk through sites including the Corinth Canal, ancient Olympia, and Meteora, and arrive during the olive harvest season to experience the islands as they work. It is, in its own way, the same instinct that brought him to South Andros: go first, understand deeply, then bring clients somewhere they could not have found on their own.
