Weird Places: The Swimming Pigs Of The Bahamas

There are people who make it a sport to visit the strangest and most remarkable places on earth. Our “weird places” blog is designed to give them a nudge in a new direction. Like the Bahamas—a beautiful region in the Caribbean Sea. It consists of some 700 islands with lots of sun, sea, beaches and… pigs?

That’s right. And, no, I’m not referring to beachgoers who could stand to lose a few pounds around the waistline. One Bahamian island is the home of a family of pigs—about twenty in all. Years ago, the pigs settled into an uninhabited island called Big Major Cay, which the locals call Pig Beach.

You can’t really call them the indigenous population. But no one knows for certain how they got there. There are legends about a shipwreck and the pigs who survived by swimming ashore. Others believe it’s nothing more than a ploy to attract tourists.

What is it that makes these animals so much fun? Well, they swim—and not just a little bit. If you visit the beach, they’ll come dog paddling (as it were) happily up to your boat—in exchange, of course, for something to eat. They’re pigs, after all. If you’re in the mood to cool off, just jump in with these pink or brown-dappled friends. They may be omnivorous, but they don’t bite.

Other Weird Places:

• The Jumbo Jet hotel
• The Upside Down House
• The Hill of Crosses
• The Cathedral of Junk
• The Bubble Gum Lake
• The African Switzerland
• The Corny Maze
• The Worlds Largest Mirror
• The Market Train
• The Rocky Village
• The Blue Vulcano