Above: where you can stand on the Tropic of Cancer

By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

White-sand beaches, junkanoo and fresh conch salad are all common (and good!) reasons to visit the Bahamas. Now here’s another equally good yet lesser-known justification to visit the archipelago ASAP.

In the Exumas (a string of 365 islands and cays 35 miles south of Nassau) you can actually straddle a line of latitude.

The line that marks the Tropic of Cancer bisects one of the Bahamas’ most scenic strands, Little Exuma’s Pelican Beach. You’ll find it about five miles past the bridge that connects Great and Little Exuma.

When you get there, just look down and you’ll see the painted line that marks the Tropic’s coordinates.

Although the line is permanent, the tropic’s exact position isn’t. Scientists tell us that it is actually drifting south at a rate of about half a second of latitude a year. So you better book that Bahamas trip now!

— CJ