Arawak Cay, Nassau

Everyone in Nassau calls it the Fish Fry. Arawak Cay is a strip of brightly painted seafood stands and beach bars on the western edge of town, about a mile from the cruise port along West Bay Street. Every stall picks its own colors, and next to each other they turn the whole place into one long, loud color study.

I shot the series at midday under hard, almost cloudless sun. Most photographers avoid that light, but here it worked: it pushed the paint and the signs to full saturation.

What's in the gallery

The stands and their signs: Twin Brothers and Mr. Pool's conch salad shacks, Da Island Style Kitchen, the Grill Master, the Corn Roaster, the Bush Garden and Chippie's Beach Bar. Hand-painted menus listing conch fritters, fried lobster and jerk chicken, a "Cuban cigars sold here" board, a beach-chairs-for-guests-only sign, and fruit stalls stacked with pineapples and coconuts.

Read the full story behind these shots, including how to walk there from the cruise port, in Arawak Cay Nassau Bahamas: A Fish Fry in Frame in Behind the Lens.

Hand-painted beach bar menu listing conch fritters, fried lobster and jerk chicken at Arawak Cay.
Chippie's Beach Bar in Nassau, an open-air bar with palm trees and a Cuban cigars sign.
Coconut water and cane juice bar with fresh tropical fruit and a daiquiri menu at the Fish Fry
Da Island Style Kitchen serving conch fritters, jerk dinners and snapper in Nassau, Bahamas.
Twin Brothers conch salad shack at Arawak Cay, its sign noting features on CBS, NBC and Top Chef
The Corn Roaster, a yellow street food shack selling roasted corn and chicken in Nassau
Red-lettered "Cuban cigars sold here" sign on a white board at the Fish Fry
Grill Master seafood shack advertising lobster, conch, chicken and ribs at Arawak Cay
Exterior of the Bush Garden fish fry and seafood steakhouse in Nassau, Bahamas
"Free beach chairs, guests only" sign and Kalik beer ad at Chippie's Beach Club
Colorful open-air bar with Bahamian Kitchen and Hookah Lounge murals, a yellow bench and pool table at the Fish Fry
Mr. Pool Conch Salad Stand and The Sand Bar with Kalik beer signs at Arawak Cay
Fresh pineapples and citrus stacked at a fruit stall in Nassau
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