top of page
REDISCOVER THE HISTORY OF THE BAHAMAS
About the
Bahamas Maritime Museum
Opening on August 8, 2022, Allen Exploration’s Bahamas Maritime Museum in Freeport, Grand Bahama, tells the story of The Bahamas’s rich maritime legacy for the first time. Straddling 700 islands and cays, and flanked by the great Bahama Bank through which the world’s trade sailed, water has always defined The Bahamas’s history from Lucayan free-divers and the horrors of the slave trade to Spanish treasure fleets and as the pirate capital of the Americas.
The Bahamas Maritime Museum explores these themes, set around The Bahamas’ sunken crown jewel: remains of the shipwrecked Spanish galleon the Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Wonders), lost off the northern islands on January 4, 1656.
​
Sponsored by Carl and Gigi Allen, is situated in Freeport, Grand Bahama, at Sea Horse Road, 12 Port Lucaya Marketplace #2. It covers some 370 square meters on the main floor and 170 square meters upstairs in a classroom setup. The space includes an extensive library, plus presentation room and conservation laboratory for the Maravillas shipwreck project.
Dr. Michael Pateman, Director of The Bahamas Maritime Museum, is an archaeologist and specialist on the Lucayan Indigenous people, maritime heritage and cultural traditions of The Bahamas. He is the former Director of the Turks and Caicos National Museum.
bottom of page