On Harbour Island the off-season doesn't end on one date. It ends one venue at a time. The first places to come back in October 2026 sit on the harbor, around the docks and marina power pedestals. The dining rooms that face Pink Sand Beach follow around November. The two biggest additions of the season, a new waterfront restaurant and the island's first full-service spa, come after that.
The Landing gives the off-season its clearest outline. Its booking page calls September 1 through October 30 "off season on the island" and says the majority of businesses close during that stretch. Its own restaurant will not open in that window. The same calendar takes bookings again from November 1. On September 6, The Dunmore posted that it was "currently closed for the season, but we're keeping the view warm for you in the meantime." Two of the island's best-known hotel dining rooms are still dark.
So who is open this week?
Valentines Never Closed, and Homecoming Proves It
The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism's listing for Valentines Resort and Marina says the property is open year round. That makes it the one constant through September and early October, and it is hosting the season's first real social weekend.
The weekend falls before Monday, October 12, which is National Heroes Day, a Bahamian public holiday. Valentines has two events:
- Homecoming Sunset Soirée, Saturday, October 10, 5 p.m. until late. Sunset cocktails, music and dinner at the marina, with a custom cocktail menu made with Grey Goose. The event is run with Grey Goose and Bristol Wines & Spirits. Valentines suggests arriving early for golden hour.
- Homecoming Sunday Brunch, Sunday, October 11, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Brunch, cocktails, bubbles and music, run with Bristol Wines & Spirits, Sperone, Aperol and Josh Cellars.
A detail for anyone planning the weekend: these are Valentines' own Homecoming events, built around the long weekend. They are not an island-wide festival with a separate organizer. Reservations and questions go through the resort's event pages.
October 16 Belongs to Briland Club's Marina
The second big date is Friday, October 16. That day Briland Club reopens both of its public venues, which it says will come back "refreshed."
Bar480 is the outdoor bar and grill above the marina. Its name refers to the marina's 480-volt power at every pedestal, which the club says no other marina on Harbour Island offers. Reservations are already open for dates from October 16 onward. The club's own 2026 dining guide puts Bar480's menu at about $31 to $50 a person and lists daily breakfast, lunch and dinner service.
r.bar is the club's walk-in beach bar on Pink Sand Beach. It serves handcrafted cocktails and fresh sushi, and both venues are open to the public, not just members and guests. Beach loungers and umbrellas there are for members and registered guests only. The dune, the bar, the hammocks and the casual seating are open to everyone. r.bar doesn't take reservations.
So the first two venues back on the island's busiest public beach are a marina operation and its beach outpost. The beach side is reopening from the harbor side.
The Beachfront Hotels Come Back in Late October and November
Look through the online booking systems of the Pink Sand Beach properties and you see the same gap.
Rooms you can book now
Pink Sands Resort's booking engine showed a One Bedroom Garden View Cottage available for October 5 to 6. Its dining page lists Malcolm 51 for dinner from 5 to 9 p.m., and Blue Bar & Kitchen for breakfast from 7:30 to 11 a.m. and lunch from noon to 5 p.m. That page gives no seasonal dates, so call ahead before counting on a table. Runaway Hill had its Infinity House available for October 10 to 13, Homecoming weekend, at $4,500 for three nights.
Rooms still dark
The Dunmore's booking system returned no availability for October 5 or October 30. Rock House's stay calendar shows dates as "Not available" through the October and November pages it displays. Coral Sands showed nothing for October 30, but its November 1 search came back with twelve bookable options. The Landing's restaurant stays closed until its off-season ends on October 30.
A blank booking calendar means no rooms can be booked on those nights. It is not a formal closing notice, and none of these hotels has published a reopening date for its restaurant. The overall pattern matches Briland Club's description of the island. Its 2026 guide says the dining scene is busiest roughly November through August, and many restaurants close in late summer or early fall before "reopening gradually in November."
That word "gradually" matters on a small island. The same guide notes that most smaller, family-run spots take bookings by phone or in person, with limited hours and sometimes limited days. No online system shows whether Queen Conch, Angela's Starfish or Harry O's is open on a particular Tuesday in early November. A phone call is still the only reliable check.
The Places Already Back in Their Rooms
One reopening has already happened. Sip Sip, Julie Lightbourn's lunch spot, now runs out of Romora Bay. Romora Bay's dining page lists lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Tuesdays. Romora Bay sits on the harbor side as well, and it has a pickleball event on its calendar for December 10 to 13.
Coral Sands will reopen with more to show than most of its neighbors. Hospitality Design reported in February 2026 that the resort had finished its second renovation phase. The work covered 41 accommodations, a new open-air sports facility, two dining concepts, refreshed public spaces and a gift shop. Its current dining lineup includes The Pink Mermaid, the Beach Bar, and a Beach Shack that sells beach essentials. The resort also lists an oceanfront pool and a padel court. For anyone who left the island last spring, the Coral Sands they walk back into in November will look different from the one they remember.
The New Builds Come Last
Both of the season's major new projects are scheduled after the November reopenings.
Briland Club's new waterfront restaurant is listed as "Coming December 2026." The club describes it as "both familiar and elevated," serving from sunrise to sunset, and notes that the published rendering may change. If it opens on time, the harbor side gains its biggest new dining room just as the December through April high season begins. Briland Club's guide calls those months the period when the island's top restaurants book well ahead.
Turquoise Waters, the Spa at Coral Sands has slipped. Hospitality Design's February report said the newly built spa was due to open in 2026. The spa's own page, updated in September, now says "Opening Early 2027." It describes the spa as Harbour Island's only full-service spa, with treatment rooms, hydrotherapy, open-air spaces and tropical gardens. It will not be ready for a holiday-season appointment. The Coral Sands spa page is the place to watch for a firm date.
The Season's Dates in Order
Pulled together, the island's next few months run in this order:
- October 10 and 11. Homecoming Sunset Soirée and Sunday Brunch at Valentines.
- October 12. National Heroes Day holiday.
- October 16. Bar480 and r.bar reopen at Briland Club.
- October 30. The Landing's posted off-season ends.
- November 1. The Landing and Coral Sands open for bookings, and the gradual restaurant reopenings Briland Club describes begin.
- December 10 to 13. Pickleball event at Romora Bay.
- December 2026. Briland Club's new waterfront restaurant is scheduled to open.
- December 31. Valentines hosts its Captain's Countdown, ringing in 2027 with live music, a DJ, Junkanoo and fireworks over the marina.
- Early 2027. Turquoise Waters Spa opens at Coral Sands.
- March 5, 2027. The Eleuthera Winter Residents Reception at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve in Governor's Harbour, listed by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.
That Governor's Harbour date is the one entry on the list that means leaving Briland.
For buyers and owners who time their arrivals by Homecoming weekend or the first Bar480 table, the reopening calendar also tells you when Harbour Island's private estates show at their best. The Altidor Collection arranges private viewings that fit around the island's season. Discover the Collection, and contact Mack for private access.
