Video: In the Bahamas, a busy street and a private beach

For years, cruise ships have been stopping at Nassau in the Bahamas. This video shows the touristy main drag that passengers find when they debark. But wait.

This video, shot in February, also shows another side of the Bahamas, which includes more than 700 islands and a few hundred smaller cays. Coco Cay, leased and staffed by Royal Caribbean Cruises, is a private compound for cruise passengers spending a day at the beach.

The tides are gentle. The water is bright blue. The island culture is – well, it’s a sort of artificial construct of Royal Caribbean. But as the video makes clear, Coco Cay is a pleasant place to pass a day, if you’ve got sunscreen and a hat. Keep an eye out for the reptile at the end.

“A Minute Away” is a video series in which nothing much happens -- except you see the world, and hear it, and get a respite from workaday life. We’ve covered Machu Picchu, Red Square, the Yucatan, the Alamo, an Alaskan float plane and the reading room of the New York Public Library, among other places. Since early 2013, we’ve been adding a new minute every week (and some of those “minutes” are actually closer to 120 seconds. So if you’d prefer 100 minutes away, we’ve got more than enough here for you…