I'd skip
Bimini for clearing in, too. Last time, I came over from no-name harbor, and cleared at Chub Cay. The good thing was, they gave me a seven month visa. The bad thing was, you have to get a slip, at some of the highest prices in the
Bahamas, even though the place was almost deserted when I was there, (in November).
Anywhere in the Exumas is nice. I can't think of one place there that I don't like.
Make sure you take the Explorer
Charts for the Near
Bahamas and Exumas (and for the Far Bahamas, too if you think you might keep going), especially if don't have a
Garmin chartplotter (which has the Explorer
charts incorporated into its maps). But, there is still tons of good info in the
books themselves that make them well worth the
price.