The Tribune

Vampires need plenty of shade while on vacation in the Bahamas, according to “True Blood” star Kristin Bauer.

“Cabanas with shade are really important for a vampire,” she said.

Ms Bauer and her husband, Abri Van Straten, recently vacationed at Sandals Emerald Bat in Exuma for five days, getting away from the rush of Los Angeles where she works on the hit HBO show.

The couple said they escaped from LA to the “tranquil” beach of Emerald Bay.

“The amazing thing about it is that water. You just don’t get it anywhere else; that blue bath water,” Ms Bauer said.

“And it’s so shallow you can walk out and walk out. It is unintimidating. And the white beach, that’s that classic Bahamas experience that we were looking for, that we’ve seen here. And we have a place (villa) that walks right out onto that, so it’s pretty amazing.”

Ms Bauer said her role as Pam on “True Blood” and her life in LA keep her too busy to focus on relaxation. Therefore, she spent much of her time at Sandals taking in spa treatments and simply lounging by the ocean.

“It’s the opposite of the rest of my life, so that’s crazy living in LA congestion and traffic – there’s no time,” said Ms Bauer. “And here you just have endless tranquillity and time and peace. So I love what I do but I also really needed to relax.”

While relaxing was a must, according to Ms. Bauer, the swimming pigs of the Exumas topped her list. And she said she wanted her husband to experience snorkelling in the clear water surrounding the islands.

“My husband has never been to water like this, so we’re going to go snorkelling,” she said.

“One thing you guys have that no one else has is swimming with pigs and I love pigs because I love dogs and they’re very similar, so I think that should be pretty cute.”

She and her husband also revelled in the dining options on offer, tasting French, Italian and Bahamian cuisine over course of their stay.

“We had ice cream today which was heaven, so there is plenty to eat,” Ms Bauer said.

Ms Bauer said she found out over the course of her trip that her husband is a good chess player, having bested her in a game on Sandals’ oversized chess board.