Staniel Cay

Staniel Cay is a settlement of a few hundred people in the middle of the Exuma chain, with an airstrip, a yacht club, a couple of shops and a position that makes it the hub for everything nearby: the swimming pigs at Big Major Cay, Thunderball Grotto on the reef, the nurse sharks at Compass Cay, and the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park to the north. Boats and golf carts are the transport, and the pace outside the marina is slow.

History

Staniel Cay was settled in 1783, when American Loyalists settled the whole Exuma chain, and it grew in popularity after Bob Chamberlain and Joe Hocher founded the Staniel Cay Yacht Club in 1956. Thunderball Grotto on its western coast took its name from the James Bond film Thunderball of 1965, which was filmed there, and the island also appears in Never Say Never Again of 1983 (Wikipedia, Staniel Cay).

The landscape

• The yacht club dock - the social centre of the cay, with nurse sharks under the fish-cleaning station.
• The village - a few streets of painted houses and two small stores.
• The base position - pigs, grotto, sharks and the park all within a short boat run.
• The airstrip - a single strip taking small aircraft direct from Florida and Nassau.

When to go

November to April is the dry season and the peak. Boat trips depend on weather and winter fronts can shut the water down for days. Summer is hot and hurricane season runs June to November.

What to expect

Accommodation is limited and expensive for what it is, and books out months ahead. Everything on the cay is brought in by boat, which is reflected in prices. Without a boat you are limited to the cay itself.

Nearby

Big Major Cay and the pigs are a few minutes north, and Thunderball Grotto is off the western shore.

Key facts