Ashton Lagoon

In the 1990s a marina development at Ashton on Union Island dredged channels and built causeways across the lagoon and then collapsed, leaving the water circulation cut and the mangroves and seagrass dying, in what was described as the largest single piece of environmental damage in the eastern Caribbean. A restoration project from 2016 reopened the channels and rebuilt the flow, and the mangroves, birds and fish have come back. The restoration was run by a local environmental organisation with international funding, and it is held up across the region as the clearest case of a wrecked coastal system being brought back.

What you actually see

• The restored channels - the cuts reopened to bring the water circulation back.
• The mangroves - the forest recovering since the restoration began.
• The boardwalk - the walking route out into the lagoon.
• The failed marina - the abandoned causeways and pilings still visible.

When to go

December to May is the dry season. Birds are most active early and late. Hurricane Beryl in 2024 damaged the structures.

Honest expectations

The 2024 hurricane damaged the boardwalk and trails and recovery is ongoing. Mosquitoes are heavy at dawn and dusk. The failed marina remains are ugly and still visible.

Nearby

Chatham Bay is northwest, and Clifton is east.