East Caicos

East Caicos is about ninety square kilometres and nobody lives on it. It had a sisal plantation and a cattle operation in the nineteenth century with a rail line running to a landing, and the ruins of Jacksonville are still in the bush along with the rail bed. Flamingo Hill at forty-eight metres is the highest point in the territory. There are cave systems with Lucayan remains, mangrove creeks, a long north-coast beach and a population of feral cattle descended from the plantation stock. Access is by chartered boat and there is nothing at all when you arrive.

The landscape

• Jacksonville - the ruined sisal settlement and its rail bed.
• Flamingo Hill - the highest point in the territory, at 48 metres.
• The caves - systems with Lucayan material inside.
• Feral cattle - descended from the nineteenth-century herd.

When to go

November to May is the calmest for the crossing. Access is by chartered boat from Middle or South Caicos and must be arranged; there is no scheduled service and no reason for boats to go otherwise.

Practical notes

There is nothing here: no water, no shelter, no track, no phone signal and no help. The bush is dense and thorny, mosquitoes are severe, and navigating inland without a guide is a genuinely bad idea. Charters are expensive and weather-dependent. Development proposals for the island surface periodically and have never come to anything.

Nearby

Middle Caicos is west across a channel; South Caicos is southeast.

Key facts