Salt Cay
Often referred to as the “Island that time forgot”. Less than one hundred years ago a thriving salt industry supported a community of 1100 people. Now home to about 80 souls from around the world who enjoy a peaceful coexistence with the sea and sky.
If low key is the vacation you are seeking you can enjoy no less than five dining establishments from gourmet to authentic “island” cuisine and ten guest houses with selections from the funky to the luxurious - Salt Cay style. A list of privacy-seeking celebrities have graced the shores since movie stars Madeleine Carroll and Sterling Hayden converged in 1942 to film Bahama Passage.
A day trip on Salt Cay to view just a small slice of life truly away from it all can be the highlight of your Turks & Caicos experience. Few destinations afford the opportunity to meet the people who live there - people with a story to tell and a genuine smile. On Salt Cay you will find the friendliest people in the world.
On their way to the Silver Banks to mate and calf, January thru March is prime whale watching time. The humpbacks are playing so close by you can see them from shore and hear them with your ear in the water. No longer hunted for “oil” they are now enjoyed by a privileged few who can spend a day with them.
Salt Cay’s reef is still pristine, less travelled and part of the third largest reef system in the world. The top of the reef starts in only 20 to 35 feet of water. The walls have a gradual slope or a sheer drop to 7000 feet. Dive sites are just 5 or 10 minutes from the dock. Northwest Wall, Kelly’s Folly and Turtle Garden offer wall diving at its finest. Huge gorgonians, brilliant coral and sponges form a backdrop for a family of spotted eagle rays, turtles, dolphins, huge moray eels and jewel-like fishes. You can arrange to dive the HMS Endymion, a 1790s British war ship resting in just 40 feet of water. Magnificent songs by the Humpbacks can be heard on most every dive.
Snorkelling, right off the beach, is unsurpassed. The Bluff, Point Pleasant and Aquarium sites offer opportunities to watch a line of squid, tarpon, barracuda, many brilliant fish, as well as colourful coral heads and fans.
A day trip to Salt Cay to “feel” the history can include a tour that takes in several points of interest. (Golf cart rentals available.)
The main salt pond dominates the view to the east as apparently it has since the Tianos occupied the island hundreds of years prior to Columbus. Bermudan salt rakers arrived in 1645 and developed the ponds for salt making. Utilising slave labour they built the system of canals, walls, sluices and windmills, remnants of which can be seen today.
The White House stands on the western shore, as a stately sentinel and icon to times past. This 200 year old Bermudan-style stone home is the first sight many visitors have of Salt Cay upon arrival by air or sea.>
The Brown House, built in the 1840s, having survived many hurricanes, is the oldest wooden structure in the Islands with beautiful verandas and handmade louvers.
The St. Johns Anglican Church was built in the 1790s - an architectural treasure complete with cemetery, the final resting place for many salt merchants. Built by freed slaves in the 1840s the Salt Cay Methodist Church is an example of classic British Colonial architecture. These are but a few samples of the many buildings of interest.
Taylor Hill is 59 feet high with 360 degree views and the site of a former whale watching station. At Little Bluff Lookout find a late 18th century British cannon once poised to protect the salt industry from French raiders. South Creek is famous for shelling, bird watching and the “Blue Hole”.
Salt Cay’s three mile long North Beach has to be the most beautiful white sand beach in the world. Often times you may be the only one there to enjoy it and the only footprints are your own.
You are invited to visit with us, discover and enjoy this remote outpost of a bygone time when “Salt” was king. Flights to Salt Cay, day tours, dining options, snorkelling, diving and whale watching can be arranged by calling ahead to any of the links below.
The sun is intense so please wear hats, sunglasses, sun screen, drink plenty of fluids and dress modestly.
