Cay Sal Bank, The Most Far Out of Bahamas’ Out Islands: Uncommon Attraction
In The Bahamas, there are Out Islands and there are FAR OUT islands, Cay Sal Bank squarely epitomizing the latter.
Technically part of Bimini, the bit of The Bahamas lying closest to the U.S. mainland, Cay Sal is actually much closer to Cuba (only 31 miles away) than anywhere else. The closest part of Bimini, Orange Cay, is a good 75 miles to the north!
The whole place is really one big atoll covering 2,000+ square miles, only 570 square miles of which is considered dry land. Within this area, you’ll find nearly 100 different islets, cays, and rocks. The main island, also named Cay Sal, measures a scant .47 square miles.
Ruins of old abandoned buildings on Cay Sal show that the islet was once inhabited, but the only folks you’re bound to run into here these days are scuba divers keen on exploring Cay Sal’s enormous blue holes, the wreck of the Rompidas, and virgin coral reefs teeming with sea life.
Learn more about what it’s like to dive Cay Sal here.
Photo credit: Flickr user Boris Kasimov.