The Secret of Castaway Cay Island

What is the secret of Castaway Cay?

This had been a big question for scientists, historians, and explorers for countless years. The little dot of land in the vast Caribbean Sea had different meanings to different people. For explorers, there had long been tales of the island’s magical properties that seemed to “stop time” for anyone that was lucky enough to find the island and come ashore. The indigenous people of the Caribbean long believed the island has mystical powers that would wash away all the worries of life. They would often stop there to absorb the island’s power before traveling on to other bits of land scattered throughout the vast ocean. The crews of sailing ships, lost at sea told stories of discovering a small speck of land that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and allowed them to nurse their ships as well as themselves back to good health. Castaway Cay was no ordinary island. It was a great mystery.

For as long as anyone could remember there was another legend about Castaway Cay, a belief that eventually brought about the discovery of the island’s true secrets. See, the small tropical island, with the lamest water in the Caribbean and some of the most tranquil beaches ever to be seen, was also known as a hiding place for treasure, pirate treasure to be exact.

Castaway Cay made perfect sense as a hiding place for pirate treasure. The coastal waters, calm almost all year round, made sailing in with captured booty a very easy task for even the most rum-soaked pirate crew. It was the ideal hiding place and work soon spread that Castaway Cay was literally the treasure of the Caribbean, that is, if you could find it.

So, in the 1930s, a group of treasure hunters gathered all the information they could, from hand drawn maps to the diaries of long passed sailors and set out to find Castaway Cay. They packed a cargo boat with supplies and modern equipment and set sail from the East Coast of the United States. They told no one where they were headed, not even friends or family. As they set sail that spring evening, this group of men, women and even some children had no idea that their lived where about to change and that their journey would end with them never leaving the island that they so desperately sought.

After traveling down, the coast for three days, the treasure-hunting ship turned and sailed at top speed into the waters of the Caribbean. They charted a course that led the ship straight to the eastern shores of Castaway Cay. As the captain and crew dropped anchor, the group of treasure hunters all stood on deck and marveled at the beautiful little island.

With the cargo ship anchored near a lagoon, the treasure hunters quickly unloaded their gear and started to search the island. Where would pirates hide that treasure? They wondered as they looked in the forest, moved aside rocks, and dug on the beaches. A full week passed and not one bit of treasure could be found, leading to the confusion and many arguments among the group of seekers. They soon realized that their easy fortune was really a fool’s errand. There was simply no treasure on Castaway Cay. They made a plan to pack up and leave the next morning. But then, the mysterious storm arrived.

The sky turned very dark, and an unusually thick fog rolled in. Large waves started to crash against the shore. As they sat in their tents, dry from the rain, some thought they could hear their ship groan as it was pushed against the coral.

When they all walked down to the beach the next morning, one thing was obvious: their ship was gone. They were not stuck on Castaway Cay.

Like most new castaways, the group-built signal fires, wrote messages with rocks on the beach for the rare change an airplane would fly over, and even put messages in bottles. They also surveyed their supplies and realized that they were very lucky to bring so much food and so many tools ashore. Between the easy-to-catch fish as well as their own canned goods and bottle drinks, they would have plenty of food and water to last for a long time. As they searched around the island and on the beaches, the castaways would occasionally find bits of manmade hardware from shipwrecks ad spilled cargo that would add to their supplies.

After the initial fear of being stranded passed, this industrious crew of seamen and treasure hunters soon built up a village. They created little places to eat, small cabana-sized huts to relax, and even tiny shops to sell each other bits of merchandise and things that they made. With a number of children amongst them, fun was a top priority. Everyone worked together to build a series of beach and recreation centers. They called the water slide Pelican Plunge. A fun water play area they name Spring-A-Leak. When some of the castaways found whale bones, they named the site Monstro Point, after the sea monster in a famous storybook. The more the former treasure hunters built up their little village, the happier they became. They figured if they were going to be stuck on an island, this was a great island to be stuck on.

Then one day a plane flew overhead. The small cargo plane, flying food and drinks to another Caribbean Island, started to lose power over Castaway Cay. The pilot finally crashes, landing into the jungle near the island’s northeastern coast. As he climbed out of his wrecked plane thinking he was in the middle of nowhere, imagine his surprise when he was met by a group of castaways who welcomed him and offered him a tasty meal. When he asked where such a meal was possible prepared on a deserted island, they answered “Cookie’s BBQ, of course.”

The pilot toured the island and realized he had never been to such an amazing place. The island had beautiful weather, calm water, and the friendliest people he’d met in all has many flights abroad. The village they built had everything one needed to relax. With his plan damaged and radio out of range, the newest castaway decided to do all that he could to help contribute to the island paradise. Using the drinks on this plane as a start, he built the Castaway Cay Air Br right near the quietest beach on the island, a place they soon called Serenity Beach. He also led the building of the island’s first airstrip, not as a way to leave one, but as a signal to other plans to stop by and visit, something that eventually occurred.

As time went by, the original treasure-hunting castaways had many opportunities to leave the island as a number of planes and ships discovered them, yet every time they were given the chance, the group unanimously decided to stay. Many of the would-be rescuers also decided to stay. As more people joined the original group of castaways, the island became better supplied. New activities and destinations were added to the original village, including places to snorkel, ride bikes, and buy exotic trinkets and treats. But the spirit of the island always remained the same. Castaway Cay was, and still is, a place to visit, relax, and let the trouble of the outside world disappear. It is a place that several generations of castaways have enjoyed and still call their home. It is a place that doesn’t hide treasure but is the treasure itself.

That is the Secret of Castaway Cay.