Abaco Islands

The Abaco islands lie in the northern Bahamas and comprise the main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco, together with the smaller Wood Cay, Lubbers Quarters Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Great Guana Cay, Gorda Cay, Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Stranger's Cay, Umbrella Cay, Walker's Cay and Moore's Island.

Three airports are found in the Abacos: Marsh Harbour (the major one, on Great Abaco Island), Treasure Cay, and Walker's Cay. The official points of entry are by water at Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay, Walker's Cay, and Green Turtle Cay (New Plymouth). Green Turtle Cay doesn't have an airstrip, but many members of the yachting crowd clear Customs and Immigration there.

Abaco retains strong maritime connections. The area was founded by American Loyalists in 1783, folks who supported King George II and fled the fledging United States after it successfully parted ways with mother England. They were basically planters, but they soon discovered their future, and ultimate survival, depended on a partnership with the sea.

Marsh Harbour - There’s only one stop light, but traffic backs up in all directions at lunch hour and at quitting time in what is today the Bahamas’ third largest city. It’s a commercial hub, with five banks, two ever-expanding hardware stores, gas stations, law and real estate offices, supermarkets, numerous restaurants, insurance companies, and every other store or business one would expect in a town five times this size.

The Outer Cays

Hope Town - Wyannie Malone and her three strapping sons, formerly of South Carolina, founded this settlement in 1785. The beautiful harbour and stunning beaches soon attracted tourism to the entire island, known as Elbow Cay. Lubbers Quarters - Lying just west of Elbow Cay is the enigmatically-named island of Lubber’s Quarters. The 350-acre, boot-shaped island is totally within the confines of the Sea of Abaco, the four-to-five-mile wide sound which separates most of the outer cays from mainland Abaco.

Man-o-war Cay - More than any other island in the Abacos, Man-O-War has retained the strongest ties with boat building, boat transportation and boat maintenance and repair. After the airport opened in Marsh Harbour in the 1950s, the family founded Albury’s Ferry Service, which still provides numerous daily trips between Marsh Harbour, Hope Town, Man-O-War, Great Guana Cay and the private island of Scotland Cay.

Great Guana Cay - For a long time, because of its size and potential, they called this seven-mile-long island “the sleeping giant.” Orchid Bay, a marina and beachfront community south of the settlement, features many subdivided hillside lots, but home construction is still in its infancy. Most new homes have been built just north of the settlement on individual lots, and all of Guana’s contractors are backed up with business waiting.

Green Turtle Cay - The cay has two resorts, the Green Turtle Club and Bluff House, both on White Sound opposite the village, and there are probably 150 houses and cottages for rent. Green Turtle has some of the best beaches and liveliest annual events, such as Junkanoo on New Year’s Day, and the Island Roots Festival each May, which celebrates Green Turtle’s historical connection with Key West, Florida.

Mainland Abaco

North of Marsh Harbour

Treasure Cay - The marina has 150 slips and there are accommodations for more than 200 guests, including 95 marina units, a number of villas, condominiums, time shares, and apartments. The resort’s 18-hole championship golf course is considered a top course in the Bahamas by leading golf publications, and major sport fishing tournaments draw more than 100 boats and hundreds of participants annually.

Leisure Lee - Five miles south of Treasure Cay, down the paved highway to Marsh Harbour, is Leisure Lee, a strictly residential community of homes built primarily on ocean access canals or along the shore of the Sea of Abaco.

South of Marsh Harbour

Casuarina Point & Bahana Palm Shores - If Leisure Lee is Marsh Harbour’s suburban bedroom community to the north, then these two can be considered as such to the south of that city.

Cherokee Sound & The Abaco Club - Across the sound from Casuarina is the settlement of Cherokee Sound, yet another loyalist enclave which somehow endured for more than 150 years as an isolated fishing and boat-building community. Little Harbour, a nearby community with 50 homes, an art gallery and Pete’s Pub, a popular watering hole, is a short drive away.