View source for Castaway Cay

{{short description|Private island in the Bahamas}}
{{For|the other Disney-owned island in Florida with the same name|Seven Seas Lagoon#Castaway Cay}}
{{Infobox islands
|name                          = Castaway Cay
|island_type                   = [[Cay]]
|native_name                   = <!-- or |local_name= -->
|native_name_link              = 
|native_name_lang              = 
|sobriquet                     = <!-- or |nickname= -->
|image                         = Disney's Castaway Cay logo.png
|image_size                    = 250px
|image_caption                 = 
|image_alt                     = Disney's Castaway Cay logo
|pushpin_map                   = Bahamas#Caribbean
|pushpin_map_alt               = 
|pushpin_map_width             = 250
|pushpin_map_caption           = Location in the Bahamas##Location in the Caribbean
|pushpin_map_relief            = 
|coordinates                   = {{coord|26.093753|-77.533332|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|etymology                     = 
|location                      = [[The Bahamas, West Indies]], Atlantic Ocean
|GridReference                 = <!-- UK only -->
|archipelago                   = [[Lucayan Archipelago]]
|waterbody                     = 
|total_islands                 = 
|major_islands                 = 
|area_acre                     = 1,000
|area_footnotes                = 
|rank                          = 
|length_mi                     = <!-- or |length_ft= -->
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|width_footnotes               = 
|coastline_mi                  = <!-- or |coastline_ft= -->
|coastline_footnotes           = 
|elevation_ft                  = 
|elevation_footnotes           = 
|highest_mount                 = 
|country                       = {{BAH}}
|country_admin_divisions_title = [[Local government in the Bahamas|District]]
|country_admin_divisions       = [[South Abaco]]
|demonym                       = 
|population                    = 140
|population_as_of              = 
|population_footnotes          = 
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|population_rank_max           = 
|density_sqmi                  = 
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|timezone1                     = 
|utc_offset1                   = 
|timezone1_DST                 = 
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<!--   Below       -->
|website                       = 
|reference                     = 
}}
'''Disney's Castaway Cay''', or simply '''Castaway Cay''' ({{IPAc-en |'|k|iː}}), is a [[private island]] in the [[Bahamas]] which serves as an exclusive [[port]] for the [[Disney Cruise Line]] ships. It is located near [[Great Abaco Island]] and was formerly known as '''Gorda Cay'''. In 1997, [[The Walt Disney Company]] purchased a [[99-year lease|99-year land lease]] (through 2096) for the [[cay]] from the Bahamian government, giving the company substantial control over the island.

Castaway Cay was the first private island in the cruise industry where the ship docks on the island, eliminating the need for guests to be [[ship's tender|tendered]] to land.<ref name=gos/>

The island is still largely undeveloped as only 55 of the {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} are being used. Castaway Cay has approximately 140 Disney Cruise Line permanent residents who keep the island running daily.<ref name=dclnews>{{cite web|title=Disney Cruise Line Fun Facts|url=https://dclnews.com/fact-sheets/2012/12/10/disney-cruise-line-fun-facts/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425042944/http://dclnews.com/fact-sheets/2012/12/10/disney-cruise-line-fun-facts/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 25, 2013|website=Disney Cruise Line News}}</ref>

==History==
===Gorda Cay===
In 1654 the Spanish [[Galleon]] ''Jesus María de la Médica Concepción'', also known as ''El Capitan'' - as it was the lead vessel in the fleet, sank off the coast of Ecuador. The ship was hauling 3 million pesos of silver, 2,212 ingots, 216 chests of coins, and 22 boxes of wrought silver.<ref name="ShipTreasures">{{cite web |url=https://shipwrecktreasuresofthekeys.com/pages/el-capitana-history |access-date=October 4, 2024 |website=Shipwreck Treasures of the Keys |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204124829/https://shipwrecktreasuresofthekeys.com/pages/el-capitana-history |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |title=El Capitana Coin History}}</ref> Silver salvaged from the ship by the Spanish was taken to Cuba and loaded upon the ''Nuestra Senora del la Maravilla'', but it too sank on January 4, 1656.<ref name="ShipTreasures"/> The silver was salvaged again, and loaded upon the ''Madama do Brasil'', which then sank near Gorda Cay in 1657.<ref name="ShipTreasures"/>

Gorda Cay was first settled in 1783.<ref name=ut>{{cite news|last1=Fritscher|first1=Lisa|title=How Disney Cruises Started|url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/disney-cruises-started-17319.html|accessdate=October 8, 2015|work=USA Today|agency=Demand Media|publisher=Gannett}}</ref> In 1844, the ''Pantheon'' encountered [[gale]] force winds causing it to loose its sails, and for a fire to break out. The ship ran ashore near Gorda Cay, and burnt to the waterline. The crew were rescued by the ''Water Witch''.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 26, 1844 |title=Late From Nassau, N.P. |work=The Charleston Mercury |location=Charleston, South Carolina |url=https://archive.org/details/late-from-nassau}}</ref> In 1846, the [[Brig]] ''Monument'' of Portland was sailing to [[Matanzas]], carrying a cargo of boards, shooks, and fish, when it "was totally wrecked on Gorda Cay." The cargo and materials were recovered, taken to [[Charleston, South Carolina]] and sold.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 8, 1846 |title=Ship News |work=The Charleston Daily Courier |location=Charleston, South Carolina |url=https://archive.org/details/monument-wrecked}}</ref> 

In 1884, the ship ''George B. Douglass'' was sailing from [[Roatán]] for Nassau, when it was caught in a heavy storm and developed a leak. Captain Anderson and his crew escaped in [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]. "Shortly after they had pushed away from the schooner she gave a lurch to one side and then disappeared." The crew were drifting off Gorda Cay when they were found by the [[schooner]] ''Isle of June'' and towed to Nassau.<ref>{{cite news |title=In An Open Boat At Sea: The Schooner ''Isle of June'' Wrecked Among The Bahamas |date=November 25, 1884 |page=8 |work=The New York Times |url=https://archive.org/details/in-an-open-boat-as-sea}}</ref>

On August 12, 1928, the SS ''Munamar'' owned by [[Munson Steamship Line]], ran aground on Gorda Cay and was unable to free itself. The passengers were removed Monday, August 13, by the tug boat ''Lady Cordeaux''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/munson-liner-still-aground-at-gorda-cay |title=Munson Liner Still Aground At Gorda Cay |date=August 14, 1928 |work=Bangor Daily Commercial |location=Bangor, Maine}}</ref> Monday, August 20, it was reported the ship was successfully refloated.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 20, 1928 |location=London, England |work=The Daily Telegraph |title=Marine Insurance Notes: Steamships Refloated |url=https://archive.org/details/marine-insurance-notes-steamers-refloated}}</ref>

Gorda's airstrip (now Castaway Cay Airport) was once used as a stop in the 1930s for bootleggers<ref name="t1">{{cite news|last1=Lyn|first1=Diane|title=Secrets Revealed About Disney's Castaway Cay|url=http://todays1019.cbslocal.com/2013/01/29/secrets-revealed-about-disneys-castaway-cay/|accessdate=May 5, 2016|work=Today’s 101.9|publisher=CBS Local Media|date=January 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604204703/http://todays1019.cbslocal.com/2013/01/29/secrets-revealed-about-disneys-castaway-cay/|archive-date=June 4, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> and later, [[drug runner]]s.<ref name=gos>{{cite book|last1=Saunders|first1=Aaron|title=Giants of the Seas: The Ships that Transformed Modern Cruising|date=October 1, 2013|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|isbn=978-1848321724|pages=76–78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DeCZBgAAQBAJ&q=dISNEY+mAGIC&pg=PA76|accessdate=May 4, 2016}}</ref>

In 1934, reports started circulating of ancient gold coins and earthen jars being found on the island.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 14, 1934 |work=The Miami Herald |title=Undersea Explorer Relates Adventures |page=4 |url=https://archive.org/details/undersea-explorer-relates-adventures}}</ref> [[Otis Barton]] conducted dives around the island investigating claims of sunken treasure, but turned up nothing.<ref>{{cite news |title=Otis Barton Aid Tells of Perils on Ocean Floor |date=September 27, 1934 |work=The Clarion-News |location=Opelousas, Louisiana |url=https://archive.org/details/otis-barton-aid-tells-of-perils-on-ocean-floor}}</ref> In 1950, two men, Roscoe Thompson and Howard Lightbourne, uncovered a 72-pound silver bar with a casting mark of 1652, from the seafloor near Gorda Cay. News of the discovery was withheld until after it could be authenticated.<ref>{{cite news |title=Silver Bar Found In Sea |date=June 18, 1952 |work=Fort Lauderdale News |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |url=https://archive.org/details/silver-bar-found-in-sea }}</ref> The silver bar was sold by the men to Albert E. Worswick, who then donated it to the Bahamas Development Board, where it was then displayed at the tourist information center.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 12, 1953 |page=26A |title=Rare Treasure, 72-Lb. Silver Bar on Display in Nassau |url=https://archive.org/details/rare-treasure-72-lb-silver-bar-on-display |work=The Boston Globe |location=Boston, Massachusetts }}</ref> 

Author John Alden Knight notably visited the island in August 1953 to catch [[bonefish]].<ref>{{cite news |title=John Alden Knight Says: Bermuda Waters Net Bonefish Record |date=August 9, 1953 |work=Buffalo Courier-Express |url=https://archive.org/details/bermuda-waters-net-bonefish-records}}</ref>

In October 1953, it was heavily reported that author Harry E. Rieseberg discovered the wreck of ''El Capitan'', off the coast of Gorda Cay.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 3, 1953 |page=14 |work=[[Toronto Star]] |title='I Found Sunken Treasure' |first=Harry |last=Rieseberg |url=https://archive.org/details/star-weekly-1953-10-03-14}}</ref> In actuality, it was the ''Madama do Brasil''<ref name="ShipTreasures"/> that had been hauling the recovered treasure of ''El Capitan''. Rieseberg published his book, ''The Sea of Treasures'' based on his work recovering artifacts from the wreck.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 11, 1954 |title=Spanish Treasure |work=The Miami Herald |location=Miami, Florida |url=https://archive.org/details/spanish-treasure}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Paper Diver: How the World’s Greatest Underwater Treasure Hunter Never Got Wet |first=Gary |last=Pinkerton |isbn=978-1-4766-9402-3 |publisher=McFarland Books}}</ref> Roscoe Thompson and Howard Lightbourne, doubting the publicity behind Rieseberg's discovery, returned to Gorda Cay in 1956 to continue their search for the lost treasure of ''Madama do Brasil''.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 11, 1956 |work=The Miami Herald |title=The Lure of Sunken Treasure Draws Adventurers to Island |url=https://archive.org/details/the-miami-herald-1956-03-11-114}}</ref>

In 1954, Gorda Cay was promoted as an island to visit for good fishing opportunities.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 24, 1954 |title=Baitbox Banter: Bluefish, Mackerel Make Good Inshore Fishing |work=Fort Lauderdale News |first=Phil |last=Weidling |page=29 |url=https://archive.org/details/baitbox-banter}}</ref> Afterwards, a fishing competition was held around the island in 1956.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 26, 1956 |page=2B |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |title=Pawling Resident Gets Fish Citation }}</ref>

In 1958, a film entitled ''Treasure of Gorda Cay'' entered production, with a story written by [[John Steinbeck]],<ref>{{cite news |date=January 27, 1958 |page=15 |work=The Newark Advocate |title=Looking at Hollywood: Fly to Bahamas to Sea Dive in "''Treasure of Gorda Cay''" |url=https://archive.org/details/looking-at-hollywood}}</ref> The brain child of producer [[Kevin McClory]], it was to star [[Burgess Meredith]]. [[Juano Hernandez]]<ref>{{cite news |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=January 21, 1958 |page=58 |title=Meredith Will Dive for Film Treasure |first=Hedda |last=Hopper |url=https://archive.org/details/meredith-will-dive-for-film-treasure}}</ref> scouted additional filming locations in North Carolina. McClory was unable to raise the funds for the film, and it never came to fruition.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 20, 1959 |page=9 |title=Jealous of Kevin and Liz |work=The Sunday Mirror |location=London, England |url=https://archive.org/details/jealous-of-kevin-and-liz}}</ref>

On November 11, 1961, Captain Julian Harvey of the ''[[Bluebelle (ship)|Bluebelle]]'', took the ship's guests, the Duperrault family, to visit Gorda Cay. Notoriously, on November 12, he would commit [[mass murder]], with only the family's 11-year old Terry managing to survive.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Facts About The Bluebelle: Damp Bills Spread Out In Harvey's Room |date=December 17, 2016 |page=1 |work=The Miami Herald |first=James |last=Buchanan |url=https://archive.org/details/the-miami-herald-1961-12-17-1-merged}}</ref>

Gorda Cay had also been used for filming. The beach where [[Tom Hanks]] first encounters [[Daryl Hannah]] in ''[[Splash (film)|Splash]]'' is on the island,<ref name=ut/> and parts of the film ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl]]'' were filmed on the cay as well.<ref name="t1"/>

===Castaway Cay===
In 1997, the Disney Cruise Line purchased a 99-year lease for Gorda Cay from the Bahamian government and renamed it Castaway Cay, intending for it to be the line's private island. The company spent $25 million over 18 months of construction.<ref name=gos/> This included [[dredging]] 50,000 truckloads of sand from the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1998/06/08/disneys-deserted-island-is-ready-for-its-cruise-castaways/ |title=Disney's 'Deserted' Island Is Ready For Its Cruise Castaways |date=8 June 1998 |access-date=12 April 2018 |publisher=Orlando Sentinel}}</ref> The [[pier]] and its approaches (a 1,700 foot channel) were constructed to allow Disney ships to dock directly alongside the island, thus removing the need for [[ship's tender|tenders]] to get the passengers ashore.<ref name=gos/>

A race, Castaway Cay Challenge, was added to the [[Walt Disney World Marathon|Walt Disney World Marathon weekend series]] in 2015 with the 5K race taking place on Castaway Cay.<ref name=os4>{{cite news|last1=Mauney|first1=Matt|title=Disney's private island hosts inaugural 5K challenge|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/events/os-disney-private-island-race-story.html|accessdate=May 9, 2016|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=January 14, 2015}}</ref>

==Facilities==
[[File:Disney Fantasy at Castaway Cay (34702733835).jpg|thumb|''[[Disney Fantasy]]'' docked at Castaway Cay.]]
A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage and postmark specific to Disney Cruise Line.<ref name=gos/> The island is developed in the theme of a [[castaway]] community with buildings made to look as if they had been improvised after a shipwreck. The facilities are maintained like any other Disney theme park; the shops accept guests' stateroom keys for payment. Food service is operated as an extension of the cruise package. A variety of activities are available to guests including bicycle rentals, [[personal watercraft]] rentals, massages overlooking the ocean, snorkeling, parasailing, volleyball, and basketball. There are monkey bars and a rope for children to climb across set about {{convert|30|m|0|abbr=out}} into the ocean on one beach and a slide about {{convert|25|m|0|abbr=out}} into the ocean on another beach. There are three beaches for guests: one exclusively for families, one exclusively for cabana guests, and another exclusively for adults, called Serenity Bay.<ref name=gos/>

Two submarine-ride vehicles from the now-closed [[20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage]] ride at [[Walt Disney World]] lie underwater in the [[snorkeling]] area.<ref name="t1"/> The ''Flying Dutchman'' pirate ship, from the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' film series, was formerly on display in the lagoon, but as of November 2010, it had been removed and taken to another location on the island where it was dismantled.{{Cn|date=August 2021}}

===Airport===
{{Infobox airport
| name                = Castaway Cay Airport
| IATA                = 
| ICAO                = MYAG
| type                = Private
| city-served         = Castaway Cay
| location            = [[the Bahamas]]
| elevation-f         = 5
| elevation-m         = 2
| coordinates         = {{coord|26|5|26.0|N|77|32|23.9|W|region:BS_type:airport|name=Castaway Cay Airport (Castaway Cay)|display=inline}}
| pushpin_map         = Bahamas
| pushpin_label       = MYAG
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Castaway Cay Airport in the Bahamas
| r1-number           = 14/32
| r1-length-f         = 3,100
| r1-length-m         = 945
| r1-surface          = Asphalt
| metric-rwy          = y
| footnotes           = Source: Landings.com<ref name="Landings">{{cite web |url=http://aerobaticsweb.org/cgi-bin/search_apt? |title=MYAG Airport record for Castaway Cay Airport |website=Landings.com |access-date=August 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Google maps|url=http://maps.google.com/maps?ht=en&z=13&t=k&q=26.0905555555556,-77.5399722222222+%28Castaway+Cay+Airport%29|title=location of Castaway Cay Airport|access-date=August 8, 2013}}</ref>
}}
'''Castaway Cay Airport''' {{Airport codes||MYAG}} is a private use [[airport]] located in Castaway Cay, [[the Bahamas]].<ref name="Landings" />

==See also==
*[[List of islands of the Bahamas]]
*[[Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point]], Disney's second major private resort in the Caribbean
* [[Private island]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Castaway Cay}}
*[http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ports/castaway-cay/ Disney Castaway Cay]
 
{{Disney Cruise Line}}
{{Walt Disney Parks and Resorts}}

[[Category:Resorts in the Bahamas]]
[[Category:Private islands of the Bahamas]]
[[Category:Disney Cruise Line]]
[[Category:Abaco Islands]]