West Caicos
| West Caicos | |
| Location | |
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| Area: | 11 square miles |
| Data | |
| Population: | (uninhabited) |
West Caicos is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. West Caicos has an area of 11 square miles, and has been uninhabited for over a century. The island is home to the 500 acre Lake Catherine, a protected wildlife reserve, filled with pink roseate flamingoes, manta rays, sea turtles and other indigenous wildlife.
In the seas around the island, the West Caicos seawall drops off to over 7,000 feet deep. Different sea creatures live in these depths, from eagle rays to humpback whales.
Natural underground passages are bored beneath the island from the sea into Lake Catherine. Tides in the sea create upsurge in the lake, which is visible as "boiling" above the cave mouths on lake bed. The largest such cave mouth is Boiling Hole.[1]
In the 1890s, West Caicos was cleared for sisal plantations, which was a major crop of the Turks and Caicos Islands. On the island are the ruins of Yankee Town, which was the centre of industry on the island. Remains of a railway are still visible.
At least two attempts have been made to purchase the entire island. The first was made by Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic; his intent was to use it as a hideaway. However, he was assassinated before the purchase was made. In 1972, an oil company tried to purchase the island to build a refinery, and built an airstrip. The deal was not made, and the airstrip remains to this day.
A new effort appears to be well underway to develop the island into a private high-end resort reserve, billing itself as 'West Caicos Reserve'. This effort is apparently targeted toward high net worth individuals, as it is integrated with an exclusive 125 room Ritz-Carlton Resort/Spa and Marina. The anticipated opening of this community was to be mid-2008. However, due to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the financers of the project, all construction work was halted in September 2008.
Outside links
- [1] - West Caicos at TCI Mall
- [2] - 'West Caicos Reserve', a Ritz Carlton development scheme
- [3] - Molasses Reef, a Ritz Carlton Reserve
