#HALF MOOM CAY SERIES#

Holland America Line renamed the island Half Moon Cay. The $6 million purchase price was split between more than 150 individuals, descendants of the original land owner (or owners) – who likely received the land as a crown land grant, from the British monarch.

The island was uninhabited and without running water or electricity when Holland America Line signed a 99-year lease agreement for the land in 1996.

They may have used salt from the island’s two saline ponds to preserve fish. They planted sisal, a species of agave with a fiber that can be used as twine, as well as subsistence crops such as corn. The inhabitants were likely farmers from nearby Cat Island who came seasonally to tend crops and fish in the lagoon – and enjoy the natural beauty of the island.

In the 1700’s or early 1800’s there was a small settlement on Half Moon Cay, evidenced by the ruins of old limestone huts on Lighthouse Point, a hillside visited by guests on nature tours.

Slavery was abolished on the islands in 1838. Some plantation owners brought with them their slaves. Loyalists from North Carolina and Georgia arrived in places including Cat Island. Some arrived on Eleuthera, from New England and New Jersey to start a new life farming on the islands.

England granted land as well to British loyalists who left the new United States of America after the Revolutionary War ended in 1783.

Crown land grants were given to upstanding citizens but also to pirates to encourage them to reform and use their “talents” as privateers or buccaneers.

It’s believed that Half Moon Cay (Little San Salvador) was uninhabited for centuries up until the 1700s, or possibly in the early 1800s, when the land was granted by the British monarch at the time (perhaps even Queen Victoria) as a reward of sorts.

In 1718, Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas, and they became a British colony. Great Britain claimed possession of the Bahamas in 1670. They were Puritans seeking religious freedom, and the resided in places including Eleuthera.

English settlers came to the uninhabited islands of the Bahamas in the 1640s.

The Spanish enslaved the Lucayans and within 25 years of the arrival of the Europeans, the Lucayan people were wiped out, either through diseases such as small pox or harsh treatment in captivity.

There may have been as many as 40,000 Lucayan Arawak people in the Bahamas islands by the time of Columbus.

Oral history, passed on through the generations but unverified by evidence, even has him and his crew stopping by Half Moon Cay.

Christopher Columbus landed in the vicinity (the exact whereabouts is subject to intense debate) on October 12, 1492, the first time he set foot in the New World.

The island’s Lucayan name is Guateo, meaning “distant land.” Related to the Arawak people, they likely arrived by canoe from South America, and may have fished and farmed here as early as 600 to 800 AD.

Lucayan Taino people were the first to inhabit the Bahamas.

Did pirates roam the shores, drawn by the abundance of bonefish in the lagoon and perhaps seeking places to bury their treasure? In unexplored territory of the island, their secrets remain hidden.

The story of Half Moon Cay is an intricate one that dates back centuries and includes long periods when the island was uninhabited.Island staff have re-created huts in the style that the Lucayan Arawak people would have occupied, tents made of poles and thatch, and these can be viewed on shore during eco-lagoon boat tours. They may have come to Half Moon Cay to fish in the lagoon. It’s likely that sometime before 800 AD, the Lucayan Arawak people (also referred to as Taino) arrived in the Bahamas from South America in canoes.

Remember that all Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale include a call at Half Moon Cay, so there are plenty of opportunities to visit this memorable destination.

#HALF MOOM CAY SERIES#

This series of “Fact & Lore” blog posts about Half Moon Cay takes you deeper into the island’s history, geography and more. Know for its pristine beaches, abundance of family-friendly activities, private villas and cabanas, and unparalleled beauty, there’s a reason why it’s our most popular port in the Caribbean. Half Moon Cay is Holland America Line’s award-winning private island in the Bahamas.

Half moom cay