Great Harbour Cay is the major island in the north Berry Islands. It has a population of 353.(2010 census)The Islands are a stirrup shaped chain of thirty large cays and numerous small cays of about thirty-two miles in length. The islands are located to the south of Great Abaco and about forty miles north-northwest of Nassau.Berry Island ChainThe natural beauty of the Berry Islands' chain is extraordinary. It has seven miles (11 km) of ocean front beaches that include isolated enclaves, caverns, and open expanses. Haines Cay has 3.5mi of beaches. At the point of closest approach of Haines, Great Harbour, and Hawksnest, there are 10- of white sand shallows with starfish, sand dollars and other shallow water creatures.The island was substantially damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, but has fully recovered since. The Hurricane made landfall twice while moving through the Bahamas, crossing Eleuthera with 160 mph (260 km/h) winds and passing through the Berry Islands with sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h).DevelopmentGreat Harbour Cay underwent a period in intense and successful development in the late 1960s when famous persons such as Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Brigitte Bardot, Telly Savalas, and F. Lee Bailey vacationed here. Development slowed and then stopped in the late 1970s. Attempts were made in the late 1970s into the early 1980s to revitalize Great Harbour Cay; but these were overshadowed by drug and weapons traffic in 1983 (Book: Drugs, Law Enforcement And Foreign Policy - Report by the Committee on Foreign Relations, US Senate), and the island has been quiet since. The recently elected Bahamian government has made an effort to revive the tourism industry, especially on the outer islands, and great progress and interest as been rekindled in the smaller islands. Combined with the 9-hole golf course designed by Joe Lee and constructed by Golf Force, the full service marina, and other island attractions of fishing and diving, the island looks set for a surge in development.
