RUM CAY

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Lat.: N23 42’ 30”
Long.: W 74 50’ 00”
Size: 30 Sq. mls
Island Crest

RUM CAY
Island Information

Rum Cay, a small, sparsely populated island, is located 20 miles southwest of San Salvador. It is mainly flat but has a few rolling hills rising to about 120 feet. The island was named Santa Maria de la Conception by Columbus. The modern name Rum Cay is said to be in memory of a wreck destroyed with a cargo of rum which foundered off the coral reefs which abound off the island’s shore.

The main settlement is Port Nelson, a picturesque village lying among coconut groves. The wreck of the 101-gun Man-of-War HMS Conqueror, built in Devon in 1855 and which served in the Crimean War, lies in 30 feet of water off Rum Cay where it sank in 1861. Known as the underwater museum of The Bahamas, it is the property of The Bahamas Government and none of the contents of the ship may be removed.

Information courtesy of Bahamas Information Services, Department of Archives and Local Government.

For more information visit the Website of the Ministry of Tourism

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