About Salt Cay
Salt Cay is the second largest of the Turks Islands (Grand Turk being larger), and the smallest of the inhabited islands in the Turks and Caicos, at only 2.6 square miles (6.7 sq km).
Salt Cay's namesake and main natural resource is salt, created through the evaporation of seawater. This occurs naturally in salt salinas on the island, but artificial salinas were created by Bermudians starting around 1673 to produce salt for export. These original settlers of Salt Cay founded Balfour Town, the island's capital.
Salt production continued and was the main economy for the island for about 250 years, but several factors led to it's demise in the early 1930's. The United States was a major destination for salt export, even during the American Revolutionary War, despite the fact that Bermudians and the Turks and Caicos Islands were under the jurisdiction of Britain.
During World War II in 1941, a Hollywood film titled Bahama Passage was produced almost entirely on this island, and it starred Madeleine Carroll (known for 39 Steps) and Stirling Hayden (known for roles in Dr. Strangelove and The Godfather). This movie was filmed during the last few years of salt production, and you can still see the entire salt production system in operation, from working windmills to the set of locks for controlling the flow of seawater into the flats.
Salt Cay is an excellent location for both diving (since it is near to the ocean wall) and whale watching. Recent campaigns have succeeded in getting Salt Cay nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site, which would make it the only UNSECO site in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Today, about 100 people live on Salt Cay, from a high of around 700 in the 1700's and 1800's, and this number is declining. Many residents have moved to other islands in the Turks and Caicos.
History of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Read our history of the Turks and Caicos Islands, from prehistoric peoples, Columbus' landfall, to the dawn of the modern age. This article is about all the islands in the country, not just Salt Cay.
Location
Salt Cay is at the eastern end of the Turks and Caicos Islands chain, which is located about 575 miles (925 km) southeast of Miami, Florida, United States. We're just southeast of the Bahamas and north of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Practical Information
We don't have a custom Practical Information page for Salt Cay, but you'll find all the common stuff here, such as the currency, power sockets, phone standards, and more.
