Pine Cay
An eight-hundred-acre Turks and Caicos island shared between a small hotel and thirty-seven homeowners.
Pine Cay lies between Providenciales and North Caicos, reached by boat, and has been run since the 1970s as a private island community: thirty-seven homeowners hold the island jointly, a small hotel serves guests, and there are no cars — golf carts and a two-mile beach that is among the emptiest in the country. This register places it among the societies because owners, not an operator, set the rules.
Around eleven rooms make up the hotel, alongside privately owned houses that are let when their owners are elsewhere. The island has a freshwater pond, a nature trail and a deliberate absence of development. Guests and owners share the same dining room, which is either the charm or the difficulty depending on the guest.
Owners set the rules, and have for fifty years. No cars, no development beyond the line, no expansion of the hotel. The arrangement has held longer than most resorts have existed.
Eleven rooms on eight hundred acres. The beach is empty because there is almost nobody to fill it.
Who it is not for
Pine Cay is wrong for guests expecting resort service and choice — there is one dining room and one bar. It is wrong for travellers who want an island to themselves, since owners are present. And it is wrong for anyone wanting a lively holiday; the island is quiet by constitution. Those wanting a resort in these waters should look at COMO Parrot Cay.
Sources
- Open sources — around eleven hotel rooms plus private homes, thirty-seven homeowners, eight hundred acres
- Room count, homeowner numbers and island area unverified. Confirm before publication.
Booking
Private Island Resorts arranges each stay on request, quoting the rates available for the island and dates. No benefit should be assumed unless it is confirmed in writing for the individual reservation.
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