Map_showing_the_harbours_of_Port_Royal_and_Kingston%2C_Jamaica_Wellcome_L0063041

The Port Royal Cays is a small group of uninhabited islands or

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

s off

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and co ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, located at {{coord, 17, 55, 06.36, N, 76, 49, 11.96, W and arranged in the shape of an

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...

with a diameter between 4 and 5 km, and a total area of 12 km². The land area is about 0.03 km². There are eight named cays, including South Cay Rock which is sometimes subsumed with South Cay. Gun Cay, the northernmost, is only 400 metres from the Jamaican mainland. The main cay is Lime Cay, on the northeastern rim. It measures 380 metres northwest–southeast, and is up to 80 metres wide, measuring 2 ha in area. About half of the area is wooded, the rest is sand and coral. On the western beach is a wooden hut. The individual cays, clockwise starting in the north: #Gun Cay (northernmost) #

Lime Cay Lime Cay is the main islet off the shore of Port Royal Cays, Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba ...

(largest, most important) #Maiden Cay #Southeast Cay (easternmost) #South Cay (almost connected with South Cay Rock) #South Cay Rock (unvegetated, southernmost) #Drunkenmans Cay (westernmost) # Rackhams Cay (smallest)

Literature

*T. Goreau and Kevin Burke: "Pleistocene and Holocene Geology of the Island Shelf near Kingston, Jamaica", Marine Geol. 4 (1966), 207-225

External links

Sailing Directions, Caribbean Sea, Vol. IGazetteer: Geographic Names of Jamaica
Uninhabited islands of Jamaica Seabird colonies