Cayo Norte, formerly West Key or North East Key is the largest privately owned island in Puerto Rico and is currently the property of SVI Investments, Inc. The island is located about 0.6 nautical mile (1.0 km) northeast of Culebra Island. It lies 21 nautical miles (36 km) east of

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and 12 nautical miles (20 km) west of

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgi ...

. The island is part of the municipality of Culebra and therein of the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

San Isidro. It is the only privately owned island in the Culebra archipelago, and is not part of the

Culebra National Wildlife Refuge The Culebra National Wildlife Refuge (Spanish: ''Refugio nacional de vida silvestre de Culebra'') is a National Wildlife Refuge in Puerto Rico. It is part of the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which is a unit of the U.S. Fis ...

as are most of the other nearby islands and

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

Geography

Cayo Norte is the first island to

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

when traveling through the Virgin Passage from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It is somewhat oval in shape, with hills gently sloping to the sandy beaches on the south coast. The north coast is a rocky cliff. The highest elevation, located in the middle of the western half of the island, is at . Its area is about . The hills on the eastern half of the island are mostly covered with bushes (croton rigidus). There are wooded zones along the south coast, in the valleys and on the western slopes.

History

In 1895, during the initial Spanish colonization of Culebra Island, title to Cayo Norte was ceded to José Morales and Francisco de los Santos. In 1902 title was conveyed to Leopoldo Padrón. Majority ownership of Cayo Norte stayed in the Padrón family until 2004. In 2006 100% ownership was acquired by SVI Investments, Inc., a family corporation, for use as a private retreat. Cayo Norte is the only island in the Culebra archipelago that was not subject to bombardment by the U.S. Navy. A study made for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007 states that "Impact of Cayo Norte was planned n 1924but that difficulties clearing people and cows from the island kept it from being used for an impact area. No UXO has been identified on Cayo Norte."

Wildlife

The

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

identified a beach on the southcoast of Cayo Norte as a critical habitat for two species of

endangered sea turtles Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles a year are accidentally caught in shrimp trawl nets, on longline hooks and in fishing gill-nets. Sea turtles need to reach the surface to breathe, and therefore many drown once caught. Loggerhead an ...

, the

hawksbill sea turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...

(''Eretmochelys imbricata'') and the

green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

(''Chelonia mydas''). There are no listed endangered species of fauna or flora in upland Cayo Norte.U.S. Corps. of Engineers, file number SAJ-2010-01592-IP-EWG

References

{{Reflist Islands of Puerto Rico Culebra, Puerto Rico Private islands of the United States Private islands of the Caribbean