The Berry Islands are a chain of islands and a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

, covering about of the northwestern part of the

Family Islands Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. The Berry Islands consist of about thirty

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s and over one hundred small 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 Grea ...

s, often referred to as "The Fish Bowl of The Bahamas." They have a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 807 (2010 census), most of whom are on Great Harbour Cay. The islands were settled in 1836 by Governor William Colebrooke with a group of freed

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

Attractions

The Berry Islands are still relatively undeveloped, with two small regional airports and no hotels, but do have townhouses and beach villas for rent for visitors. Most of the islands are uninhabited, but are strikingly beautiful. During the winter season the islands are visited by out-of-town guests and second home residents, but the difficulty of reaching the Berry Islands and the lack of infrastructure keeps things low-key. Due to seasonal residents, the Berry islands can say that they have more resident millionaires per unit area than any other place in the world. The main attraction is big

game fishing Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish species pursued by recreational fishing, recreational fishers (typically angling, anglers), and can be freshwater fish, freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be fish as food, eaten aft ...

. Some of the fish that can be found there are

billfish The billfish are a group (Xiphioidea) of saltwater fish, saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed beak, bills (rostrum (anatomy), rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than . Extant billfish include sailfish and m ...

tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

grouper Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

tiger fish Tigerfish can refer to fish from various families, and derives from official and colloquial associations of these with the tiger (''Panthera tigris''). However, the primary species designated by the name "tigerfish" are African and belong to the ...

yellowtail snapper The yellowtail snapper (''Ocyurus chrysurus'') is an abundant species of Lutjanidae, snapper native to the western Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Although they have been found as far north as Massachusetts, the ...

wahoo The wahoo (''Acanthocybium solandri'') is a scombrid fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical seas. In Hawaii, the wahoo is known as ono. The species is sometimes called hoo in the United States. It is best known to sports fishermen, a ...

king mackerel The king mackerel (''Scomberomorus cavalla'') surmayi or kingfish, is a migratory species of mackerel of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is an important species to both the commercial and recreational fishing industries. Descri ...

, and many more. In May, Great Harbour Cay is packed with visitors and fishing captains who go there for the annual fishing

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

. There are also great spots for

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing the ambient air through a shaped tube called a snorkel, usually with swimming goggles or a ...

and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

Islands

Map of the Berry Islands Great Harbour Cay is the most northern and the largest of the Berry Islands. It is long and wide. The largest port of the Berries is on Great Harbour Cay. It is served by

Great Harbour Cay Airport Great Harbour Cay Airport is an airport serving Great Harbour Cay, one of the major islands in the Berry Islands district of The Bahamas. Facilities The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 13/ ...

Chub Cay Chub Cay is an island in the Berry Islands chain of the Bahamas. It has a population of 46. (2010 census) Chub Cay is a private island and is only accessible by being a guest of Chub Cay Resort and Marina. Aside from the natural beauty of the i ...

, site of

Chub Cay International Airport Chub Cay Airport is an airport in Chub Cay in the Berry Islands in The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlan ...

, is the second largest island in the chain and is known as "the

capital of The Bahamas."

Little Stirrup Cay CocoCay or Little Stirrup Cay, sometimes titled Perfect Day at CocoCay () is one of the Berry Islands, a collection of Bahamian cays and small islands located approximately north of Nassau. It is used for tourism by Royal Caribbean Group excl ...

is leased by

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, it is the l ...

, which calls it

CocoCay CocoCay or Little Stirrup Cay, sometimes titled Perfect Day at CocoCay () is one of the Berry Islands, a collection of The Bahamas, Bahamian cays and small islands located approximately north of Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau. It is used for tourism b ...

, and acts as a private island for tropical activities engaged in by visitors on its cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean and

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in ...

labels. Great Stirrup Cay is owned by

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, headquartered in Miami, Florida, and incorporated in the Bahamas. It is the List of cruise lines, fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling ...

and is used for similar purposes. Cistern Cay is a private island located next to Great Harbour Cay. Little Whale Cay a private island that was developed as residence by Wallace Groves in the 1930s. It is served by the Lt. Whale Cay Airport.

Politics

For elections to the

Parliament of The Bahamas The Parliament of The Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign (represented by the governor-general), an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Asse ...

, the district is part of the North Andros and Berry Islands constituency.

References

Archipelagoes of the Bahamas Districts of the Bahamas {{Bahamas-geo-stub