Cay Sal ()''Derrotero de las islas Antillas, de las costas Tierra-Firme, y las del Seno Mejicano'', Dirección de Hidrografía, España, Madrid, Imprenta Nacional, 1837. p. 266 /ref> is a small island in the Cay Sal Bank between Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. It is no longer inhabited.
The Bahamas have an agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard to regularly fly over Cay Sal and other islands in the bank to look for people potentially stranded there.
Geography
Cay Sal is the main island in the southwestern zone of the Cay Sal Bank. It is in length and in area.
The island is covered with stunted palm trees and marked by several dilapidated buildings standing on its western side. In its interior there is a large salt pond commonly replenished by heavy wind-driven seas that broach the islet along its southwest side.
History
According to Spanish navigators the island had a few natural salt pans producing good, clean salt, and its leeward side provided an excellent
anchorage
Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
as well.
From the 1960s to late 1970s the Royal Bahamas Defence Force kept a small outpost on Cay Sal island, which also had an airstrip. Another island in the banks,
Elbow Cays
The Elbow Cays () are uninhabited cays in the Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas. It is the most Western point in the Bahamas. They are part of a reef shelf located at the northwestern end of the bank about 80 km (50 mi) off the Cuban coast and 130 ...
, has a lighthouse built in 1839 by the British.
The United States Coast Guard constantly monitors Cay Sal and nearby islands for refugees from
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. Cay Sal is about thirty miles away from Cuba. Refugees rescued on the island have included pregnant women and children. Refugees are reported to have employed a variety of craft including small, ill-equipped boats, in spite of the possibility of pursuit by the Cuban military.
In 2023, the Coast Guard rescued a man who had been stranded on the island for 3 days.