Travel Guide Green Turtle Cay

The islet, literally "of the green turtle", is rightly considered one of the jewels of the archipelago. It is located 5 km off the northwest coast of Great Abaco. Green Turtle Cay has beautiful bays, long sandy beaches and sandy shoals. The "capital" of the island is the small town of New Plymouth, located in the south of the island at the end of the western coast. Founded by Loyalists in 1783, it is a village built on a gentle hill with a main street running through it. Its narrow streets, lined with Creole-style cottages that have a very "British style" touch, are decorated with bougainvillea, hibiscus and poinsettias. An old-fashioned atmosphere floats around with a perfume of the past. Most of its 600 inhabitants live from fishing and exporting lobster, which abounds in its waters. A local pride, and not the least, it is here that the famous Goombay Smash was created, the emblematic cocktail of the archipelago, elaborated by Emily Cooper, owner of the Blue Bee Bar in New Plymouth in the 1960s and which still exists today under the name of Miss Emily Blue Bee Bar. Her daughter, the custodian of the famous recipe, runs the establishment today.Lovers of solitude will appreciate the beach of Coco Bay which is almost deserted. Fishing is the most popular activity. It is practiced in the flats of the islet and the neighboring islets, Double Breasted Cay, Guineaman Cay, Fish Cay, Hawksbill Cay.