Walker's Cay

Bull sharks hand fed from the beach at Walker's Cay

Walker's Cay is the northern most island in the Bahamas. It is part of the North Abaco district of the Bahamas.

Grand Bahama Island is one of the major islands in the northern Bahamas. It is approximately 100 miles (161 km) long, lying in an west to east configuration. The major town of "Freeport" along with the small settlement of "West End" are significant points of entry to Grand Bahama Island. Walker's Cay lies 53 miles to the northeast of "West End", Grand Bahama Island.

Walker's Cay sits on the very edge of the Bahama "Bank", the bank containing shallow green colored water, averaging about 10 feet in depth. However, on the north side of Walker's the water drops off sharply into deep blue ocean depths.

Historically, Walker's Cay was named for a government official of the Bahamas during the days when the Bahamas were considered part of the British Empire, before the Bahamas gained their independence during the 1950s. In 1937 an American, "Buzz" Shonnard, acquired the island and built a hotel facility known as the "Walker's Cay Club" on the island. Walker's had an advantage of being unusually high in elevation at its eastern end and it was on this location that Shonnard placed his hotel which was built in the shape of a cross and contained a lounge, dining room, kitchen and several guest rooms. A pool was placed on the west side of the hotel, shaded by trees. Shonnard was a pilot and built an airstrip Walker Cay Airport (MYAW) on the island that was about 2,500 feet in length and capable of handling small aircraft. He also built a marina on the south shore that was capable of handling boats up to about 70 feet.

Shonnard had connections with affluent American sportfishermen of the 1930s and promoted Walker's Cay Club as a location for billfishing, and specifically for large Blue Marlin. Blue Marlin in excess of 500 pounds have been caught off Walker's.

During World War II, Walker's Cay was used by the U.S. Military as an anti-submarine base since its airstrip allowed aircraft to patrol those waters near the southeast Florida coast.

An interesting aside in the history of Walker's is this note about the cay adjacent to Walker's, "Grand Cay", which lies 4 miles to the southeast of Walker's. Grand Cay was the place from which Walker's obtained its Bahamian employees during its years of operation, those employees coming to Walker's each day by small boats. One of Walker's Cay's seasonal residents was a very wealthy American, Robert Abplanalp, who built a large house on the high point of Little Grand Cay some distance from Grand Cay. Abplanalp, from New York, was the inventor and patent holder of the aerosol valve that sits atop any spray can that you purchase today and since the 1950s. Among Abplanalp's guests at Little Grand Cay and Walker's Cay was Richard Nixon, then President of the United States. Abplanalp died in 2003.

After the war Walker's became popular with boaters and fishermen as a destination and remained so until two severe hurricanes, both during September 2004, destroyed the hotel and marina, which were not rebuilt. Today Walker's Cay is essentially deserted. It reportedly has been for sale in recent years. It's airstrip can still be seen on satellite photos.

NOTE: on the mobile version of Google Earth the Wikipedia symbol is not placed at Walker's Cay but is shown at Strangers Cay which is about 20 miles to the southeast of Walker's Cay.

Walker's Cay is popular for sports fishing and scuba diving.

The Walker's Cay marine area was declared a national park in 2002.