A new cruise port is coming to Mayaguana, one of the southernmost Bahamas islands, about 350 miles southeast of Nassau. It is also one the Bahamas' quietest and most pristine islands.
The Bahamian government has entered a partnership with private developers to build the port, which will support both cruise and cargo ships.
The project's first of three phases will be the development of a deepwater port and temporary marine offloading facility. The cruise ship terminal will be the second phase.
The third phase will include a deepwater transshipment port and a terminal for larger vessels.
Mayaguana sits northwest of Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamian Ministry of Tourism calls it the least developed of the Bahamian islands.
The Bahamian government will share ownership of the new port with the locally based Mayaguana Island Development Fund and Global Lead Consultant Group Ltd. It did not provide details on when the cruise port may open.
Travel guide Frommer's says "few other outposts in the Bahamas are as remote as Mayaguana, which is the main reason many visitors come -- to get away from everything. Tourists arrive by boat and just ask around for availability at one of the ultra-simple lodgings here. Some locals are willing to house you in one of their spare bedrooms for a rate that can be negotiated up or down to almost anything."