Green Turtle Cay
Loyalist history, the original Goombay Smash, and pastel New Plymouth charm.
Green Turtle Cay sits in the northern Abacos, a three-mile cay wrapped around the historic settlement of New Plymouth. Founded by Loyalists in the 1780s, New Plymouth's grid of pastel clapboard houses, stone churches and quiet lanes feels like a New England village transplanted to the tropics.
The cay pairs that heritage with quiet beaches, protected anchorages and a couple of legendary watering holes — including the bar where the Goombay Smash was born.
Historic New Plymouth
New Plymouth rewards slow walking. The Albert Lowe Museum, set in a restored Loyalist home, is among the oldest museums in the Bahamas and tells the story of the cay's shipbuilding and settlement history. Nearby, the Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden honours the Abacos' founding families with bronze busts arranged in a quiet green square.
The village's pastel facades, picket fences and narrow lanes make it one of the most photogenic settlements in the islands.
Miss Emily's & the Goombay Smash
Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar is a Bahamian institution — the birthplace of the Goombay Smash, the rum cocktail whose exact recipe remains a closely guarded family secret. Generations of sailors have left business cards pinned to its walls. It is the definitive stop for understanding the Abacos' drinking culture.
Beaches & anchorages
Gillam Bay, on the cay's eastern shore, is a long, shallow, sandy beach ideal for wading and beachcombing. Coco Bay and Ocean Beach offer further quiet stretches. On the water, White Sound shelters the Green Turtle Club and Bluff House marinas, while the New Plymouth harbour and Black Sound provide protected anchoring.
Getting there
By private charter, Green Turtle Cay is reached by crossing the Whale Cay passage north of Great Guana Cay — a stretch best timed with settled conditions, which your captain will plan around. Without a boat, a ferry connects from the Treasure Cay ferry dock to the cay's two landings. Golf carts get you around ashore.
Frequently asked questions
- Where was the Goombay Smash invented?
- At Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar in New Plymouth on Green Turtle Cay. The original recipe is a closely guarded family secret and the bar remains the most famous place to try the cocktail.
- What is there to do on Green Turtle Cay?
- Explore historic New Plymouth and the Albert Lowe Museum, visit the Loyalist Memorial Sculpture Garden, have a Goombay Smash at Miss Emily's, and relax on Gillam Bay or Coco Bay beaches.
- How do you get to Green Turtle Cay?
- By private charter (crossing the Whale Cay passage, timed for settled conditions) or by ferry from the Treasure Cay ferry dock. There are no rental cars — get around by golf cart, bicycle or on foot.