Qualla: Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park: Introduction

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Craig Stanfill, CC BY-SA 2.0. Only one species is licensed to fish here. In the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, ospreys plunge into water so clear you can count the scales on a yellowtail snapper from a boat deck, and nobody objects. Every other creature that wants to take something from these waters - including humans - is out of luck. Since 1985, this 176-square-mile stretch of the Exuma Cays has operated as a strict no-take marine reserve, the first land-and-sea park in the world and still one of the most successful. The park runs from Shroud Cay in the north to Bell Cay in the south, encompassing islands, reefs, sandbars, and some of the most biologically productive waters in the Bahamas.

Image: Craig Stanfill | CC BY-SA 2.0

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park: A Bold Bet on Leaving Things Alone

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Craig Stanfill, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Bahamas National Trust established the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in 1958, making it the first land-and-sea park in the world. For its first three decades, the park allowed limited fishing - a compromise that satisfied almost nobody and protected almost nothing. Overfishing...

Image: Craig Stanfill | CC BY-SA 2.0

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park: Islands of Orchids and Ancient Creatures

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Craig Stanfill, CC BY-SA 2.0. The park's headquarters sit on Warderick Wells, an island whose above-water landscape is just as carefully managed as the reef below. The eastern shores of the cays are clad in low, wind-sculpted scrub, while the western sides, sheltered from Atlantic weather, support taller vege...

Image: Craig Stanfill | CC BY-SA 2.0

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park: Wings Over the Water

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Craig Stanfill, CC BY-SA 2.0. Seabirds treat the park as a nesting sanctuary. White-tailed tropicbirds trail their long tail feathers across the sky above the cays, while brown noddies crowd rocky ledges in dense colonies. Six species of terns breed here - bridled, least, roseate, royal, sandwich, and sooty -...

Image: Craig Stanfill | CC BY-SA 2.0

Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park: The View from Above

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Craig Stanfill, CC BY-SA 2.0. From altitude, the Exuma Cays look like a handful of pale stones scattered across dark velvet. The water shifts through every shade of blue and green, the coral heads visible as dark patches against white sand bottoms. The park's boundaries are invisible, of course, but the diffe...

Image: Craig Stanfill | CC BY-SA 2.0