Castaway Cay was the first private island in the cruise industry where the ship docks on the island, eliminating the need for guests to be tendered to land.[1]
The island is still largely undeveloped as only 55 of the 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) are being used. Castaway Cay has approximately 140 Disney Cruise Line permanent residents who keep the island running daily.[2]
History
Gorda Cay
Gorda Cay was first settled in 1783.[3] Gorda's airstrip (now Castaway Cay Airport) was once used as a stop in the 1930s for bootleggers[4] and later, drug runners.[1]
In 1997, the Disney Cruise Line purchased a 99-year lease for Gorda Cay from the Bahamian government and renamed it Castaway Cay, intending for it to be the line's private island. The company spent $25 million over 18 months of construction.[1] This included dredging 50,000 truckloads of sand from the Atlantic Ocean.[5] The pier and its approaches (a 1,700 foot channel) were constructed to allow Disney ships to dock directly alongside the island, thus removing the need for tenders to get the passengers ashore.[1]
A post office on the island has special Bahamian postage and postmark specific to Disney Cruise Line.[1] The island is developed in the theme of a castaway community with buildings made to look as if they had been improvised after a shipwreck. The facilities are maintained like any other Disney theme park; the shops accept guests' stateroom keys for payment. Food service is operated as an extension of the cruise package. A variety of activities are available to guests including bicycle rentals, personal watercraft rentals, massages overlooking the ocean, snorkeling, parasailing, volleyball, and basketball. There are monkey bars and a rope for children to climb across set about 30 metres (98 ft) into the ocean on one beach and a slide about 25 metres (82 ft) into the ocean on another beach. There are three beaches for guests: one exclusively for families, one exclusively for cabana guests, and another exclusively for adults, called Serenity Bay.[1]
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