Cay Sal Bank

Cay Sal Bank Placer de los Roques
Carbonate platform
Cay Sal Bank overview map
Cay Sal Bank south of Florida and north of Cuba
Country	The Bahamas
Region	Bahama Banks
District	Bimini
Number of islands	96
Total land area	14.87 km2
Area
• Total	5,226.73 km2 (2,018.05 sq mi)
Languages
• Official	English
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)

Cay Sal Bank (Spanish: Placer de los Roques)^[1] is the third largest (after Great Bahama Bank and Little Bahama Bank) and the westernmost of the Bahama Banks. It is located between 23º27'N - 24º10'N and 079º25'W – 080º35'W. In a geographical sense, it is separate from the Bahamas proper as it is much closer to Cuba (from which it is separated by Nicholas Channel, at a distance of 50 km (31 mi)) than to the closest Bahamian island. It is separated by Santaren Channel from the Great Bahama Bank, the western rim of which is 50 km (31 mi) to the east. The Straits of Florida separate it from the United States mainland and the Florida Keys (Key Largo is 100 km (62 mi) to the north).

Administratively, the bank and its islands are part of Bimini district of The Bahamas, the main islands of which are 150 km (93 mi) to the north. The closest point of any other named Bahamian land to the bank is Orange Cay (24°56′24″N 79°08′45″W / 24.94000°N 79.14583°W / 24.94000; -79.14583 (Orange Cay)), the southernmost island of the Bimini Chain. The distance between Orange Cay and the nearest dry land of Cay Sal Bank, the Dog Rocks, is 120 km (75 mi).^[2] The westernmost tip of Andros is the second closest point of land, approximately 145 km (90 mi) east of Cay Sal Bank.