Elbow Cays

This article is about the cays in Bimini District. For the cay in the Abaco Islands, see Elbow Cay. For the island group in Venezuela, see Los Roques archipelago.
Elbow Cays
Los Roques
Cays
View of the Elbow Cays. The semi-ruined lighthouse of North Elbow Cay can be seen in the background.
View of the Elbow Cays. The semi-ruined lighthouse of North Elbow Cay can be seen in the background.
Elbow Cays is located in Bahamas
Elbow Cays
Elbow Cays
Coordinates: 23°57′N 80°27′W / 23.950°N 80.450°W / 23.950; -80.450
CountryThe Bahamas
RegionCay Sal Bank, Bahama Banks
DistrictBimini
Population
 • Totaluninhabited
Languages
 • OfficialEnglish
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
Cay Sal Lighthouse Edit this at Wikidata
Old drawing of the lighthouse. Although known as 'Cay Sal Lighthouse', it was not located on Cay Sal Island
Coordinates23°57′12.6″N 80°26′42.0″W / 23.953500°N 80.445000°W / 23.953500; -80.445000
Constructed1839
Constructionstone tower
Height18 metres (59 ft)
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern[1]
Markingsunpainted and ruined tower
Deactivated1940s

The Elbow Cays (Spanish: Los Roques)[2] are uninhabited cays in the Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas. It is the most Western point in the Bahamas. They are part of a reef shelf located at the northwestern end of the bank about 80 km (50 mi) off the Cuban coast and 130 km (80 mi) southeast of Key West, Florida. These cays are an excellent scuba diving spot.[3]

The Elbow Cays are the westernmost group on the reef, running southwest to northeast along the Straits of Florida. The southernmost cays of this group consist of unnamed islets and rocks. Northeast of these are South Elbow Cay (the westernmost named cay of Cay Sal Bank) and North Elbow Cay, the latter sometimes known just as Elbow Cay (Spanish: Cayo Codo).[4]

North Elbow Cay, which is the largest and highest of the cays, is marked by a disused conical stone lighthouse, which is 17.7 metres (58 ft) high. The site is open for visitors, but the ruined tower is accessible only by boat and reaching it is extremely hazardous.[5]

  1. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the Bahamas". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  2. ^ Derrotero de las islas Antillas, de las costas Tierra-Firme, y las del Seno Mejicano, Dirección de Hidrografía, España, Madrid, Imprenta Nacional, 1837. p. 266
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference LD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ NGA Navigational Chart #27087, Cay Sal Bank. 3rd Edition, corrected through Mar-01.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference LoB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).