This Tiny Caribbean Private Island Is Back
For nearly a half century, Marina Cay was one of the Caribbean’s most beloved private-island destinations, home to a bar, a restaurant and a tiny hotel on what was for years known as Pusser’s Marina Cay.
Now, the legendary little private island is back open again, this time with a new centerpiece: the Marina Cay Bar and Grill.
It’s the brainchild of Mainsail Lodging and Development, which has a broad network of hotels in Florida and also owns the Scrub Island resort in the BVI.
The new Marina Cay, which is actually managed by the nearby Scrub Island, is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 9 PM.
The island is open to local residents, yachters, visitors and Scrub Island’s resort guests, who can arrive via a private ferry.
Marina Cay has 29 mooring balls available to sailors and charter boats, all of which can be reserved by the BoatyBall app.
“This is an exciting new chapter for Marina Cay, which has been a treasured landmark in the British Virgin Islands for generations,” said Julianne Corlew, Vice President & Managing Partner of Mainsail Lodging & Development. “We’re thrilled to reopen the island and the restaurant, once again welcoming our BVI neighbors and visitors from around the globe to enjoy the tastes and sights of the Caribbean on Marina Cay.”
The oceanfront bar and grill will have a menu with everything from jerk chicken and baby back ribs to crispy snapper sandwiches and sweet cane-rum-glazed wings.
There is also a full cocktail menu, from traditional painkillers to Hemingway daiquiris.
The island’s history began back in the 1930s, purchased by Robb and Rodie White, who wrote a book about their lives on the island called Our Virgin Island; that book was later adapted into a film starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes.
In 1956, it was bought by New Yorker Eugene Tonkonogy, who turned the island into a boutique resort, before Pusser’s founder Charles Tobias set up Pusser’s Marina Cay in the 1990s.
Scrub Island Development Group is currently leasing the island, with plans for more activations, including destination weddings and public and private events.
For more, visit Marina Cay.
Alexander Britell is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caribbean Journal and one of the top experts on Caribbean travel worldwide, with decades of on-the-ground travel to the region and comprehensive knowledge of the entire Caribbean Basin.
