LIFE HERE It has been called the “Fishing Capital of the World” and served as muse for Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. Now there’s a mega-resort and casino, a sprawling marina and increased flights from the U.S. CAN BIMINI SURVIVE A MODERN MAKEOVER? BY T.J. OLWIG ZACH STOVALL ZACH 48 ISLANDS APRIL APRIL ISLANDS 49 SILVER-HAIRED MAN ENTERS THE BAR AT GET HERE THE BIMINI BIG GAME CLUB RESORT & Daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to MARINA AND STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF Bimini on Cape Air and Silver Airways A start at $250 round THE ROOM, SCANNING IT FROM WALL TO WALL. trip. Cape Air also ofers seaplane “I HAVEN’T SEEN THIS PLACE IN 20 YEARS,” HE TELLS flights from Fort Lauderdale and THE BARTENDER. “KALIK AND A RUM NEAT, PLEASE.” Watson Island, Miami, from $380 It’s my first morning in this Bahamian that measures a mere 9 square miles. round trip. outpost 50 miles east of Miami, and “Bimini isn’t Nassau,” Marvin tells me. Marvin is interrupting my seafood omelet. But the local newspaper states other- “Flew here thousands of times,” he goes on, wise. “Shaq Attack: Basketball great referring to his days as a Caribbean pilot. brings star power to Bimini,” the headline “I hear the island has changed quite a crows in a breathless story about a celeb- bit,” I say. rity event at Resorts World Bimini. Marvin rolls his eyes and takes a swig I’ve yet to see what’s out there, but I’m of his beer. certain of one thing: If Shaquille O’Neal “Oh yeah. More cars. People dress nicer is here, Bimini is definitely getting bigger. too. It’s like South Beach swam to Bimini.” Marvin doesn’t know it, but his words WHITE-PAINTED TOMBSTONES CROWD STAY HERE are the bait that brought me here. Bimini the oceanside cemetery. I’m standing The Bimini Big — close to the U.S. but of the grid in char- at the southern tip of Alice Town, the capi- Game Club Resort acter — has been an idyllic retreat for a tal of North Bimini — the most populous & Marina in Alice Town opened in certain type of tourist for decades. With of Bimini’s two main isles. 1936 and was a vibrant mangroves and an abundant reef I note the last names of the departed. former Hemingway system, it’s been hailed as an aquatic Eden There’s very little variance. Saunders. Cash. hangout. It features 51 recently reno- by divers and fishermen. Rogue travelers Cash. Saunders. The last of which rings a vated rooms and cherish its funky shops and the warm bell. I’m meeting with an Ashley Saunders suites, as well as a island community. that afternoon; he’s the owner of the new pool, restored docks, a restau- But a recent surge in development, Dolphin House, a quirky guesthouse and rant and a dive spurred by Malaysian casino-giant the museum in town. shop. Rooms from Genting Group and its $600 million On a small, quiet side street, I find the $150 per night, suites from $315 Resorts World Bimini, is luring a difer- brightly tiled building. “You lookin’ for a per night; biggame ent kind of visitor. Mega-yachters are tour, man?” a dreadlocked man calls out. clubbimini.com flocking to its marina — the largest in the “Only if you’re Ashley,” I reply. Bahamas at 280 slips — and hotshot gam- “That’s me.” WHEN TO GO blers to its casino, the first in the world to I mention the cemetery’s residents. Year-round, but be mindful of have panoramic water views. “Those are my relatives,” the 70-year- hurricane season, Since 2013, most visitors hopped the old historian and retired high-school June to November. Bimini SuperFast, a high-speed ferry billed teacher says. “We were the first ones here as “the fastest cruise ship in the Americas.” 200 years ago. It was the Indians, then us.” At the beginning of this year, however, Ashley recalls the days when Bimini had operations ceased as daily flights were no electricity or running water. “Now we added from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. got people from all over the world.” Resorts World Bimini includes Genting plans to launch “a more efcient The island’s population is around 3,000 a Hilton hotel, a ferry operation” come spring of this year. and growing. Not an alarming figure, but 10,000-square- The influx of tourists from both air on a sliver of sand that’s already congested foot casino and the largest marina and sea — upward of 150,000 visitors are — and thinner than a football field in in the Bahamas. expected in 2016 — has locals concerned certain spots — each additional footprint about an environmental fiasco to an island can be felt. 50 ISLANDS APRIL APRIL ISLANDS 51 It was only in 2014 that a 1,000-foot perhaps the island’s most famous resident, main draw. Fishing as well. pier was built for the SuperFast ship. The having been a fishing guide to the likes of “How’s the catch these days?” I ask. dredging infuriated activists over dam- Richard Nixon and Martin Luther King Jr. “The fish went to deeper water when aged marine habitat and the mess of mud “Tomorrow it’s the U.S. ambassador,” he says. the resort dug the canals, but they’re still that distorted the clear flats. The pier cuts Our boat arrives at the “Holy Grounds” here,” Ansil says. through an area where most of North — the exact spot he took MLK in 1968. It was He points to a red mangrove and gives Bimini’s remaining coral reefs sit. in Ansil’s boat that Dr. King wrote his own me a science lesson. Whether or not a new ferry arrives in eulogy. Today, a bronzed statue commemo- “Fish come from the Gulf of Mexico to the near future, it might not matter. Grant rates the moment. spawn and nest right here. We need these Johnson, a biologist who has done envi- We step out of the boat and onto a view- roots. They fight of hurricanes too.” ronmental research in Bimini for 14 years, ing deck. The sun is high, the sky is blue and “Are they healthy?” I ask. notes the damage to its ecology is irrevers- the mangroves appear to have no end. Ansil pauses and does a double take of ible. “The SuperFast cruise is a gigantic red Before Bimini had spring breakers and a plant nearest us. flag in the face of everyone who promotes a 24-hour runway, views like this were the “I don’t know.” mega-development in the Bahamas Out Islands,” he says. Development has also impacted fish populations. Johnson says the removal of mangroves along the western shore RISKY BUSINESS: THREE TOURIST MECCAS ON THE BRINK of the North Sound lagoon has resulted in 52 to 67 percent declines in mojarra, soles, barracuda and silversides. (The lat- ter are a crucial food source for sharks and other species.) He adds that sea grass has decreased by more than 50 percent; the plants are an important habitat for both the endangered green sea turtle and the economic-staple queen conch. And the Genting Group is just getting started. Revised plans call for the length- ening of South Bimini’s airport runway to 9,000 feet, along with a 200-room hotel and a water-taxi terminal to shuttle guests straight to the resort. RESORTS WORLD BIMINI OWNS HALF “Resorts World will avoid a three-minute BEFORE BIMINI HAD SPRING BREAKERS MACAU of the developed land on North Bimini ride to the existing water-taxi dock just Despite 18 consecutive months of revenue decline, the Chinese haven of AND A 24-HOUR RUNWAY, VIEWS LIKE THIS — roughly 2.2 miles. Alice Town, Bailey to keep guests away from Biminites and gambling continues to double down. Development is underway for Cotai 2.0, Town and Porgy Bay, where residents their businesses,” notes the Bimini Blue Macau’s second version of the Las Vegas Strip that will take its hotel-room WERE THE MAIN DRAW. FISHING AS WELL. total from 28,000 today to 42,000 by 2018. With 30 million annual visitors — live and work, take up the same amount Coalition, an anonymous committee of in a location one-sixth the size of Washington D.C. — one of the most densely of land. To reach the resort from my hotel activists and council members. The group populated places on Earth increasingly sufers from water and air pollution. So when asked about the development, in the capital, I hop on a beach cruiser insists they’re not anti-development but in CAPE VERDE Ashley is predictably skeptical. and cycle seven minutes down “The favor of responsible growth. Located of northwest Africa, this archipelago is a choice spot for Europeans “Biminites won’t work there, man,” he King’s Highway” — as golf carts, the main Resorts World has spearheaded sev- seeking sun and surf. It’s also home to the world’s third-largest rookery for log- says of Resorts World Bimini. “There’s mode of transportation, zip by — to the eral cleanup campaigns, but Johnson says gerhead turtles. Their nesting grounds on the west coast of Sal, Cape Verde’s most developed isle, decreased from 40 percent in 2013 to 10 percent last year. more money in one day of lobster fishin’ island’s other end. the water visibility has already declined. Pollution, increased tourism and construction of a breakwater structure to give than being a busboy at a hotel.” A day Entering the property is a return to the “Bimini was known as having some of the visitors ideal swimming conditions have further endangered the reptile.