The Bahamas Agrees on Massive New Cruise Port Development

The Bahamas attracts major investments as it signs a deal for a new cruise port based on Long Island, capable of handling 13,000 guests daily.

ByRobert McGillivray Affiliate Disclaimer Modified Date: Oct 13, 2022

The Bahamian Government has signed an agreement for another cruise port in the island group. Azul Destinations Ltd and Calypso Cove Destinations Ltd will be constructing a luxury resort and cruise port at Long Island, estimated to cost around 250 million dollars, called Calypso Cove.

The private cruise port will be filled with activities for visiting cruise passengers and include a casino, waterpark, 18-hole golf course, and much more. The development of Calypso Cove is under the direction of former Carnival Corporation VP of global port and destination development, Carlos Torres de Navarra. 

Bahamas Signs Agreement for New Cruise Destination

The Bahamas will be home to one more cruise destination in the coming years as the local government signed an agreement with a development company to start construction on Long Island, which is another island south of New Providence and Carnival’s private island of Half Moon Cay.

Calypso Cove, as the new resort will be called, will be developed by Azul Destinations Ltd and Calypso Cove Destinations Ltd at a total cost of some $250 million. The Bahamian Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper said the new tourism destination would include a large variety of attractions.

Besides a 200-room hotel, there will be marina facilities for mega-yachts, a waterpark with interior and exterior pools, casinos, and shopping facilities. The cruise facilities will include a port area and a pier large enough for two Oasis-class ships, such as Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas.

The local economy will also benefit from the new project, employing thousands of Bahamians and providing business to local entrepreneurs: 

Construction Starts Late 2023- Early 2024

The project will be under the guidance of the former Carnival Corporation Vice president for Global Port and Destination Development, Carlos Torres de Navarra, now principal of Azul Destinations. He believes the proximity to Florida will be a major plus factor for the new resort:

“We all had an idea for a destination within a very close proximity of what is the cruise capital of the world, and that’s the state of Florida and when we saw this property, we did our assessment, we noticed that from an environmental perspective, which was the most important thing to us that there was no roadblocks and we started the process of validating the site.”

Construction of the new cruise port and resort will start around the end of 2023 or early in 2024 and will offer employment for some 300 workers during the construction phase. 

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper: “We are pleased to say that the project will employ thousands of Bahamians and independent Bahamian firms, so this is good for employment, but also good for entrepreneurship and the empowerment of Bahamians,” he added.

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Once completed, the cruise port will be able to handle 13,000 cruise ship passengers per day. As for guests staying longer, the Bahamian government will be making updates to the Long Island airport, which is currently incapable of handling large passenger streams. 

Azul Destinations says it is already in talks with several major cruise lines for calls to Calypso Cove, the first of which are still a number of years away. 

Calypso Cove is not the only cruise port under development in the Bahamas. Some months ago, Carnival Cruise Line started construction on a new cruise port on Grand Bahama Island, an investment worth $200 million.