Coco Cay 

Berry Islands, The Bahamas

Royal Caribbean planned an expansion of the services offered at the Cay by injecting a total of $150 million over a three-phase process, including the $40 million fixed pier development, which will pave the way for additional improvements to the island.

Coco Cay is located on the northern fringe of the Berry Islands due west of Great Stirrup Cay and north of Great Harbour Cay. Little Stirrup Cay is approximately 5,000 feet long, and 1,700 feet wide at its widest point near the east end of the island. There is a small basin in the northeast portion of the island that is used to load/unload passengers from existing passenger ferries. The new pier is proposed to be located on the northern side of the island in an area that is currently used for island activities.

Islands By Design was contracted to review and contribute to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed cruise ship pier on Coco Cay. The pier will include 1.2 acres of a fixed structure, 5.8 acres of excavated basin area and require removal of 38,441 cubic meters (m3) of material to achieve navigation depths along the pier. The project proposes to construct a permanent pile supported cruise pier on the north-east side of the island adjacent to the basin currently utilized for the tender docks.

Additionally, IBD provided support in the preparation of an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that describes how the potential impacts described in the Environmental Impact Assessment will be managed to either avoid, minimize or mitigate those impacts in a manner that is environmentally acceptable.