Stubbs Cay
Turks and Caicos
Stubbs Cay is a small uninhabited island, located adjacent to Fort George Cay and Pine Cay. The cay is part of the Fort George Land and Sea National Park, and has a collective area of about 93 acres (38 hectares), with an additional red mangrove wetland system that leads off the north and essentially joins with Fort George Cay, giving the indication that the two islands are one.
Stubbs Cay is relatively easy to approach via boat from Providenciales, as the primary Pine Cay channel runs adjacent to the island, and can be navigated by mid-sized and small vessels during most tides, via both the northern and southern Caicos Banks sides. The Pine Cay dock is located near Stubbs Cay, and opposite the channel.
Terrain and Environment
Unlike many of the better-known surrounding cays, Stubbs Cay does not have any beach of measurable size, with nearly all of its coast consisting of low limestone cliff and shoreline. A low ridge runs the length of the island, which allows for a compressed representation of vegetation. Starting on the southern Caicos Banks side of the island, salt-resistant coastal plants such as sea grapes, joewoods, and thatch palms can be found, which quickly transitions to tropical dry forest, and then to red mangroves off the lee north-western coast.
Invasive mammal management to control rat and mouse populations has been conducted on Stubbs Cay by the Turks and Caicos National Trust, perhaps allowing for the reintroduction of the Turks and Caicos Islands Rock Iguana at some time in the future.
A wide array of bird life can be seen on and around Stubbs Cay, including herons, egrets, and pelicans on the wetlands, and warblers, bananaquits, and cuckoos in the forests on land.