Little Pipe Cay

Editorial profile. This island is not our listing. It is profiled from public record. Figures and status reflect the sources below at time of writing and may have changed. Sources: public listings.

Is Little Pipe Cay for sale, and how much does it cost?

Little Pipe Cay is a 38 acres developed private island in Bahamas, Bahamas. It is currently offered for sale: US$100,000,000. Tenure is freehold. Foreign ownership is permitted subject to local approvals. This is an editorial profile drawn from public record, clearly attributed, not our listing.

Summary

Little Pipe Cay is the finished article: a 38-acre Exumas island built out over more than fifteen years into roughly twenty-two structures, listed at $85 million in 2018 and relisted at $100 million in late 2021 through Knight Frank and Douglas Elliman. It also trades as one of the world's most expensive whole-island rentals, reported around $75,000–95,000 a night, which gives it something almost no private island has — a demonstrable income line against its price. The cay's screen history (Casino Royale, Pirates of the Caribbean) and its position in Pipe Creek, the most photogenic water in the Bahamas, make it the rental-flagship archetype. Buyers here pay for completeness, not potential.

Land & Waterfront

Pipe Creek is the stretch of the central Exumas where sandbars, cuts and shallows produce the swimming-pool blues that dominate charter marketing, and Little Pipe Cay sits in the middle of it with white-sand beaches and sheltered small-boat water on all sides. The 38 acres are intensively but discreetly developed: the main manor of about 5,000 square feet anchors the composition, with four guest cottages providing around eleven bedrooms for some twenty-two guests, a refectory building housing pub, dining room, gym and spa, and an Olympic-length infinity pool. Elevation is modest, as everywhere in the chain, which is why the manor incorporates a purpose-built hurricane shelter. Compass Cay and Staniel Cay — the swimming pigs, Thunderball Grotto — are minutes away by tender.

Access & Utilities

Guests and owners arrive by seaplane or boat via Staniel Cay's airstrip, or directly by helicopter to the island's own helipad; the deep-draft dock and pier take substantial yachts alongside. The engineering under the surface is the differentiator: a private power station feeding an underground grid, water filtration and freshwater storage, and a communications hub built into the main house — infrastructure closer to a small resort than a residence, maintained by a permanent staff establishment housed in a dedicated village with boat barn and stores. Reported running costs of around $1.5 million a year are the honest counterpart to that turnkey status, and any acquirer should underwrite the operating budget, staffing plan and plant renewal cycle as carefully as the headline price.

Ownership & Use

The cay is freehold — repeatedly emphasised in coverage because several neighbouring cays are leasehold — with the standard International Persons Landholding Act permit for foreign buyers. The use case is unusually flexible: run it privately as a completed family compound; continue the ultra-premium rental programme, where the reported nightly rates against operating costs sketch a real yield; or blend the two around an owner's calendar. The price history ($85 million in 2018, $100 million from December 2021) has not yet been validated by a recorded sale, so there is likely negotiating room for a credible buyer. Diligence should centre on the rental operation's contracts and occupancy, plant condition after two decades of build-out, and staff arrangements that convey with the island.

Specification

Status	Available
Offering	For sale
Region	Caribbean · Bahamas
Country	Bahamas
Size	38 acres · 15 ha
Tenure	Freehold
Development	Developed
Holding-cost band	High — estate operations
Access	boat, helipad, seaplane
Nearest airport	Staniel Cay airstrip (MXY) by boat or seaplane; helipad on-island
Power	private power station with underground grid
Water	water filtration plant and freshwater storage
Communications	communications hub in main residence
Structures	main manor (~5,000 sq ft with comms hub and hurricane shelter), four guest cottages (~11BR total, sleeps ~22), refectory building with pub, dining, gym and spa, staff village with quarters, boat barn and stores, Olympic-length infinity pool, helipad, deep-draft dock and pier
Foreign ownership	Permitted (see notes)
Publicly marketed	since 2018

Price record

Documented public figures over time — asking prices, reported sales and reductions, each attributed. This record is maintained editorially and may lag the market.

Legal & Ownership Notes

Bahamas International Persons Landholding Act permit; freehold tenure has been a marketed differentiator versus leasehold cays in the chain

• no registry-confirmed transaction since 2021 relist — verify availability
• reported running costs ~$1.5M/yr — obtain audited operating accounts

Satellite reference: ESRI World Imagery / Google Earth — Little Pipe Cay, Pipe Creek, Exumas, Bahamas.
Imagery shown is representative of the region, not the island itself.

Common questions

How much does Little Pipe Cay cost?

Little Pipe Cay is profiled at: US$100,000,000. Figures reflect public record at time of writing and may change; the profile keeps a dated price record.

What tenure does Little Pipe Cay have?

Little Pipe Cay is held on freehold tenure. Always confirm the exact instrument and any remaining term on the title.

Can a foreigner buy Little Pipe Cay?

Foreign buyers may own property here subject to local approvals. Bahamas International Persons Landholding Act permit; freehold tenure has been a marketed differentiator versus leasehold cays in the chain

How do you get to Little Pipe Cay?

Access is by boat, helipad, seaplane. Nearest airport: Staniel Cay airstrip (MXY) by boat or seaplane; helipad on-island.

How big is Little Pipe Cay?

Little Pipe Cay is approximately 38 acres (15 hectares).