"If we want the cays to grow, we have to strengthen the connections between them," Works Minister Clay Sweeting said at the Abaco Business Outlook, according to The Tribune. He was talking about docks and airports. On Green Turtle Cay this fall, though, his line applies at a smaller scale too. The places that tie the cay together, its dining rooms, marinas and a museum, closed slowly over late summer. They are scheduled to return almost together.
Six Weeks to Close, One Week to Reopen
The Abaco Sun's fall 2026 closures list, built from what businesses confirmed and published September 21, shows how spread out the shutdown was. McIntosh Restaurant and Bakery closed August 17 for about two weeks. The Wrecking Tree and Seagrapes Cafe closed August 30. Bluff House Beach Resort & Marina closed September 1 after breakfast, the Green Turtle Club on September 2, Big O's on September 8, and Turtle Crawl Cafe on September 28. From first closure to last, the off-season unfolded over about six weeks.
The comeback is far more compressed. Seagrapes Cafe and Seagrapes Wine & Spirits planned to reopen September 28, and Linton's Cottages October 1. Those dates have now passed, though the list itself can't confirm the doors opened on schedule. The larger restaurants and resorts, though, all list dates within one late-October stretch:
- The Wrecking Tree, October 26
- Big O's, October 28
- The Green Turtle Club, listed as closed through October 28
- Bluff House Beach Resort & Marina, October 30 at lunchtime
- Turtle Crawl Cafe, October 30
- 2 Shortys, November 2
That puts seven days between the first reopening on the list and the last. Sundowners is listed as reopening in October with the date still to be determined, and the Albert Lowe Museum is due back at Thanksgiving 2026. The Abaco Sun says some businesses may not have firm dates yet, and that operators post updates on their own websites and social media accounts. Every date above is as listed in late September, not a confirmed opening.
The Pilots Arrive the Day Bluff House Reopens
The Terry Spurlock Halloween Fly-In runs October 30 through November 2, 2026, and the official Bahamas Fly-In page names Bluff House as the host hotel. On the 2026 itinerary, guests check in at Bluff House between noon and 2 p.m. on Friday, October 30. Per the Abaco Sun list, that is the same day and the same mealtime Bluff House plans to reopen after nearly two months closed.
Pilots reach the cay by the ordinary route. They land at Treasure Cay Airport, take a taxi to the Green Turtle Cay ferry dock, and cross on the late-morning boat. The itinerary lists the taxi at $15 for the first two people and $3 for each extra person. Golf cart rentals start at $50 a day plus a $40 fuel fee, which the organizers say may change. The same document describes Green Turtle Cay as 3.5 miles long, 1.5 miles wide and three miles off Great Abaco. A cay that size feels a few dozen extra golf carts.
An Itinerary That Reads Like a Local's Week
The weekend's program is close to a list of places the cay already depends on, scheduled to open within days of one another.
Friday, October 30. A 3 p.m. welcome reception at Tranquil Turtle with conch fritters, chicken wings and a "Tipsy Turtle" cocktail, then sunset at Sundowners from 5 p.m. Sundowners is on the itinerary for that evening, while the closures list still showed its reopening date as to be determined. That makes it the one to check before you go.
Saturday, October 31. Breakfast at Plymouth Rock at 9 a.m., then a golf-cart tour of New Plymouth. The organizers invite pilots to "mingle with residents of New Plymouth" and try the Goombay Smash at Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar. At 6 p.m. comes dinner at the Boat House, followed by the Halloween costume party with live music and a DJ.
Sunday, November 1. A day at Big O's, where the itinerary mentions the swim-up pool bar and the pig of No Name Cay, and then sunset at Pineapples at 5 p.m. For Sunday dinner the organizers suggest Bluff House, Sundowners, Spilligate Bar, Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar and Beach Weekend.
Monday, November 2. The group leaves on the 9 a.m. ferry. The organizers put the crossing at 10 to 15 minutes, with a return fare of $16 for adults and $8 for children ages 3 to 11. The same day, 2 Shortys is scheduled to reopen.
Big O's is due back October 28, two days before the Fly-In starts. Bluff House reopens the day the pilots arrive. The Wrecking Tree and the Green Turtle Club come back earlier that same week. The sources don't say whether those dates were chosen with the Fly-In in mind. On the calendar, though, the first weekend when most of the cay's larger dining rooms are scheduled to be open and its Halloween party fall together.
Why a Pilots' Weekend Carries a Name
The event is named for Terry Spurlock, whom a 2022 eTurboNews report called The Bahamas' first Flying Ambassador. That same report covered the event's return to Green Turtle Cay after a two-year pause linked to Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19. It described a three-day event that brought a group of 10 flying enthusiasts to Bluff House.
That figure covers 2022 only. No published source gives a typical turnout since then, so this year's group could be larger or smaller. The four-day format in 2026, compared with the three-day 2022 version, is the one change visible in the published materials.
The Dock Being Rebuilt During the Same Season
While the dining rooms reopen, a slower project is underway at the government mailboat dock. The Tribune reported on September 18 that construction has started on a rebuild costing more than $3.3 million. It includes a new ramp that lets vehicles and cargo roll directly on and off vessels, and completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
For a cay where everything arrives by water, a roll-on ramp changes how vehicles and freight get ashore. The same report says the government is moving ahead with repairs to Dorian-damaged ferry docks at Treasure Cay, White Sound and Hope Town. Treasure Cay is where the Fly-In itinerary sends pilots to board the Green Turtle Cay ferry. The article doesn't give completion dates for the ferry-dock repairs or mention any service interruptions. The fourth-quarter target applies to the mailboat dock alone, and it is a target, not a finished job.
The minister was also frank about limits. The Tribune reported that he acknowledged the pressure on the small number of contractors handling Family Island roadworks. Those are the same contractors any large Abaco project relies on.
What Comes After the Week
Once the late-October rush is over, the next fixed dates on the cay's calendar are further apart. The Albert Lowe Museum, which closed at the end of the day on August 23, plans to reopen at Thanksgiving 2026, the last of the closures list's Green Turtle Cay reopenings.
Next comes New Year's Day. The Abaco Sun events calendar, updated in September 2026, lists the Green Turtle Cay Junkanoo at 2 p.m. on January 1, 2027, in New Plymouth, with fireworks at 7 p.m. at Settlement Point. The same New Plymouth streets that pilots tour by golf cart on October 31 host the Junkanoo two months later. If the Tribune's timeline holds, the new mailboat dock will be finished by then.
If you're thinking about a Green Turtle Cay home you could open in time for this kind of week, or about selling one before the season fills, The Altidor Collection can walk you through the cay's waterfront and marina-side options. Discover the Collection. Contact Mack for private access.
