Pig Beach, A Caribbean Island Colonized by Pigs

Located by the beautiful waters of the Caribbean Sea, just among the hundreds of beautiful islands that make up the Bahamas archipelago and right in the Exuma district, the Big Mayor Cay Island is found. It is full of white beaches and completely uninhabited by man.

This paradise on earth is about one mile along and is home to three fresh water springs. But there is something unique about this island - it is often called Pig Island or even Pig Beach thanks to one of the inhabitants of the island - a colony of pigs who love to lie down in the sun and swim in the crystal-clear waters of the sea.

This unspoiled oasis may be inhabited by pigs but they do welcome tourists, and even swim with them quite frequently! The pigs have gained a bit of fame thanks to photographer Eric Cheng and his friend Jim Abernety who in 2003 did a photo series dedicated to the surprising imagery of pigs swimming with tourists.



How all these pigs managed to get on the island still remains a mystery.

There are those who think they may have been left as emergency food by sailors who intended to come back to for them, but perhaps for some unknown reason lost their way back or were shipwrecked. Another theory claims that the pigs were survivors of a storm and swam to shore, only to begin reproducing and eating what the island had to offer. And others claim they were brought to the island on purpose to create a tourist attraction.



Whatever the case may be, nowadays more than twenty wonderful piglets live happily in this enchanted place, swimming regularly and always ready to welcome the boats of tourists from which they receive delicious snacks and treats, protected from the risk of becoming food themselves.

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