TRAVEL:  The Pink Sands Beach on Harbour Island, Bahamas

TRAVEL: The Pink Sands Beach on Harbour Island, Bahamas

Harbour Island is famous for its pink sand beaches some 3 plus miles long from 50 to 100 feet wide – considered one of the very best pink sand beaches in the world, which are found all along the east side of the island. The sand is a composition of bits of coral, broken shells, minute rocks and calcium  carbonate from tiny marine invertebrates.

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The pink hue comes from Foraminifera, a tiny microscopic shelled animals that actually has a reddish-pink shell. This animal has a bright pink or red shell full of holes through which it extends a footing, called “pseudopodia”, which it uses to attach itself and feed.  They live in the underside of the reefs, on the sea floors, beneath rocks and in waves. They are washed up on shore as a result of waves or fish who knock them loose as they feed on them. Foraminifera are among the most abundant single cell organisms in the ocean and play a significant role in the environment. Snorkeling and swimming are made safe and easy by outlying reefs. These reefs provide large areas of relatively calm and shallow waters.

 

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Harbour Island is an island and administrative district in the Bahamas and is located off the northeast coast of Eleuthera Island. It has a population of 1,762 (2010 census).

 

Pink Sand Beach on Harbour IslandImage: Wave Journey

spiaggia rosa  8Image: Blog Weplaya

 

Lone Tree, Dunmore Town, Harbour Island Source: Tourist Destination

Harbour Island tree

 

The only town on the island is Dunmore Town, named after the governor of the Bahamas from 1786 to 1798, John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, who had a summer residence on Harbour Island.

Jacuzzi  source:wheretostay.com

Pink-Sand-Beach-in-Harbour-Island-Bahamas-_08Image: Family Holiday.Net

Pink-Sand-Beach-in-Harbour-Island-Bahamas-Image: Family Holiday.Net

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Image: Family Holiday.Net

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Image: Family Holiday.Net

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Image: Family Holiday.Net

In the middle 1960s, the American actor Brett King and his wife, Sharon, established the Coral Sands Hotel in Harbour Island.

Horses Harbour Island, Bahamas, looking East Source Wikipedia

The island is accessible by airplane through North Eleuthera Airport, followed by a short water taxi ride from neighbouring North Eleuthera.

 

Harbour Island is a popular vacation destination for Americans. Known as Briland to the locals, Harbour Island is colourful with English Colonial-style buildings and flower lined streets. Harbour Island is part of the Out Islands of the Bahamas.

SOURCE:

Wikipedia

Harbour Island Guide

 

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