From Fyre Fest failure to secret billionaire escape, can this sun-soaked island chain challenge the Maldives?

The last time the world heard about Exuma, it was because of Fyre Festival, 2017’s infamous non-event that turned this Bahamian island chain into a meme-a-palooza.

But what Fyre Festival got right was the real estate: This pristine archipelago, just a 45-minute flight from Miami, offers white sand beaches and shockingly clear waters on par with the Maldives or the Seychelles, minus the 30-hour slog. 

Made up of over 365 islands and cays, this district of the Bahamas remains one of the last unspoiled parts of the West Indies. And now, with a spurt of ultra-high-end developments underway, it’s poised to be the region’s next capital of luxury. 

“After the COVID period, we the government took a very aggressive approach and strategy to let the world know we are open for business,” said the Honorable Chester Cooper, the country’s deputy prime minister and minister of tourism. That means streamlined approvals, fast-tracked permits and rolling out what he calls a “red carpet one-stop shop,” reminding investors that the Bahamas, already one of the strongest brands in global tourism, is “an attractive place to do business.” 

The message landed. Today, the islands are buzzing with billionaire developers and some of the world’s exclusive hospitality brands.

The ultra-discreet Aman Resorts has partnered with Swiss entrepreneur and billionaire Dona Bertarelli for its first Bahamian resort. Set across 400 acres on Children’s Bay Cay and Wiliams Cay, Amancaya will feature a 36-pavilion resort, three- to five-bedroom Aman Residences units, a marina, a private beach club and an Aman Spa. 

On East Sampson Cay, developer Yntegra Group is building Rosewood Exuma, a collection of just 33 suites situated on their own 124-acre island and set to open in 2028. Yntegra is also working with Bulgari Hotels & Resorts for a project on Cave Cay comprised of 64 luxury suites and villas, as well as 48 branded private residences offered for sale.

Meanwhile, Jay Penske’s Torch Cay project at the island chain’s southernmost end is quietly garnering buzz as one of the tropics’ more exclusive residential private islands — like a 21st-century take on Mustique or a tropical version of Montana’s exclusive Yellowstone Club.

At 707 acres, the island offers nine spectacular beaches, a marina, the largest private runway in both the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean, and an 18-hole Coore & Crenshaw golf course, featuring 11 holes on the ocean. Access is by invitation only.

Despite these flashy new names, the islands’ geographic character — being a 120-mile-long chain of small, low-lying islands, many of which are still owned by the Bahamian government and will never be developed — is also its greatest asset. Much like resorts in the Maldives, the new resorts here can each occupy their own private cays and islands, laying the groundwork for a low-density, high-value tourism model. And, despite the region’s ambitious plans, these projects will bring jobs and infrastructure to the area without, in theory, sacrificing the islands’ soul.

“For many years people didn’t know about Exuma,” said Patrick Harrington, CEO of the Peace & Plenty Hotel in George Town on Great Exuma, a historic property dating back to 1958. He credits social media for the recent shift in attention being paid — those same viral drone shots that fueled Fyre Festival’s flameout turned out to be fantastic marketing.

And while there are current daily flights to Miami and Atlanta, getting to this quiet corner of the West Indies is about to become even easier. The airport at George Town is undergoing an $85 million expansion and will deliver a terminal seven times its current size, plus a new tarmac. Once that project completes in Fall 2026, it’s likely to spark a new wave of direct routes from the Northeast.

Developers understand the value of this moment.

Felipe MacLean, founder of Yntegra Group and the man behind the Rosewood and Bulgari, first arrived in Exuma during the pandemic on a family boating trip from Miami. He was stunned the region wasn’t already booming. There had been, he learned, huge barriers to entry, infrastructure and logistics chief among them.

But with changes in technology in recent years like increased accessibility of solar energy, smaller battery sizes, better airlift and logistics companies with multiple barge sizes servicing the area, problem turned to prospect. 

“I saw a clear opportunity,” said MacLean. “Today’s buyers are different, and these projects are tailored to the new buyers. It’s the private island experience only 45 minutes away from Miami.”