Fire on Bimini

I spend a lot of time at Bakers.
To say this resort is successful is absolutely correct, the amount of building going on and the prices they are getting are phenomenal.
I think one of the biggest draws is the golf course and it being a private club, the exclusivity of the place has attracted some very big names in sports and Hollywood.
It was mentioned earlier that Bimini did not have and airport near the resort, well the same can be said about Bakers, it takes a 10 min. car ride and then a transfer to a boat for a 1/2 hour ferry ride.
They are definitely having some growing pains, it will be interesting how the staff and manage the place as it gets more and more built out. Over Christmas they went from 150 guests to 1200+, that's a lot of extra staff to find for restaurants, and housekeeping.
The original developer has a lot of experience with the private club model and I think that had a lot to do with the success of the place.

I think Baker's Bay is more successful than the other big golf/resort/real estate development in the Abacos -- Winding Bay which was started with considerable hoopla by long-time private club developer Peter de Savary. I believe he unloaded it to Marriott, and it has been taken over by another private club developer called Southworth. I'm not sure how many houses have been built or if the Club has attracted a large membership. I understand there has been an effort to buy property along Little Harbor and build a private marina for Winding Bay members but there has been some community push-back.

Another Abacos golf/boating development -- Treasure Cay-- has been open for a long time but there are still a number of undeveloped lots around the harbor.

We have a couple of golfers in our group who have led us to Winding Bay three times. It's nice but so isolated and we go to Abacos by boat, then have to get transportation there. The lack of a marina is a serious shortcoming. I think Treasure Cay is a good comparison to Baker's Bay and shows clearly the disadvantage of not being a private exclusive resort. The property just isn't as desirable. Many want exclusivity.

In mentioning Resorts World not doing anything for the rest of Bimini, that's been a wide spread criticism of Resorts World and other Chinese builders. They bring in their own crews for the construction using very little local labor and showing very little interest in what is outside their resort. That may save them money in construction but has made RWBimini less attractive as a destination. You need more, whether quaint historic villages or extensive entertainment. Look, by comparison, at all you can do on Paradise Island, the home of Atlantis. Or look at Baha Mar. So much to see and do at both without leaving the property. Then Nassau on top of that. Baker's and Treasure Cay and Abacos have found the need to have as many activities as possible. RWBimini doesn't even promote things like sailing and fishing and paddleboards and kayaks or really even beaches. Faro Blanco does a far better job of activities than they do. There's a reason Atlantic City Resorts have struggled so and so many bankruptcies, in spite of proximity to so much population. You walked across the street into the worst of old Atlantic City.

I think Genting felt gambling would bring in all the business they wanted. Well, they've found there and elsewhere, such as the Catskills, that it's not enough. Slot machine play isn't a destination but it's something people do between and around other activities. On the way to a show. After a walk to other places. No one is going to go to a resort, just to play the slots. Plenty of casinos around today. Slot machines depend on traffic and they make a casino profitable, not the high stakes poker rooms or any of the tables.

I've been going to Bimini for 35 years. When any of us considered Bimini, it meant only 1 thing. Alice town. Bimini Sands didn't exist and no reason to ever go to South Bimini unless not flying in Chaulks. North end of North bimini was just mangroves. The only "town" on either North Bimini and South Bimini is Alice town. Which is a disaster and as worse as it's ever been. Maybe not the worst...….. mid 2000's was a horrible time as Bacardi pulled out of big game, chaulks got grounded, the big bar burned down and the Bahamians upped the customs fee to $300 and there was NOTHING going on, on North Bimini

Back to the topic. Its incredible that a investment of the size that Resorts World made on N.Bimini that a commercial incinerator wasn't included for refuse. Am I to believe that they burn their trash in an open pit arrangement hence the garbage dump fire? No way that would take place with the sensitive info taken and on record.

Well, you have to keep in mind that what is built there now, was never included in the original design plans at the time of the build (Bimini Bay) and has just kind of grown hap hazardly in efforts to try to make it profitable. The real estate fall pretty much stopped Bimini Bay in it's tracks from completing all of the home sites and the project. It was origionally homes and some condo's that they figured would only be inhabited here and there, not a Hilton hotel and a cruise ship bringing 1000+ passangers at a time etc. They did put a very good water tank and system from what I can tell. But a commercial incinerator would be a great addition, if they had someone that could maintain it. And, quite honestly Resort World is going through an internal fight of trying to figure out how to create enough business and make the place work (profitable). The lack of a real airport (or any) on North Bimini is it's biggest obstacle . If you could get a commercial flight in and out of there, like you can in Nassau, Abacos, Eluethera I think it would be a lot easier to make a go of it.

I don’t think having the airport on south BIM is a concern has they can easily shuttle guests over to the resort by boat.

One issue though is that it has been a massive construction site since day one. From the slips, or many of the homes near the northern end of the resort all you see Are piles of sand, construction equipment and rusting barges. Not appealing at all.

On the topic of potable water, I wonder who built the commercial R/O plant on the N. Bimini site to support Resorts World ? We all know Joe and Water Makers Inc. pretty much owned the Exuma's with their equipment and Whitney took Matrix fully commercial for municipalities and abandoned the yacht market and then sold Matrix to a conglomerate. You would figure that a resort of that size would have to generate30- 40,000 GPD minimum so maybe the locals have benefited to some degree by having the surplus water at their disposal.

I agree on the construction issue and views.

I think the lack of a real airport is detrimental. Look what Chaulks going out of business did to the island back in the mid 2000s. A lot of people get on Travelocity or expedia and see a flight or vacation package advertised going to Bimini and they'd book it. A lot of people are either too afraid to fly non commercial airlines or find it too difficult to find and book them.

I think Silver flies to BIM or maybe Eagle or delta out of FLL. I haven’t looked into it recently.

Travel to and from.

Entertainment and activities outside the hotel and casino.

Aesthetics.

Cost overruns.

Those would be four of the huge issues plaguing RWB.

It reminds me of some of the casinos throughout the US, especially in MS but some in northern states as well. They were built in areas with nothing going for them and outside of the casinos themselves, nothing has really changed. We always hear what they'll do for the town or city or nearby area, but it just doesn't happen. Sort of like ballparks and stadiums that are going to bring so much benefit and development, but don't.

Agreed, I wouldn't want to schlep from S. Bimini in a ferry to Resorts world even though my baggage would be delivered on site. I don't know the particulars but if its a dock to dock arraignment from S. Bimini than it could be a rather sporty ride in a westerly breeze exposed. Do they have a dock @ the southern tip of N. Bimini to disembark and then bus or taxi onto the resorts grounds or is it a ferry all of the way? Sounds like a P.I.A.

Transportation is subpar and they keep trying to improve it, but you can get to Nassau or Freeport so much easier plus more there once you get there. For those with their own planes, Bimini is popular, but most people don't have their own planes.

My favorite destination in the Western Caribbean is Boca del Toro. So nice to go there by boat. Why isn't it more well known or more popular? Because of the difficulty of reaching it by air or road. Perhaps protects it as the tropical paradise it is, but keeps it from being the tourist center it could be.

I was way off the mark with 30-40,000 GPD. Turns out that Consolidated Water Co.'s subsidiary Aquilex out of Coral Springs Fl. built and maintains the N. Bimini plant and several others in the Bahamas, Belize, Cayman etc. The plant serving Resorts World and N. Bimini is 115,000 GPD.

It is a PIA to get there. I tried to get there on a Tuesday to move one boat about 6 months ago and for 3 days I couldn't find a single flight available to get there sooner than Friday. Tropic airways flies a Seaplane and lands in the harbor and taxi's to North bimini, but then you have to find someone who knows how to get a shuttle or golf cart to you but has limited service to Bimini. Then from South Bimini to North it's a mess as you have to find a taxi, then there's a catamaran/water taxi but it's not super well protected from the elements, etc.

RWB has a few shuttle pontoon boats with enclosures which could easily be run between SoBim and the marina thru the channel. It’s always a smooth run there. I ve never use the ferry between OBim and Alice Town but it runs all the time

Yeah, well, most of those pontoon boats are used day in and day out to ferry workers back and forth and show it. And, most no longer have the enclosures or if they do, they're on the ratty side.

Under Genting the maintenance was horrible. The electronic key to the condo we rented didn't work -- the staff had no idea how to fix it, they did not have a spare key, they ended up tearing out the whole thing. A cap covering a water valve or something was missing in the lawn near the condo, creating a deep hole perfect for breaking an ankle for anyone walking there at night. There was a commercial-grade maintenance cart parked randomly near the condo and it had clearly been there for a very long time given the crap covering it. I asked a maintenance crew who owned it and they had no idea. I was pretty certain it would be there if I returned a year later.

As I mentioned earlier, there were no functioning toilets in the village area where there was a cluster of small stores and the main office for the resort. And the sewage treatment plant near the main entrance emitted noxious fumes that assaulted us every time we drove in or out in golf carts.

That said, we had a good time at Resorts World -- the beach was fabulous, there were two terrific pools, and we found great conch stands and a couple of good restaurants in Alice Town.

Why would anyone go to the Bahamas to use a swimming pool? And if you think then Beach was nice, you should have seen it before it was bulldozed over

Aqua Deaign/GE built the original SWRO at RW for Jerry Capo and suffered many challenges. Recently, RWL out of Israel has taken over the facility and are investing substantially in upgrades.
Consolidated Water owns the SWRO at Bimini Sands on S. Bimini.

I never abandoned the marine market and built yacht and cruise ship/oil rig units right up until I fulfilled and terminated my contract in 2012. I sold the company in 2008. I never missed a FLIBS show for twenty some years. I did expand the business into power, wastewater and solid waste which became the largest revenue generator but I always built marine units.

Looking back I wish I didn’t sell due to what the new owners did to the business and clients after we spent 25 years building the brand and making a lot of friends. Such is life I guess.