Montage Gave This Pirate’s Hideaway in the Bahamas a Luxury Makeover – Robb Report

Photo: Courtesy of Montage Hotel and Resorts

Legend has it there’s a treasure trove of silver pieces of eight buried on a tiny castaway island just off Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas. Back in the 1700s, one of the original, swashbuckling pirates of the Caribbean, Matthew Lowe, hung out here, giving the island its centuries-old name of Matt Lowe Cay.

According to Bahamian folklore, in 1715 Lowe and two of his dastardly fellow pirates, seized a Spanish galleon carrying over 11,000 pieces of eight. Much of the treasure is said to be still unaccounted for. Where’s it hidden? All clues point to Matt Lowe Cay.

Fact, or more likely fiction, it’s guaranteed to be a story that lucky homeowners at Montage Hotels & Resorts’ new Montage Cay development will be telling their kids before sending them off on a treasure hunt.

Last summer, Montage in partnership with Nassau-based backers Sterling Global Financial, acquired the 53-acre island with its seven sugar-white sandy beaches and 46-slip marina. Matt Lowe Cay got renamed Montage Cay and plans for a private island paradise were put in motion.

Now, after months of planning, Montage is releasing the first seven, out of a total of 26, “estate” home lots, each around half an acre, each with jaw-dropping views of the turquoise waters of the Sea of Abaco, each priced from the “low three millions.”

When the ambitious development is complete—reckon on the end of 2023—it will feature a 50-suite Montage hotel and spa, an array of restaurants and bars, fitness center, swimming pools, tennis and pickleball courts, with a big focus on health and wellness. Kids will no doubt get free spades for treasure digs.

“There aren’t too many 53-acre islands in the Bahamas with seven beaches and their own marina. Plus the water here is so blue you could be in the Maldives, yet you’re less than an hour from Florida,” Tina Necrason, EVP of Residential for Montage International tells Robb Report.

Location is one of the key attractions of the island, she explains. Positioned less than a mile, and a 10-minute boat ride, from Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco Island, it’s also a quick 45-minute flight to Leonard M. Thompson International from Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach or Miami airports.

Flying in by helicopter or seaplane? Montage Cay will have its own helicopter landing pad and seaplane dock. Bringing your own boat? Tie-up right behind your home; the marina can accommodate vessels up to 110 feet.

Those first lots are being designed to accommodate everything from a four-bedroom, four-bath 4,780-square-foot home with 1,265-square-feet of outdoor terracing, to a six-bedroom, six-bath residence with close to 6,000 square feet of interior space and 1,640 square-feet of terraces.