Lucayan National Park, Protected underwater cave system in East Grand Bahama, Bahamas.
Lucayan National Park covers 40 acres of land within a 1,937-acre protected area on Grand Bahama. Beneath the surface lies a charted underwater cave system of 6.4 miles of tunnels, including the Ben's Cave network. The park is also an Important Bird Area, with habitat for the thick-billed vireo, Bahama swallow and olive-capped warbler.
In July 1981, a commercial dive operator sought exclusive use of the Ben's Cave entrance. Bahamas National Trust director Rod Attrill urged the Grand Bahama district council to protect the area, noting that several Lucayan graves had been found nearby. The BNT signed a 99-year lease in March 1982, closing the site to all but scientists and authorized divers; it reopened to the public in 1985.
The park's name refers to the Lucayan, the Taíno-speaking people who inhabited the Bahamas before European arrival. In 1981 Rod Attrill of the Bahamas National Trust cited Lucayan graves found near the cave entrances as a reason to protect the site, alongside its natural and historical value.
The park is accessible via well-marked trails with guided tours available through different habitats. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water, as the paths are uneven in places and the forest offers limited shade.
Before the park existed, the Remipedia class of crustaceans was discovered here in 1979, in the cave system that now holds 6.4 mi (10.3 km) of charted underwater tunnels. The find came from the same flooded passages that later prompted the Bahamas National Trust to take over the site.
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