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Cay Sal () Derrotero de las islas Antillas, de las costas Tierra-Firme, y las del Seno Mejicano, Dirección de Hidrografía, España, Madrid, Imprenta Nacional, 1837. p. 266 is a small island in the Cay Sal Bank between Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. It is no longer inhabited.
The Bahamas have an agreement with the U.S. Coast Guard to regularly fly over Cay Sal and other islands in the bank to look for people potentially stranded there.
The island is covered with stunted palm trees and marked by several dilapidated buildings standing on its western side. In its interior there is a large salt pond commonly replenished by heavy wind-driven seas that broach the islet along its southwest side.
From the 1960s to late 1970s the Royal Bahamas Defence Force kept a small outpost on Cay Sal island, which also had an airstrip. Cay Sal Bank Lighthouse: A Stately Ruin Another island in the banks, Elbow Cays, has a lighthouse built in 1839 by the British. Cay Sal Bank Lighthouse: A Stately Ruin
The United States Coast Guard constantly monitors Cay Sal and nearby islands for refugees from Cuba. Rome News-Tribune - Apr 19, 1964 Cay Sal is about thirty miles away from Cuba. Rome News-Tribune - Apr 19, 1964 Refugees rescued on the island have included pregnant women and children. Refugees are reported to have employed a variety of craft including small, ill-equipped boats, in spite of the possibility of pursuit by the Cuban military. Rome News-Tribune - Apr 19, 1964
In 2023, the Coast Guard rescued a man who had been stranded on the island for 3 days.
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