Fears about 7MB rise as more beach erodes
(CNS): The worsening erosion of the southern end of Seven Mile Beach is fuelling further public concern about the future of Cayman’s world famous beach and this critical tourism attraction. Earlier worries about the erosion caused by years of coastal development too close to the water, especially when sea levels are rising due to climate change, are turning to fear as the lost beach has left the sea lapping at the foundations of some properties.
The Marriott resort, several condo complexes and a number of private homes, including developer Ken Dart’s house, have now lost their beach as the once seasonal erosion appears to be permanent and the structures on their property are now also facing inundation.
Efforts by condo complex Regal Beach to try to recover its beach and protect the development has added to the public fears, which are now dominating Cayman’s local social media pages, that these efforts will make things worse and that the Cayman Islands authorities have waited too long to put a stop to the development that has caused the problem.
Over this weekend a number of local people posted footage of the situation on the stretch of what was once luxurious soft white sandy beach between Dart’s private home and the former Treasure Island resort.
Local businessman Robert Baraud posted seven minutes of footage that he recorded as he rode along the stretch on a Jet Ski documenting the extent of the beach loss and the depth of the water on what was sandy beach just a few years ago. The footage shows the alarming level of erosion and how serious the situation now is along a mile-long stretch of the coastline that until about three years ago was a full beach.
Baraud told us that he had filmed the strip of beach at the weekend for his own records. But given what he saw, he decided to post the footage on social media and he has had an overwhelming response, with hundreds of people sharing and re-posting the seven minute video.
“This is really bad for the tourist sector but everyone is impacted by this,” Baraud told CNS, as he asked what the community and the government can do about it. “We need to find a way to replenish the beach somehow,” he said, noting the memories people have of Seven Mile Beach and its fundamental importance to the local heritage.
Footage also posted by local environmental activist Rory McDonough documented the alarming inundation of the ocean into some of the condo complexes in the area, where the water has brought down stairs and crack patios and concrete sun decks. He showed the well-documented problems for the Marriott Resort, where, with the beach long gone, the sea is now washing under the foundations of its pool, sun-lounge deck bar and the restaurant’s external areas.
He also posted footage of efforts by the condo complex next door to beat back the advance of the sea with a seawall, though experts now believe that this will not help.
Meanwhile, some of the area’s newest properties, including a new condo complex and private home that were beachfront when the development began, already have water lapping at their gates even before the work is finished.
Last year experts at the Department of Environment told CNS that there was little choice for some of these buildings but to begin considering a managed retreat. The DoE had said that if the developments at the southern end of Seven Mile Beach had been built away from the active area the beach, they would have had a natural sandy ridge to provide an additional source of sand to help repair the type of sand losses seen in 2020.
But now, all of the sand reserves at the south end of Seven Mile Beach are locked away under the foundations of hard infrastructure.
Speaking to CNS Monday, a DoE spokesperson reconfirmed that position, adding that while there are many issues that have not helped the current significant deficit of sand, the main problem is the collision of climate change and beachfront development.
“There are a lot of contributing factors to the current erosion but the fundamental problem is sea level rise fuelled by climate change and poor planning decisions that have allowed hard structures on the beach,” the DoE expert stated.
It is with this issue in mind that Premier Wayne Panton has created the new Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency. Faced with rising sea levels that scientists believe is happening even faster than has previously been predicted, low lying areas like the Cayman Islands will need to build in resilience to any future development, which means the high water mark setbacks in the current planning regulation desperately need to be revised.
In the interim, if the Central Planning Authority continues to give planning permission to ocean front projects, it must if it stop waiving the existing provision and persuade developers to factor sea level rise into their plans.
But dealing with the properties now at the forefront of the problem will require what the DoE has called a “managed retreat”, as there is almost no solution that can save these properties from the sea. The technical experts believe that if Seven Mile Beach is to be given a chance to recover, the only solution is to tear down and rebuild the existing beachfront properties much further back from the ocean.
See Robert Baraud’s full seven-minute video below:
See Rory McDonough’s video of the inundation at The Palms here.
See his video of water under the Marriott here.
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Category: Climate Change, development, Local News, Science & Nature
I was wanting to go next Xmas but don’t know the area and now reading all this….. can anyone give a list of nice 2 bedroom condos to look at. Want to be able to walk to restaurants and fun bars. ,, but beach is important.
Thanks.
I worked at Royal Palms in the late 70’s as a Night Auditor. It was 11-7 am. One morning around 6-6:30 am Jim Bodden came to the hotel. He recognized me and was in a rush, he asked where could he find the manager? I said in the office. He knocked on the door the manager asked him to come in, he said, “no the next time I come back to this hotel, you’re wife and you will no longer work in the Cayman Islands. He got some complaints from Bodden Town workers who didn’t get their grats. They called and he came running to solve that little problem. Thats a hero in my books, he was elected to solve his constituents problems.
I worked in Prospect park when Jim Bodden and Rex Creighton was making house lots. We were constantly having problems with people paying their bills. You could buy just about anything on time. Even beer, rum, a house loan or property. People would put down a deposit then forget to pay a month or three or four. Well, whoever paid their bill first could pick their land. Then one of the trucks would fill it in. I thought it was a fair way to deal with delinquent customers.
My father and I was in his office when he was being pressed into giving Ft George. He was upset that they thought it was valuable for its historical value but didn’t want to pay. I believe the building at the time next to it was his. Sorry can’t remember, but he wanted to expand because the building across the street was pushing real Estate values up. But they made up their mind when he ordered a bulldozer to clear the property if they weren’t interested in buying it. So they bought the property.
In the 70’s Cayman was struggling my salary at royal palms was $115 per month and one shirt. One meal per shift. My salary at Barclays as head cashier was $150 had a cost of living raise brought it to $176. The next year it went up to $235, another cost of living raise. When Jim and Rex introduced those rich people mostly from Texas, two hotels Holiday Inn and Galleon beach. They loved it there.
The Government needs to buy one mile of beach on the South side past Breakers and don’t allow anymore buildings on the beach. When these new buildings become old knock them down.
The problem must apply to the whole island and not just Seven Mile Beach. How did Michael Ryan get permission to build the Fin condos within 43ft of the ocean? I guess there is the same risk of Fin ending up underwater as Seven Mile Beach losing its sand.
Mother Nature rules!! ALL the time. I feel absolutely no pity for anyone associated with this problem. ALL did what they did out of greed. Pure and simple. Now everyone involved, including CI gov’t should suffer the consequences. But unfortunately, it is going to be the regular people who suffer most.
Let’s all chip in pay Mother Nature to bring back the sand.
Developers built, made they’re profit and gone. The beach comes and goes. Not smart to buy on the beach. Not sure why they complain. A blind person can see it.
Naul still here
The Wights still here
Butler still here.
Baraud still here. (see the irony in that one?)
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
What a crazy idea – managed retreat. And what would happen if the buildings were taken down and the shoreline continued to erode? Soon the sea would be on West Bay Road. Remember that this section of the island was mostly mangrove swamp before being filled. What needs to happen is the beach needs replenishment. There is plenty of sand in Cuba and other nearby places. The US Army Corps does this all the time. There are hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions of dollars of real estate on Seven Mile Beach. Use some common sense and protect it.
Some buildings have to be knocked down, much sand has to be pumped up from the depths, and much local vegetation needs to be planted between remaining structures and the sea. All of these things need to happen. There is no choice. Just get on with it (and make the property owners contribute to the cost).
Yes Mr. Dart.
Yes Mr. Real Estate Agent.
Beaches are dynamic and SMB is no different. It has done this before and it will do it again. Yes, we HAVE had an impact on the natural dynamic through poor planning and building practices (seawalls and other intrusive structures) and yes, these structures NEED to be removed. Even a seemingly insignificant structure can have a major impact. Just go down Boggy Sand Road if you want a glaring example of this. There used to be a beautiful beach there where turtles nested .. until a structure was erected further down the beach.
We have seen SMB go through this cycle before, several in my lifetime. It WILL return … eventually. And no, this is NOT about ‘Climate change and sea-level rise’, this is about beach erosion caused by man-made structures interfering with the NATURAL actions of wave and beach movement. Seawalls and similar obstructions disrupt the natural dissipation of wave energy on the beach. This significantly increases the amount of sand suspended in the water along the surf-line, which then migrates out to deeper water via ‘rip-currents’. If you want to know the source of all the sand, just go snorkeling or diving off SMB.
Unfortunately there is no single ‘fix all’. It will take a combination of POLICY, SACRIFICE and ENGINEERING if we really want to fix this issue. The real question is, Are we willing to come together in unity to save our beaches, or are we just going to keep pointing fingers and expecting others to do it for us?
If the sea level rises – all beaches disappear, not just Regal Beach…
If? The sea level is rising, on average 3mm a year since 1993 when satellite monitoring started. You are quite correct though, that is quite obviously not the issue with this stretch of 7 mile.
It’s not “if.”
The problem is nothing to do with climate change. Why do people keep pretending it is unless they have a vested interest.
Not necessarily. With natural vegetation and a healthy reef they can grow, including in the face of sea level rise.
There’s a lot of blame to go around for sure – from successive governments for decades! Ezzard excluded as he is the only one I’m aware of who warned of this. The CPA of the past 2 – 3 decades (led by the owner of the largest hardware store) has to take blame also as they did nothing to even try to ring the alarm even when some (including the DoE) warned. The leaders of governments did nothing to deal with it either, instead just turned a blind eye (nothing to see here – don’t question us!) and the greedy developers and realtors were happy 🙂 $$ So please let’s not blame just any one party, this mess is a joint effort! Such a shame!
For once the finger cannot be pointed at expats…yes most large developers are expats however the Caymanian DCI Board granted their LCCLs , the Caymanian Planning Board granted their planning permissions….this lies with you Cayman and the handful of greedy locals who have wrecked this beautiful island for the remaining locals.
For once?! So all of the other islands issues are the fault of expats? Like the crap local schools, like the corrupt and self-serving politicians, like the dump. I could go on. Get your head out the sand Claire and take a look around.
The crap schools are overloaded with crap teachers and too many students from underprivileged backgrounds, who are themselves (like their teachers) from elsewhere.
Someone should do drone footage as well.
At this point just tear down the Marriott and rebuild it more in land. Better yet, just tear it down and don’t rebuild anything!
Don’t rebuild the thing at all, its not likely Cayman will have any tourism product to fill in the next few years.
Go to goggle maps and look at 7MB on street view as someone walked the full lenght during curfew last year, 2020, and you can compare the jet ski video to a year ago!!
“The DoE has warned that, in the long run, saving the beach will require a “managed retreat”, in other words structures will have to be taken down and rebuilt much further back.
The department has recently completed a study on the long-term behaviour of Seven Mile Beach, which has been the subject of research here stretching back to the mid 1970s. As a result, the DoE experts know a great deal about the jewel in Grand Cayman’s crown.
While seasonal sand movement has for decades taken sand from somewhere and given it back elsewhere, depending on the weather and time of year, the problem now is that other factors are interrupting the natural shifts and leaving the beach in a deficit with every major shift.
“Where we have hard infrastructures such as swimming pools, seawalls, properties built in the footprint of where the beach naturally fluctuates (the active beach), we see accelerated rates of erosion and longer recovery times post-storms,” DoE researchers told CNS recently in responce to queries about the future of the beach.
“Hard structures impede the natural beach processes and exacerbate erosion, both at the location of the structure and it can also have knock-on effects along the wider stretch of shoreline,” the department explained. “This is most notable at the southern end of Seven Mile Beach. The beach at the south will recover, but it will not occur as quickly as other parts that have also suffered erosion, as the only natural way for the sand to rebuild and form a beach is from high energy wave activity from the northwest.”
The experts pointed out that if the developments at the southern end were built away from the active beach, the beach would have had a natural sandy beach ridge to provide an additional source of sand to help repair the sand losses. But now all of the sand reserves at the south end of Seven Mile Beach are locked away under the foundations of hard infrastructure.”
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/12/structures-need-moving-to-save-seven-mile-beach/
Check out you tube videos Cancun beach recovery. Same thing happened in Cancun due to hurricane and over development. They put the sand back on the beach- millions of dollars project!
I grew up in Grand Cayman in the early sixties near the West Bay Cemetary. Back then I could walk from where I lived all the way to where the Wharf Restaurant is now located. There were a few houses along Seven Mile Beach at that time which mostly belonged to snow birds who escaped the long Winters back home. You could count the homes that were built on one hand. The homes were not built near the Ocean nor did they have any sea walls like what is there now. The sand was so thick that you had to mostly walk along the water’s edge. It’s a crying shame to see what has happened in the last two decades. The past CPA Board members should all hold their heads in shame. This is why the old time Caymanians never built near the Ocean. We Caymanians may have sold the land but it was up to the Planning Department not to let this happen. I watched the video that was circulating on social media and it breaks my heart to see what has become of our beautiful gem in the Caribbean all for the almighty dollar.
I came here in the early 70s and it was still like that 4:57. But the old time Caymanians you speak of didn’t really avoid building there because of beach erosion fears!!! It was because the beach and coastline there was worthless to them. They couldn’t graze their cattle. It was like all these other worthless “swamp” areas on Grand Cayman that no sane person would try to build property on…..until the advent of the “economic miracle” and huge excavators which mean we now have luxury and non luxury developments all over George Town and the West Bay peninsula that only foreigners can afford. Cry the beloved country.
Marriott’s case is hopeless. They should convert that deck into full beach area (including removing the pool). If you look at a satellite image, that would create a very large and appealing beach space.
They have a large inner courtyard and could put the pool there as well as most of the outdoor dining.
Marriot “Beach” Resort is toast without a beach.
That is actually a solution! (For the Marriott anyway). No way they can open to tourists without a beach.
I think it could be used as the new cruise ship dock. A ship could pull up right next to the bar. No need to build anything. Just repurpose existing infrastructure.
oh please….. No.
Tourists come to Grand Cayman for SMB, not pools. Plenty of much cheaper places with pools elsewhere.
Well, not entirely true… a large portion also comes for diving (not smb) and we are letting our coral get destroyed too. We are in fact doomed.
And for the safety and friendliness of the island…..again…doomed.
You mean how it used to be before they built the deck, exactly.
When the Marriot was constructed, the pool WAS in the courtyard. Then they pulled a fast one to get it moved to where it is and signed their own beach death warrant – and sadly, that of many others. The developers and owners at the time should be ashamed of the results of their greed.
Exactly.
I understand we are all angry about the state of affairs, but is there any chance we could focus on finding short, mid and long-term solutions instead? The old Caymanians, what do you suggest? Young environmentalists, what is your input? Bickering and blaming is not a solution…
OK nobody bicker, knock down the illegally close house North of Laguna where it all started.
That house is at 2:10 in the video. I think the waves might take care of that house some time this year!
If we get another Delta or Eta (storms, not variants….), the waves will inundate that house.
We can only hope 5.34, we can only hope.
What do we get from blaming and bickering is the question. The blame game never leaves winners. What we need are solutions, and quickly.
Marney. No disrespect, but the house gotta go. Marriott deck too. Has to start there. When we see what impact that has we can consider options for the hotel itself and the guy to the north. And no, you do not get any compensation from the Caymanian people.
the queen of beach erosion
Short term suggestion- open the borders, forget the nonsense about US faking their vaccination cards, only take vaccinated tourists and tell the truth about the condition of 7MB. Prices on those establishments would have to be at a lower rate as you can’t sell the as beach front.
Stop the development immediately until you know exactly what is causing the issue. Is it the beach walls? Is it placement of the buildings? Need to find out what is the cause before finding the solution, imo.
The causes are well known. This is not the only beach in the world. Google the engineering studies. It is the seawalls.
There’s a new ten-story development planned for Aqua Beach, at the north end of SMB. This should be a test case for the new planning board. Ideally they should insist on something not so tall and intrusive and oversized for such a small footprint; and in any event they certainly need to ensure that it is well set back from the beach and be ready to enforce their requirements if the developer chooses to ignore them.
I believe this has been approved by planning already. There are active sales taking place and several listed on CIREBA.
It has not been approved and as a neighbour will be objecting as The Palms and Silver Sands will be doing. I should add that Aqua Beach admit their building is falling down due to the sand in the concrete being from the sea. Ironically the same original developer is now doing the new project. In God we trust, in Butler we do not.
Any condo owner being strong-armed into selling by the 3/4 “rule” in recent legislation which apparently allows the majority to take away your property rights, you can challenge that legislation as being contrary to your human rights. There’s a chance, I think a good one, that it could be found unconstitutional and that unanimous consent of all condo owners is still required.
Yeah right. Find me an apartment owner that doesn’t want to swap their tired old $1m apartment for a new $4m apartment!
10 stories up near cemetery beach?? Oh come on, enough…please don’t let this happen, leave the north end of smb alone at 3 floors
Retain some semblance of an island paradise and not concrete towers
So why protect the north end vs the south end?
Simple answer. Because the north end is not losing beach whereas the damage has been done at the south end. Why should we at the north end, together with the turtles, suffer the same fate!
Because the south end is already f****d.
To all those blaming a dead man who cannot defend himself against the slurs for today’s wanton destruction of our beaches, some FACTS:
1) Jim Bodden died in 1988 – as a backbench member of the Opposition.
2) He was an ExCo member from 1976 to 1984 – far before the large scale development on SMB began in earnest. The number of developments up to that time could be counted on 10 fingers.
3) The property developers on SMB of the time were foreigners – Brian Butler, Henry Propper, and more
4) The present day Marriott was built after Jim Bodden was dead
5) Jim Bodden was long dead when the Governments of the late 1980s and 1990s through today systematically destroyed any semblance of a development plan for SMB and indeed Grand Cayman
6) XXXX
7) Jim Bodden didn’t sell us out to Michael Ryan or Ken Dart. Ask yourselves who did? And what they gained from it in terms of properties and cash.
Seven FACTS for why the mess of Seven Mile Beach CANNOT be laid at the feet of Jim Bodden’s statue – no matter how hard you try.
Jim Bodden was a crook, and it’s a wonderful own-goal by Cayman, with its (undeserved) reputation for fostering crooks, to have erected a statue in his honor. A national disgrace.
Jim Bodden was no more a crook than nearly every realtor in Cayman back in those days. Talk about the Wild West! That was one of the reasons CIREBA was formed. Despite all the complaints about CIREBA (and some of them deserved) it did do a lot in reining in or expelling the crooked behaviours of many of the realtors. Any real estate attorneys from those days can tell you!
They’ll be raising one for McKeeva next ha ha ha
That would be funny if it wasn’t likely to be true!
But did he personally operate equipment that knocked down Fort George? Or sell the same piece of land to more than one person?
I’d like to know for sure, as I came here in the 90’s and he was already a bit of an urban legend at that point.
He did partially knock down Fort George. He did not sell the same piece of land to more than one person.
If you weren’t here, you wouldn’t know truth from fiction or fact from rumour. Always check before you perpetuate.
There is a photograph of him personally driving the backhoe knocking down Fort George but very oddly no media outlet ever prints it nowadays. Perhaps it’s too embarrassing, given that the photo was taken a few yards from where that statue to him stands. As another poster comments, an own goal.
23:19pm and @5:25pm – Jim Bodden actually and truthfully had an excavator destroy the remains of Ft. George. I don’t recall if he actually sat at the controls but he was at the site directing and there were photos published at the time.
Yes, he did sell a single piece of property to more that one person. He actually did that to my father – and he actually refunded the deposit. He was known to do that.
He was involved in a lot more nefarious things too, He was a PIRATE!
Easy… They asked a question!
All true except for #2 – you would need more than 20 fingers to count the number of condo developments already on SMB by 1984, most of them built in the late 70s and early 80s. So in one way, you could say that JMB helped set the trend in motion. I
But you can’t rightfully blame Jim Bodden on what has happened to SMB since the mid-80s.
Christ Jesus 3:25! Jim Bodden brought in the condo laws which set this whole development thing off as you acknowledge and, of course, benefitted his own real estate company. If it was not for his “philosophy” of develop, develop develop, we might….might…have a different situation now. But please never forget, Jim Bodden brought in the “Texans” and people like Hugo Zuiderant, George Lister and the Hadjecates who were the early versions of the big developers we dislike so much now. And some of them were very dodgy folks. Also don’t forget that it was our first National
Hero who came up with the idea of selling Cayman Status for $150,000!
What properties on Seven Mile Beach did those guys you mentioned develop other than Poinsettia, which is really Seven Mile Beach? And Hugo Zuiderant definitely isn’t a Texan!
The Hadjecates were behind the old Beach Bay condos. The post at 7:15 does not say Hugo was a Texan, it says Bodden brought in Texans AND people like HZ. If memory serves me correctly, Hugo was a Dutchman.
Exactly – not on Seven Mile Beach. And you forget Ocean Club – also not on Seven Mile Beach. And First Cayman Bank, also not a condo development on SMB. Point being, you can’t blame Jim Bodden for what has happened on SMB since 1984 – the volume of properties or the height of properties. Nothing – not even hotels – were more than three storeys on SMB in Jim’s days.
Yes 1:51 and Donald Trump really won the American election in a landslide, right? Look, I realise you may be a family member of Jim Bodden wanting to defend him but, sadly, history will record a very different story from the one you try to present. Briefly, he unleashed the development boom to benefit his own and his cronies’ real estate companies and invited in the first foreign developers, especially from Texas, many of whom had a disreputable reputation.
Oh boy are you wrong. History will record Jim Bodden as a national hero. Long after you and your memories are gone, the statue of Jim Bodden will still be there and Caymanian school children will learn about their First National Hero. All societies, and that includes Cayman, have a knack of rewriting history to suit a preferred narrative. That’s how “history” works.
Regal Beach lost their seawall after we were hit with three close storms that moved north on the west side of the island. The beach never had a chance to recover as it was one after the other.
The photo you see is them repairing their seawall.
From March 2020 to June 2020 there was lots of beach there, but after the storms the sand shifted North.
There are definitely a few homes with setbacks that are too close, but they were built 20 to 30 years ago.
Hope the beach does come back, but that spot has been impassable since October 2020.
Worst case for Regal is the removal of the front buildings on either side (there are 9-10 buildings on each of the two sides), and they would have a very large beach area. Unless the beach comes back, those two front buildings are not saleable and at risk of water inundation.
What about that Turkish hotel? That was completed a year ago and that is 6 inches from The high water market? 😭😭😭
If we are lucky that eyesore washes away!
don’t bring facts into this….
better to post hysterical nonsensical soundbites and watch the thumbs up skyrocket…..zzzzzzzzzz
Yep, the next hurricane will come, and de waves are going to smash up dese beach access blockers. And yet ya talkin bout celebrating pride parade… ya nah see nothin yet!
You’re right. All the homophobic morons are out in full force but don’t understand there will be no gay people to bash when the climate doesn’t allow all us life on earth any longer.
LMAO!!! What a random comment from 1:31 pm. Thank you for the roar of laughter.
Thank you for the videos. Truly shocking. Used to be able to walk from Poinsettia all the way down to the cemetery beach.