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Barbuda's Pink Sands Beach Bar: A community lost to hurricane and developers
For over two decades, the Pink Sands Beach Bar on Barbuda served as a gathering spot for locals, offering domino games and Sunday relaxation. Named after its rose-tinted shoreline, the bar was a cultural hub until Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, forcing the island's 2,000 residents to evacuate to neighboring Antigua.
Former owner Miranda Beazer described the devastation: her bar and home were destroyed. "There's nobody that was unscathed... it was devastating. I cried for two weeks," she said. Before she could rebuild, her husband passed away, and foreign developers began offering large sums for her land-all of which she refused.
"It's not the money that I'm after," Beazer said. "I actually want to retain my land." Despite her wishes, bulldozers demolished what remained of the bar, allegedly at the hands of developers.
Legal battles over communal land rights
Barbuda's land ownership system, established after slavery ended in 1834, is collective. Citizens can lease plots but do not privately own them. The 2007 Barbuda Land Act formalized this system, requiring community consultation for major developments.
Beazer claims she holds a lease for 30 acres of coastline but currently only has access to eight. The Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), supporting her case, alleges that foreign developers Murbee Resorts and Peace Love and Happiness (PLH) are illegally occupying the rest.
"I remain committed to fighting for access," Beazer said. "If you were to ever come here and experience it yourself, you would really understand why we're so committed to this little piece of rock that we have."
Murbee Resorts stated it holds a legal lease and has not constructed on unauthorized land. PLH denied occupying Beazer's land, asserting it has followed all agreements since securing its lease in 2017.
Exclusive resorts and legal loopholes
Beazer's land is the last accessible stretch of Barbuda's southern coastline for locals. Nearby, Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro and Australian billionaire James Packer are developing The Beach Club Barbuda, a 400-acre luxury resort featuring 17 villas and 25 beachfront homes, with plots starting at $7 million.
The resort's website describes it as a "rare island community on one of the Caribbean's last untouched shores." However, John Mussington, chairperson of Barbuda Council, argues the project violates the 2007 Land Act. To proceed, the government passed the Paradise Found Act in 2015, exempting the resort from communal land protections.
In 2022, the UK's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled in favor of the Antiguan government, stating that individual Barbudans' rights "do not constitute an interest in or right over property." Paradise Found maintains the resort complies with local laws and that public access to Princess Diana Beach remains unchanged.
Broader Caribbean struggles for beach access
Similar disputes are unfolding across the region. In Jamaica, less than 1% of the coastline is freely accessible to locals, according to the Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (Jabbem). Devon Taylor, Jabbem's president, criticized proposed legislation for selling beach passes to locals, calling it "colonial logic."
"You're selling back the access to the people," Taylor said. Jabbem is currently involved in five legal challenges against the government and developers over beach access.
In Grenada, Kriss Davies of Grenada Land Actors warned that rising tourism demand could erase the island's unique character. "These developments often displace residents from ancestral coastlines, restrict public access to beaches, and channel wealth away from the very people whose culture sustains the tourism experience," Davies said.
Tourism's double-edged sword
The Caribbean is the world's most tourism-dependent region, with half of its visitors coming from the U.S. While governments see tourism as an economic lifeline, activists argue it risks irrevocably altering their homelands.
"Travel is never neutral-it carries both an economic and moral weight," Taylor said.
As demand for "paradise" grows, Caribbean land defenders fear tourism may not bring opportunity but instead reshape their islands beyond recognition.
