"These access points are not under the control of the developer, but provide a safe alternate route for visitors to Cabbage Beach during the temporary closure."
That line comes from the Heads of Agreement for the Four Seasons Ocean Club Residences, which the government and the developer signed on October 21, 2024. Tribune Business obtained the document and reported on it on October 6, 2026. The fence on the sand has drawn most of the attention since late August. For anyone who walks to Cabbage Beach from home, the more lasting detail is in the agreement. For the length of the build, the public routes to the beach that the agreement names are ones the developer does not control.
A permanent path that opens only when the build is finished
The project covers 6.156 acres between the RIU and Sunrise Beach Villas, overlooking Cabbage Beach. Access Industries, which owns the existing Ocean Club, is leading it with Florida-based Two Roads Development and the Four Seasons brand. The plan is 67 private residences priced between $6.5 million and $23 million.
The agreement opens with a public access commitment. The developer is to grant "an easement for the use of 15-foot path on the western boundary of the property… for the sole purpose of providing pedestrian access from the nearest Paradise Island public road to Cabbage Beach." It also commits to grading, leveling and landscaping that right-of-way to make it safer. The easement covers the general public, identified beach vendors, and representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, the Ministry of Public Works and the Bahamas Investment Authority.
The same document says this right-of-way "will be closed temporarily" during a construction period expected to last 30 months. The agreement planned for building to start on December 2, 2024, once all regulatory approvals were in hand. Tribune Business reported that the ongoing fence dispute is holding up the building works. No reporting so far confirms when the main build actually started. That means the 30-month window has no public end date yet.
The two routes the agreement names
Until the western path opens, the agreement sends tourists and members of the Bahamian public to two "alternative access" points:
- The eastern gate of Atlantis.
- The pathway between Ocean Club Beach Estates and Paradise Harbour Club.
The agreement says plainly that the developer controls neither one. It describes them only as safe alternate routes during the closure. For people who live in Ocean Club Beach Estates or Paradise Harbour Club, one of the two named routes runs between their own communities.
Access across the project site is meant for vendors only, and even that is a best-efforts commitment rather than a guarantee. The developer and government agreed to "collaborate on a best-efforts basis to provide access over the project site to Cabbage Beach to beach vendors exclusively during the temporary closure." The developer also undertook to keep looking for further access to Cabbage Beach, subject to government approval.
Older reporting mentions other routes. A 2021 report named Beach Club Drive, off Paradise Island Drive, as a public route. A 2015 report described a proposed move of the main access to Garden Drive. Both came before the 2024 agreement. Neither confirms that those routes are open today.
A fence meant to last three weeks, erected twice
Tribune Business understands that the temporary fence was only meant to stay up for three weeks. That was long enough for contractors to safely use the heavy equipment needed to install sheet pilings. The fence is tied to erosion work as well as the build. Environment Minister Zane Lightbourne said the government "recognises the need for beach nourishment and restoration works at Cabbage Beach to address erosion and the effects of sustained wave action." He added that the environmental approval allowed temporary fencing to protect the public during that work.
Here is how The Tribune's reporting on the fence has run so far:
| Date reported | What The Tribune reported |
|---|---|
| Week of August 24 | Vendors arrived on a Thursday morning to find workers putting up a fence close to the shoreline |
| Sunday, August 30 | Fence removed after the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection stepped in |
| Sunday, September 27 | Fencing and poles reappeared on the beach |
| Monday, September 28 | Minister Lightbourne said the developer would be directed to remove the fence a second time |
| Wednesday, September 30 | The minister said the developer would comply but could not say when the fence would come down |
| Tuesday, October 6 | A Cabbage Beach vendor told The Tribune the fence was still up |
The government's objection was about process. Approval for the fence was to come with advance notice to the relevant authorities and "a proper public advisory process" so that "beachgoers, vendors, residents, visitors and other affected stakeholders were informed," the minister said in a statement reported by The Tribune. "Neither occurred." He went on: "Beach restoration can proceed, but the process must respect the Bahamian people and the conditions under which approval was granted." On September 30 he added that the beach access area was being restored so the public could enter without obstruction, and that officials would assess safety needs at the site.
The account in the last row comes from one vendor. No independent report since then has confirmed the fence's condition, so the status as of early October reporting remains open. A Tribune report on a public petition refers to the period "before another fence is erected, beach nourishment begins or further changes are made to Cabbage Beach." Neither the sheet piling the fence was meant to protect nor the nourishment work has been reported as finished.
Who is on the sand now, and who comes back
The construction has also changed who is selling on the beach. One vendor told The Tribune in August that 22 vendors worked Cabbage Beach. Some of those businesses have been passed down through generations. According to Tribune Business reporting on October 6, some of them have since moved to Goodman's Bay and to the beach near SuperClubs Breezes on the New Providence side. Others are still working Cabbage Beach. The advocacy group Dis We Beach told the paper that "some have left and some have stayed" because not enough space had been found in the relocation areas.
The plan is for vendors to return. A September 29 letter from the Bahamas Investment Authority to the Ministry of Tourism says the government and Al Land Bahamas, the project's lead developer, have committed to working together so vendor operations can "recommence at Cabbage Beach" once construction is complete. The Heads of Agreement goes further. Once the residences are finished, the developer is to "develop a space to accommodate vending" on the property and license individual vendors. Existing Cabbage Beach vendors get preference, and the resort operator provides hospitality training. The agreement says the vendors will operate as independent contractors, which it describes as "a uniquely Bahamian experience."
When the build is done, then, the plan includes a landscaped 15-foot public path on the western boundary and a designated vending area on the property. Until then, beachgoers use the routes beside Atlantis and between the two residential communities.
What the public has not yet seen
The paperwork behind the beachfront works is not public yet. Dis We Beach launched a petition that The Tribune reported had 506 verified signatures two days after it went live. It asks the government to publish the certificate of environmental clearance and its conditions, the final Environmental Management Plan, the Environmental Impact Assessment, and any amendments related to the beachfront works. The group says the signatures will go along with formal letters to the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection and other agencies.
Back in August, the Ministry of Tourism said it had met representatives of the adjoining property and planned a joint site walk-through with them, but the walk-through never took place. It also said talks with the developers, regulators and affected vendors would continue. As of the reporting available on October 12, 2026, no public advisory, dated work schedule or access map has been released for the sheet piling, the nourishment or the 30-month closure. For now, the most detailed public description of how to get to Cabbage Beach is one paragraph in an 18-page investment agreement, and it names Atlantis's eastern gate and the path between Ocean Club Beach Estates and Paradise Harbour Club.
At Bond Bahamas, we follow changes like this one on Paradise Island because they affect daily life near the Ocean Club. If you own near Cabbage Beach, or are thinking about it, we can talk through how the build may affect access around a particular property, and our Balmoral Guide covers the wider picture of owning in New Providence.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
