What you should know about Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point

All about Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, Disney’s new private island area:

Castaway Cay has long been a popular destination for those on Disney Cruise Line, and now Disney has a second private destination: Disney Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. This location opened to the public on June 7th, 2024.

It has much to offer families and guests visiting, from beach time to activities to Disney characters. Lookout Cay also places an emphasis on conservation and Bahamian culture, which you’ll find reflected in how the island was designed.

I was able to visit a few months ago during my cruise on the Disney Fantasy, so I’m happy to share not just the basics but also my overall impression of the island.

Let’s take a look at what Disney Lookout Cay has to offer: activities, beaches, Port Adventures, food, drink, merchandise, and more!

What you’ll find on Disney Lookout Cay

Disney’s newest private island is home to lots of activities, food, shops, and fun. Here’s a quick overview of what you can find when you visit Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point on your Disney cruise:

• Beaches (1 family beach and one adults only beach)
• Activities for all ages
• Shows and entertainment
• 3 food locations
• 4 bars
• 3 shops
• A smoothie location
• A specialty coffee location
• Snorkel area
• Nature trail
• Bike path
• Cabanas
• Snorkel Rental

These are the highlights, but of course you’ll find most of your typical island amenities and more. Check out the map below for an idea of where everything is located.

Map of Lookout Cay

Serenity Bay Beach

For guests 18+, they can enjoy Serenity Bay Beach. This area is exclusive for adults only and is located next to the Family Beach. There are additional cabanas here available for rent too.

Family & Youth activities

Play-Play Pavilion

This spot near the family beach is home to a number of games and activities. You’ll find an organized scavenger hunt event for tweens and teens, games you can play like connect 4, dominos, etc., and a special show during the day called the Fun in the Sun Beach Bash.

Sebastian’s Cove

If your kids are loving the youth activities on board the ship, the fun continues on the island. Sebastian’s Cove is home to the kids club at Lookout Cay, and you’ll find a variety of activities planned throughout the day for ages 3-10. In addition to activities and crafts, this area has a padded splash area.

Rush Out Gush Out

All ages can enjoy this water play area by the family beach. You’ll find 2 slides and lots of unique water features to play around in.

The trail features a variety of bronze sculptures of different animals and wildlife that live on the island, plus QR codes you can scan to learn more about these creatures. There are water stations along the way too.

Goombay Cultural Center

This is a great spot to learn about Bahamian culture, as well as find some interactive activities and the show “Junkanoo Rush Out.” During the day they host a workshop called “Sights and Sounds of Junkanoo,” where you can learn about this tradition. You can even craft your own Junkanoo headdresses to wear for the show! Check the schedule to see when the show and workshop may be happening during your trip.

Even when the show is not happening, you can take in some of the displays and local artwork, including paintings, tilework, Junkanoo headdresses, and more.

This was a highlight of our stop at Lookout Cay! I had a ton of fun – it was a great mix of culture and hands-on activities. All ages had fun making the headdresses and getting involved in the workshop.

Flippers & Fins Snorkel Rentals

If you want to do some snorkeling in the waters at Lookout Cay, Flippers and Fins is your spot to rent equipment. The snorkel rental is currently priced at $38 per person and includes a mask, snorkel, flippers and the required safety vest. You can book it ahead of time through Port Adventures, or you can inquire day of. If you’re looking just for a safety vest, you can grab one of those free of charge.

Water Adventures

• Bahama Bank Boat Escape – take a catamaran to Bahama Bank, where you’ll have time to do some snorkeling and explore.
• Banana Boat – ride an inflatable banana boat for an exciting adventure.
• Boiling Hole Reef Snorkel – take a boat about 20-30 minutes off shore for more snorkeling opportunities at Boiling Hole Reef.
• Snorkel by Boat – experience two different snorkeling locations by boat.
• Snorkel Rental – snorkel on your own at the Lookout Cay beaches by renting snorkel equipment.
• Tropical Reef Safari Snorkel – sail with a guide to the Snorkel Reef for great snorkeling opportunities.

Active Land (and Sea) Adventures

• Bicycle rental – rent a bicycle for the day to explore Lookout Cay on 2 wheels.
• Bike and Kayak – take a short bike ride with your guide, then do some tandem kayaking.
• The Pirates of Eleuthera Adventure Tour – explore Lookout Cay “pirate style,” beginning with a scavenger hunt to find pirate items, followed by lessons in sword skill, storytime with a pirate storyteller, and a quest to find the pirate treasure.

Historical & Cultural Adventures

• Ebike, Sand, Snorkel and History Tour – take an Ebike tour of Lookout Cay with a guide, learning about the history, first settlers, South Eleuthera’s culture, and native plants, with stops at the Ruins of the Anglican Church and Sarah Miller’s Plantation. Then enjoy some snorkeling in South Eleuthera.
• Historical Nature and Awesome Buggy Tour – ride a 2 or 4 person buggy with a guide to lead you through the history and culture of South Eleuthera, as well as the opportunity to go off-trails and experience the nature and landscapes of the island.
• Nature Walk and Coral Nursery – a guided tour through the Nature Trail, Lighthouse, and beaches while learning about conservation, history, and culture.
• Private Historical and Cultural Tour – book a private guided tour to personalize your own excursion through the island.
• South Eleuthera Eco and Historical Tour – experience the history of South Eleuthera through a guided tour with stops in Cathedral Cave, the Boiling Hole, Bannerman Town, Ocean Hole, and more.
• South Eleuthera Eco and Cultural Tour – meet a guide to explore the natural beauty and culture of the island, including stops in Cathedral Cave, the Boiling Hole, Ocean Hole (where Jacques Costeau once explored), Rock Sound, and Junkanoo homecoming park.

Entertainment at Lookout Cay

Junkanoo Rush Out

Head to the Goombay Cultural Center for a special performance called the Junkanoo Rush Out. Junkanoo is a traditional Bahamian festival, and Disney Lookout Cay’s version will include performers, a parade, music, and dancing. Plus, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy are also there to join in the fun!

We didn’t get to have the full experience of the Rush Out show because of rain. I didn’t realize until after we were home and I watched some videos on YouTube how much of it we actually missed. I’d love to catch it for real someday, because we mostly just got Mickey and Minnie having a dance party. Which is cute and all, but not exactly what I was there for.

Fun in the Sun Beach Bash

This event takes place at the Play-Play Pavilion, and it’s part-show, part interactive fun! Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale are there to host, and there will be songs and dancing. Then the characters will host a variety of games, and you are invited to join in. Goofy leads the limbo, Pluto hosts pineapple ring toss, and Chip and Dale have organized the Water Brigade, where families try to get as much water from one side of the pavilion to the other as possible using only a sponge.

Triton’s Trumpet Stage

This small performance area features different entertainment depending on the day of your visit. You may find musicians, artists creating sand sculptures and other works, character experiences, and more!

Lunch options

For lunch, there are 3 different places you can visit that are (almost) identical. They include True-True BBQ, True-True Too BBQ, and Serenity Bay BBQ. The Serenity Bay location is the adults only section, so that area is reserved for guests 18+.

The buffet area of each BBQ location has 4 different windows for a variety of food types. You can head to Beach BBQ Burgers, BB Ribs and Rotisserie Chicken, Chicken and Seafood Rice Bowls, and Flavorful Fish, depending on your preference – or try a little bit of it all!

A few highlights of the food menu include:

• Spiced Rotisserie Chicken with grilled pineapple and black bean salad
• Grilled BBQ ribs with grilled corn and yucca fries
• Plant-based Island Curry with tofu, cilantro, and potatoes
• Bahamian Pigeon Peas & Rice with marinated chicken, oven-baked plantains, and fried okra

Most of it was pretty standard – burgers, hot dogs, french fries. There was a fish option with a mango salsa that was pretty good, and something different. I heard the ribs were good too (I’m not a fan of ribs so I didn’t try them).

In addition to a number of standard cruise drinks, Disney has introduced some new items for Lookout Cay inspired by Bahamian flavors. Most of the bars will have the full menu (including the signature cocktail described below), but the Blue Hole Bar will have a slightly different menu, with several cocktails only available at that location.

Their “signature cocktail” on Lookout Cay is called the Eleuthera Euphoria. It’s a mix of rum, pineapple smoothie, and Dole whip. There are a lot of options that sound good:

• Junkanoo Juice – Zaya Cocobana Rum, Banana, Passion Orange Guava, Pineapple, Lime
• Bahama Sling – Malibu Peach, Cointreau, Lime, Orgeat, Bitters
• Butterfly Switcha – Lemonade, butterfly pea jasmine green tea, edible blue glitter (non-alcoholic)
• Cascarilla Cooler – Pineapple vodka, Chinola, mango, orange, apple, lime, white chocolate foam
• Tropical Fashion – Angel’s Envy Bourbon, cherry Heering, mixed berries, lavender
• Shipwrecker – Teremana Reposado, lime, agave, coconut, ube condensed milk

Sadly I could not try all of these on my visit to Lookout Cay. That just means I’ll just have to go back someday!

My favorite was the frozen Tropical Fashion (bourbon, cherry liqueur, mixed berries, and lavender). The Island Colada was nice too, but I did not love the Shipwrecker (tequila, lime, agave, coconut, ube condensed milk). The ube condensed milk certainly made it a pretty color, but the flavor was kind of gross for me.

There are a few other specialty drinks here too, including a guava strawberry colada and a spicy watermelon limeade.

All of the drinks at Sandsational Smoothies are considered specialty drinks. That means they are an extra fee and not included with your cruise fare.

Coffee

Looking for a specialty coffee, island-style? Mangroves & Go is the place you want to be; one of the first places you’ll hit when you exit the ship. You can get cold brew, iced coffees, espresso, and more, but there are some fun coffee concoctions as well to try!

Their signature coffee drink, which is available at other locations around the island as well, seems to be the Bahama Brew (Cold brew coffee blended with Hawaiian island syrup, cold brew, finished with a coconut flavored soft whip topping). A few other interesting sips:

• Junkanoo Latte – cold brew, vanilla, lavender
• Mangroves Cafe – tequila, Kahlua, Baileys, espresso, boba pearl
• Banana Bliss – pandan, banana, french vanilla, soda
• Island Tonic – Fever Tree Indian Tonic, cold brew, Amaro Montnegro, fresh orange

There are some non-coffee options available here as well, including dole whips (mango and pineapple) and draft beer.

All of the drinks at Mangroves & Go are considered specialty drinks. That means they are an extra fee and not included with your cruise fare.

Lookout Cay Merchandise

If you’re looking for some souvenirs to take home, there’s no shortage of themed merchandise. Head to one of the following locations:

First & Last Chance Stand – this is a small kiosk that is aptly named, as it is right where you get on and off the ship. So if you need any souvenirs before you board, check out what they have to offer!

Disney T’ings – This is where you’ll find your Disney themed island merchandise. It’s also home to a collection of Bahamian designed clothing and accessories, plus Disney themed Junkanoo merchandise.

Treasures of Eleuthera – If you are looking for work by local artists, you’ll find a variety of items here, from small gift items to pieces of artwork.

Plaits & Pleats – a small booth set up for island hair braiding.

Of course, there’s lots of merchandise available and I’m sure it will change! But some of the items that have been available since the island debuted include:

• Disney Junkanoo spirit jerseys, ears, Loungefly bags
• Lookout Cay logo t-shirts, polos, hat, water bottle, magnet
• Disney plush
• Various Disney pins
• Theodore Elyett (Bahamian fashion designer) Lookout Cay Merchandise – shorts, dresses, ears, tank top
• Art prints
• Handcrafted bags & jewelry
• Local coffee beans

Transportation

When you get off of the ship, you’ll have to walk approximately half a mile on the pier to the main area of the island. The pier is somewhat long compared to other destinations, and this is because of conservation efforts to preserve the coral reef and sea life in the area. Golf carts are available for those who need extra assistance.

Once on shore, trams are available to take you to different parts of the island. When you first arrive you’ll find Mabrika Cove tram stop. Board here to get to the Goombay Cultural Center tram stop, which takes you to the main area of the island. That’s where you’ll find the entertainment, activities, and more.

There are plenty of places to walk if you’d like, such as the Nature Trail. You can also rent a bicycle to get around and explore the island a bit more on your own.

Walk from the ship

One of the top complaints that we have heardh as to do with the arrival to the island, when guests are first getting off the ship. There is a pier that takes you from where the ship docks to the island itself. This walk is about half a mile.

It was built that way because of environmental concerns – but it is challenging for many to walk that half a mile both there and back. Especially those who might have mobility issues, be with multiple young children, etc.

Everyone’s perspective on if it’s “too far” to walk will vary, but I’m gathering as much information as I can to help you approach this. Things certainly get blown out of proportion on social media. It’s easy to post a video that looks outrageous, but in reality it may not be as bad as it looks. After visiting myself and talking to others, there are some more reasonable perspectives. A few things to keep in mind:

• Golf carts are available for those who need them. On day 1 they were limited these to only people who had booked accessible staterooms, but they have now started allowing anyone to use them who feels they need it. You can request one ahead of time or try to get one day-of without too much of a wait.
• If you go to Disney World regularly, you could compare this to the walk from the entrance of Magic Kingdom to Space Mountain – that is also about half a mile.
• Many feel the problem is less the distance and walking, but doing so on a pier that is completely open to the sun and doesn’t have benches or a place to rest. The good news is that these are things Disney can potentially fix. They have already added a cold towel station mid pier, as well as wagons for guests to use right when you get off the ship. I expect we will see additional improvements to help with this.

I think it feels longer than walking many other places because there’s really nothing to see or do along the way (and you’re eager to get to the beach!). But for me at least it was a pretty easy walk and took maybe about ten minutes. We had cooler weather during our visit, though.

And I want to re-emphasize that it is very important to make sure that people who have mobility issues or might need assistance be accommodated. Hopefully the availability of golf carts is enough for those who need it.

Flies

The other major issue (that you may have seen if you watch any vlogs, tiktok, etc) is flies. The first day guests visited the island it does seem like the fly situation was quite bad – particularly in the food areas.

Of course, Disney has been working to try and combat this as quickly as possible. No one wants flies all over the food and that is definitely not the look Disney is going for!

There is no doubt that it was a big problem on the first day, and that it is still a bit of a problem – but it sounds like it has improved. Most of the people who are posting on social media, blogs, and websites were on that first preview sailing. I’ve been digging through facebook groups, forums, and reddit to get updates from people who have visited more recently to see if things have gotten better.

It sounds like the situation was definitely improved and is much more manageable, though there are still some flies. Honestly, a few flies outside when you’re eating food seems pretty normal to me, but those videos the first day were something else.

About a week after the first visit to the island people reported that they could tell there was improvement. Some people who cruised 3-4 weeks after opening had experiences without any flies. Others did have some flies, so it’s not totally gone – but it could vary based on the weather and the season.

During my visit in October 2024, flies were definitely present. I didn’t find them to be as obnoxious as some reports I’d heard, but they were a nuisance. I’m not sure how Disney completely fixes this problem, but I can see on certain days it could get really bad.

#1 highlight for me is experiencing the cultural aspects that the island has to offer. The Sights and Sounds of Junkanoo was great, and I would love to see the full Rush Out show in the future.

I think it’s a beautiful island, even though the weather on the day we visited was not ideal. I’m not normally a big beach person, but I actually went in the water and did a little swimming.

I enjoyed trying the food and drinks – I’m not blown away by the food, but the drink options were really fun on the island.

I really need to get back to actually walk the Nature Trail, visit the Lighthouse, and try a few more drinks!

Are you planning to visit Disney Lookout Cay? What would you be interested in doing the most?