Huge new resort on Bimini threatens islands environment, critics claim

Every time a cruise ship docks in Bimini, the population of this tiny archipelago just 80 kilometres off the coast of Miami could nearly double.

That may be profitable for a place that lives off tourism. But many worry the recent launch of a new cruise line disgorging hundreds of visitors each day could be too much of a good thing.

The ship is one component of a Malaysian casino company's project to bring unprecedented waves of tourists to Bimini, which has long defied change. Some fear it will destroy a marine environment teeming with fish and coral, and ruin a diving and sport-fishing capital of the world.

It's also provoking somewhat of an existential crisis, posing a challenge to Bimini's identity as a rustic and hard-to-reach getaway, known as a haunt of Ernest Hemingway and the setting for a tryst that ended a US presidential run.

"Unless you are a fisherman, a diver or a drunk there was no reason to come to Bimini. But they are changing that," said dive shop operator Neal Watson. "It's getting to be a different place."

Changes are coming fast. Malaysia-based Genting Group is spending at least US$300 million on Resorts World Bimini, quickly becoming the largest employer in the cluster of islands and creating sharp new demand for housing.

Working in partnership with a Florida developer, the company opened a casino in June, expects to finish a 350-room hotel by Christmas and 50 luxury villas a month later on their 280 hectares of North Bimini.