Wender·Vista
Ocean Cay Marine Reserve
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileThe Bahamas
in the Bimini chain, southeast of Bimini and east of Miami

Ocean Cay Marine Reserve

— — a sand island the sea is taking back, slowly.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A small private island in the Bimini chain, about 65 nautical miles east of Miami. Ocean Cay was an aragonite-sand mining outpost from 1965 until the mid-1990s, then sat empty for two decades. MSC Cruises took the lease in 2015 and replanted the island as a port of call. A marine reserve now extends 64 square nautical miles around the cay, with a working lighthouse at the centre. from the studio

from the studio
Ocean Cay Marine Reserve
— bring it home

Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Ocean Cay Marine Reserve

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Ocean Cay is a small artificial island in the Bimini chain of The Bahamas, about 65 nautical miles east of Miami and 20 nautical miles south of South Bimini. The cay was dredged up in 1965 as a base for aragonite sand mining by the Dillingham Corporation, and operated until 1995. MSC Cruises acquired the lease in 2015 and reopened it as a cruise destination in November 2019, renaming the surrounding waters the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

— informed by Wikipedia — Ocean Cay
— the water

The reserve covers roughly 64 square nautical miles of Bahamian shelf water around the cay, with coral nurseries set in the shallows on the leeward side and a no-take fishing perimeter. The seabed steps from waist-deep turtle-grass flats down across a sand shelf into the deep-water Florida Strait a few miles west, where the Gulf Stream runs north past Bimini at three to four knots.

— the light

A 75-foot lighthouse stands at the centre of the island, restored from the original mining-era beacon and now lit nightly with a colour programme designed for the cruise harbour. The cay's east-facing beaches catch the first sun off the Bahama Bank, while the west side looks out across the Florida Strait toward Miami. Sunsets carry the rim-glow that the shallow-water shelf returns.

— informed by Wikipedia — Ocean Cay
— where
The Bahamas · Bimini, The Bahamas
— within
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve
— position
25.4017° N · 79.2628° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
37 km N
South Bimini
Bahamian island
120 km W
Miami
Florida mainland
10 km W
Gulf Stream
open-ocean current
N
Ocean Cay Marine Reserve
South Bimini
Miami
Gulf Stream
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Ocean Cay Marine Reserve — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Ocean Cay is a small island in the Bimini chain of The Bahamas, about 65 nautical miles east of Miami and 20 nautical miles south of South Bimini. The surrounding waters form the Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Ocean Cay was dredged up in 1965 as an aragonite sand mining base operated by the Dillingham Corporation. Mining continued until 1995, after which the cay sat empty for roughly two decades before MSC Cruises acquired the lease in 2015.

Ocean Cay reopened on November 16, 2019, as a private island port of call for MSC Cruises. The redevelopment included a working harbour, beaches, and reseeded landscape across what had been a flat mining apron.

The Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve covers roughly 64 square nautical miles of Bahamian shelf water around the cay. Coral nurseries grow in the shallows on the leeward side, and the reserve carries a no-take fishing rule.

A 75-foot lighthouse at the centre of the island, restored from the mining-era beacon, marks the harbour for arriving ships. At night it runs a colour programme designed for the cruise port rather than open-water navigation.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Ocean Cay is the signature private destination on most MSC Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries. A Coaster or Small with a handwritten note from the studio carries the memory of the day at the cay.

The turquoise water and warm sand palette sit well with coastal-modern, tropical-modern, and white-on-white beach-house interiors. It also reads cleanly against a navy or jute-toned wall.

Yes. Coastal-modern has moved toward named, specific waters over generic shoreline prints. A piece tied to a real cay in the Bimini chain reads grounded rather than stock.

Above a standard sofa, the Large works as a single tile. For more presence above a console or in a beach-house entryway, a four-tile Mural or a nine-tile Mural carries the wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room with steam or splashes. Both resist scratches and clean with a microfibre cloth. The Glossy finish is intended for dry display walls.

A microfibre cloth and plain water are enough. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so it cannot lift with normal cleaning. Skip abrasive pads and solvent sprays.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is original studio work, hand-finished in Knoxville. We do not license the visual language to other shops and do not reproduce other artists' compositions.

— if this one stayed with you

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