t A cruise ship marine shuttle sailing into the popular port of George Town
t A cruise ship marine shuttle sailing into the popular port of George Town
With a steady stream of cruise ships docking at the port, George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands, is a busy place all year round. It takes about an hour to casually stroll the streets lined with restaurants and duty-free shops – the city’s major attractions. The Cayman Islands National Museum, located in one of the few surviving 19th-century structures, has exhibits that document the islands’ past.
The Cayman’s thriving art community displays local works alongside noted foreign artists at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. Housed in a striking Modernist industrial space, it exhibits the permanent collection upstairs and temporary collections below. Its Art Café is a lovely space overlooking a sculpture garden. The museum also arranges tours to local studios.
Auto enthusiasts can admire a superb collection of 55 classic and antique cars, plus 18 motorcycles, at the Cayman Motor Museum. Don’t miss Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s black Mercedes 560 SEC, and the 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II that featured alongside actor Omar Sharif in The Yellow Rolls-Royce.
Curling north along the west shore like a shepherd’s crook, Seven Mile Beach tantalizes with soft white sands that dissolve into calm waters, the color of blue gem stones. One of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean, its entire length is lined with luxury homes and hotels, plus bars, restaurants, beach services, and patches of sea-grape trees for shade. Seven Mile Beach is divided by name into several beaches. Midway, the wide swath at Governor’s Beach, just north of the Governor’s Residence, has a healthy shallow reef about 98 ft (30 m) offshore. The best snorkeling is at Cemetery Beach, toward the north end.
" ' - =
⌂ 3 Harbour Dr # 9am–5pm Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm Sat ∑ museum.ky
-
⌂ Esterley Tibbetts Hwy # 10am–5pm Mon–Sat ∑ nationalgallery.org.ky
"
⌂ 864 NW Point Rd # Nov–May: 9am–1pm Tue–Sat ∑ caymanmotormuseum.com
Hidden Gem
Perfect for families, this popular beach at the tip of Water Cay Road peninsula is named for the large number of starfish found in its crystal-clear shallows. Visitors can look at, but must not touch, the starfish.
EXPERIENCE Cayman Islands
The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is home to the Blue Iguana Habitat, the center for the National Trust’s Blue Iguana Recovery Program. Just two decades ago, the endemic Grand Cayman blue iguana was facing extinction. With a repopulation goal of 1,000, the Habitat is the captive breeding ground for these critically endangered reptiles. The blue iguana grows up to 5 ft (1.5 m) long and can live up to 69 years. While the coloration of male iguanas can vary from dark grey to turquoise blue, females are olive green to pale blue. The National Trust runs safaris (Mon–Sat) with a 1.5-hour guided tour that takes visitors behind the scenes of the breeding facility.
In the village of the same name in West Bay, Hell is a small site featuring 1.5-million-year-old jagged shards of jet-black ironshore (limestone coral and dolomite). Theories abound about how the place got its name. It is popularly believed that the name originated after a local official exclaimed, “This is what hell must look like.” The name stuck and the site is now a great tourist attraction, with a hell-themed post office where visitors can send postcards from Hell.
The atmospheric former capital of the Cayman Islands recalls a more peaceful era, before modernity and mass tourism arrived. Time-worn gingerbread cottages, the ruins of a fort, and the Mission House – a classic early 19th-century Caymanian mansion – make strolling the streets a delight. The Mission House is today run as a museum by the National Trust, with period furnishings and exhibits on the yesteryear lifestyle. Behind the Webster Memorial United Church is the underground Pirates’ Cave and, adjoining it, an old cemetery where a dozen or so unmarked graves are said to be those of pirates.
This park showcases more than half of the plant species native to the Cayman Islands, as well as birds and wildlife, including the rare blue iguanas and 56 species of butterfly. Visitors can walk through the lovely Floral Color Garden, which features hundreds of species of tropical and subtropical plants. Located nearby is the Heritage Garden with its traditional ornamental and medicinal plants, which Caymanians used for various ailments. The garden also has a pretty traditional Cayman house dating back to 1900.
A path near the entrance, named Woodland Trail, gives people the opportunity to view the sprawling natural landscape. Visitors get a chance to see the blue iguana roaming freely in this stretch.
t Palm trees overlooking a lake in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park
EXPERIENCE Cayman Islands
|
Eat Cracked Conch This thatched, open-air joint serves divine fusion seafood dishes. There’s deck dining atop a limestone plateau, with the jade Caribbean stretching out in front. ⌂ 857 NW Point Rd, West Bay ¢ Sep ∑ crackedconch.com.ky \\\ |
t The three-story Pedro St. James National Historic Site, the oldest building on the Cayman Islands
Located high above Pedro Bluff, Pedro St. James is the oldest building on the Cayman Islands. William Eden, a wealthy Englishman, used Jamaican slave labor to construct this three-story stone building in 1780. In 1831, the first Cayman government was formed within it. The building later suffered damage from hurricanes, fire, and even lightning, but in 1992 the government decided to restore it. Guides are dressed in period costumes, and a tour of the house reveals antique furniture with mahogany floors and staircases, timber beams, and gabled framework. The visitors’ center features an excellent 3D multi-sensory theater, where viewers can experience 200 years of Cayman history in just 20 minutes. There are breathtaking views from the house, and the site is a popular location for concerts, weddings, and parties. A memorial commemorates the 2004 Hurricane Ivan.
The islands were named the “Caimanes” after the Kalina word for the crocodiles once found here.
A mere 10-sq-mile (25-sq-km) island, Little Cayman is the smallest of the three Cayman islands and is inhabited by fewer than 200 residents. Nature rules this laid-back, one-road island, with iguanas and birds outnumbering humans. The island is a popular day trip destination from Grand Cayman for travelers who mainly come here for solitude or diving. Bloody Bay Wall in Bloody Bay Marine Park offers one of the Caribbean’s finest drop-offs.
Blossom Village is the only town on the island. Close by is the Booby Pond Nature Reserve, a nesting ground for 20,000 red-footed boobies, as well as the magnificent frigatebirds and waterbirds. The National Trust House at Blossom Village offers viewing platforms with telescopes to observe the birdlife. Just across the reserve is Little Cayman Museum, which features displays on the island’s history. Point of Sand, at the eastern tip, has a pretty little beach. Offshore lies Owen Island, a tiny white beach cay, ideal for picnics and kayaking.
=
⌂ Guy Banks Rd, Blossom Village § 345 623 1107 # 9am–5pm Mon–Fri
⌂ Blossom Village # 1:30–4pm Mon–Sat ∑ littlecaymanmuseum.org
t The ruggedly beautiful cliffs of Cayman Brac
Brac, the Gaelic word for “bluff,” is a suitable name for this Cayman isle that has the most dramatic topography of the group, dominated by a limestone cliff reaching up to 146 ft (44 m) on its eastern tip. The island has several caves and many trails to explore. A 3-hour hike from Spot Bay leads to an old lighthouse from where there are splendid views of the ocean. Halfway down the trail is Little Cayman Brac Outlook (a large rock), where bird enthusiasts can see nesting brown boobies.
Another interesting hike is south off Bight Road. This is the National Trust Parrot Reserve and Nature Trail, which protects the endemic Cayman Brac parrot, along with other birds, plants, and native trees. On South Side Road visitors can see Rebecca’s Cave, a historic site where islanders took shelter during Cuba’s worst ever hurricane in 1932. It contains the grave of Rebecca Bodden, a baby girl who died in the cave during the storm. Just beside the cave the challenging Salt Water Pond trail begins, which takes hikers from the south to north coast. At its end is Salt Water Pond, a sanctuary for a tern colony. Hikers can also visit the beautiful Cayman Brac Heritage House on North East Bay Road, where local artisans display their work. Be on the lookout for jewelery made of caymanite, a local stone used by the island’s artisans that makes for the perfect Cayman Rab souvenir. Nearby is the island’s first museum, Cayman Brac Museum, opened in 1983. It has exhibits on ship-building and displays on the islanders’ lifestyles during the 1930s.
t Cayman Brac, home to a number of nesting brown boobies
' =
⌂ 218 NE Bay Rd § 345 948 0563 # 8:30am–noon & 1–5pm Mon–Wed, 8:30am–1pm Fri
' =
⌂ 279 Stake Bay Rd § 345 948 2222 # 9am–noon & 1–4pm Mon–Fri; 9am–noon Sat
EXPERIENCE Cayman Islands
Bioluminescent Tour
∑ caymankayaks.com
Marvel as tiny dinoflagellates emit lingering bursts of bright spectral blue light as you explore Bioluminescent Bay by kayak or electric boat.
Sunset Cruise
∑ fivestarcharterscayman.com
Celebrate sundown in style with hors d’oeuvres and champagne on ice aboard a luxurious private yacht.
Atlantis Submarine
∑ caymanislandssubmarines.com
Marvel at the incredible underwater world aboard this 48- passenger submersible with huge windows for fab views, plus spotlights for really cool night entertainment.