Cayman Islands Travel Guide

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While the Cayman Island trio currently attract streams of vacationers to their sparkling waters and sweeping beaches, it is unlikely that the British, or anyone else for that matter, would have found these Caribbean delights quite so desirable when they were first discovered.

Reptiles and pirates
A carpeting of turtles lead Columbus to originally name the islands Las Tortugas (The Turtles), and, even less invitingly, the word 'Cayman' probably comes from the Carib word for marine crocodile, caymanas, suggesting that the islands were also well-populated with somewhat snappier reptiles. In addition to this, the Cayman Islands - Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac - have long been tied to a history of buccaneers and pirates, who, legend has it, once established hideouts here.

Beaches, reefs and wrecks
For the 21st century traveler, all of this is easy to forget while luxuriating on wide, sandy stretches, beside crystal waters teeming with coral reefs and marine creatures; the Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is particularly popular and deservedly so. So while past Cayman explorers faced sharp teeth and ruthless foe, today's visitor has the rather more enjoyable activities of diving amid ship wrecks, roving though mangrove swamps, wandering ancient forest and watching an array of colorful marine life go by.

Geography

The Cayman Islands are situated in the Caribbean, 290km 288km (180 miles) northwest of Jamaica, 240km (150 miles) south of Cuba and 770km 768km (480 miles) south of Miami. Grand Cayman is the largest and most populous island in this British overseas territory. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac lie around 143km (89 miles) northeast of Grand Cayman and are separated from each other by a channel about 12km 8km (58 miles) wide.

The islands are peaks of a subterranean mountain range extending from Cuba towards the Gulf of Honduras, and the beaches here are considered some of the very best in the Caribbean, the most notable being Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman.
Casuarinas and sea-grape trees line many of the beaches, many of which are protected offshore by a fringing reef.