The Cayman Islands are made up of three islands, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. All three islands have beautiful beaches, sparkling clear water, and are great for snorkeling and diving. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are the smaller of the three islands and are more off the beaten path and less “touristy”.
Popular, Famous Beaches:
Seven Mile Beach has been named one of the best beaches on many platforms like Caribbean Travel + Life, Trip Advisor, and MSN. Seven Mile Beach is located on Grand Cayman and is a public beach so you can walk from one end to the other. With its clear water and coral sand beach this is perfect for just lying on the beach, snorkeling, playing in the surf, or walking the coastline and seeing the surrounding attractions.
Brac Reef Beach is located at the Cayman Brac Beach Reef Resort and has many activities for visitors with snorkeling and diving being the most popular. You can also fish, kayak, just relax at one of the cabanas available. Brac Reef Beach is located at the Cayman Brac Beach Reef Resort and has many activities for visitors with snorkeling and diving being the most popular. You can also fish, kayak, just relax at one of the cabanas available.
Bloody Bay Wall Marine Park is located on Little Cayman and is one of the most popular dive sites. It is named for the dramatic 5,000-foot drop-off. Divers can see shark’s native to the island, turtles, and stingrays with Bloody Bay Wall as the backdrop.
Things To Do:
Grand Cayman offers many cultural, ecological, educational, and historical attractions. We have visited the Hell Geological Site on Grand Cayman, and it is fascinating. It is named for blackened limestone geological wonder that is estimated to be 10-15 million years old. Hell has one little shop where you can get souvenirs, send postcards postmarked from “Hell”, and get your passport stamped in “Hell.”
We have also visited the Cayman Turtle Centre where they are dedicated to research and conservation of not only turtles but other island wildlife as well. At the turtle center guests can swim with turtles, hold baby turtles, watch sharks and other predators at the predator reef, see island birds in the aviary, learn about the island wildlife, and play in the water park.
We had a really fun experience swimming with the stingrays at Stingray City. This is basically a sandbar in the middle of the ocean where every tour company brings tourists to get up close and personal with the stingrays. This is a stingray experience in the wild, the stingrays are not caged, and they do all have their stingers. The attraction for the stingrays to show up in this place, despite all the people, is the food. The tour guides provide food for the stingrays, and even give tourists the opportunity to hand feed the stingrays. This was a really cool experience for everyone in my family except my daughter, who was seven at the time. She was really excited to swim with the stingrays, until we got off the boat and then she was done and ready to get back on the boat before she even touched one, or it touched her. I did manage to keep her in the water long enough to get a couple of pictures with the stingrays, but she wasn’t happy about it
Other popular attractions on Grand Cayman are the National Museum of the Cayman Islands, The Mastic Trail, and Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park.
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are the smaller, lesser known islands of the Cayman Islands, but both have something to offer. On Cayman Brac you can take free nature tours through Nature Cayman, that are guided by trained Nature Tourism Guides. These tours are flexible and can be customized to your likes and what you want to see. Little C Tours offers many tours and activities on Little Cayman for those who want to do more than dive. They offer fishing tours, Sunrise/Sunset/Starlight cruises, Glass Bottom boat tours, as well as Little Cayman sightseeing and landmark tours.
How to Get There
Cruise. Most of the major cruise lines, if not all, have an itinerary that goes to Grand Cayman. I have only been to Grand Cayman by cruise and have visited with Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Disney cruise lines. Grand Cayman is one of my favorite stops on a cruise and we always find something fun to do. Unfortunately, you can’t visit Cayman Brac or Little Cayman from a cruise.
Fly. You can fly to the Cayman Islands seven days a week, year-round. The only flights into Cayman Bran and Little Cayman are from Grand Cayman, so if you want to visit the smaller islands you will have a short layover in Grand Cayman.
Popular Food
Conch Stew. A creamy stew of coconut milk, scotch bonnet peppers, dumplings, and of course conch, served over white rice.
Turtle. Stewed turtle meat served with rice and peas (aka beans).
I am not very adventurous with food, so I have not tried either of these dishes, maybe someday I will become a little more adventurous and try them.
Popular Drinks
Mudslide. Made with Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream, vodka, and chocolate syrup, blended with ice and topped with cinnamon and a cherry. The original Cayman Mudslide is also made with the straw filled with Kahlua, to do this you dip the straw in the Kahlua, place your finger over the top of the straw and transfer the straw to the drink, not removing your finger until the straw is all the way in the glass. The Mudslide is one of my favorite drinks, I haven’t ever had it Cayman style, but I will from now on.
Seven Mile Breeze. Made with vodka, grapefruit juice, and cranberry juice, over ice with a lime.
Cayman Lemonade. Made with Rum, vodka, peach schnapps, sweet and sour mix and cranberry juice, over ice.
