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The islands are the Caymans, a small paradise tucked away
in the clear, blue, tranquil Caribbean Sea. While the Cayman Islands
may be small in terms of square miles, they are nevertheless big in
activities for visitors. In fact, you are ready to create some of your
best vacation memories once you've stowed your scuba gear. Whether you
opt for Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac or Little Cayman, the fun is just
beginning once you've packed up your BCD and regulator.
Get Wet
The Cayman Islands serve up an array of water-oriented fun for all ages and members of the family. Salute a stunning sundown on a dinner cruise. Test your fish and coral ID skills from a glass-bottom boat or submarine. Show the waves who's boss on a jet ski or sailboard. Assemble a group and rattle your collective brains with a wild ride on an inflatable banana. Get a bird's-eye view of the beach with a parasailing adventure. Tool along shore on an aqua bike or trike. Chase a ski boat on a set of planks. Polish your sailing skills with a Sunfish or Hoby Cat. Haul in the big one from the fighting chair of a charter fishing vessel. In the backwaters, learn to tackle a tarpon from the platform of a flats fishing boat. The possibilities for wet fun are endless.
Get in the Swim
And don't be too quick to jam your mask, fins and snorkel way at the bottom of your suitcase, because you're vacationing with non-diving friends and family. In the Cayman Islands, some of the best reefs and wrecks are shallow enough to explore with personal dive gear. Beginners are wise to opt for snorkeling charters. More experienced underwater explorers can strike off on their own from shore. Snorkeling sites ring Grand Cayman. For snorkeling, everywhere you go, there you are. Off the west coast, there are wrecks, reefs, arches, tunnels and canyons close to shore. Off South Sound and Northwest Point, mini-walls are close to shore and an easy swim. Adults and kids alike will appreciate Stingray City for nose-to-nose encounters with the friendly rays.
Off Little Cayman is famed Bloody Bay Wall. In places, the precipice begins at 15 to 20 feet; you can snorkel over the drop-off. Jackson's Point is spectacular; coral heads rise from a 40-foot sandy bottom to about 10 feet from the surface. Cayman Brac is also blessed with spectacular sites for snorkeling.
On the Brac, if you swim more than 60 seconds to reach a
spectacular shallow reef, you're probably working too hard. 
Party with the Pirates
Pirates Week is the Cayman Islands' national festival. It takes place the last week of October. The fest commemorates the days when pirates and buccaneers pillaged and plundered, and buckling swash was a way of life. The fun consists of colorful, free-wheeling celebrations in the street, family-oriented district days, costumed pirates and wenches, underwater and land-based treasure hunts, parades, regattas, and fishing tournaments. Pirates Week is more than a merrymaking marathon. It's designed to bring local residents and visitors together in a celebration of historic times. And when's the last time you saw a governor arrested by a band of pirates?
Batabano is Grand Cayman's costume carnival weekend. It takes place the last week of April or beginning of May. Cayman Brac has a similar celebration, Brachanal, which takes place on the following Saturday. Everyone is invited to dress up and participate, and there are several competitions.
The Grand Life on Grand Cayman
If you're looking for sheer variety in activities, you needn't look beyond the "Big Dot" of the Cayman trio: Grand Cayman.
George Town and Cayman History
The largest population center is the capital of the Cayman Islands, George Town. Many of the old buildings are undergoing restoration since the government is encouraging museums and historical societies to complement beach and watersports tourism.
The Cayman Islands National Museum opened in 1990 in the Old Courts Building; it's worth a visit. Exhibits portray the nation's seafaring history and natural history.
The National Trust has designed a walking tour of George Town. The tour includes 28 sites of interest: Fort George (built around 1790), the Legislative Assembly, the war and peace memorials, and traditional Caymanian architecture. A free map is available from the National Trust or Tourist offices. The Cayman Maritime and Treasure Museum on West Bay Road near the Hyatt Regency has a collection of gold and silver relics from sunken Spanish ships.
Pedro St. James
The Pedro St. James Historic Site is the Cayman Islands' most important national landmark. Revered as the "Birthplace of Democracy in the Cayman Islands," the building and grounds--formerly known as Pedro's Castle--have just been restored to their former glory.
Historic meetings took place at Pedro St. James in 1831, when Caymanians formed their first legislative assembly. Another historic event took place there in 1835, when Islanders read an emancipation proclamation to free all slaves. The site is the Cayman Islands' equivalent to the United States' Independence Hall. Over the centuries, the estate played a key role in Caymanian history. A 100-year-old wattle and Caymanian house, the Steadman-Bodden home, has been relocated to the site to serve as an information center.
Pedro's Castle is the oldest known stone structure in the Cayman Islands. Around 1780, the original building was constructed of quarried native rock. It was erected as a large family dwelling (a "great house") by William Eden, a mariner, plantation owner and early settler from England. In 1785, Pedro's Castle survived the devastating hurricane that destroyed all other houses on Grand Cayman.
The entire structure has been carefully restored to reflect early 19th century building techniques--from the rough-hewn timber beams to the wooden pegs that secure the framework. The first floor houses the jail, storerooms, kitchen and pantry. The second level holds the meeting rooms, courtroom and verandah. The third level is a showcase of bedrooms and living quarters with period furnishings. "Outbuildings" determined to have been part of the original estate have been added. An example of this is an exterior bake oven.
One of the most beautiful locations in the Cayman Islands, the
eight-acre site overlooks Pedro Point bluff and the Caribbean Sea. It's
landscaped with native trees, plants and traditional medicinal and
vegetable gardens. The Visitors' Centre features a multimedia theater,
gift shop and cafe. A gazebo overlooks Hubbell's Pool, a natural
saltwater tidal basin carved by nature into the rugged ironshore coast.
The Pedro St. James Historic Site is open to visitors seven days a
week. 
The Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park
Nature enthusiasts should not miss the National Botanic Park, which is now called the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. The Cayman Islands National Trust and the government joined to create the 65-acre park, a place of natural beauty. The park's mission is to inspire appreciation, respect and conservation for the flora and fauna of the Cayman Islands. The park features several collections and sections of interest to visitors:
The 40-acre Woodland Preserve has been maintained in its natural state. It offers a 0.8-mile walking trail. Forty percent of Grand Cayman's native flora grows in the Woodland Preserve. The Woodland Trail passes through a variety of native habitats and plant communities: buttonwood swamps, fresh-water ponds, mahogany forest, cactus and agave thickets, palms, grassy meadows and orchids, bromeliads and ferns. Visitors can spy fresh-water turtles, lizards, agoutis (a.k.a. the Cayman rabbit), land crabs, butterflies, and the endangered Cayman blue iguana and Cayman parrot.
The Visitors Centre (designed in traditional Cayman style) houses changing exhibits, orientation and information desks, classrooms, gift shop and a cafeteria. The Heritage Garden features a restored turn-of-the century Caymanian farmhouse. The house is complete with original furnishings, cook room, cistern, storage buildings, fences and walls built of old coral. A traditional sand garden with ornamentals surrounds the house. The grounds include a heritage fruit tree orchard, traditional vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants and other plants important in the daily lives of early Cayamanians.
The two-acre Floral Garden overlooks the lake. It features a vast array of blooming plants, water garden, waterfall and gazebo. A two-acre lake surrounds three islands of native vegetation and aquatic birds, including the rare West Indian whistling duck.
The Park is on Frank Sound Road, a 30-minute drive from George Town. It is open daily.
Get Out of Town
Grand Cayman's sparsely populated East End refreshes with long stretches of craggy coast. In Savannah, the oldest island structure is a castle rumored to have been built by pirates two centuries ago. Stop by the blowholes for awesome photos of sea sprays. West Bay is a colorful area with old, pretty houses that date back to seafaring days. The National Trust has a self-guided walkers' booklet of the area. It guides you along lanes and paths, and offers information about the district. The Pink House, built in 1912, is a typical Caymanian home open to the public. Its traditional sand yard is raked every morning according to custom. There are caves in Bodden Town, believed to have been used by pirates.
Barefootin'
Compared to its tiny sisters, Grand Cayman is Party Island. And no Cayman party is complete without the Barefoot Man, the famed minstrel who's distilled the local island experience into song for 20 years. Head to the Holiday Inn on Seven Mile Beach. About four nights a week, the Shoeless One and his band fill the air with calypso beats, gentle reggae rhythms, catchy lyrics and smooth ballads. Hang out under the stars and be seduced by the Barefoot life, then cut the figurative rug. (You won't find a real rug.)
Turtle Farm Race Results
Score: Turtles - 12,000. Hares - 0.
The Cayman Turtle Farm at Northwest Point is temporary home to 12,000 green turtles. The farm releases thousands of hatchlings and year-old turtles into the wild each year to replenish native stocks. But most of the terrapins find their way into the local (human) food chain. The turtles range in size from 2-ounce hatchlings to breeding stock weighing 400 pounds. (At the farm, you can learn how turtles reproduce. How do they breed? The answer is obvious: s-l-o-w-l-y.) A fauna section includes the 10-foot crocodiles that are the nation's namesake. (These crocs put the "cayman" in the "Cayman Islands.") You'll also find other curious native species: the Cayman green parrot, Cayman iguana and the agouti (a groundhog-like creature known as the Cayman rabbit). The farm is open daily.
Postcards from Hell
In Grand Cayman you can find your own private Hell near West Bay. It's a curious little town complete with bizarre rock formation, red velour-clad devil, tiny post office and creation's most infamous postmark. If you want to impress your friends back home with your devil-may-care attitude toward the afterlife, send 'em a postcard from Hell. In Grand Cayman's Hell, the wages of sin are the cost of a postcard and a stamp - affordable by anyone's standards.
If It's Your Duty, Shop til You Drop
If you're a shopaholic, Grand Cayman can fulfill your every fantasy. The entire island is a horn-of-plenty bazaar. Duty-free shops offer everything imaginable. Check out the shopping districts near the cruise terminal and in George Town. Or poke into the corners of the island for something with a unique Cayman flavor.
Chasing the Little White Ball
Jack Nicklaus designed the Britannia golf course for the Hyatt-Regency Grand Cayman Resort. There is a nine-hole championship course, an 18-hole executive course and an 18-hole Cayman course played with a special short-distance Cayman ball. The Links, the new 18-hole championship golf course, is now open at Safehaven.
Little Cayman
The smallest and quietest of the Cayman Islands is Little Cayman. It's located 80 miles northeast of Grand Cayman, and is separated from Cayman Brac by a channel seven miles wide. The island is 10 miles long and less than two miles wide. It's flat - only 40 feet at its highest point. Little Cayman features large areas of dense mangrove swamps, ponds, lagoons and lakes. Little Cayman is a paradise for nature lovers: divers, bird watchers and light-tackle anglers who want to experience the simplicity and uncluttered vacation lifestyle offered by the island's small resorts, apartments and cottages.
Birds and iguanas outnumber people. Two thousand Little Cayman rock iguanas populate the island and grow up to five feet in length. When driving along the coastal road, heed the signs that advise "Iguanas Have the Right of Way - Drive Slowly!"
Hands Off the Boobies...
Little Cayman has been an important destination for serious bird-watchers for more than 25 years. More than 150 migratory and resident species have been sighted there. Booby Pond Nature Reserve is a 202-acre animal sanctuary and rookery. Mangroves border the mile-long body of water. The pond is isolated from the Caribbean Sea by a sandy ridge and dries out seasonally. It is home to the Caribbean's largest nesting colony of red-footed boobies and Cayman's only breeding colony of magnificent frigate birds. Visitors also sight migratory shore birds including waders (peeps), a variety of herons, stilts and the endangered West Indian whistling duck.
Cast Your Line Upon the Waters
Tarpon Lake is a land-locked brackish water pond populated by feisty tarpon that range from three to 25 pounds. It's a favorite with light-tackle and fly fishermen. Bonefish averaging three to six pounds remain a key attraction in the coastal flats, particularly around South Hole Sound.
The National Trust House Visitors Centre is a lovely Caymanian-style building at the western edge of Booby Pond Sanctuary. Its viewing and observation deck has a telescope, meeting room, library, information center and small museum.
Salt Rock Nature Trail is a mile-long path through the rugged interior. It offers a fascinating look at local flora and fauna. Plants and flowers on this trail include orchids, bromeliads, cactus, cordia and mahogany. Critter inhabitants, including iguanas, blue land crabs, soldier (hermit) crabs, anoles, curly tail lizards and many varieties of birds, are commonly sighted. Highlights of the trail are artifacts from the old railroad, which served the island's defunct phosphate mining industry, and the Pirates Well, a large underground cave fed by fresh water.
Roll On...
Bicycling is a great way to explore Little Cayman. More than eight miles of flat, paved roads make cycling a pleasant experience.
Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac, although slightly more developed than sister island Little Cayman, is also a nature lover's and explorer's paradise. Stake Bay is the main village on the North coast, and it's well worthwhile visiting the small but interesting Cayman Brac museum. There, visitors have a unique opportunity to examine artifacts of old-time island life and industry courtesy of Cayman Bracers. The local people have collected shipbuilding tools, cooking utensils, precious photographs and documents that serve as a reminder of a special way of life.
There are three roads running east to west, one along the north shore, one along the south coast and a third (unpaved) in the middle that runs along the top of the Bluff to the lighthouse. Up there it's sometimes possible to spot orchids. A hiking trail has been cleared by the Cayman Brac National Trust, and there is a 180-acre Parrot Reserve.
"Brac" means "bluff." The Bluff rises from sea level at West End to a sheer cliff at East End. A sport growing in popularity is rock climbing. Many climbs have been mapped out.
Photo by Wayne Hasson
Take a day to scout the 10-mile long isle. It's worthwhile to rent a car to make the trip to the end of the road on the south side of the island. Here you'll see spectacular cliffs and caves that dot the bluff wall. Near Spot Bay, the caves made fine hurricane havens. Screw up the courage to visit Bat Cave. Also look for blowhole spouts and Caymanite.
Visiting the lighthouse is a unique experience. It's situated on the east end of the island at its highest point. From this vantage point you get a stunning view of the island and Caribbean Sea. At day's end, drive back along the main road. You'll pass flowery oceanside cemeteries and the airy porches of traditional Caymanian homes.
Cayman Brac offers fantastic fishing opportunities. Several local fishermen offer half- or full-day fishing excursions.
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