Cayman Islands: The Caribbean Paradise Once Overrun by Turtles

Think of the Cayman Islands, and the words “tax haven” may jump to mind, but there's so much more to this small, idyllic British overseas territory than banks and duty-free shopping. Powder-soft sand beaches, reefs teeming with turtles, beach bars serving heady rum cocktails: Cayman (as the locals call it) is a quintessential Caribbean escape. 

It’s made up of three islands with vastly different personalities: big and glamorous Grand Cayman, laid-back Cayman Brac, and tiny eco-haven Little Cayman. The first thing you’ll notice flying into Grand Cayman’s International Airport is how flat the islands are. 

The highest point, The Bluff on Cayman Brac, sits at just 141 feet. This lack of height is counterbalanced by the surrounding sea’s extraordinary depths. The Cayman Trench descends 25,216 feet below sea level, making it the deepest point in the Caribbean Sea. 

The land of turtles

When Christopher Columbus first laid eyes on the uninhabited Cayman Islands in 1503, it wasn’t the beaches or even the total lack of people that struck him. It was the hundreds of sea turtles crawling on its shores that led Columbus to name the islands “Las Tortugas.” 

The sheer number of turtles (a mix of green, loggerhead, leatherback, and hawksbill) eventually put the islands on the map. Ships began stopping off to poach turtle meat to feed their hungry sailors, a practice that depleted their numbers over the centuries. 

Various conservation projects have helped boost local turtle populations, including a breeding program at the Cayman Turtle Centre in West Bay. Since its inception in the 1970s, they’ve successfully released over 30,000 green turtles into the wild. 

The center has programs that allow visitors to learn more about the turtles (though some activities may be a little close to the animals for comfort). The center also controversially farms a small number of turtles for locals to buy and turn into traditional dishes. If you’re ever unsure about supporting a local business, consider the ethics behind their animal encounters.

Prefer to see turtles in the wild? Head to Spotts Beach in Savannah for a snorkel. Go first thing in the morning or at dusk, when the water is cooler and turtles swim over the reef to feed on the seagrass in the shallows. Just don’t get too close, and never try to touch their shells. Little Cayman is also a known turtle nesting spot between May and November. If you visit during these months and come across a nest, remember it’s fragile. Keep your distance, and avoid using your camera flash as turtles can be sensitive to white light.  

Where are all the crocodiles?

Las Tortugas may have been the islands’ initial title. However, by the 1530s, they’d become more commonly known by the Carib Indian word “Caymanas” due to the dangerous marine crocodiles that lurked in their vast, thick mangrove swamps. 

While they’ve all been hunted over the centuries, the name has stuck. This means you won’t spot a croc swimming alongside you in the sea (though there is an 11.5-foot-long rescued Cayman crocodile called Smiley living at the Cayman Turtle Centre).

A haven for pirates, deserters, and runaways

Cayman’s history is eclectic to say the least. After being a turtle oasis for centuries, a ragtag collection of settlers—including runaway enslaved people, refugees fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, and deserting British soldiers from nearby Jamaica—strayed to Cayman’s shores in the 1600s. 

The National Museum in George Town is worth the $12.50 entry fee and has heaps of information about Cayman’s early settlers. 

There’s also Pedro St. James (known locally as Pedro’s Castle). The former plantation house was built by enslaved people in the early 1800s and is the oldest stone building still standing on the islands. It’s witnessed key historic moments over the centuries, being the site of the islands’ first elected Parliament in 1831 and where the Slavery Abolition Act was signed in 1835. Today, it’s a living museum (complete with an immersive theater show) that focuses on local history.

And it wouldn’t be the Caribbean without a fearsome pirate or two. While not as infamous as Jamaica or the Bahamas, Cayman was still a magnet for plunderers. Cayman Pirates Week, which takes place each November, is by far the best place to experience this side of the islands’ history. Hundreds of people (including professional actors) usually attend Grand Cayman’s festival in full pirate attire, and the main event is a staged kidnap of the islands’ governor in George Town Harbour—a fun, albeit a little Disney-esque, spectacle. 

Shipwrecks galore 

Surrounded by craggy reefs and often at the mercy of hurricanes, the Cayman Islands, to no surprise, has had its fair share of shipwrecks. 

Head to Tukka, a Caymanian-Australian fusion restaurant in Grand Cayman’s East End, and it's not just delicious lionfish tacos you'll find. Turn your head seaward, and you’ll spot several strange shapes jutting out of the reef. This is the Wreck of the Ten Sails: ten merchant and British naval ships that strayed too close to the shore in February 1794. 

Seeing them up close is tricky due to the terrain, but there’s a great display about the disaster (and the consequent rescue of most of the crew by the island’s locals) in the national museum. 

Half a mile off the western tip of Seven Mile Beach is where you'll find Cayman’s most famous shipwreck. The USS Kittiwake, a former American naval ship, was actually purposefully sunk there in 2011 and functions as an artificial reef. It’s one of the islands’ best dive sites, and its shallow location means you can also snorkel over the wreck at low tide. 

Further afield, just off Cayman Brac, you'll find the wreck of the M.V. Captain Keith Tibbetts. The Russian naval frigate was also purposefully sunk between two reefs and is now a haven for all sorts of kaleidoscopic marine life.

Adventures on land

While the Cayman Islands has lots to entice along its coastlines—including popular Stingray City, another attraction that might encourage you to look at animal welfare guidelines—there’s also plenty of nature to soak up on land. Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park on Grand Cayman’s North Side is bursting with tropical plant life, including a heritage garden filled with native fruit and spice trees. 

You could also tackle the 2.3-mile-long Mastic Trail. The National Trust protected reserve cuts through a huge mangrove swamp in Grand Cayman’s wild interior and is home to rare trees (including its namesake mastic tree) and various birdlife. Just don’t forget your bug spray. 

If you’re hiking it in June, keep your eyes peeled for the islands’ national flower: the beautiful wild banana orchid. 

A tale of two iguanas

Another must-see in the Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park are the islands’ endangered blue iguanas. These endemic iguanas—which get their name from their bluish sheen—have one of the longest lifespans (approximately 25 to 40 years) of any lizard. The botanic garden’s Blue Iguana Conservation breeding program launched in the 1990s and has helped triple their numbers. As well as booking a guided tour to see young blue iguanas, you might be lucky enough to spot a released one in the wild.

While blue iguanas may be on the rise, Cayman’s highly invasive and much larger green iguanas are thankfully on the decline. If you’d visited the islands in 2017, you’d have been hard-pressed to find a square mile that wasn’t home to at least a dozen of them. They were a huge problem, destroying vegetation, digging beneath roads, and even taking over the habitats of released blue iguanas. A huge, island-wide cull was launched, and for a time it was even possible to eat green iguana in certain restaurants.  

The Caribbean’s food capital

Many islands lay claim to the title of Food Capital of the Caribbean—but some would argue that Cayman is the real deal. Michelin-star restaurants, chic vegan bistros, health food cafes, sizzling jerk chicken stalls, and a tempting selection of food trucks are all on the table.

Cayman's local dishes are equally diverse. There are a fair few similarities with Jamaica (which Cayman was a dependency of until 1959)—think jerk chicken, cassava cake, and cornbread. Seafood is another specialty. Don’t skip the conch fritters at Rackham’s in George Town Harbour or the fresh ceviche at West Bay’s Cracked Conch. 

Food festivals like Taste of Cayman (typically in April or May) and Cayman Cookout (typically in January) are also great events to experience the islands' more contemporary gastronomy. Both are internationally renowned and feature a range of cooking demos, pop-up stalls, and appearances from world-famous chefs.

It’s always five o’clock somewhere 

Rum is naturally the spirit of choice in the Cayman Islands. Rum-based cocktails appear on menus everywhere. Plus, you’ll find several distilleries offering tours and tasting sessions. This includes Cayman Spirits Co., where you can sample Seven Fathoms Rum—a tipple matured in bourbon casks suspended 42 feet (or seven fathoms) beneath the sea.

If rum isn’t your liquor of choice, there are plenty of other watering holes. Check out the Cayman Islands Brewery for beer tastings, sip wine paired with charcuterie at charming Le Petit Bar, or venture to the Kimpton Seafire’s Library by the Sea for cocktails inspired by great works of literature. 

You could also embrace your inner child (kind of) with a boozy Mudslide milkshake at the Rum Point Club. Legend has it that this concoction of vodka, Kahlua, and Irish cream topped with a dusting of nutmeg was invented there in the 1970s when the bartender ran out of fresh cream for a thirsty customer's White Russian.      

Don’t forget the sister islands

Grand Cayman has such a big personality that it’s sometimes easy to forget about its two smaller sisters. They’re super easy to reach by plane from Cayman's main airport and well worth adding to your itinerary—especially if you want a more laid-back, barefoot beach kind of vibe.

Both are sublime destinations for nature lovers. Hike The Bluff on rugged Cayman Brac, and keep your eyes peeled for the rare Brac Parrot. Little Cayman, just 10 miles long, is by far the least-developed island, with less than 200 inhabitants and ample opportunities to find your own secluded corner of sand. It’s also right next to Bloody Bay Wall where the reef suddenly drops off 6,000 feet into darkness—hands down one of the region's most epic dive sites.