Discover Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory of three islands and 264 square kilometres in the western Caribbean, south of Cuba and north-west of Jamaica: Grand Cayman, flat and low with the capital George Town and most of the people; and the Sister Islands, Cayman Brac with its 43-metre Bluff and Little Cayman, 145 and 121 kilometres to the north-east. With over 90,000 people they are the most populous of the British territories, more than half of them non-Caymanian and a quarter Jamaican, and with a GDP per head of US$97,750 in 2023 they have the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, on an economy of financial services and tourism that charges no direct tax.

Christopher Columbus sighted the islands on 10 May 1503 and named them Las Tortugas for the turtles; Drake called in 1586; England took formal control with Jamaica under the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, and permanent settlement began in the 1730s. In 1794 the islanders rescued the crews of ten ships wrecked on the East End reef, the origin of a legend that the King exempted them from tax for ever. Only Grand Cayman had institutional slavery; the first written constitution of 1959 gave women the vote; the islands left Jamaica's administration at its independence in 1962, passed the banking laws of 1966 that made them a financial centre, and were struck on 11 September 2004 by Hurricane Ivan, the worst in 86 years.

For the visitor the islands are the water: Seven Mile Beach, public along its whole length and now nearer five and a half miles; the southern stingrays of the North Sound sandbars; the wall dives of all three islands; and, on land, the blue iguana, endemic to Grand Cayman and down to fewer than fifteen animals in 2003, now bred and released and seen in the botanic park. Cruise ships anchor off George Town from Tuesday to Friday. The Cayman dollar is pegged at 1.20 US, traffic drives on the left with a CI$16 visitor's permit, drugs carry up to 35 years, and 911 answers everything.

Do I need a visa?

Not for tourism or business up to six months on British, Canadian and most other passports; bring a return ticket and proof of funds, and keep the immigration card you are given.

What currency?

The Cayman dollar, pegged at US$1.20, used interchangeably with US dollars; cards work almost everywhere.

Can I drive?

On the left, with a visitor's permit from the rental counter or the police for CI$16, on your home licence.

What are the emergency numbers?

911 for everything.

When is hurricane season?

June to November; the islands are flat and Ivan's surge in 2004 was eight feet. Install the government's alert app.

Is Seven Mile Beach really public?

Yes, along its whole length, whichever hotel stands behind it; it is now nearer five and a half miles.