Cayman Islands Travel Guide & Location Information

The Cayman Islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the western Caribbean Sea comprising the islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. It is known as one of the largest tax havens in the world.

The Cayman Islands - often referred to as The Caymans, or (more correctly) just Cayman - were first sighted by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 during his disastrous fourth and final voyage to the New World. The first recorded English visitor to the islands was Sir Francis Drake, who landed there in 1586 and named them the Cayman Islands after the Neo-Taíno nations term (caiman) for crocodile (Zayas, 1914).

The first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1700. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was likely one of Oliver Cromwell's soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655.

The islands, along with nearby Jamaica, were ceded to England in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid. They were governed as a single colony with Jamaica until 1962 when they became a separate British overseas territory and Jamaica became an independent commonwealth realm.

The island of Grand Cayman was severely damaged by the Category Five Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, which destroyed many buildings and damaged 70% of them. Power, water and communications were all disrupted. Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. The island has made rapid recovery since Ivan, with most of the infrastructure now restored.

The Cayman Islands are located in the western Caribbean sea. The three islands are situated about 480 miles (770 km) south of Miami, 150 miles (240 km) south of Cuba, and 180 miles (290 km) northwest of Jamaica. Grand Cayman is by far the largest, with an area of 76 square miles (197 km²). The two "Sister Islands" of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are located about 90 miles (145 km) east of Grand Cayman and have areas of 14 square miles (36 km²) and 10 square miles (25.9 km²) respectively. All three islands were formed by large coral heads covering submerged ice age peaks of western extensions of the Cuban Sierra Maestra range and are mostly flat. One notable exception to this is The Bluff on Cayman Brac, which rises to 140 feet (42.6 m) above sea level, the highest point on the island.

Cayman avian fauna includes two endemic subspecies of Amazona parrots: Amazona leucocephala hesterna, or Cayman Brac Parrot, native only to Cayman Brac, and Amazona leucocephala caymanensis or Grand Cayman Parrot, which is native only to Grand Cayman. Another notable fauna is the endangered Blue Iguana, which is native to Grand Cayman.

The Cayman Islands are administratively divided into 7 districts. They include:\

1. Bodden Town
2. Cayman Brac
3. East End
4. George Town
5. Little Cayman
6. North Side
7. West Bay

The latest population estimate of the Cayman Islands is 57,800 as of April 2006, representing a mix of more than 100 nationalities. Out of that number, about half are of Caymanian descent. About 60% of the population is of mixed race. Of the remaining 40%, about half are Caucasian and half are of African descent. The islands are almost exclusively Christian, with large number of Presbyterians and Anglicans. Caymanians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the West Indies. The vast majority of the population resides on Grand Cayman. Cayman Brac is the second most populated with about 2,000 residents, followed by Little Cayman with around 200 permanent residents.

The capital and major city of the Cayman Islands is George Town, which is located on the south west coast of Grand Cayman.

The economy of the Cayman Islands used to be built around turtling. However, this industry began to disappear in the 20th century and tourism and financial services began to become the economic mainstays during the 1970s. The United States of America is the Cayman Islands' largest trading partner.

With an average income of around $35,000, Caymanians enjoy the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. The islands print their own currency, the Cayman Islands Dollar (KYD), which is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate of 1 KYD = 1.227 USD. Thus, the C.I. Dollar's rate of exchange with all other world countries is directly tied to the U.S. Dollar's rate of exchange with those same countries.

The government's primary source of income is indirect taxation. An import duty of 20% is levied against goods imported into the islands. Few goods are exempt; notable examples include books, cameras & baby formula. Duty on automobiles is charged on a sliding scale with the duty reaching 40% for expensive models. The government charges a flat licensing fee to financial institutions that operate in the islands. A small fee is also charged to each tourist that arrives on the islands.

Tourism accounts for 70-75% of the annual GDP of the Cayman Islands and is hence a major part of the economy. Of the millions of tourists that visit the islands annually, 99% stay on Grand Cayman. George Town also serves as a major cruise ship port, which brings in 4,000 -22,000 tourists a day, 5 days a week, depending on the number of ships in port.

Grand Cayman's major tourist attraction is the world-famous Seven Mile Beach on which most of the island's hotels and resorts are located. SMB is regarded by many as one of the best beaches in the world.

The Cayman Islands are also world famous as a Scuba Diving destination because of their crystal-clear waters and their proximity to the Cayman Wall. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are also considered to be elite dive destinations. There are several snorkeling locations where tourists can swim with stingrays.

Other tourist attractions include the black limestone spires of Hell, a turtle farm, and the Mastic Trail, a hiking trail through the dry forests in the centre of the island.

The foreign relations of the Cayman Islands are largely managed from the United Kingdom, as the islands remain an overseas territory of the UK. However, the Government of the Cayman Islands often resolves important issues with foreign governments alone, without intervention from Britain. Although in its early days, the Cayman Islands' most important relationships were with Britain and Jamaica, in recent years, this has shifted, and they now rely more so on the United States.

Though the Cayman Islands are involved in no major international disputes, they have come under some criticism due to the use of their territory for narcotics trafficking and money laundering. In an attempt to address this, the Government entered into the Narcotics Agreement of 1984 and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty of 1986 with the United States, in order to reduce the use of their facilities associated with these activities. In more recent years, they have stepped up the fight against money laundering, by limiting banking secrecy, introducing requirements for customer identification and record keeping, and requiring banks to cooperate with foreign investigators.

Due to their status as an overseas territory of the UK, the Cayman Islands have no representation either on the United Nations, or in most other international organizations. However, the Cayman Islands still participates in some international organisations, being a full member of the Central Development Bank and International Olympic Committee, an associate member of Caricom and UNESCO, and a member of a sub-bureau of Interpol.