Little Cayman

Little Cayman is the smallest and least developed of the three islands: twenty-six square kilometres, about 160 residents, a handful of small resorts and one shop. The road crosses the airstrip, with a sign telling drivers to give way to aircraft. Rock iguanas are everywhere and have right of way in practice as well as in law. The reason most visitors come is underwater: Bloody Bay Wall drops from six metres to well over a thousand within a few metres of the reef crest and is regularly named among the best wall dives on earth. Above water there is Booby Pond, Tarpon Lake and very little else.

History

Christopher Columbus sighted Little Cayman and Cayman Brac on 10 May 1503, on his fourth voyage, and named them Las Tortugas. Turtle fishermen camped here in the 17th century, supplying ships with meat and fresh water, until a Spanish privateer's raid ended the settlements in 1671; families resettled the island in 1833 at Blossom Village, and by the early 20th century about 400 people lived here, exporting phosphate, coconuts and silver thatch rope, until many moved to Cayman Brac after the hurricane of 1932 (Wikipedia, Little Cayman).

What you'll find

• Bloody Bay Wall - the drop-off the island is known for.
• Rock iguanas - outnumbering residents, and with legal right of way.
• The airstrip crossing - a road with a give-way sign for aircraft.
• The emptiness - about 160 people on twenty-six square kilometres.

When to go

November to May is the calmest and driest. Diving is good year-round with the best conditions in the winter. Flights are small and limited; resorts run on packages with fixed change-over days.

Before you go

There is essentially nothing here beyond diving: one shop, a few resort restaurants, no nightlife and limited phone signal in places. Everything is expensive because it is flown in. Flights are small and weather-dependent. Non-divers will run out of things to do within a day.

Nearby

Cayman Brac is fifteen minutes by air; Grand Cayman is 40 minutes.

Key facts