Destination Little Cayman
Thirty or so years ago, Little Cayman was a backwater Caribbean hideaway for a handful of hardy divers and fishermen who didn’t mind roughing it at lodges where electricity meant cranking up the generator. Needless to say, the amenities at the handful of small resorts have been upgraded (air-conditioning and satellite TV do make life a little easier), but the island’s population still barely tops 100, and diving and fishing remain the main attractions.
Little Cayman may be only 10 miles long, but it’s often ranked among the world’s top 10 dive spots. Of the more than 50 dive sites, the best known are scattered along Bloody Bay (a good pirate tribute, eh?), where a shallow reef drops off dramatically into the bluest of blue abysses. Snorkeling is also keen at Sandy Point (a wonderful, secluded beach on the eastern end also known as Point of Sand) and in the marine park that borders the island’s hamlet, Blossom Village, at southern tip.
On the island itself, activities (other than hammock time) are limited mostly to bird-watching at Booby Pond (home to the West Indies’ largest red booby population) and bicycling while keeping an eye out for the 2,000 or so iguanas that roam the flat, mostly scrubby landscape. Grand Cayman, about 80 miles away to the southwest, has all the shopping and after-hours entertainment you could ask for, but if your idea of nightlife is sitting around after dinner talking about dive tables and tying saltwater flies, Little Cayman is probably already on your short list for vacation getaways.
