An enviably high standard of living, tax-free status and hundreds of offshore banks and financial institutions per square mile, the Cayman Islands remain a trio of lovely, unspoiled islands basking peacefully in the Caribbean sun.
» Cayman Islands General Information
Area: 45sq km (Grand Cayman)
Capital: George Town
Currency: Cayman dollar (KYD)
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor
New Year's Day (Jan 1); Easter Holidays (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Monday); Queen's Birthday (Second Monday in April); Discovery Day (May 18) Constitution Day (July 6); Remembrance Day (Nov 9); Christmas Day (Dec 25); Boxing Day (Dec 26).
› Visas
US and Canadian citizens don't need visas or passports, only proof of citizenship. Citizens of the EU, the UK or the Commonwealth, Israel and Japan need passports but not visas. Travellers from elsewhere may need visas as well as passports.
» Cayman Islands History
The Cayman Islands - often referred to as The Caymans, or (more correctly) just Cayman - were first visited by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 during his 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. The Caymans 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 most 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.
Situated along the calm, tourquoise waters of the western Caribbean in Grand Cayman, Service Apartments The Reef is the most in-demand resort in the Cayman Islands.
Ideally located a few metres from the renowned Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman Island, Sunshine Suites Resort is a friendly and affordable hotel offering luxury and fully equipped studios and one-bedroom suites.
