Little Cayman
The smallest of the Cayman Islands, about ten miles of reef, mangrove and empty sand, where boobies nest on a protected pond and the dive boats head for Bloody Bay.
- Arrival
- Owen Roberts International, Grand Cayman · GCM
- To the island
- Twin Otter to Edward Bodden Airfield, about 146 km
- Private jets
- Cayman Brac, 15 km away, then a Twin Otter
- Best time
- December to April
The city
A reef island, and a pond full of birds.
Little Cayman is the least developed of the three islands, roughly ten miles long, with a handful of dive lodges and villas and a single airstrip. On the north side the reef of Bloody Bay Marine Park falls away in a sheer wall, at sites with names such as Randy’s Gazebo and Great Wall West. Inland, Booby Pond is a Ramsar wetland where red-footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds are seen every day.
The National Trust holds nearly five hundred acres of the island. Sister Islands rock iguanas, found only here and on Cayman Brac, are protected by law and nest together at Preston Bay, west of the airstrip. Across South Hole Sound, Owen Island, a private, uninhabited cay of about eleven acres, is a short paddle from the shore.
- Bloody Bay Wall The drop-off on the northern reef, inside the Bloody Bay Marine Park, that brings divers to the island.
- Booby Pond Nature Reserve About 43 hectares of protected wetland, watched from the telescopes of the National Trust visitors centre.
- Point of Sand A broad white beach at the eastern tip, with Cayman Brac on the horizon on a clear day and no facilities anywhere near.
Arriving
Two hops, one by Twin Otter.
International flights land on Grand Cayman, about 146 km to the west. The island’s own strip, Edward Bodden Airfield, is so short that the Twin Otter is the only aircraft in the Cayman Airways fleet able to use it.
- Miami 1 h 15
- Panama City 1 h 55
- Los Angeles 5 h 35
- São Paulo 8 h 05 long-range jet
- Vienna 11 h 45 long-range jet
When to go
December to April.
December to April is the dry season, with highs of 29 to 31 °C and under 60 mm of rain a month. Showers come back in May; the heaviest months are September and October, each above 200 mm. The sea never falls below 26 °C.
- 29° J 56 27°
- 29° F 44 26°
- 30° M 32 26°
- 31° A 48 27°
- 31° M 132 28°
- 32° J 184 28°
- 32° J 176 29°
- 32° A 171 29°
- 32° S 208 30°
- 31° O 234 29°
- 30° N 118 28°
- 29° D 57 27°
Elsewhere in Cayman Islands
More reasons to come.
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