Why on earth would you go to the trouble (and expense) to go to Little Cayman, the smallest and most difficult to get to of all the Cayman Islands?After traveling all that distance, this road doesn’t look like anything too spectacular. Given that the population of Little Cayman is only 200 people, the roads are completely empty. We saw maybe 2 other cars on the road during our entire visit. Hopefully the roads improve!Narrator voice “They didn’t”. The road goes from patchy to a rough off road trail. Fortunately for us, I have secured the best off-roading vehicle you can drive, any rental car.The trusty rental car eventually gets us to this sign. How can you argue with an official looking sign like this, better park the car!Alright, things are looking up now. Possibly worth the trip.There we go, that is more like it! Notice the number of people in this picture. If you want a secluded Caribbean paradise all for yourself, Little Cayman is the place for you.If you are the type of person that prefers a crowd, we did find this beach called Point of Sand which was packed full of people; there were 3 others there! As I mentioned, only 200 people call Little Cayman home (of those 200 people, only 20 are Caymanians) so the beaches are empty and yours to enjoy. More iguanas call Little Cayman home than people. And since the 2000 iguanas outnumber the 200 people on the island it only makes sense that the iguanas get to make the rules. In Little Cayman, it is the law that Iguanas have the right of way over both people and cars. If you see an Iguana, you have to stop and let it pass before carrying on with your busy day.So here we are, waiting for this guy to cross the road, he was in no rush at all, island time. Although the Iguanas are the largest land animal on the island and have no natural predators, their future is uncertain as dozens are killed each year by cars and house cats & dogs.Although land is insanely expensive on this tiny 2km wide island, the Cayman Trust collects donations and buys land to preserve. There are numerous walking trails on the island that lead to the ocean thanks to the trust. This particular walkway leads to Preston Bay which is protected for turtle nesting and iguana breeding (not with each other, I assume).This is Preston Bay, which is protected for turtle nesting. Turtles will travel hundreds of miles back to the same beach where they hatched in order to lay eggs. When hotels and resorts pop up on those beaches it can be a problem. The Cayman trust is working to protect these nesting beaches. First discovered by accident in 1503 by when Christopher Columbus was blown off course, Little Cayman has seen little development and has been mostly left in a natural state. So what exactly does the island have (besides pristine deserted beaches)?
Well, there is one grocery store (or what we would call a convenience store in Canada) and two restaurants. There is a one room School (that I’m told is empty most of the time), two churches and a museum (that is only open when a local volunteer feels like opening it). Most drinking water is rain water collected off roofs or imported bottled water.
There are also five firemen with one truck, pictured here. Two police officers and one nurse but no doctors or dentists. Oh and most importantly, one liquor store. Also in this picture is the entire airport terminal, the folding chairs out front are where you wait for your flight, unless you have access to the premium lounge, more on that later.
Being a natural island, there are mosquitoes, but they provide free repellent right at the airport.
Little Cayman is also home to a Marine Study Institute. Due to the lack of development and pollution that comes with that, the water around Little Cayman is perfect for studying marine life in its natural state. Not surprisingly, Little Cayman is also home to some of the best rated scuba diving in the world. The famous Bloody Bay wall attracts divers from around the globe.This is what a traffic jam looks like on Little Cayman. Two Cayman Airways twin otter aircraft (the entire fleet) and road traffic. Yes, the local road goes across the airport with no gates etc… What do you do when you experience total gridlock at the Little Cayman airport?Just drive that plane across the grass of course. Where we are going, we don’t need no roads!The highest point on the entire island is a solid 40 feet above sea level. So…… Summit Selfie!One more deserted beach picture and its time to leave.When we arrived at the busy airport to check in for our flight, the Cayman Airways rep suggests we just go over to the bar near the airport while we wait. “I’ll call the bar when your flight is ready to go” My kind of airport!Not a bad place to have to wait for a flight!What I call the premium lounge at the airport.The runway is so small there is a little loop at the end for the plane to turn around before taking off.Till next time Little Cayman!
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