Cayman Brac and Little Cayman
The two smaller islands of the Cayman Islands – Little Cayman and Cayman Brac – have distinct tourism niches in the Cayman Islands market.
Cayman Brac appeals to dive-mongers and Little Cayman is known for utter solitude. Both have well-developed tourist services including diving, wedding packages, air flights, a range of accommodation styles and a range of restaurants.
Cayman Brac also has the magnificent Bluff which has quietly attracted climbing aficionados for many years, while Little Cayman likes to boast about its bird life and the largest Red-footed Booby nursery in the western hemisphere. Both also take more of a beating when the economy drops. Grand Cayman’s more robust infrastructure and reputation have helped it squeeze through the last two years of declining tourist numbers. The ‘sister islands’, however, are at a slight disadvantage when visitors start pinching pennies because they tend not to attract the free-spending rank of tourists that favour Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. The sister islands also do not have any direct flights from the US – all landings on these small islands must come through Grand Cayman, which means a slightly increased air fare. Cayman’s Premier was recently in the Brac to promote tourism awareness. He announced that redevelopment of the Divi Tiara hotel (which was destroyed by Hurricane Paloma in 2008), improvements to the Cayman Brac airport, construction of a new port and marina on the Brac, and research into ways to minimize the devastating effects of encroaching Lionfish are all under consideration. We hope soon come. Because our tiny sister islands are really and truly lovely and deserve proper development so that tourists can discover what many residents already know – Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are wonderful places to spend some time.