10 Best Attractions in Grand Cayman

One of the most famous attractions in Grand Cayman, Stingray City is an absolute 'must-do' for any visitor to Cayman and is often described as the experience of a lifetime. Stingray City is home to approximately 105 Southern Stingrays. These wild, gentle and graceful creatures roam free in the North Sound, a 35 square mile area of ocean protected by the reef. Even the most seasoned traveller will be enchanted by these beautiful animals.

Cayman Crystal Caves is situated in the lush tropical forest of beautiful North Side. Book a guided tour and get ready to embark upon an underground adventure into a fascinating world. You’ll experience some of the best nature Cayman has to offer.

All visitors will be escorted through the caves by a knowledgeable tour guide, discovering the beauty of 'Cayman Down Under' and listening to stories and facts about Cayman’s oldest landmark. Within the caves, visitors can spy spectacular stalactite and stalagmite crystal structures formed by nothing more than single drops of water and the slow passage of time.

Guests will also have the opportunity to tour the surrounding tropical forest, which is home to a variety of tropical plants and animal life, including magnificent strangler balsam trees, air plants and parrots. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for bats inside the caves, too!

Cayman Turtle Centre: Island Wildlife Encounter is a first-of-its-kind attraction and conservation organisation that boosts endangered green sea turtle populations. Along with learning about these majestic creatures, guests can swim and snorkel with turtles, zip down a 40-foot-tall waterslide, explore a nature trail, free-flight bird aviary or Butterfly Garden, and more.

Built in 1780 by a wealthy Englishman named William Eden, and at a time when Grand Cayman was little more than a fishing village, the history of Pedro’s Castle is by far one of the more impressive stories to be told in the Cayman Islands. The Castle is often termed the 'The Birthplace of Democracy in the Cayman Islands'. It was the venue for not only the decision in 1931 to form the Cayman Island’s first elected parliament but also the announcement in 1835 that slavery had ended in the British Empire.

Opened by Queen Elizabeth II herself in 1994, in partnership with the National Trust, this is Cayman’s only botanical garden. The 65-acre park is dedicated to preserving local flora, fauna and wildlife. It is home to the Blue Iguana Recovery programme, and is the only place in Grand Cayman where you will find these magnificent endangered creatures.

The Island’s oldest surviving public structure. The Museum’s mission is to celebrate the unique natural and cultural history of the Cayman Islands. New exhibitions for 2024 included: Mrs Leila Ross-Shier, From the Collection and other changing exhibitions.

The Cayman Parrot Sanctuary offers a friendly, interactive and educational experience for the whole family. The Sanctuary is home to a number of animals including the Cayman Parrot, the national bird of the Cayman Islands. There are also agoutis, rabbits, guinea pigs, cockatiels and various reptiles. Families can enjoy feeding the frigate birds that swoop down from the coast. Children can run wild in the two playgrounds, relax in plenty of shaded areas and experience the thrill of zip lining!

Established in 1996, the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) is a vibrant arts organisation. The 9,000sq ft gallery is home to a growing permanent collection of significant Caymanian works of art and hosts eight major exhibitions annually.

Sitting at a depth of 62ft in clear Caribbean waters, the Kittiwake is a former submarine rescue vessel that served in the US Navy. In 2011, she was scuttled off Seven Mile Beach to create a spectacular wreck dive that now attracts around 20,000 divers and snorkellers a year, plus abundance of marine life, including schools of tropical fish, sea turtles, eagle rays, the resident barracuda, groupers and more! Also discover the crew’s quarters, the recompression chamber, ammunition lockers and even the heads (bathrooms) – complete with mirrors.

The Mastic Reserve protects the large area of untouched, old growth dry forest remaining on the island. It is significant as it represents some of the last remaining examples of the Caribbean's dry, subtropical, semi deciduous dry forest, which have been the target of particularly intense deforestation throughout the West Indies. This area is home to a wide variety of animals and plants unique to the Cayman Islands, and also to large populations of trees which have vanished from more accessible places through logging in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The National Trust runs informative and interesting guided tours so can you learn more about the historical significance of this area.