Cayman Islands - What to do

Sea Life:

: West Bay's Victoria House Reef, just off Seven Mile Beach, features sea fans, parrotfish and brilliant orange tube sponges. The North Wall off Jackson Point on Little Cayman hosts sting and eagle rays, turtles and masses of coral. Cayman Brac has shallow elkhorn gardens off its southwestern coast and a steep virgin wall where the bluff continues below the eastern shore. For a more interactive diving activity, you can go for a hickey from a ray at Stingray City. The stingrays gather at this North Sound sandbar, where they know they'll get fed (fish food, not snorkelers), and there are lots of operators who will take you out for the half day trip.

Fishing:

Many private operators will happily take you fishing. Though no license is required for deep-sea fishing, regulations require the angler to keep only that which can be consumed (some restaurants will cook your catch for you). Tarpon and bonefish are for sport only - all must be released.

Hiking:

The National Trust has produced self-guided walking tour booklets for George Town and Central West Bay, easing your passage to the past with explanation and anecdote. Most of the islands' hiking trails are flat, but you could try speed-walking the 140ft (45m) bluff at the eastern end of Cayman Brac if you're desperate for a workout. The Botanic Gardens on Grand Cayman have a carefully laid-out educational trail through acres of orchids and flowering fruit trees. Cayman Brac also has great caving, especially in the recesses of the bluff, where, as local legend has it, you might find pirate treasure - or a rusty bottle cap or two.

Bird Watching:

With nearly 200 native winged species, the islands have outstanding birding watching. Cayman Brac has a Parrot Preserve and colonies of boobies and yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Little Cayman is home to the Booby Pond Nature Reserve, where red-footed boobies, herons and egrets are common sights. Meagre Bay Pond, on the southern coast of Grand Cayman, features grebes, plovers, shovelers and snowy egrets.