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Grand Cayman is the largest of the
three Cayman Islands with Cayman
Brac being the second largest and
Little Cayman being the last.
Relatively small in comparison to
other Caribbean countries, Grand
Cayman is approximately 196
km˛ in size and is hope to the
capital of the Cayman Islands George
Town. Unlike with most other
Caribbean countries such as Jamaica,
the towns in the Cayman Islands is
referred to as districts and not as
parishes. On a Map the country can
be found at 19°20′N 81°13′W
latitude and longitude respectively. The
Cayman Islands largest island Grand
Cayman has a high limestone
reef, with a highest point on the
small Cayman Island being just 60 feet above sea level.
Grand Cayman does not possess natural fresh water
such as rivers,
hence all the fresh water needs of
Grand Cayman must be met
by rain water catchments areas or desalination of
seawater around Grand Cayman. The
Cayman Island has no rivers which
prevent a lot of pollutants
from getting into the sea. Grand
Cayman and the other Cayman Islands
was wrecked by Hurricane Ivan in
September 2004. Hurricane Ivan, was
a Category 5
hurricane that hit
Grand Cayman causing a few deaths,
but destroying 80% of the motor
vehicles and buildings on the island.
However Hurricane Ivan has allowed
the Cayman Islands and Grand Cayman
especi8ally the opportunity to
rebuild infrastructure and change
the outlook of the island
dramatically. This made Grand Cayman
more visitor and tourist friendly.
The eastern side of the Grand Cayman is
considered slightly under developed
unlike the hustle and the bustle of
the western side side of Grand
Cayman which is home to the Capital
of the Cayman Islands, George Town and the
only airport on Grand Cayman the
Owen Roberts International Airport. Fast food
restaurants such as KFC and Burgher
King, Grand Cayman night clubs and
other Cayman resorts
can be found on the western side of
the island. The eastern districts
of Grand Cayman offer secluded and
more native atmosphere, such as the
Grand Cayman Botanical Gardens, a
major tourist attraction. The
eastern side also offers undisturbed
Cayman
diving facilities with the
natural bay and reef offering
extremely wonderful sites. The Grand
Cayman restaurants
on the eastern seaboard offer mostly Caymanian cuisine
which is to the delight of all who
visit the areas.
The Grand Cayman seven mile beach is
a very big Cayman Island attraction
and contributes heavily to the
Cayman islands already booming economy
and actually has facilitated both tourism
and Cayman real estate to grow
contributing to almost 75% of the
Cayman island's
Gross Domestic Product. The
famous Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach,
has adds
many attractions to the Cayman islands.
Grand Cayman and the Cayman Islands are well known for
their Cayman diving and Cayman
snorkeling. Grand Cayman features many
naturally untouched reefs and
sea walls, some accessible shore of
the Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach.
The Grand Cayman district of West Bay
has an excellent
turtle farm. The Grand Cayman turtle farm re-opened in
November 2004 as a larger Grand
Cayman tourist attraction
after being wrecked by Hurricane
Ivan in 2004. Grand Cayman green sea
turtles are raised for turtle meat.
Grand Cayman farmed turtles
are released into the wild and have good survival
rates. The Grand Cayman turtle farm
also has several rare iguanas, the
most common place reptile located on
Grand Cayman. The Grand Cayman West Bay district
has a formation of
limestone Hell. Not much reason is
given to where this name comes from
however there is a lot of Cayman
folklore that lends an idea as to
where this Grand Cayman attraction
got its name. Splendid souvenirs can
be purchased at this Grand Cayman
attraction.
Stingray City is possibly the most fundamental Grand Cayman
attraction. Grand Cayman stingray
city allows Cayman swimmers, Cayman snorkelers,
and Cayman divers to swim and feed
stingrays.
Stingray City, is a short boat
ride from the northern end of Grand
Cayman and usually leaves from
several Grand Cayman hotels, is a series of shallow sand
bars where Grand Cayman sting rays are found in
schools and the tourists and visitors can feed,
touch, pet, and interact with
stingrays.
The stingrays found in Grand Cayman
especially on the southern and
eastern end can grow to
massive sizes almost 2 feet in width
and are accustomed to being
handled and fed by Grand Cayman tour
guide. A trip from a local
Grand Cayman tour operator will includes
snorkeling in coral gardens just off
the coast of Grand Cayman before
boating out to Grand Caymans most
popular attraction Stingray City.
In the southern district of Grand
Cayman, the place called Bodden
Town is home to one of Grand
Cayman's historic sites called Pedro
St. James house. This has been
reputed to be the starting point of
democracy in Grand Cayman and the
Cayman Islands. It is documented to
be the oldest existing
stone structure on Grand Cayman and
in fact in the Cayman islands. In
the centre of Grand Cayman is the
Mastic Trail, a hiking trail through
old growth dry forests that used to
cover the entire island. Plants and
animals native to Grand Cayman, such
as the Mastic Tree, green parrot,
and agoutiare major attractions for
traveling tourists and visitors to
Grand Cayman.
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