5 Best Sights in Cayman Islands

Famous for its postcard-perfect views, Barefoot Beach is one of East End's best beaches, offering soft white sand, crystal-clear shallow waters, and a shady cabana. It's a favorite spot for locals and tourists, who come on Sunday to watch the fishing boats out at sea. Amenities: parking (no fee). Best for: snorkeling; solitude; walking.

When the easterly trade winds blow hard, crashing waves force water into caverns and send impressive geysers shooting up as much as 20 feet through the ironshore. The blowholes were partially filled during Hurricane Ivan in 2004, so the water must be rough to recapture their former elemental drama.

Just drive along and look for any sandy beach, park your car, and enjoy a stroll. The vanilla-hue stretch at Colliers Bay, by the Wyndham Reef and Morritt's resorts (which offer water sports), is a good, clean one with superior snorkeling. Amenities: food and drink; water sports. Best for: snorkeling; solitude; sunrise; walking.

This significant trail, used in the 1800s as the only direct path to North Side, is a rugged 2-mile slash through 776 dense acres of woodlands, black mangrove swamps, savanna, agricultural remnants, and ancient rock formations. It encompasses more than 700 species of flora and fauna, including Cayman's largest remaining contiguous ancient forest of mastic trees (one of the heavily deforested Caribbean's last examples). A comfortable walk depends on weather—winter is better because it's drier, though flowering plants such as the banana orchid blaze in summer. Call the National Trust to determine suitability and to book a guide (C$65.50); 3½-hour tours run Tuesday through Friday morning by appointment. Or walk on the wild side with a C$5 guidebook covering the ecosystems, endemic wildlife, seasonal changes, poisonous plants, and folkloric uses of flora. The trip takes about three hours.

This lonely, lovely park on Grand Cayman's windswept eastern tip commemorates the island's most (in)famous shipwreck. On February 8, 1794, the Cordelia, heading a convoy of 58 square-rigged merchant vessels en route from Jamaica to England, foundered on one of the treacherous East End reefs. Its warning cannon fire was tragically misconstrued as a call to band more closely together due to imminent pirate attack, and nine more ships ran aground. Local sailors, who knew the rough seas, demonstrated great bravery in rescuing all 400-odd seamen. Popular legend claims (romantically but inaccurately) that King George III granted the islands an eternal tax exemption. Queen Elizabeth II dedicated the park's plaque in 1994. Interpretive signs document the historic details. The ironically peaceful headland provides magnificent views of the reef (including more recent shipwrecks); bird-watching is superb from here half a mile south along the coast to the Lighthouse Park, perched on a craggy bluff.