Tour Options in Cayman Islands

Taxi drivers will give you a personalized tour of Grand Cayman for about $25 per hour for up to three people. Or you can choose a fascinating helicopter ride, a horseback or mountain-bike journey, a 4x4 safari expedition, or a full-day bus excursion. Ask your hotel to help you make arrangements.

Costs and itineraries for island tours are about the same regardless of the tour operator. Half-day tours average $40 to $50 a person and generally include a visit to Hell and the Turtle Farm at Boatswain's Beach aquatic park in West Bay, as well as shopping downtown. Full-day tours ($60 to $80 per person) add lunch, a visit to Bodden Town (the first settlement), and the East End, where you stop at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, blowholes (if the waves are high) on the ironshore, and the site of the wreck of the Ten Sails (not the wreck itself—just the site). The pirate graves in Bodden Town were destroyed during Hurricane Ivan in 2008, and the blowholes were partially filled. As you can tell, land tours here are low-key. Children under 12 often receive discounts.

A. A. Transportation Services offers taxis and tour buses—ask for Burton Ebanks. B. A. McCurley, owner of McCurley Tours, is a free-spirited freewheeling Midwesterner who's lived in Cayman for 24 years and knows everything and everyone on the East End. Not only is she encyclopedic and flexible, she also offers car rentals and transfers for travelers staying on the East End; don't be surprised if she tells you what to order at lunch, especially if it's off the menu. Majestic Tours caters mostly to cruise-ship and incentive groups but also offers similar options to individuals and can customize tours; it's particularly good for West Bay, including Boatswain's Beach and Hell. Native Safari hits the usual sights but emphasize interaction with locals, so you learn about craft traditions, folklore, and herbal medicines. Tropicana Tours offers several excellent Cayman highlights itineraries on its larger buses, including Stingray City stops, as well as reef runner adventures across the North Sound through the mangrove swamps.

Your hotel or villa agent can recommend and organize drivers for tours of the Sister Islands.

Information

A. A. Transportation Services (Grand Cayman. 345/949-7222). Majestic Tours (Grand Cayman. 345/949-7773. www.majestic-tours.com). McCurley Tours (Grand Cayman. 345/949-7222). Native Safari (Grand Cayman. 345/324-4778). Tropicana Tours (Grand Cayman. 345/949-0944. www.tropicana-tours.com).