4 Best Places to Shop in Cayman Islands

On the George Town waterfront, Artifacts sells Spanish pieces of eight, doubloons, and Halcyon Days enamels (hand-painted collectible pillboxes made in England), as well as antique maps and other collectibles.

The store has a collection of the acclaimed underwater shutterbug's spectacular color and limited-edition black-and-white underwater photos as well as the latest marine camera equipment. Cathy will autograph her latest coffee-table book, talk about her globe-trotting adventures, and schedule private underwater photography instruction on her dive boat, with graphics-oriented computers to critique your work. She also does wedding photography, above- and underwater.

About 1½ miles south of George Town, Pure Art purveys wit, warmth, and whimsy from the wildly colored front steps. Its warren of rooms resembles a garage sale run amok or a quirky grandmother's attic spilling over with unexpected finds, from foodstuffs to functional and wearable art.

This gallery more than fulfilled one of the resort's conditions upon securing rights to build, which was to commission local artists and artisans to help decorate the public spaces. The corridor-cum-bridge spanning West Bay Road became a gallery where Chris Christian of Cayman Traditional Arts curates quarterly exhibitions of Cayman's finest (there are also theme shows devoted to photography and local kids' art). Each piece is for sale; CTA or the hotel will mediate the negotiations between artist and buyer at a favorable commission.