What You Need to Know about:
Georgetown Grand Cayman

The first thing you need to know about Georgetown Grand Cayman is that it’s officially George Town.

Knowing that can prevent you getting on the wrong flight!! We trekked from one end of Miami International Airport to the other (no small distance as many of you will know) because of that small misunderstanding.

George Town is not only the Capital of Grand Cayman and the Cayman Islands, it’s also the banking, insurance, and tourist centre, which makes it busy on days when a raft of cruise ships comes to call.

Georgetown Grand Cayman, cruise ships waiting to unload their passengers

To see more pictures of cruise ships, visit our cruise ship page.

Georgetown Grand Cayman — The Past

Georgetown Grand Cayman wasn’t the first capital of the Cayman Islands, Boddentown was. Named after the Bodden family who were early settlers, Boddentown was hard to defend from pirates or the Spanish and was frequently attacked. Those days are happily gone but Bodden Town still has its Gun Square and (renovated) Guardhouse to remember them by.

By the early 1900’s the capital had moved to George Town with its better harbor for larger ships. As the town grew, Fort George (built in the 1790’s) was standing in the way of progress and was demolished — only remnants remain of this earliest George Town.

For more pictures of George Town, go to our our George Town Grand Cayman photos page.

George Town – The Present

Because most tourists arrive in George Town from the cruise ships, the town always looked to its waterfront for its daytime excitement; however, nowadays Camana Bay shopping center has taken on a lot of that role.

Still, the Duty Free Shopping Mall and waterfront bars are still busy spots most days of the week in season. If you’re staying at a resort, check the cruise ships’ schedule through your resort and pick another day, like this one in the photo, if you want to meander quietly through the stores.

This is particularly true for those of us who like to peacefully meander through time and place, like the local museum.

And, if you like museums, you’ll probably enjoy the Cayman Islands National Gallery, which is off Esterley Tibbetts highway just outside George Town.

Unusually, perhaps, for a capital city, George Town harbor is still an excellent spot for snorkeling. Our snorkeling page lists a number of places to visit, including some in George Town.

As I said earlier, George Town is the offshore banking center and it’s where you’ll find most of the island’s banks as well. Our banks page will tell you which ones are there and their phone numbers.

And our Cayman jobs page will help you find your place in the George Town sun, if that’s what you’d like to do.

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