The Cayman Islands are an archipelago in the Caribbean and an overseas
territory of the United Kingdom. It consists of the three islands of
Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac and is located about 240 km
south of Cuba and 268 km northwest of Jamaica. The highest elevation is
43 m and is located 1 km southwest of The Bluff on Cayman Brac.
The archipelago is known as a paradise for tax evaders, divers and, more
recently, an increasing number of North American health tourists who can
get cheaper treatment here. In all three situations, it helps to bring
enough money with you; the Caribbean islands are not a cheap
destination. Over eighty percent of visitors are Americans or Canadians.
The archipelago got its current name from the American crocodiles
found there, which were called “cayman” in the Caribbean language.
The three Cayman Islands are located about 290 km northwest of
Jamaica on a submarine ridge that stretches from the Sierra Maestra in
Cuba to Belize. Coral limestone, sand and marl form the flat coastal
zone lined with reefs. The deepest point in the West Indian Sea lies
between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The "Cayman Trough" is about
6500 m deep, the "Bartlett Deep", south of the island group, reaches a
depth of about 5500 m.
Because of this porous subsoil, there is
not a single river on the island group. Over 320 ships have been
stranded in the offshore reefs.
The main island of Grand Cayman
is 45 km long and 11 km wide. The tourist center today is Seven Mile Bay
with its wonderful sandy beach. Hotel after hotel is lined up, the swamp
and mangrove areas on the North Sound have been drained, and golf
courses and boat moorings have been created here.
The cities are located on Grand Cayman
West Bay
. The residential area behind the tourist beach of Seven Mile Beach.
1 Seven Mile Beach . is a long crescent-shaped coral sand beach at
the western end of the island. Seven Mile Beach is known for its beauty
and has already been named the "best beach in the Caribbean". Since it
is public property, you can walk the entire length of the beach. Most of
the island's luxury resorts and hotels are located here. There are some
small reefs just off the coast that offer good snorkeling opportunities.
2 George Town . The city is the center of banking in the Cayman
Islands. Most international banks, including the largest German ones,
have branches here that are not officially dedicated to tax evasion or
money laundering. On the western edge of the city center there is a
small seaport where many cruise ships anchor.
3 Prospect
4
Pedro
5 Bodden Town
6 Rum Point
7 East End
They are also called the “Sister Islands”:
1 Cayman
Brac
2 Little Cayman
The three islands have been a British crown colony
since 1670, officially it is called the United Kingdom Overseas
Territory. The British monarch appoints the governor. The islands were
co-administered from there until Jamaica's independence in 1965.
The island administration with all departments can be found in the
so-called Glass House on Elgin Avenue in George Town. Grand Cayman is
divided into the five administrative districts of West Bay / Seven Mile
Beach, George Town, Bodden Town / South Sound, North Side / Cayman Kai
and East End.tional Team, Team Cayman and United Democratic Party.
Overnight stays are subject to a gross government tax (TAT or TST) of 13% per room and a service charge of 10%. Restaurant prices often include a service charge of 15%, which does not have to be paid separately.
As the island group is flat, consists of limestone and
does not have a significant layer of humus, there is only a limited
flora, mainly bushland, agaves and cacti. People have planted palm trees
everywhere in the tourist areas and in the home gardens you can find
many flowering bushes such as bougainvillea, hibiscus and oleander. Tall
trees are rare, flamboyant, mango, poinciana.
The number of land
animals is also small. On the island of Cayman Brac there is a 72
hectare nature reserve, where 38 different tree species have been
counted. The last emerald green Brac parrots live here. According to the
last count there are still 400 animals. On the neighboring island of
Little Cayman you can watch West Indian wigeons, herons, 100 pairs of
frigate birds and 3,500 pairs of red-footed boobies (sea ravens)
breeding. If you're lucky, you'll also see the rare iguanas, prehistoric
lizards that can grow up to 120 cm.
The underwater world is
abundant due to the islands' isolated location. Grand Cayman is home to
the largest breeding station for sea turtles. In the protected diving
areas, you can race against rays.
Entry requirements
All European citizens, except those from non-EU
former Yugoslav states, Albanians and Turks, can enter the country
without a visa for six months.
A passport valid for six months
and a return or onward flight ticket are required upon entry. Tourists
receive a pink entry receipt, which must be kept until departure and
then handed in. Extensions of stay must be applied for at the
immigration authorities, and financial independence must then be proven.
Long-term stays
Since 2020, “digital nomads” have been courted,
as young, up-and-coming dynamic people, especially in the IT industry,
who want to avoid taxes as part of the Cayman Islands' Global Citizens
Concierge Program. Single people must prove that they have an annual
income of US$ 100,000, and more for families. You can then stay for up
to two years. The program is initially limited to October 2022.
Customs
If you send unaccompanied luggage separately, you must
declare it separately with a precise list of the contents on a
“Declaration for Unaccompanied Baggage”. New goods are prohibited. The
penalty duty is 300%.
Free quantities
Over 18 years of age:
200 cigarettes; over that, Cay$42 per carton.
1 liter of liquor or 4
liters of wine or 8 liters of beer; over that, depending on alcohol
content, Cay$1.95-11.55/liter
Gifts over Cay$500 or new goods from
returnees are taxed at 22%
If you want to bring a pet, you need to
apply for a permit from the Department of Agriculture for Cay$50 in
advance.
By plane
Cayman Airways flies between the individual
islands and several cities in the USA and Central America.
From
Central Europe, you will have to change planes in London and Nassau or
on the American east coast. The flight time in the first case is 16
hours, with American airlines it is 28-30 hours. Also note the
requirement of a “visa waiver” and ESTA if necessary for transit through
the USA. Such direct flights cost €2500–3200 return in spring 2023. It
is significantly cheaper if you book a cheap flight from Europe to Miami
and then on with Cayman Air separately.
A departure tax of $25 is
included in the ticket price.
1 Owen Roberts International
Airport (IATA: GCM) . on the island of Grand Cayman (GCM). Expanded by
2019. Flight operations 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., closing time 9 p.m. There is a
tourist information office in the terminal.
2 Edward Bodden
Little Cayman Airfield (IATA: LYB) . on the island of Little Cayman
(LYB).
3 Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (IATA: CYB) .
on the island of Cayman Brac (CYB).
By ship
The cruise lines
Celebrity Cruises and Costa and MSC Line regularly call at George Town.
Here you are disembarked by barge, as the construction of a terminal
planned for 2020 has been delayed indefinitely.
There are no
ferries between the three islands.
Sailing yachts
Sports
sailors have to complete the paperwork either in the port of Cayman Brac
(during the day) or in George Town (24 hours, channels 14 and 16). No
one is allowed to leave the ship before being checked by “Mosquito
Control”. A thorough examination for weapons and drugs (with a dog) is
usual. Initially 30 days are granted, extendable to 180. After that,
customs duties are due on the boat.
The Public Transport Unit provides local public transport. There are
three minibus routes on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. They usually run
every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday
nights until at least 11 p.m. On Sundays and public holidays, services
are very limited. On Grand Cayman, all lines run via the bus depot, 68
Edward Street in George Town. Buses stop on hand signals. Trips cost
Cay$2, and a maximum of Cay$5 for longer journeys.
To prevent
drunk driving, the free Purple Ribbon Bus runs between bars in and
around George Town on certain public holidays, e.g. New Year's Eve, from
9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Taxi
Taxi drivers must be licensed. You order
by phone. There are no taximeters, but there is a price list for
important routes.
Rental cars
There are several car rental
companies at the airport. Unlimited mileage is common.
Attention:
driving on the left! Turning on a red light is permitted if the vehicle
has come to a complete stop. Speed limits are posted at 25-50 mph. On
country roads, 30 mph is the norm. The blood alcohol level must not
exceed 0.7‰. Anyone who is drunk in the driver's seat of a stationary
car will also be penalized. Be careful with school buses: as soon as
they flash, you must not drive past them to let children get on and off.
There are speed limits of 15 mph around schools. Using a mobile phone
while driving (this includes waiting at a red light) costs Cay$ 150.
Tourists can drive for up to six months with their national driver's
license; the "visitor's permit" has been abolished.
There are
177km of roads. Minimum age for renting a car: 21 years, for motorcycles
and scooters: 17 years. Some car rental companies do not insure drivers
under 25 years. Motorcyclists and scooter riders are required to wear
helmets. Scooters are not allowed to drive faster than 25 mph.
When parking, you have to be careful not to accidentally park in a
private parking zone. The security services will remove the clamps for
$200.
The official language is English, but it has a strong accent that
goes back to Welsh and Scottish ancestors. There is also a strong
Jamaican dialect and in some regions there are also Spanish influences
from the island of Cuba.
In everyday life people are still
provincially polite.
Barker's National Park
Booby Cay. Booby Cay is located in the
North Sound, the bird sanctuary island has an area of 78 km².
Cayman Island Marine Park. Protected areas where anchoring is
prohibited. The reefs may not be entered. Touching, sitting or standing
on them and breaking off coral is prohibited. Spearfishing is
prohibited. Divers must carry flag buoys. There is a closed season for
catching lobsters from February 1st to July 31st, during which catching
is prohibited.
1 Mastic Trail. A nature trail between the south and
north coasts. The "mastic" is one of the island's native trees. The
nature trail is three kilometers long, and there are guided tours that
last two hours. The Mastic Trail is a path that is over 200 years old
and on which the islanders drove their cattle from the north side to the
south coast.
2 Queen Elizabeth II. Botanic Park. Tel.: 947-9462, Fax:
947-7873. In this 17-hectare botanical garden, established between 1990
and 1994, you can observe iguanas, the endangered Cayman parrot,
woodpeckers and lizards. The park is divided into several themed areas,
which can be reached via a circular path. There is a forest hiking
trail, a historical garden and a flower garden in a 6-hectare tree
protection area. The artificial lake is populated by various ducks and
herons. Near the entrance there is a car park, the visitor center, a
souvenir shop, café and public telephones. Open: daily 9 a.m. - 6.30
p.m.
3 Salina Reserve. The Salina Reserve is the largest protected
area in the northeast of the island at 249 hectares. Most of it is
swampy, with limestone cliffs in various places. In the caves there you
can find three different species of bats. Parrots also nest there. The
blue iguana, a species of lizard, has also spread there.
The
Blowholes (Blow Holes)
Gambling is prohibited in the Cayman Islands! There is no bingo,
betting shops or slot machines.
There are three golf courses on
Grand Cayman.
The Marine Conservation Act, which came into force in 1996, prohibits spearfishing and harpoons. The archipelago has the toughest laws in the world. Violations of the law are punishable by a minimum fine of 500,000 CI dollars. 234 permanent mooring buoys for recreational boats have been installed in the coastal protection areas. 136 are in the waters of Grand Cayman, 41 off Cayman Brac and 57 off Little Cayman.
There are 24 designated diving areas around Grand Cayman, seven off
the reefs of the North Sound, one on the east coast, five on the south
coast and eleven off Seven Mile Beach and George Town. An absolute must
for all divers is “Stingray City”, the Eldorado of manta rays.
Little Cayman has the most impressive diving grounds.
The only
decompression chamber is in the hospital in Grand Cayman.
For reasons of species protection, you should avoid the souvenirs
made of tortoise shell or black coral that were once very popular and
are still occasionally offered. European customs no longer allow such
things.
There are no value added or consumption taxes, but the
islands are still not cheap. The price level is higher than that of
medium-sized cities in the USA.
The local currency, the Cayman Island dollar, is officially fixed at
81 US¢ with a small fluctuation range. In everyday life, the ratio is
80US¢ = 1Cy$ or 1.20Cay$ = 1US$. The Yankee dollar is also legal tender
in the country, and practically all tourist services are priced in US$.
Banks are open on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Other shops
on weekdays 9:00/10:00-17:00, on Sundays only souvenir shops in hotels
or when cruise ships dock.
There are no foreign exchange restrictions, the islands are a free trade zone. The Cayman Islands are one of the largest financial and insurance centers in the world. Over 18,000 companies are registered on the island, including 627 banks and 497 insurance companies. Of the banks, only a small number are "Class A", which means they also offer counter service.
The Cayman National Bank and other banks have 24-hour ATMs where you can withdraw money with VisaCard and MasterCard.
The usual Caribbean food is served, embellished in the tourism
industry and adapted to American tastes.
Rundown is a slowly
simmered soup with coconut milk and various vegetables.
Seafood
and fish are available everywhere, often as fish and fritters. The most
popular dish is stockfish, which is mixed with onions and flour into a
thin batter and then fried. Conch stew season is November to April.
These snail shells are then also offered prepared in other ways. Lobster
season is November to February. Unfortunately, it is baked with all
sorts of things in the local method.
Cayman-style beef, which is
a mixture of different parts of beef, marinated and shredded and cooked
for a long time, is a traditional Christmas meal.
Pepper jelly, a
seasoning sauce made from chili peppers, is sold for $20 a jar as a
typical island dish, especially to tourists.
Alcoholic beverages
are about twice as expensive as in the USA. Shops do not sell on
Sundays. The local firewater is produced by the Tortuga Rum Company,
which also sells rum-flavored cakes.
On Sundays, live music is prohibited in establishments with a liquor
license.
If you go to a reasonably decent restaurant in the
evening, you will be expected to wear long trousers and a shirt collar.
In some cases, you won't get through the door without a jacket.
Reservations are welcome in such establishments.
Primarily upper middle class or better in the American style as a
resort. Here the business is concentrated on Seven Mile Beach.
Those interested in diving are most likely to find private accommodation
in the Eastern Districts.
Camping is generally prohibited, there
are no campsites.
January 1st - New Year's Day
January 26th - National Heroes Day
Ash Wednesday
Good Friday - April 18th, 2025
Easter Monday - April
21st, 2025
3rd Monday in May - Discovery Day
3rd Saturday in June
- King's Birthday
1st Monday in July - Constitution Day
2nd Monday
in November - Remembrance Day
December 25th - Christmas
December
26th - Boxing Day
Emergency number: 911
Thanks to strict gun laws, there are
significantly fewer robberies on the Cayman Islands than elsewhere in
the Anglophone Caribbean or North America.
Possession and consumption of drugs are prohibited. Anyone in possession of them or attempting to import them will be sentenced to heavy fines, imprisoned and deported. There has been close cooperation with the American anti-drug authority for over ten years.
In the Cayman Islands there is a relatively new and well-equipped
hospital in the capital George Town with a 24-hour emergency room and
the smaller Faith Hospital in Cayman Brac.
The Cayman Islands
Health Services Authority runs state-run polyclinics.
Travel
health insurance is a good idea. Doctors base their prices on American
prices: in 2022, a simple visit to the doctor or dentist costs $150, a
day in the hospital costs $500-700.
There are earthquakes, but
they are not strong. Mosquito repellent is needed from April in summer.
The fish poisoning ciguatera occurs, which is why barracuda is not
usually eaten. This should be taken into account when catching it
yourself.
In everyday life, imperial units of measurement are used: gallons, ounces, miles, etc.
The power supply runs on 120 volts at 60 hertz. These include American type A or B sockets.
Post offices are usually open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday until 12:30 p.m. The postal administration (post office finder) issues its own stamps. Billing is per half ounce of letter weight. Home delivery is not available. EMS and DHL offer courier services.
International dialing code for the Cayman Islands: 001 345-
Telephone numbers that begin with "916" belong to mobile phones.
Mobile operators are FLOW (formerly Cable & Wireless) and MyDigicel,
both of which offer prepaid cards. 4G/LTE coverage is good in 2023.
MyDigicel is a bit cheaper.
As a roaming customer of Deutsche
Telekom, you pay €2.99/min. At Vodafone you are in the expensive group
"World 2." (as of April 2023)
The German representation in Kingston, Jamaica is responsible for
consular matters.
Austrian Honorary Consulate, Pasadora Place, Smith
Road, George Town. General emergency number (Ministry of Foreign
Affairs) +43 1 90115-4411.
Swiss Honorary Consulate, 45 Market
Street, Camana Bay. The superior office is the Consulate General in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Christopher Columbus discovered the archipelago during his fourth
voyage of discovery on May 10, 1503, after his ships had drifted off
course. Because of the many turtles he found there, he named the
archipelago "Las Tortugas". The Portuguese cartographer in the service
of Spain, Diego Ribero, noticed the numerous lizards, so he called the
islands "Lagartos" on his Turin map of 1523. In the 17th century, the
archipelago was finally named "Las Caymanas" after the American
crocodiles that also lived there. During this century, the islands were
used by various European fleets to take in fresh water and to supplement
their provisions by catching turtles. The first English arrival was Sir
Francis Drake, who landed on the Cayman Islands in 1586 with a fleet of
23 ships.
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac were the first islands in
the archipelago on which settlements were established from Jamaica
between 1661 and 1671. However, they were quickly abandoned due to the
numerous plunderings by Spanish privateers. In the Treaty of Madrid in
1670, Spain recognized English sovereignty over Jamaica and the Cayman
Islands. The Caymans remained a base for pirates until the 18th century,
including Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, one of the most famous English
pirates of the time.
The first permanent settlements were
established on Grand Cayman in the 1730s. The initial logging of
mahogany for export to Jamaica, for which slaves were already being
used, proved to be unsustainable, so the settlers soon had to look for
new sources of income. The island population's livelihoods were turtle
catching, the stripping of shipwrecks and some subsistence-level
agriculture. Cotton cultivation flourished for around 30 years at the
end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.
In 1794, the
most famous shipping disaster in the history of the Cayman Islands
occurred with the "Wreck of the Ten Sail", when ten merchant ships on
their way from Jamaica to England ran aground on the reefs off the coast
of Grand Cayman. Contrary to a popular legend, there is no evidence that
King George III exempted the island group from all taxes and duties out
of gratitude for the efforts of the population, which saved almost all
of the ship's crew.
The Cayman Islands received their first
self-government in 1831 with the establishment of five districts and
their own legislature. The first seat of government was Bodden Town,
located on the south coast of Grand Cayman. Slavery was abolished in
1834, when there were still over 950 slaves on the islands. At the
beginning of the 20th century, the population was estimated at 5,000.
George Town, located on the west coast of Grand Cayman, became the new
seat of government at the beginning of the century.
When the
first cruise ship, the Atlantis, headed for the Caymans in 1937, the era
of tourism began. The Englishman Benson Greenall opened the first hotel
in 1950, and the first airport on Grand Cayman began operations in 1953.
Until 1962, the Cayman Islands formed a joint British colonial territory
with Jamaica and have therefore been on the UN list of
non-self-governing territories since 1946. While Jamaica became
independent in 1962, the Caymans decided to remain an independent
British crown colony with the United Kingdom.
In 1971, a British
governor was appointed for the first time and a new constitution came
into force in 1972. Since 2002, the Cayman Islands are no longer a crown
colony, but one of the British overseas territories. In the same year
they were granted the status of an associate member of the Caribbean
Community. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused severe damage to the islands,
which could only be repaired a year later with a special reconstruction
program.
The Cayman Islands consist of the three main islands of Grand Cayman,
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. They are the peaks of the Cayman Ridge,
an underwater mountain range that rises above sea level and extends to
Cuba, where it continues into the Sierra Maestra. The westernmost
island, Grand Cayman, is located about 300 km south of the south coast
of the Cuban province of Matanzas, while Cayman Brac, the easternmost
island in the chain, is located just under 150 km southwest of the Cuban
archipelago of Jardines de la Reina. The islands have a total area of
about 264 km², with Grand Cayman being the largest at 197 km².
In the north of the island of Grand Cayman, between Rum Point and Conch
Point, is the 80 km² North Sound bay. The bay is shallow, with depths of
mostly 1.8 to 3.8 meters.
The Cayman Ridge is the remnant of a volcanic island arc that has
been inactive since the middle Eocene and was formed around 50 million
years ago in connection with subduction processes in the Cayman Trench
south of the ridge. Its base consists of metamorphic and plutonic rocks
(mainly granodiorite) that are overlaid by various volcanic rocks. After
a phase of subsidence, the Cayman Islands, which sit on fault blocks,
were raised again by tectonic processes from the middle Miocene onwards.
The current surface of the islands consists of carbonate rock of
biogenic origin, mainly dolomite.
A special feature is the
"Caymanite", a rare variety of dolomite that is used to make jewelry
because of its attractive color pattern.
Due to its location on
the border between the North American plate and the Caribbean plate,
which are displaced against each other at a relative speed of around 20
mm/year, earthquakes occur repeatedly in the region.
The Cayman Islands have a tropical savanna climate according to the Köppen/Geiger classification, with average annual temperatures of around 27 °C and annual rainfall of around 1000 mm. Most of the rainfall occurs in the rainy season from May to November, with peaks in September and October; it is significantly drier from December to April. During the summer and autumn months, the islands are often exposed to severe hurricanes.
The population is concentrated in the three southwestern districts of
the main island of Grand Cayman: George Town (capital), West Bay and
Bodden Town, which have a population density that is many times higher
than all other districts. 90% of the population lives here (as of 2010)
in 40% of the area; in this area the population density is 462
inhabitants/km². The rest of the territory has an average population
density of 33 inhabitants/km². More than 95% of the 55,036 inhabitants
live on the largest island, Grand Cayman.
The centuries have
produced a diverse population that is very proud of the harmony among
residents of different origins. About 20% of the population is black,
20% is white and 40% is mixed. The remaining 20% of the population are
immigrants from all over the world. Customs and traditions are still
influenced by the first settlers in the 18th century who came from the
British Isles. The official language is English, which is used as the
main language by almost 91% of the population. Spanish is spoken by 4%
and Filipino by 3.3% of the population (data from 2010).
Life
expectancy in the Cayman Islands in 2021 is 81.8 years (men: 79.1
years/women: 84.6 years). The median age of the population in 2020 was
40.5 years. A woman has an average of 1.83 children in her lifetime.
There are 11.8 births and 5.9 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants (estimates
for 2021). The population is growing at 1.87% per year, also due to
immigration from other Caribbean islands. The Cayman Islands are an
important transit point for Cubans who want to migrate to the United
States. Some of these people stay in the Cayman Islands.
Compulsory schooling begins at the age of five and lasts twelve years.
The majority of the Caymanian population (83.0%) is Christian.
67.8% of these are Protestants. These include
the Pentecostal
Church of God (22.6%)
the Seventh-day Adventists (9.4%)
the
Congregational-Presbyterian United Church of Jamaica and the Cayman
Islands (8.6%)
the Baptists (8.3%)
various Pentecostal
congregations (7.1%)
the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands of
the Church in the Province of the West Indies of the Anglican Church
(4.1%)
and other Protestant communities (7.7% in total).
14.1% of
the population belong to the Mission sui juris of the Cayman Islands of
the Roman Catholic Church.
1.1% of the population belong to Jehovah's
Witnesses. Other religions - including a Jewish synagogue community and
an Islamic community - are represented by around 7% of Caymanians; 9.3%
of the locals do not belong to any religion.
The territory is divided into six districts, which are headed by district managers and function, among other things, as electoral districts and regional units for statistics. Five of the districts are on the main island of Grand Cayman; the two smaller islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac together form the sixth district as the "Sister Islands".
For long periods of their history, the people of the Cayman Islands
made their living through subsistence farming, interrupted by short
periods in which products were increasingly produced for export. The
first settlers felled the existing trees to deliver mahogany to Jamaica,
at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries the islands experienced a
30-year cotton boom and at the end of the 19th century the local
phosphate deposits were mined in just a few years. In the 20th century,
many residents of the Cayman Islands earned their income by working as
sailors on ships of other nations.
Today the capital, George
Town, is considered a tax haven and one of the largest financial centers
in the world. Around 200,000 companies are registered on the islands (as
of 2013). Most international banks, including the largest German ones,
have branches here. In addition, around 69% of all hedge funds are
located in the Cayman Islands, making the Cayman Islands the largest
hedge fund location in the world. This industry is favored by framework
conditions such as the tax exemption that prevails here. The Cayman
Islands are considered a tax haven. They are on the grey list that the
OWZE drew up ahead of the G20 meeting in 2009. Due to objections from
Great Britain on the one hand and commitments to comply with various tax
standards on the other, the Cayman Islands did not appear on the black
list of tax havens for a long time. The islands wanted to counteract
their reputation through bilateral agreements that they concluded with
Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands and South Africa, for example. On
January 28, 2016, the EU Commission presented a package of measures to
combat tax evasion, which also included the Cayman Islands on the black
list of tax havens. After the mother country left the EU, the Cayman
Islands were definitely blacklisted as non-cooperative countries in
February 2020. After just a few months, the EU removed the Cayman
Islands from its list of tax havens in October 2020.
Another
important pillar of the Caymanian economy is tourism. In 2019, over
500,000 visitors, mainly from the USA, came to the islands for stays of
several days. In addition, the approximately 600 cruise ships that
called at George Town in the same year transported around 1.83 million
passengers, of whom an estimated 90% went ashore as day tourists. The
expenditure of all tourists on the Cayman Islands was estimated at 774
million Cayman dollars for 2019. Diving tourism is popular, which is
favored by the clear water and the numerous reefs of the islands.
The national currency is the Cayman Islands dollar (CI$), which is
pegged to the US dollar at a fixed exchange rate. This is also accepted
as a means of payment alongside the national currency.
The gross
domestic product in 2018 was nominally 4,597.6 million Cayman dollars
(5,517.1 million US dollars). This was 85,643 US dollars per capita, one
of the highest values in the world.
The state derives its
income mainly from concession and administrative fees and a 17 to 27
percent customs duty on most imported goods. Customs duties of 29.5% to
42.0% are levied on motor vehicles, depending on their value. After a
sharp increase in public debt between 2007 and 2011, the Cayman Islands
regularly generated budget surpluses, some of them significant, from
2013 onwards, so that the debt, which had amounted to more than 600
million Cayman dollars in 2011, was reduced to less than 300 million
Cayman dollars by 2019.
The Cayman Islands have left-hand traffic. The road network consists
of 785 km of paved roads (as of 2007). There is no railway on the
islands.
Each of the islands has its own airport. The largest of
these is Owen Roberts International Airport (IATA airport code: GCM)
near George Town on the island of Grand Cayman. It is the home airport
of the national airline Cayman Airways, which flies from here to
destinations in Central America, the USA and the Caribbean, as well as
the other islands in the archipelago. Cayman Brac also has an
international airport, Charles Kirkconnell International Airport (IATA
airport code: CYB), which is suitable for medium-haul aircraft
operations. Edward Bodden Airfield (IATA airport code: LYB) on Little
Cayman is a regional airport with an unpaved runway.
In 2020, 163
commercial ships were registered on the islands.
The main island
of Grand Cayman is supplied with electricity by the Caribbean Utilities
Company, which operates a power plant on the outskirts of George Town
with 17 diesel-powered generators, two gas turbines and one steam
turbine. The installed power plant capacity there is 161 MW. In June
2017, a solar power plant with an installed capacity of 5 MW was put
into operation near Bodden Town, which can supply around 800 households
with clean electricity. The mains voltage is 120 volts.
In 2019,
there were 549 landline telephones, 1525 mobile phones, 420 broadband
cable connections and 811 internet users per 1000 inhabitants in the
Cayman Islands.
The Cayman Islands have participated in the Summer Olympics with
their own delegations in 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008,
2012 and 2016. They were represented at the Winter Olympics in 2010 and
2014.
Special Olympics Cayman Islands was founded in 1988 and has
participated in the Special Olympics World Games several times.
In 2012, the islands hosted the Women's Squash World Championships.
Soccer is very popular in the Cayman Islands.