Downtown

Hurricane Ivan, in September of 2004, damaged much of Grand Cayman. We did see quite a bit of reconstruction. It is surprising what a year can bring.

On his fourth and final voyage to the new world in 1503 Columbus stopped here and called the island Los Tortugas for the abundance of Sea Turtles he found. Later, the island was called Lagartos meaning alligator and then Caymanas, a Carib word meaning marine crocodile. When Drake came in 1503, it was Sunday sport to shoot these creatures. Few remain. Grand Cayman used to rely on turtling for its main income however, they are farmed now under controlled conditions. The main industry here today is tourism and finance. The average Caymanite earns $35,000 per year.