Christopher Columbus is the first European credited with discovering the islands in 1503, though frankly he stumbled upon them. While en route between Panama and Hispaniola he got blown west off course and recorded seeing two small islands (Little Cayman and Cayman Brac) "full of tortoise". Thus he dubbed them "Las Tortugas", Spanish for turtle, though the name didn't last. A few decades later in 1585, British explorer Sir Francis Drake passed through, recording that the islands were flush with "great serpent-like lizards". These were caimans - land creatures related to crocodiles after which the islands were renamed.

Except for the animals and marine creatures, the islands were believed uninhabited until seafarers began using them as replenishment centers in the sixteenth century. The islands had abundant supplies of fresh water and food, including sea turtles and wildfowl. English, Dutch, French and Spanish explorers and pirates all made use of the sustenance available here. Historians dispute whether pirates ever actually touched down on the islands, but legend has it that in the eighteenth century Blackbeard stashed his treasures in Cayman caves.

The Spanish and British were the two main colonial powers battling for control of the islands in this region (and elsewhere in Caribbean as well). The Cayman Islands became part of the British Empire in 1670 under the Treaty of Madrid. Nearby Jamaica and other islands were also part of that Treaty which bestowed Caribbean territories to the British. For the next two hundred years or so, the Cayman Islands were governed as a dependency of Jamaica. That ended in 1962 when Jamaica gained independence while the Cayman Islands preferred to remain a British colony.

Most of the original settlers were British, Irish and Scottish who came from Jamaica, some of whom brought their African slaves with them to farm the rocky land, make thatch rope and work the turtle industry. Many Caymanians also turned to the sea to earn a living as merchant marines. Those arduous labors are long gone, however, replaced by the offshore finance industry which took hold in the late 1960s, along with the development of the tourism sector. Today, finance and tourism are the mainstays of the Cayman economy, and most people work in one of those two industries.

Cayman Islands
     travel guide

Cayman Islands
Overview
Where to go
When to go
Getting there
Costs & currency
Communications
Food and drink
Brief history
Best of Cayman Islands
Info and sites
Diving, hiking
Festivals and holidays
Scuba diving

Caribbean guide

Explore Cayman Islands

Cayman Brac

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman
Stingray City
Getting around
Restaurants
  Nightlife
Listings
The Town
North and East
Seven Mile Beach and
West Bay

Little Cayman

Little Cayman
Diving and fishing
Travel info

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