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Cayman IslandsUnited Kingdom Cayman Islands / United KingdomIsland

Grand Cayman

196 km² of land in the Caribbean Sea.

When to go

Grand Cayman seen from space, cut out from the sea (Sentinel-2)
George TownWest BayBodden TownChannel LandMidland AcresThe MountainNorth Sound Estates
N 5 km

Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.

In numbers

196km²

Area

253km

Coastline

25m

Highest point

63,807

People

30°C

Warmest sea

September

487km

To the mainland

When to go to Grand Cayman

Best for the beach from December to April.

The sea is warmest in September (30 °C) and coolest in February (27 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).

Sea temperature (the water level) Air: night low to afternoon high Wet days Best months

Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.

Island in the Caribbean

Grand Cayman is an island in Cayman Islands. It covers 196 km², with 253 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 25 m. About 63,807 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 487 km away.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there

Plan the trip

Ferries, stays and things to do

Car hire at GCM airport (George Town)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

On the island

What you find on Grand Cayman.

  • 23beachesGovernor's Beach, Smith Barcadere, West Bay Public Beach and 20 more
  • 5viewpointsHell, Blow Hole, starfish point and 2 more
  • 4lighthousesBoatswain Point Light, East End Light, Grand Cayman Memorial Light and 1 more
  • 1ferry terminalsRoyal Watler Cruise Terminal
  • 4marinasMorgans Harbour Marina, Captain Marvin's, Spanish Bay Reef and 1 more
  • 1castles and fortsFort George
  • 7dive centresDivetech, Divers Supply, Living the Dream Divers and 4 more
  • 109hotels, guesthouses and apartments
  • 159restaurants, cafés and bars

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Grand Cayman in our other atlases

Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Grand Cayman, each with its own numbers.

  • 12beaches and covesCoastya
  • 1lakeLakeyas

  • Largest lake

    0.40km²

    Malportas Pond

    according to Lakeyas

  • Warmest lake

    29.5°C

    Malportas Pond

    surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas

  • Beach with the warmest sea

    29.8°C

    Clarinda Beach

    sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya

12 beaches

on Coastya, the beach atlas

  1. Rum Point Beach29.7°C
  2. Seven Mile Beach29.7°C
  3. Prospect Beach29.7°C
  4. Clarinda Beach29.8°C
  5. Bats Cave Beach29.7°C
  6. Great Beach29.8°C
  7. Red Baycove29.7°C
  8. Miss Eden Baycove29.7°C

4 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗

1 lakes

on Lakeyas, the lake atlas

  1. Malportas Pond0.40km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

The shape of the land.

On average the island stands 4 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.

  • 100 %0–50 m

Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).

Size, for real

Next to islands you may know.

Grand Cayman196 km²
Malta247 km²
Madeira Island742 km²

20 km

All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).

Towns on the island

  • George Town29,370 people
  • West Bay15,335 people
  • Bodden Town14,845 people
  • Channel Land12,623 people
  • Midland Acres12,410 people
  • The Mountain12,028 people
  • Further Ground12,028 people
  • North Sound Estates11,249 people
  • Breakers11,247 people
  • Frank Sound11,007 people
  • Whitehall Estates10,768 people
  • Pedro10,394 people

Month by month

The weather on the island.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon high (°C)262627272829293030292827
Night low (°C)252525262728292929282726
Sea (°C)272727272829293030292828
Rain (mm)26151314669462811051548839
Wet days94441421212225241410
Sun h/day7.28.49.19.88.77.98.88.57.86.66.87.2
Wind (km/h)252323202021191817202525

Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.

Recent years

Warmer and cooler years at sea.

Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020+0.8+0.8+0.5+1.2+0.8+0.4+0.6+0.5+0.7+0.4+0.4+0.4
2021+0.4+0.7+0.4±0.0+0.5+0.5+0.1±0.0+0.1+0.6+0.7+0.5
2022+0.6+0.7+0.8+0.3−0.1−0.3+0.1+0.1+0.1+0.5+0.7+0.5
2023+0.5+0.4+0.4+0.8+0.9+0.8+0.9+1.0+0.8+1.5+1.1+1.1
2024+0.7+0.3+0.9+0.7+1.2+1.0+0.5+0.8+0.8+0.7+0.6+0.7
2025+0.7+0.8+0.8+0.4+0.6+0.7+0.5+0.9+1.0+1.0+0.8+0.9

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Photos

Seen by visitors.

Governor Residence Grand Cayman Island
Sgerbic · CC BY-SA 4.0
Playa de Gran Caimán-Islas Caimán03
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sailboats, Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Blu28 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Central American Agouti Grand Cayman
Lhb1239 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nearby

More islands nearby.

Little CaymanUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom29 km²17 m131 km awayCayman BracUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom39 km²43 m156 km awayCayo Largo del SurCubaCuba37 km²5 m257 km awayCubaCubaCuba105,806 km²1,974 m377 km awayIsla de la JuventudCubaCuba2,204 km²20 m317 km awayErnst Thälmann IslandCubaCuba15 km²4 m301 km awaySandals CayJamaicaJamaica0.01 km²364 km away

About these numbers

Names, area, populationWikidata (Q737765) · CC0
Outline© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Sea temperatureNOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020
ClimateNASA POWER · 1991–2020
Relief, 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
TownsGeoNames · CC BY 4.0
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfallsCoastya, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit