By Guy Britton

Even before you get off the plane you can feel it.  

This is not like any other place you’ve visited in the Caribbean.

It’s just 10 square miles here, a beach-filled corner of sand 80 miles northeast of Grand Cayman, a place so small the island’s main road actually crosses the runway at Edward Bodden Airfield.

Less than 200 people live here and it’s clear the minute you arrive that mother nature is in charge.

The smaller the island, the more this is true. 

What’s also true is that it’s hard to find an island anywhere in this hemisphere more pristine or untouched than Little Cayman.

Nature and the environment are cherished and vehemently protected by the locals.  

What that means is you have a beachy paradise above the water, and a submarine heaven beneath it.

Indeed, the quality of scuba diving on Little Cayman is unsurpassed around the world.

There are hundreds of dive and snorkel spots, led by Bloody Bay on the island’s north side, world-famous for its wall diving and a must-do for any serious diver. 

Owen Island.

But you don’t need to be a diver to enjoy this piece of paradise, where relaxation and adventure are in equally large supply.

At the Southern Cross Club, one of the island’s beautiful boutique hotels, there is a sliver of soft sand so sublime you could linger all day.

But adventure here is not optional.

You are called, beckoned, enlisted and employed by adventures here.

There is in-shore fishing, offshore fishing and flats fishing,

There is kayaking, biking, hiking, sailing, paddling and bird watching. 

For the latter, there’s Booby Pond, where you can visit the Caribbean’s largest population of red-footed boobies. 

Owen island sits just off shore from the hammock at the Southern Cross Club and you can hear it calling.

The beach at Point of Sand is one of the prettiest you’ll find anywhere on earth and just off shore there are beautiful snorkeling reefs. 

The Southern Cross Club.

Quite often you can have Point of Sand all to yourself, just you the breeze and the birds, a place where you can spend a single day and never see another soul.

It’s an island where you’ll often feel as if you have the whole place to yourself.

Because it’s true.

See more in the latest CJ Video.

— CJ

Note: Little Cayman is also home to the  Central Caribbean Marine Institute. where they work on research, conservation and education.  At CCMI they are very progressive in reef restoration and propagation. CCMI hosts year-round programs for visiting students, researchers and groups. (Prince Charles visited CCMI when he was on Little Cayman last month during a wider visit to the Cayman Islands). CCMI encourages and coordinates volunteers, locals and guests who get involved with conservation and protecting the marine environment.