Little Cayman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Little Cayman is the smallest of the three Cayman Islands, both in area and population. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, about 87 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and five miles west of Cayman Brac. Little Cayman has a permanent population of less than 170 and is less than ten square miles in area, about ten miles long and one mile wide.

Most of the island is at sea level. The highest elevation is about 40 feet.

Little Cayman is famous for its scuba diving. The most famous dive sites, Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson's Bight, are both located on the northwest end of the island. Bloody Bay Wall is consistently ranked as one of the world's top wall dives with the ocean floor dropping off from a depth of 15 feet to 5000 feet almost vertically.

Little Cayman is accessible by air (via Cayman Airways) and water from Cayman Brac. Little Cayman has one store, several restaurants, an airport, post office, a fire station, and one church. Little Cayman also has a visitor center for its red-footed booby pond, the largest red-footed booby population in the Caribbean and a designated Ramsar wetland of international importance. Another important species present on Little Cayman is the endangered Turks and Caicos rock iguana. Little Cayman also has its own airport called Edward Bodden Airfield.

The first recorded sighting of Little Cayman, along with Cayman Brac, was by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 on his fourth and final voyage, when heavy winds forced his ship off course. At that time, he named the islands "Las Tortugas" for the many sea turtles found living there. The islands were later renamed "Las Caymanas" for the caimans living there.

Since its discovery, Little Cayman has continued to support a small population.

The first settlement on the island was in the 17th century, when turtle fishermen set up camps. After a raid by a Spanish privateer, the settlements were abandoned in 1671 and the island was not resettled until 1833, when Blossom Village was established by a few families. By the early 20 th century, a few hundred people lived on Little Cayman and exported phosphate ore, coconuts, and marine rope. Little Cayman, along with the other Cayman Islands, is now a British dependancy.