7 Best Sights in North Side, Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman's bioluminescent bay, near Rum Point, is one of the few such bays in the world. It's about 45 minutes from George Town and can be visited on a guided tour. The bioluminescent dinoflagellates are visible for a couple of weeks every month, but not at all times. The local tour operators know the best times to visit and schedule tours for those nights (especially when there is no full moon).

At the end of a seemingly endless, bumpy road, your guide takes you on a short hike to the "treehouse" refreshment-souvenir stand of this Grand Cayman locale. A viewing platform provides breathtaking vistas of a ginormous banyan tree framing the first cave entrance. Currently, three large caverns in the extensive network have been opened and outfitted with wood pathways and strategic lighting. Millions of years ago, the network was submerged underwater (a subterranean lake serves as a hauntingly lovely reminder); the land gradually rose over millennia. Nature has fashioned extraordinary crystal gardens and "fish-scale" columns from delicate, fragile flowstone; part of the fun is identifying the fanciful shapes whimsically carved by the stalactites and stalagmites. The 90-minute tours are offered on the hour from 9 am through 4 pm. Ambitious plans include adding ziplines and four-wheel-drive trails.

This 65-acre wilderness preserve showcases a wide range of indigenous and nonindigenous tropical vegetation, approximately 2,000 species in total. Splendid sections include numerous water features from limpid lily ponds to cascades; a Heritage Garden with a traditional cottage and "caboose" (outside kitchen) that includes crops that might have been planted on Cayman a century ago; and a Floral Colour Garden arranged by color, the walkway wandering through sections of pink, red, orange, yellow, white, blue, mauve, lavender, and purple. A 2-acre lake and adjacent wetlands include three islets that provide a habitat and breeding ground for native birds just as showy as the floral displays: green herons, black-necked stilts, American coots, blue-winged teals, cattle egrets, and rare West Indian whistling ducks. The nearly mile-long Woodland Trail encompasses every Cayman ecosystem from wetland to cactus thicket and buttonwood swamp to lofty woodland with imposing mahogany trees. You'll encounter birds, lizards, turtles, and agoutis, but the park's star residents are the protected endemic blue iguanas, found only in Grand Cayman. The world's most endangered iguana, they're the focus of the National Trust's Blue Iguana Recovery Program, a captive breeding and reintroduction facility. This section of the park is usually closed to the public, though released "blue dragons" hang out in the vicinity. The trust conducts 90-minute behind-the-scenes safaris Monday through Saturday at 11 am for C$30. Make sure to look for the fascinating little Davidoff's sculpture garden, depicting local critters that create a great photo moment.

The North Side features plenty of hidden coves and pristine stretches of perfect sand, where you'll be disturbed only by seabirds dive-bombing for lunch and the occasional lone fishers casting nets for sprats, then dumping them into buckets. Over the Edge restaurant is less than 1 mile west. Otherwise, it's fairly undeveloped for miles, save for the occasional private home. Snorkeling is spectacular when waters are calm. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: snorkeling; solitude; walking.

This North Sound beach has hammocks slung in towering casuarina trees, picnic tables, casual and "fancier" dining options, a well-stocked shop for seaworthy sundries, and Red Sail Sports, which offers various water sports and boats to explore Stingray City. The barrier reef ensures safe snorkeling and soft sand. The bottom remains shallow for a long way from shore, but it's littered with small coral heads, so be careful. The Wreck is an ultracasual hangout serving outstanding pub grub from fish-and-chips to wings, as well as lethal mudslide cocktails. Just around the bend, another quintessential beach hangout, Kaibo, rocks during the day. Amenities: food and drink; parking (no fee); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; snorkeling.

A remote beach just off the northern coast of Cayman, Starfish Point attracts beautiful starfish to its turtle-grass-lined shores and emerald green, warm waters. Watch the sunset, wade in the water, and explore the sandy shoreline. Amenities: parking (no fee). Best for: solitude; sunset; walking.

If you want an isolated, unspoiled beach, bear left at Rum Point at North Side, and follow the road to the end. When you pass a porte cochere for an abandoned condo development, you'll see the soft, sandy beach. Wade out knee deep and look for the large, flame-hued starfish. (Don't touch—just look.) Locals also call it Starfish or Ivory Point. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; swimming.