Sparsely populated, mostly flat and partly marshy, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman have a corner of the Caribbean all to themselves. The largest, Grand Cayman, is shaped a bit like the Little Dipper and spans about 25 miles (45km) from the lip of the cup on the western end to the tip of the handle on the eastern end. It lies 150 miles (240km) south of Cuba and about 180 miles (290km) west of Jamaica. Little Cayman and Cayman Brac lie 80 miles (130km) and 90 miles (145km) to the east of Grand Cayman, respectively. They're both about 10 miles long and a mile wide (16km by 2km). There is also a scattering of uninhabited islets and cays.

The Caymans aren't lush, but they do support a fair swag of plantlife. Mahogany was once abundant but has been mostly logged. Poisonous species include maiden plum (a weed with rash-causing sap), lady's hair or cowitch (a vine with fiberglass-like barbs) and the vicious manchineel tree, which produces a skin-blistering sap. Take care not to shelter under a manchineel in the rain! Other indigenous plants are cochineel, used as a shampoo as well as eaten, and pingwing, whose barbed branches were fashioned into a natural fence. The fauna is less aggressive: the islands are crawling with critters, mostly lizards, but also a nonpoisonous grass snake, the agouti (an introduced species known locally as rabbit) and prolific bird life. The most spectacular animal is the Cayman blue iguana, an endangered and magnificent throwback to the dinosaurs.

The Caymans are warm in the summer (May to October), when the average daily high reaches 85°F (29°C). This is also the rainy season but the showers are brief. Winter (November to April) is drier and cooler, with average daily highs of 75°F (24°C).

The Caymans offer many options for comfortable travel, including full-service resorts and five-star dining. Those on a top-end budget will be shelling out US$300 or more a day, depending on their proclivity for duty-free perfume or chartered boats. Moderate costs can run to US$200 a day or more. Budget travelers will be able to keep costs under US$100 a day by sharing self-catering accommodations and doing more lounging on the beach than diving. Note that accommodation is much cheaper in the quieter summer months and that organizing your own diving excursions is more expensive than taking the dive packages offered by many hotels and resorts.

US dollars and traveler's checks are widely accepted, as are credit and debit cards. Banks offer the best exchange rates. There are ATMs in George Town from which you can withdraw cash, either in US dollars or Cayman dollars. It's not a bad idea to take the cash you will need to the sister islands as banking facilities are few and far between.

Many hotels add a service charge of 5-10% to your bill; restaurants usually add 15%. If no service charge is added, a tip of 15% is expected. Most businesses will happily calculate a straight conversion from CI$ to US$ at a 1:1.25 ratio - you'll need the colorful Cayman dollars for market stalls and kiosks but not much else. Bargaining is not a common practice.

Given that mid-December to mid-April (winter) is the peak tourist season, when rates are substantially higher and beaches and lodgings more crowded, it's best to go in the summer. There is more rain in summer, but it tends to come in downpours that clear as quickly as they arrive. Nervous Nellies will tell you that this is hurricane season, but the chances that you'll get swept up in the big one are slim. Even so, it's best to keep an eye on the weather reports in the days before your arrival.