Cayman Islands

These three specks just south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica make up a welcoming British overseas territory. Their inhabitants enjoy the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, thanks to the offshore banking industry. The crystal waters of Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman are the territory’s most famous attraction; the strip is also home to the islands’ main concentration of hotels. The islands are justly famous for superb scuba diving. Little Cayman’s “Bloody Bay” is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top wall dives, with a drop-off falling from 18 to 1,000 feet. And lying on the sea floor off Cayman Brac is the wreck of a Russian Koni class frigate, built in the Soviet Union in 1984 for the Cuban Navy.