Take your towel and sunscreen to the bank in Cayman Islands, an offshore haven renowned not only for financial services but also for an option to invest languid hours on the beach. Seas, on a typical Cayman day, are bright and clear, beckoning wannabe mermaids and snorkellers into a watery bosom flashing with big fish and brightly shelled mollusks.

Grand Cayman is the largest and busiest of the three islands that make up, collectively the Cayman Islands. Get your cultural fix here with fresh seafood dining and a tour of the land-based highlights in and around George Town on the west coast. Try the Cayman National Museum and the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands for island history and art respectively. With time to spare, head north to the Cayman Turtle Farm, east to explore native flora at Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and finish by snorkeling with stingrays off West Bay. Saddle up on a guided horseback ride along the beach for a good gallop, or join a charter trip out to do some deep-sea fishing.

Choose from 200 dive sites around Cayman if you already know the difference between an octopus, the breathing apparatus, and an octopus, the sea creature. Enjoy 100 feet of visibility for your efforts. Optionally, get scuba certified in the waters off Seven Mile Beach through one of the many local operators. If you're perfectly content to view Cayman delights without ever going subsurface, a selection of fine sands, like those at Seven Mile Beach, offers quality people watching and sandcastle building.

Escape to less populated Cayman Brac or Little Cayman when you feel the need to really get away from the bustle of Grand Cayman and explore these islands for a taste of the local. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are 75 miles northeast of Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman is almost 200 miles west of Jamaica and south of Cuba.