Spotts Beach

Spotts Beach is not the beach you came to Grand Cayman for if you pictured the brochure powder. It is something better if you came for the water. This is a quiet local cove on the South Sound, about twenty minutes east of George Town, and it is the island shore spot with the best odds of snorkelling alongside a wild green turtle. That is the reason to make the trip.

The turtles come for the same thing that shapes the beach. Turtle grass carpets the shallows, and green turtles graze it, so on a calm morning you can drift over the grass and watch one feeding a few feet below you. Sightings are wild and never a sure thing, but Spotts gives you a real chance, and there is a genuine thrill to finding a turtle yourself rather than queueing at an attraction. Move slowly, keep your distance and never touch or chase them.

Be clear eyed about what that grass means. This is a snorkel beach, not a sunbathing beach. The shallows are not the bare clear sand of Seven Mile, and the headline reef is a hundred yard swim out, sitting in six to twelve feet of water on the barrier line. That swim is for confident snorkellers with a floating buoy, not a casual paddle, and there can be boat traffic around, so a bright buoy and a buddy are not optional here.

Treat it as a half day mission. Come early when the South Sound is glassy, snorkel the grass for turtles and the reef if conditions allow, then move on. For the pure swim and sunbathe day, the powder is at Seven Mile Beach or the calm sandbar at Rum Point across the island. For more easy shore snorkelling, try Cemetery Beach. For verified clubs and cabanas, use our Cayman Islands beach clubs directory.