What's on in George Town (Grand Cayman), Cayman Islands through the year

Peak crowds — Cayman Cookout, Cruise season

• Festival

  Cayman Cookout

  14–19 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Eric Ripert's food festival takes over the Ritz-Carlton and a stretch of Seven Mile Beach for five days. Tickets go on sale the previous autumn and hotel rates that week are the year's highest. Source ↗

Still on: Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cruise season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Cayman Carnival Batabano

• Festival

  Cayman Carnival Batabano

  1–25 May · usuallyCrowded

  Cayman's carnival is a May road parade through George Town, with a junior parade a few weeks ahead of the main one. Mas bands sell their sections early and the route closes the harbour front for the afternoon. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Hurricane season

  1 Jun – 30 Nov

  Ivan sat over Grand Cayman for the best part of a day in 2004 and flooded most of the island; everything built since is raised and shuttered for it. September and October carry the real risk. Source ↗

• Nature

  Silversides in the swim-throughs

  15 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyDive season

  Baitballs of silversides pack the caverns at Devil's Grotto and Eden Rock, right off the George Town waterfront, with tarpon working through them. It is the rare world-class dive you can swim to from shore.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Silversides in the swim-throughs (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Silversides in the swim-throughs (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov), Silversides in the swim-throughs (15 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Peak crowds — Cruise season, Pirates Week Festival

• Season

  Cruise season

  1 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  There is no cruise berth, so passengers come ashore by tender and the shops along Harbour Drive live off them. On a four-ship day the Stingray City boats and the Seven Mile snorkel trips are the bottleneck, not the town.

• Festival

  Pirates Week Festival

  5–15 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A staged pirate landing in George Town harbour opens eleven days of street dances, heritage days and fireworks. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman take their own dates either side of Grand Cayman's. Source ↗

Still on: Hurricane season (1 Jun – 30 Nov)

Busy — Cruise season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Cruise season (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))