By Steve From Uncommon Caribbean

In the four years that have passed since my first (and still only) trip to Grand Cayman, I’ve routinely found myself pining over the many great reasons I have to make a return visit. Most of those reasons are wrapped up in the fun and fantastic people and places I got to know during that first trip.

Rum Point, The Retreat, Grapetree Cafe, and love interests like Boo Boo all have me perpetually checking flights and looking for windows in my generally jammed travel schedule to sneak away to the Caymans.

Then, there’s the stuff I didn’t see. Stuff like caves.

Grand Cayman is so flat (highest elevation: 79 feet) that it’s hard to imagine they’d be any caves of any real substance here. The touristy Bodden Town Pirate Caves, complete with fake treasure chests, skeletons, swords, and other Disneyesque kitsch, further the notion.

Cayman Crystal Caves, however, are different…

Among visitors to Grand Cayman over the years, these ancient caves were known almost exclusively in geocaching circles for offering a great half-day of hiking and cave exploration in a place not known for either. Local tour guides would also take people here despite “No Trespassing” and “Private Property” signs.

In more recent times, though, the owner of the caves, Christian Sorensen, has embarked on a development project to convert the area into an eco-attraction, with a nature trail and the caves themselves serving as the focal points.

If you know your Caribbean caves then the name Sorensen may not only sound familiar, it might also give you some assurance that we’re not in for another pirate cave tourist trap here.

You see, Christian is related to Ole Sorensen, who developed Harrison’s Cave in Barbados back in the 1970′s.

Assuming a similar plan is followed with the Crystal Caves, I’m sure I’ll have yet another great reason to get back to Grand Cayman soon.

PHOTOS: CREDIT: PAUL VIA FLICKR

For more on this story go to: http://www.uncommoncaribbean.com/2014/05/19/uncommon-attraction-cayman-crystal-caves-grand-cayman/