If you really want to learn and enjoy Grand Cayman Island, take a day tour with Shirley at Cayman Routes, a multi-generational native of the island. The director at the Botanic garden suggested using Shirley for our tour, and we're so glad she did. My husband and I spent a great morning in the Botanic garden with Shirley as guide. Starting on the drive from the docks to the garden, Shirley described all the local history we passed on the way. Her intimate knowledge of the island's flora and fauna was a wonderful bonus for us. I spent the morning doing watercolor paintings and communing with the Cayman parrots and Banana finches, while my photographer husband toured the garden with Shirley for some great shots. Shirley couldn't have been more helpful, arranging everything for us, from picking us up at the dock, to lunch, even to water for painting and a chair for me. We had a great time!

 Let me start off by saying Shirley was the reason the tour was so great! Her knowledge of the island, the people and the places is extra-ordinary. She greeted us with a friendly hug, a clean air-conditioned van, snacks and drinks. Her family has been on the island for 10 generations and she'll tell you a lot about them. Everyone knows her and everyone likes her. If you plan on taking a tour you should call her first. I recommend the grouper for lunch at the little house on the water, it was delicious!

Great tour and Shirley our guide, was wonderful. There was only my husband and I on the tour as it is slow season, which was great. She even stopped in a couple of places for us to browse and purchase things as we don't have a car on the island. The van was new and very clean and comfortable. She is very knowledgeable as she is native to Cayman and very fun to converse with. The tour to the Botanical Gardens, of which she knew everything about the flowers and trees, (she was even on the original crew in the '80's clearing out the brush to make way for this beautiful spot) was really good with 3 blue iguana sightings. Pedro St. James was very interesting too. Highly recommend this tour.

Visited May 2015

I was referred to this tour by a good friend. Shirley was our tour guide. Shirley was very knowledgeable and very funny, she made the tour exciting. If you want to experience Cayman, learn the history and see the beauty and secrets of the island you will not get on Seven Mile Beach then this tour is a must. This tour covers the history, the beauty and many hidden secrets of Grand Cayman. Lunch was delicious and local dishes are available. (you may even get to see celebrity homes along the trip.) This is a tour i will do again on my next trip to Cayman, and recommend to anyone. I have taken many tours around the world and often i find it to be too much information and a lot that I'm not always interested in, Shirley was to the point seemed to cover all that was interesting and was very informative.