This Caribbean tax haven may seem all about money, with £400 cocktails and hedge fund offices, but it’s also home to natural resources: from exotic wildlife to dazzling beaches

“I only came here six months,” says Jennifer Mills, “and that was 20 years ago.”

The cheerful English manager of the Southern Cross Club, my fourteen-room beach resort on Little Cayman, has no regrets about trading the gray streets of Guildford for the year-round sunshine of this remote Caribbean haven.

Only ten miles long and with a population of 170, Jennifer’s adopted home is the definition of a tropical island, with white sand, calm days and a warm sea teeming with marine life.

About 370 miles south of Cuba, the three Cayman Islands came under English rule in 1670 and are now a prosperous British Overseas Territory where people drive on the left and our late Queen still smiles on the banknotes.

British Airways flies to the largest, Grand Cayman, five times a week, but the journey goes via Nassau in the Bahamas and therefore takes 12 hours.

Nigel Tisdall explores the Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman (above) and Cayman Brac

Nigel describes Little Cayman as the ‘textbook definition of a tropical island’ (file image)

Upon arrival, it’s a 35-minute small plane ride to Jennifer’s neatly decorated bungalows, where the buffet lunch includes fresh seafood salad and an excellent tomato soup with gin.

Some guests come here to switch off (there are no TVs), others to admire Little Cayman’s numerous bird species, including a 20,000-strong colony of red-footed boobies.

Diving is another key lure: Bloody Bay Wall, which drops 6,000 feet, is one of the best underwater locations in the Caribbean.

If you’re the active type, the nearby sister island of Cayman Brac will also appeal. Slightly longer and rising to 43 meters – the highest point in the archipelago – this resembles a fossilized whale and is good for hiking, climbing and stargazing.

Here I discover another tempting retreat, the nine-room Le Soleil d’Or Inn, a ten-acre farm producing pomegranates, sour cherries and dragon fruit and a refined restaurant serving truffle ravioli and magret de canard. It also recently added a chic beach club with an oceanfront pool and cabanas.

Above is Cayman Brac, which Nigel says is ‘good for walking, climbing and stargazing’

Such boutique escapes, highly prized by those in the know, stand in stark contrast to Grand Cayman’s busy tourist circus. Here you’ll find high-rise apartments, visiting cruise ships and clusters of faceless office buildings common in tax havens – home to some 12,000 hedge funds.

And because most goods are imported, the cost of living is high. As I peruse the bar menu at Kimpton Seafire Resort, a Monte Cristo cocktail with a rare pre-phylloxera cognac that costs just over £400 catches my eye. “We sold four last week,” says the waiter.

The positive side of all this wealth is that the Cayman Islands feel safe, service standards are high and there is an exciting multicultural energy – more than 130 nationalities live here.

In Grand Cayman, Nigel visits the ‘impressive’ Seven Mile Beach (photo)

Nigel says that at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park in Grand Cayman, the rare blue iguana (seen here) is the ‘constellation’

There’s also plenty to do, from culinary and art events to a Pirate Festival every November, where locals discover their inner buccaneer. ‘People don’t just dress up,’ confides a regular customer, ‘they change completely.’

Unlike neighboring Jamaica, there are few all-inclusive resorts, which is reflected in the thriving restaurant scene. Most shops are closed on Sundays, when many islanders dress up for church and then enjoy a lavish brunch at luxury hotels like the Westin Grand Cayman, which has a prime location on the impressive sands of Seven Mile Beach. “It’s actually more than five miles,” a local lady explains, “but it’s named by a man.”

If you prefer a more Caribbean vibe, head to the east side of the island, where the beaches are quieter and rustic bars like the Grape Tree Cafe in Bodden Town serve regional dishes such as conch chowder and roasted chicken. Don’t miss the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, an enchanting 65-acre sanctuary of birds, flowers and lush foliage where there is much to admire, from rare orchids to the northern flicker, a woodpecker with a striking red cap.

An eye-catcher here is a breeding project for endemic blue iguanas, so called because the males turn an intense turquoise color during the mating season. Twenty years ago there were fewer than thirty – now, with the help of UK government grants, there are around a thousand. Last year, one named Charles was released into the wild to celebrate the coronation.

It was also a polite reminder to the world that the Cayman Islands may seem all about money, but there are plenty of natural resources too.