Cayman Islands Will Reopen to Visitors in September Under Five-Phase Plan

Cayman Islands officials expect to permit a “limited introduction” of fully vaccinated travelers to the archipelago beginning in September under a five-phase reopening plan announced Monday.

Under the plan’s third phase, beginning September 9, an as-yet-undisclosed number of visitors will be allowed to enter the territory subject to the archipelago’s achievement of an 80 percent on-island COVID-19 vaccination rate, said Kenneth Bryan, the Cayman Islands minister of tourism, in a statement. Visitors will be required to apply for entry via the Travel Cayman portal.

Fully vaccinated visitors who provide a “securely verifiable vaccine document” will be required to quarantine for five days; a PCR test will be administered on day six to exit quarantine. Visitors traveling with a child under vaccine age or adults who cannot produce vaccine documents will be required to quarantine for 10 days, followed by a day 11 PCR test.

The territory’s cruise ship calls are not expected to resume until January 27, 2022, which the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism has designated as the territory’s “grand reopening” following the completion of the five phases and “a thorough assessment from the government and health officials,” according to Bryan’s statement. Public Health officials will monitor the prevalence rate and spread of COVID-19, with “transition between stages determined by a myriad of factors.”

“Since March 2020, the Cayman Islands has been deliberate in all efforts to protect our people and visitors,” said Bryan. “From rapid and widespread testing, investing in the Caymanian workforce and implementing a phased strategy to safely reopen our shores to luxury-seeking visitors, the health and safety of our community was paramount in all decisions.”