It was not until the late twentieth century that beaches and beachfront property became financially valuable in the Cayman Islands. Early settlers preferred to live on firmer ground, being keenly aware of the threats from storm damage and flooding. The beaches were the areas traditionally chosen for burial sites. The sandy shoreline was easier to excavate than the rocky limestone interior of the island, and was of no particular value for farming or other purposes.

The explosion of the tourist industry which started in the 1950's radically changed concepts of land value. Caymanians suddenly found that what they had considered to be the least important of their land holdings were now in great demand, and many sold their land for development. Within a few years the most substantial stretch of beach, Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman, had changed its character beyond recognition. Hotels, restaurants, shopping centres and condominiums now blanket the original beach ridge, and the native flora and fauna have been largely replaced with imported, cultivated plants, domestic animals, asphalt paving and buildings. Seven Mile Beach today is one of the finest recreational beaches in the world, but it bears little relation to Cayman's original landscape.

Probably the most dramatic changes in the beaches' plant life has been the introduction of the Casuarina , or Australian Pine, to Cayman's sandy coastlines. These impressive and elegant trees, much loved for the attractive silhouette of their needle leaves against the setting sun, tower above the hotels and can be seen for miles offshore. They are native to Australia, but here on the opposite side of the globe, these trees reproduce rapidly and are gradually displacing the native Sea Grape vegetation. They carpet the ground with fallen leaves preventing other plants from germinating, and in storm conditions they tend to topple with their shallow roots tearing up the beach and leaving the coast acutely vulnerable to erosion.

With beach front property in Cayman now among some of the most expensive real estate in the world, protection of remnant stretches of natural beach is a difficult undertaking. It was particularly significant therefore when, in 1990, Mr. And Mrs. Charles Adams, of the former Cayman Heritage Trust, donated a small area of beach to the National Trust for the Cayman Islands to be held in trust forever for the people of the Cayman Islands under the National Trust for the Cayman Islands Law, 1987. The 0.87 acre property, now known as Heritage Beach in recognition of the original donors, is situated towards the eastern end of Grand Cayman, on the south coast near Cottage Point.

Heritage Beach is presently home to a mixture of native coastal plants and some introduced ornamentals. Much of the original Sea Grape vegetation was cleared away long ago, and a few young Casuarina trees were already established on the site when the Trust accepted ownership. Half the property is located on the land side of the main coastal road, and this includes a small group of native woodland trees.The beach is managed with unrestricted public access, a policy which the Trust expects to continue for the foreseeable future.

There is also some potential for the use of the site as a small conservation area for endangered coastal plant species. Some of Cayman's unique plant life is specially adapted to growing in sandy coastal areas. The gradual replacement of invasive foreign species such as the Casuarina, and careful encouragement of native trees, shrubs and herbs will eventually be accompanied by the placement of inconspicuous identification labels on plants of interest.

The beach is not well suited for swimming, its grades into shallows with abundant Turtle Grass, a biologically productive system important to a diversity of marine life. A beautiful view across Frank Sound lagoon does, however, make Heritage Beach an appealing picnic spot.

Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011