Starfish Point
Grand Cayman
Starfish Point is a secluded beach, accessible by boat, located on the North side of Grand Cayman. Here you can hold live Sea Stars, more commonly known as starfish, under the shallow water. This stop is always a favorite of moms and kids, as well as a great stop to get some beach time or have a picnic. Young children can sit in the water, still only coming up to their waist, interacting with the sea stars and sticking them to their legs and hands. If you choose to visit Starfish Point as a stop during your tour, our expert staff will make sure everyone gets a chance to hold their own sea star while they tell you a few neat things about them.
For our guests staying on the Rum Point, North Side and East End area of the island, we usually recommend they visit this site on their own. As for any of our guests staying along the 7mile beach area or coming in on a cruise ship, this is a lovely stop to visit by boat. Keeping in mind that Starfish Point is almost a 2hr car ride away from this area and an easy 20min boat ride. This charter stop is one of our most popular stop options and we recommend everyone to visit at least once. To see our other stop options, click here.
A Little Bit About The Sea Stars
The type of Sea Stars that surround Starfish Point are called Red Cushion sea stars. The correct terminology being sea star and not Starfish is because they are not really fish at all. Instead, sea stars are more closely related to sea urchins or sand dollars than they are fish. The Red Cushion sea star is the most commonly found sea star in the Caribbean. They can live up to 35 years in the wild. These sea stars are green and brown when small but become an orange and red color as they reach adulthood. They do not have a brain but instead use their senses to survive.
Sea stars have tubes on their underside to help them feel, hold on, maneuver along the ocean floor and to move their food down toward the center of their bodies where they eject their stomach to eat. They have what is called an eye-spot at the end of each of their arms. This is called an eye-spot and not an eyeball, as they are only able to sense light and dark instead of possessing actual sight. Red Cushion sea stars usually have 5 arms but can have more or less. These sea creatures are really neat to interact with as they slowly wrap themselves to the shape of your leg or hold on to your hand with their arms under the clear water.
Why Are They Here?
Starfish Point is always the calmest area within the North Sound, even when storms come through. Sea stars only like calm water, making this area the ideal place for them to live. Furthermore, there are no obstructions blocking the sun, allowing the sea stars to bask in its rays. There is also a lot of seagrass surrounding Starfish Point. This seagrass makes for the excellent camouflage for the green baby sea stars until they reach adulthood. Clams also live in the seagrass in Grand Cayman which is the main source of food for our Red Cushion sea stars. Between the flat calm water, readily available eats and protection for their young, Starfish Point is the perfect habitat.
Rules & Regulations of Starfish Point
At Starfish Point it is very important to keep the sea stars under the water at all times. Sea stars have a water vascular system, which means they need to circulate the salt water through their bodies at all times to stay alive. This is much like how us humans need to constantly have blood circulating throughout our bodies to stay alive. There is often a marine police officer stationed at Starfish Point to enforce this rule and violators can pay a fine of as much as $2,000. No one wants that, so we try to do our part in informing our guests on how not to harm our sea star friends. Don’t worry though, if your looking to take pictures of the wonderful memories you’ll make at Starfish Point, the water is so clear that you’ll be able to see them perfectly when you bring them up just before the surface of the water.
