To call the Cayman Islands from the United States or Canada, dial 1, and then the 345 country code followed by the local number.

To call the Cayman Islands from the U.K., dial 00, and then the 345 country code followed by the number. To call from Australia, dial 0011-1, and then 345 followed by the number. From New Zealand, dial 00-1, and then 345 followed by the number.

From the Cayman Islands, call the U.S. direct by dialing 1, and then the area code and number. Call Canada by dialing 011, and then 1, the area code, and the number. If you're calling the U.K., dial 011, and then 44 and the number. To call Australia, dial 011, and then 61 and the number. To call New Zealand, dial 011, and then 64 and the number.

Call 411 for directory assistance in the Cayman Islands. Dial 0 for internal and external operator assistance. Phone cards and credit cards can be used to make international calls. Nearly everyone has a cellphone, so don't expect to encounter many old-fashioned phone booths.

Note: Numbers beginning with 800 within the Caymans are toll-free, but calling an 800 number in the States from the Caymans is not. In fact, it costs the same as an overseas call.

Major hotels throughout the Cayman Islands are fully capable of routing your phone calls to any destination in the world. Select hotels will directly transfer your call through a switchboard; others allow dialing with a locally purchased calling card, or you can direct-dial from your hotel room. Note that surcharges usually apply for calls dialed directly from within your hotel.

Cellphones

Much of the world's wireless capabilities are defined by GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), the big digital networks that make for easy cross-border cellphone use throughout dozens of countries worldwide. They function with a removable plastic SIM card, encoded with your phone number and account information. If your cellphone is on a GSM or TDMA system, and you have a world-capable multiband phone, you can make and receive calls across populated areas around much of the globe. Just call your wireless operator and ask for "international roaming" to be activated on your account. A prepaid Cayman Islands SIM card with an international cellphone is a convenient and economical calling solution during your visit to the Caymans.

To an increasing degree, residents of the Cayman Islands -- especially the islands' corps of taxi and minivan drivers -- rely on cellphones for all telephone communications. Cellphone reception, thanks to relay stations scattered throughout Grand Cayman, is generally very good, though somewhat less reliable on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. Temporary visitors to the Cayman Islands can buy or rent a cellphone from providers including Cable & Wireless, Anderson Square Building on Shedden Road, and Galleria Shopping Mall at Seven Mile Beach, George Town (tel. 345/949-7800; www.time4lime.com); Digicel, Cayman Financial Center, 36A Dr. Roy's Dr., Third Floor, George Town (tel. 345/623-3444; www.digicelcayman.com/en/plans); and Lime, Anderson Square Building on Shedden Road, and Galleria Plaza on West Bay Road, George Town (tel. 345/949-8450; www.time4lime.com). Rentals are about CI$5 per day, plus the cost of a calling card; international per-minute rates are around CI35¢ to CI60¢.

An alternative plan is to rent a cellphone before you leave home. In North America, rent one from InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626; www.intouchglobal.com) or Roadpost (tel. 888/290-1616 or 905/272-5665; www.roadpost.com). InTouch will also, for free, advise you on whether your existing phone will work overseas; simply call tel. 703/222-7161 between 9am and 4pm EST, or go to www.intouchglobal.com/travel.htm.

If you have Web access while traveling, you might consider a broadband-based telephone service (in technical terms, Voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP) such as Skype (www.skype.com) or Vonage (www.vonage.com), which allows you to make free international calls if you use their services from your laptop or in a cybercafe. Check their websites for details on restrictions and availability.

Internet & E-Mail

Internet cafes are located in the shopping centers along Seven Mile Beach. They include Café del Sol/Team Café, located in the Marquee Shopping Centre and the Aqua World Duty Free Mall (tel. 345/946-2233), and the Thirsty Surfer, located at the Reef Resort in East End (tel. 345/947-2337). Rates at both cafes range from CI$8 for 24-hour unlimited access to CI$50 for 30-day unlimited access. On Cayman Brac, Internet access is available at the West End Post Office and at Brac Reef Beach Resort. On Little Cayman, Wi-Fi is available only at select hotels. For more information, check www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com.

More and more hotels, resorts, airports, cafes, and retailers are becoming "hotspots" that offer free high-speed Wi-Fi access or charge a small fee for usage. Most laptops sold today have built-in wireless capability. Public Wi-Fi hotspots in the Cayman Islands are at the Hard Rock Cafe (43 S. Church St., George Town; tel. 345/945-2020) and Owen Roberts International Airport. For more information, go to www.jiwire.com; its Hotspot Finder holds the world's largest directory of public wireless hotspots.

For dial-up access, most business-class hotels offer dataports for laptop modems.

Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable -- or find out whether your hotel supplies them to guests.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.