Since everyone has been asking me about my trip to the Cayman Islands, I figured that I'd send a mass travel review e-mail to by good buddies about my journeys to those British West Indies. Somehow the e-mail didn't get through to most people, so I just spun this little page and scanned in some neat photos to go along with my tale.
If you're a SCUBA diver, you know from countless magazines and dive logs that the Cayman Islands cannot be missed. Of course, if you're not a SCUBA diver (like me), you can still enjoy the island's incredible bounty from ashore with no problem.
The Cayman Islands are three islands located in the British West Indies- Grand Cayman, which is where everybody goes and is the biggest; Cayman Brac, second biggest; and Little Cayman, you guessed it- the smallest. Located a little bit south of Cuba and west of Jamaica, the islands enjoy temperatures in the 80s at this time of the year. It's not the heat that will matter, it's the humidity that will make you sweat.
I left last Tuesday morning (6/14/98) with my mom, dad, and sister for an eight day journey hosted at the Mariott on Grand Cayman. Our hotel was located on the world famous Seven Mile Beach, which is exactly what it sounds like- a beach that's really long, and really nice. There was a relatively small (maybe 100 feet long) coral reef about thirty feet out from our hotel beach which provided excellent snorkeling for the whole family. We didn't see anything incredible out there like a sting ray or an eel, just your basic reef fish. These fish were still entertaining, as it's not every day that one gets to see over fifty different types of salt water fish in a few square feet of water.
On the second full day on Grand Cayman, we got a rental car from Avis. You know it's bad when the locals call it a "tourist matchbox." I prefered to call it a "four person covered moped," while my dad liked "the Bean-mobile" (from the popular European Bean's car). This car was so small that, while in neutral, I was able to push it around the parking lot with two adults and one child inside. Small. It was the smallest car in the world, besides others like it, that we'd ever seen. Regardless, it was a great family experience that I wouldn't miss. Just one of those things that you have to do to say that you've "been there, done that."
One really cool thing is that there is an area on the island named "Hell." I had a lot of fun with this. "Hey Dad, while you're driving us around pointlessly on the island- how about you go to Hell for me?" There was also a sea turtle farm that we stopped at on the island, but for $6 per person I'd rather have just rented some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles videos at Blockbuster.
I'm going to skip telling you about anymore snorkeling or beautiful scenery that we saw and the nice beaches with hammocks, you can read about that in any travel magazine.
While I know that none of y'all are boozers, your parents might have heard of Tortuga Rum. It's made in the Cayman Islands, and it's sold EVERYWHERE. Tortuga Rum, Tortuga Rum Punch, Tortuga Rum Cake, Tortuga Rum Balls, Tortuga Rum Mints, Tortuga Rum Deoderant... Well, lots of these places like to give out free samples of their Rum wares. Unknowingly, I downed about 20 ounces of what was labeled "Punch." Only after filling up my third cup did the lady at the counter tell me that I was drinking "Tortuga Rum Punch." It was a head throbbing day in the sun on Grand Cayman for me, albeit a happy day.
Our second to last day on the island, Monday, was the best. Sunday I convinced my parents to rent a moped to drive around the island on. I took a small spill while trying to do a u-turn and ended up crashing into someone's fence. Fortunatelly, I came out unhurt. The moped wasn't due back until noon on Monday, so my dad and I drove it to our SCUBA diving lessons. I gathered up the guts to take a resort quickie-course on SCUBA diving so that I could go out on a 40 minute dive that afternoon.
My dad and I had about 15 minutes to kill before the instructor got there, so I decided to take some last spins on the moped- by myself. There was a long road behind one of the hotels there that was fairly undriven, perfect for a new sport that should be in next year's X Games... moped drag racing. This sport consists of riding an old beat up moped with broken right brakes down small two-lane roads at speeds of up to 40 mph. Fun fun fun.
Soon though the instructor arrived and my fun was over. Me, my dad, and three other tourists had all signed up to take an "Introduction to SCUBA" course, commonly referred to as a "resort course" because that's where most people get these. Two hours later I felt totally comfortable with SCUBA diving and was ready to take on the 2:00 dive with full confidence. Well, that time came around and everybody in our group was ready to dive. As if riding out to the first dive site didn't take long enough, we had to listen to the instructor go through ten more minutes of safety information. Then everybody geared up, hopped in, and our introduction to SCUBA began. My dad and I both enjoyed the dive so much that we decided to go on a second dive which was even more stunning than the first. The deepest that we went underwater was about 60 feet, and let me tell you- it's a whole nother world down there. I had a great time and would recommend resort courses to anyone 12 and up.
Grand Cayman is a beautiful place. When my parents visited it for the first time 22 years ago, I'm sure it was a heaven like no other. It is a lot more commercialized and developed these days, mostly for the better. The food is excellent, the hotels are getting better and better, and the locals are as friendly as ever. Overall, I had a really fun time on Grand Cayman. While it didn't compare to one of the Club Med Huatulco vacations, it was a nice getaway for the summer.
See ya,
Nick
last updated: 9/30/98
Also check out Cayman Islands Experience
