Advertisement
Published: March 29th 2024
Edit Blog Post
Perfection
It doesn't get much better than this. This was a beach vacation to escape the Pittsburgh winter. We wanted a long beach, turquoise waters, and good food, without any hassles.
Snug Harbor To avoid the $1,000 per night prices at the resorts, we stayed at a short-term rental in Snug Harbor, about a km from the beach. It probably wasn't named because it's snug between the harbor and two highways, but if you stay here and don't rent a car, it's a bit prohibitive. Esterly Tibbels Highway was built to bypass West Bay Rd, which runs along the beach, and we had to cross both to get to the beach and nearby restaurants. The way people drive there is pretty similar to the U.S. - nothing too crazy - but we still celebrated on our final crossing. Our hosts had bikes but they seemed like a very bad idea, especially since they drive on the left, which we're not used to. It's a shame since it wouldn't be too complicated to build a bike and walking network around this part of the island. The only peaceful place to walk was on an abandoned golf course.
The Beach 7-Mile Beach is pretty fabulous. The sand
Storm
The calm waters turned choppy because of a storm at sea. I went for a swim, which was a mistake. But it was fun to watch the surfers. is powdery white and the water is bright turquoise - perfect for floating over the tiny swells. It wasn't too crowded and its gradual slope was easy to run along. We spent much of the days there.
There was a storm at sea on our third day there so because of the intermittent rain, we didn't go to the beach till late afternoon. I rode the swells for a while but the waves were bigger than I'd thought and I had to retreat to the beach to watch the surfers. We stayed to watch the sunset through the breaking clouds.
The CBD Aside from having to sprint across roundabouts to dodge cars, it's very safe to walk around, even at night. The tradeoff is that the town has as much culture as a suburb of Dallas. Nearly all restaurants and shops are in strip malls to accommodate all the cars. Locals are confined to the service industry.
The Bus We only took the bus once. They're more like minivans and you can hail them anywhere along the roads. The workers likely can't afford to live near any of the tourist hotspots, so they're pretty plentiful.
The driver spoke the local pidgin but could communicate well enough in English. They run till late in the evening, so it's a convenient way to get around.
The Food Since we had a kitchen, we traveled with a lot of food from home to avoid the high grocery store prices. We ate breakfast and lunch at home and dinner out. All the restaurants we went to were delicious but pricey. Their atmospheres were formal and forgettable since they overlooked highways or malls, though
Casa 43 was a less-expensive Mexican restaurant with a convivial atmosphere and happy employees.
Overall, we got what we wanted out of the trip, though I wouldn't return for seconds. Grand Cayman is a mini-America: the positive side of this is that the electricity doesn't go out but the negative is that it doesn't have much character and cars rule.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.788s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 25; dbt: 0.7391s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Grand Cayman
We have not been to the Cayman's in years but have fond memories. The waters are azure. This is a great location to escape Pittsburgh winters.