Grand Cayman

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Before we arrived in the Caymans we applied and received a Certificate to Travel from the Cayman government. We had to show the certificate before boarding the plane. We used Southwest points to fly for free. The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Grand Cayman was under two hours. We rented a car and drove ten minutes to our Airbnb located on the south end of Seven Mile Beach. We love this spot, it is steps away from the ocean. There is a small ship wreck a short swim from our beach. We swam out and snorkeled multiple times because it was so close. We brought our own fins, mask and snorkel so we could snorkel whenever we wanted. One of the first things we did upon arriving was google the internet to find out what days during our vacation cruise ships would be in port. We want to avoid popular activities when a ship is in port. We were not feeling well so we spent three days just relaxing.

The Caymans were discovered by Christopher Columbus on May 10 1503. There were no people living on the islands in 1503. The first permanent inhabitants were recorded in 1661. The first settlers included pirates, shipwrecked sailors and deserters from Oliver Cromwell’s army in Jamaica. England took control of the Islands in 1670. I guess that is why they drive on the left side of the road in the Caymans. Slaves were brought to the Caymans from Africa starting in 1734 until 1833 when slavery was abolished. The Caymans are a British oversees territory.

Our first morning in the Caymans we woke up to find our cruise ship the Equinox parked outside of Georgetown. When we were feeling better we drove to Eden Rock to snorkel. There were a lot of large fish swimming around the beach and the locals advised not going in because the fish were feeding on fish heads and tails thrown in by the local fishermen. The fishermen were selling fish from the beach. We walked around to a dive shop that had a deck and a latter to climb into the ocean. We saw lots of fish and the water is not cold.

Since we just spent a week on a cruise ship eating lots of good food, we shopped at the grocery store and ate most meals in. We did have pizza delivered one day and ate out at Rackams Waterfront Bar and Grill for seafood one day.

One day we snorkeled at Cemetery Reef. It is found at the north end of seven mile beach and we parked on the main road and walked past the cemetery to get to the beach. The snorkeling was not good here but we had a good swim and saw lots of vacation homes on the water.

We enjoy visiting breweries so we checked out Cayman Islands Brewery. The beer was good and we played shuffleboard while enjoying our beer.

The number one place to snorkel is Stingray City. You need to take a boat out to Stingray City. It is a shallow sand bar off shore where the stingrays hang out because they know tourists come and bring food. The stingrays are not penned in and are free to come and go. There are many companies that take tourists out to the sand bar. We choose Captain Marvin’s Watersports, we snorkeled at two reef spots and visited Stingray City. Captain Marvin’s can pick you up at your hotel or you can drive to their office. This was a great tour and I highly recommend it. Check out the pictures to see how up close and personal we got with the stingrays.

On my birthday we snorkeled to the wreck near our condo in the morning. At lunch we went to an Italian restaurant called Luca. It is on the Seven Mile Beach and has a beautiful view. After lunch we went to Cayman Spirits for spirit tasting. The owner talked about the spirits as we tasted them then gave us a short tour of the manufacturing. The spirits were very good. If I was home I would have bought some flavored rum.

We enjoyed our time on a Grand Cayman and will come back someday.

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