Blogs from Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Central America Caribbean - page 2

Today was a most successful drift snorkel to Rum Point. The wind conditions were perfect, so there was barely any current moving us along. As usual David dropped me, and this time Jess too, at the local public restroom in Caiman Kai, and parked up next to Rum Point, and then walked back. At last he remembered to time all that – 12 minutes for the drive and the walk back. We entered and swam out to the farther reef and enjoyed the very alive and varied colorful soft corals and fans. Then we swam back into the middle, and then along the closer reef. Along the way we spotted 3 sting rays and an enormous Eagle Ray. That was wonderful – they “fly” with such grace. However, we also had never noticed how they skim ... read more

The day that our friends would have swapped places, but instead Jess from Indianapolis arrives. We did some final birdwatching in the weird and wonderful “hinterlands,” of Boddentown area. In other words, we drove down graveled and dirt roads to wherever we saw bodies of water. Saw good stuff at one: little blue heron, tri-color heron, cattle egret, black & white stilt, anhinga, least tern, pied billed grebe ??? moorhen (or common gallinule if we want to sound fancy). Then we went to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Gardens again, just to the parking lot, and the find of the day was the Governor’s official car – a fancy JAGUAR!!! with the Caymanian Flag stuck on the front and a crown where the license plate should be. My guess? He’s treating his Mum to a visit to ... read more

We decided to check out Barefoot Beach again (3 years ago) and a new visit to snorkel under the pier of Morritt’s resort after waking up early, as usual! Barefoot Beach supposed also had a wreck to the right, which would have been a little interesting to see wheels and bits, but we didn’t find anything, so swam out towards the breaking waves at the reef’s edge. After the usual length of seagrass we got to some good variety of corals and the usual friends of tropical fish. Being near the waves, the visibility was not as clear as Eden Rock’s open expanse, but good. I have set a goal of finding queen conch. Technically anyone can "harvest" them between November and the end of April - so too late now! Up to 5 a day ... read more

We started the day with snorkeling at 1 new place: Queen’s Monument, so called because nearby was a monument to the fact that Queen Elizabeth opened that road around the top end of the island. It was a rocky entrance – we are always grateful for our TUSA boots. (For those of you who don’t know, most snorkelers strap on or slip on rubber flippers, but divers wear booties that go into heavier boots. Ours are sort of in between, and it enables us to “walk in” to snorkeling places even when there is no sand, but lots of rocks or “iron shore,” which is coral or old lava fields.) The winds were up, but we didn’t feel too much current there, and enjoyed tooling around the heads of coral. Again there were many heathy and ... read more

Well, it was lovely to not race off to snorkel – and in fact it became a “dry day” – our first and probably only. We attended the 9 am service at the Cayman Island Baptist Church – which is where we had attended 3 years ago at the invitation of our landlady. When we arrived maybe 20 mins early we thought – wow, no one is here. Must be island time as it was well attended by 9:03 ? Good music, excellent singers, and marvelous sermon by the youth pastor, who is a Bodden – evidently a descendent from one of the original founders of the island. Not that anyone greeted us – so not as friendly as Advent! Afterwards we were invited to return next week, with the admonition to get there early as ... read more