Scuba Diving

Grand Cayman is known for diving vacations. It is one of the top diving destinations. People travel to Grand Cayman to evolve their vacation around scuba diving. That was the reason I went to Grand Cayman actually. Well I did not scuba dive but my cousin and her husband did. They invited me along on their vacation to babysit their 6 year old daughter while they went scuba diving. (This is why I address my cousin all the time in my blog). They went on 13 dives the 6 days we were there.

Divers can choose from a variety of dive sites. There are about 175 sites to choose from. Divers can explore steep, deep walls, swim-throughs, sponges and colorful corals, reefs, wrecks, and all of the marine life. You might see, sea turtles, angel fish, lobsters, eels, groupers, parrot fish, etc. etc. etc. Most dive sites are just minutes from the shore. The Kittiwake is the latest dive attraction and is quickly becoming one of the most popular Caribbean dive sites. A submarine rescue vessel sunk in 2011 and has taken up the northern tip of Seven Mile Beach.

Grand Cayman is strict with reef conservation. You are not allowed to touch or harm them in any way. Grand Cayman's reefs offer a variety of marine life encounters. This gives photographers and videographers great photo opportunities to capture. These reefs are unspoiled while corals thrive in the warm water. Experienced divers also have the option of wall diving to witness the beautiful sea life at a different level.

This is my cousin exploring reefs of Grand Cayman.

Cayman Brac

Cayman Brac is one of the three Cayman Islands. I previously wrote a blog on Little Cayman (Click here to read) and wanted to share more information with you about another island so we are familiar with all three islands. Cayman Brac is about a thirty minute plane ride from Grand Cayman Airport. If you like adventures and nature, you would love this island.

The population of this island is about 1,800, which is still small but a lot more then Little Cayman. The island is about 14 miles long and 1 mile wide. It is named after its 140 ft bluff, 'Brac' is a Gaelic name for a bluff. A bluff is a large central limestone outcrop that rises along the length of the eastern side of the island up to 140 ft above the sea level.

There is a lot of outdoorsy things to do on this island! The bluff is something is see, and you can visit a lighthouse on the top on the bluff for an amazing view of the island and ocean. There is also a LOT of limestone caves and sinkholes, above the water, to explore. You can go rock climbing, fishing, hiking, and lots of exploring. This island is the home to over 200 species of birds! It sounds like this island is right up a nature lover's alley to me.

Also, of course there is diving, which is at every island. The Caymans are known for diving! Something else that is different and could be fun for dinner, is fish for your own food. You can fish in some of the shallow waters and bring your fish back and your chef will cook it for you right away. All of this for a half hour plane ride from Grand Cayman and it is a completely different island.

Conch

Conch, where is even start with this... I will start with a little story. Some background of myself, I used to be a huge picky eater, which I still can be at times, but I am open to trying new things now! Which means, I just started eating seafood not too long ago. Being from Chicago, there is not a huge variety of fish available on a daily basis. That being said when you start naming seafood like Grouper, Trigger, and Conch, I am thinking 'What the heck is that?' Well, I learned at lot about the sea life on this trip!

I tried Grouper and Trigger at other restaurants and they were amazing, it was a white fish. One thing I was seeing on multiple menus were Conch. It was as meals and appetizers, cooked in an abundance of ways. I never asked what it was until my cousin wanted to order it for an appetizer. All she told me was trust me you will like it, which it was good, but I want to share with you what they are so you don't wonder what you are eating like I did.

Conch is a vary popular food on the island. Conch is a sea snail that lives in the pretty shells we would love to collect on the ocean (See above). There are many different species of conch. All parts of the conch meat are edible, but the white meat is the only thing appetizing. You will find Conch cooked/served all kinds of ways. It can be eaten raw, in salads, (which I do not think I am brave enough to try) or cooked as in fritters, chowders, burgers, etc.

Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park

If you love nature, wildlife, or just a bunch of flowers this should be on your bucket list. Queen Elizabeth II opened Grand Cayman's only Botanic Park in 1994. In 1994, only the Woodland Trail was complete, where is a trail that is 4/5 of a mile long. The trail was mapped out so you would get the opportunity to see the unusual and significant habitats. This park is estimated to contain more than 50% of the native flora of the Cayman Islands. The park is open from 9am to 5:30pm everyday and the last admission is at 4:30. It cost $10 US dollars to get in.

There are different parts/sections of the Park. For instance, there is a Floral Color Garden that is to create an informal garden which can alternate between floral designs. It is also laid out by colors. This Botanic Park is also the home to 10 of the 26 orchid species recorded from the Cayman Islands and you will not find 3 of them anywhere but at the Cayman Islands. One of the unique three, is the Cayman's National Flower, the Wild Banana Orchid. I thought this was so interesting because orchids are my favorite flowers and they are so rare in the US! I wish I could grow these everywhere around my house! I guess I need to buy a house in Grand Cayman. :)

Every year, the Botanic Park has annual shows for guests. The Annual Orchid Show is an exhibition of locally grown orchids and it promotes the conservation of the native orchids. You can learn the techniques of growing orchids. Plus, the money goes to a good cause. The proceeds from the Show will go toward the establishment of an orchid garden in the Park. Visit the website here for more information.

(Wild Banana Orchid)

Stingray City

Grand Cayman is the only place you can get up close and personal with stingrays. So if I say so myself, it is a must see in Grand Cayman! This is a busy tourist attraction, but keep reading and you will understand why.. 

Watch this video on Stingrays!! 

It may have all started when stingrays began gathering in the sandbar area awhile ago when fisherman returned from an excursion and cleaned their fish in the water of the sandbar. The remains of the leftover fish were thrown overboard and the stingrays eventually getting smarter and realized they can get leftover food here! Eventually, the stingrays associated the sound of the boats with food. As divers realized this, they noticed they can feed these stingrays by hand. Now today, the boats full of tourists always bring pails of food for the stingrays, feeding them by hand, attracting more and more stingrays to come visit. 

Stingray City is in the Grand Cayman's North Sound in the sandbar area. You need to take a short boat ride to the sandbar area no matter what. There are several different options for that. This attraction is for ALL ages. You can stand in 3 feet of water and you will be surrounded by about two dozen stingrays all by natural habitat. You touch and feed a stingray, along with snorkeling by coral reefs and seeing tropical fish. Talk on the island, if you kiss a stingray... you will have 7 years good luck! :) Book your trip to Stingray City HERE! It is a must see!

More Advantages of Staying in Condos Over Hotels

Hey everyone! Welcome back! Today, I was researching other blogs about the Cayman Islands and other Caribbean travel blogs and everyone had such great points, ideas, and other interesting facts. One post in particular addressed 'Advantages of Staying in Condos Over Hotels' in the Cayman Islands. (See post here!)

I could not agree more with this post and I wanted to share it with you and enhance and add more advantages to it. I stayed at a condo unit called Coconut Bay in West Bay, Grand Cayman and I loved it! I agree that staying at a condo will make your vacation more enjoyable. Some of the reasons are listed below.

As stated in the post linked above:

1. Privacy - You have your own private condo to do whatever you please to do. You can bring your meals outside and enjoy the ocean scenery without trucking your way through lobbies.

2. Space - You have more room in a condo! You can have a condo with 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen,  and patio instead of a hotel room with multiple beds and a pull out couch in one large room.

3. Amenities - The condos have washers and dryers, stove, coffee maker, grill, etc. You can do as you please without bothering anyone. The amenities are a great convenience! (Trust me!)

4. Cost - If you are vacationing for a week with a family or other couples, renting a condo is the cheaper route. You can save money on meals because you are able to go to the grocery store and buy meals for breakfast, lunches, and a couple dinners and you can save hundreds! At a hotel, you would have to eat out every meal.

More advantages I wanted to add were:

5. Children - If you are traveling with children, you have the comfort of watching the kids play in the pool/ocean right from your patio. When it is lunch time, you can make a quick meal and have them playing and enjoying the water in no time, which make you and the kids happy!

6. Convenient - Watch the sunset every night right outside your door. Life could not be more convenient. You can bring a glass of wine out on the beach and enjoy the breathtaking view with the other travelers.

Little Cayman

Here is something about the Cayman Islands that will be a nice change up from Grand Cayman. It is Little Cayman. Little Cayman is one of the three Cayman islands. It is the least developed and the smallest of the three. It is known for a great honeymoon location and is a top Caribbean destination.

The population of this island is about less than 170. Just imagine, that is about the population of a block in Chicago! (Hard to believe!) Little Cayman is only ten miles long and one mile wide. It is a great honeymoon place because their is a lot of privacy and complete relaxation. The beaches are gorgeous with blue water and white sand. What gets better than that?!

Little Cayman is great for scuba diving. There is tons of different sites to dive. Bloody Bay Wall Marine Park is one of the most popular dive sites for divers around the world. It is known for the drop-offs and swim throughs in the ocean. If you are not into diving, there is also a lot of snorkeling in Little Cayman before the walls drop off with a variety of coral and sponges. You might see lobster, octopus, rays, reef sharks, turtles, and plenty of tropical fish! Another interesting fact about Little Cayman is you might get the chance to see unique birds. Little Cayman is a home to the largest colony of Red-Footed Boobies. (I did not know what there were at first, but look how CUTE they are in the picture below!)

Morgan's Harbour

One night while we decided to go out for dinner at Morgan's Harbour for a nice night out. This was a seafood restaurant located in West Bay, Grand Cayman. There was an adorable outdoor patio right on the water to dine. I was so excited just by the looks of it, besides for the fact my hair was blowing everywhere because it was a little windy.

Once we started reviewing the menus, it was hard to choice because everything sounded so good. There was a whole page of items that was there catch of the day. Our waiter informed us that the restaurant uses only locally caught fish to satisfy their guests. You could be eating seafood that the local fisherman caught as early as that morning!

I decided on the Mahi Mahi with a glass of white wine. When the food arrived, the presentation looks amazing! I had Mahi Mahi with potatoes and asparagus. The fish melted in my mouth. I could not find a thing to complain about. My meal was perfect! After all of us were stuffed with delicious food, we still could not say no to dessert. You always have extra room for dessert, right? We decided to spilt a peanut butter ice cream pie because how could you say no to that? The waiter was a jokester and bought all of us tiny baby spoons and my cousin's husband a big spoon. The dessert was amazing even with a TINY spoon! Overall, it was amazing food, great service, and 5 stars! I wish I could eat here everyday!!

(View from our table)

Grand Cayman Roosters!

Day one – when I arrived at the airport, I went through customs, noticed my phone had no service on the island, and I was on the search for my cousin’s family (who I was meeting up with) I found them shortly after I arrived, thank goodness the airport was so small, we didn’t have any problems finding each other without a phone. My cousin’s daughter started telling me how she was chasing chickens in the parking lot of the airport while they were waiting for me. To tell you the truth I thought she was just making this up until my cousin told me there are chickens and roosters roaming around everywhere! I could not believe it, but sure enough when we pulled up to our condo and started to check out our surroundings they were roaming around everywhere!

I was wondering the same thing you probably are right now, where are they coming from and why? The first thing I did was look up ‘Grand Cayman Roosters’ on Google and there is no explanation about the roosters besides for pictures of the roosters of people just as surprised as me. The only reasoning I could find was they are not generally eaten on the island so they roam around in the wild. It was the craziest thing to see for me. Also, another surprise to me was at 5 o’clock every morning I was woken up by a crowing rooster that was right outside my window! That was something I definitely did not get used to. Yes, Grand Cayman has wild roosters/chickens roaming around! Do you know why??

Dolphin Discovery

Happy Monday! How is everyone? I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had the chance to visit family in Kentucky but excited to be back to share more fun information with you about some attractions in the Grand Cayman. Something that sparked my interest was swimming with the dolphins, but I did not get a chance to fit that in my schedule. There was a location to do this really close to our condo in West Bay. It is called Dolphin Discovery and it looks like an awesome place.

To me this seems like it is a must to make a reservation, because there are only 3 times available per day. For an adult to swim with the dolphins it was $169 and for kids it is $129, but a child must swim with a paying adult as a companion. Yes, my first reaction was that it seemed very expensive for a couple hours, but then again when can you actually swim with dolphins?!? The package includes the Dolphin Royal Swim, which includes several different behaviors of the dolphins. They perform a foot push, which means the dolphin will push you by your feet through the water and you can hold onto the fins of dolphins and go for a ride. You also get a kiss, hug, song, and free time with the dolphins. Now do you think the price is worth it? (Because I sure did!) Check out the website for more information. I can’t wait to try this one day!

Iguanas

I noticed wildlife everywhere in the Cayman Islands. Most of it was so unique that it was awesome to see. One creature that kind of scared me at first were the iguanas, but then noticed they were probably more scared of me. Iguanas were everywhere. They would rome the streets, hang out by the pools, and were all over the trees. These iguanas were not the small, cute little lizards, which those were everywhere too by the way, but the iguanas were huge and FAST! My little cousin loved to try and sneak up on them to see how close she can get but it never worked out too well.

The Blue Iguana is the Grand Cayman's largest land animal. They look like mini dragons that are not that mini! They could grow to about five feet long and 25 pounds. They can also live as long as me and you. I wasn't kidding when I said these iguanas were huge! These iguanas were close to extinction in 2002, basically because of construction, road kill, and stray dogs.

Currently, there is a Blue Iguana Recovery Program to help the Blue Iguanas so they do not become extinct. So far, they are doing great. The program includes habitat protection, breeding and releasing, research and monitoring, education, planning, management, and fund raising to keep this work moving forward. The Cayman Islands Department of Environment, the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park, and the International Reptile Conservation Foundation are a few organizations working with this great program to save the iguanas!

Seven Mile Beach

Seven Mile Beach was only a about a mile and a half away from the condo we stayed at. This beach is a public beach. The ocean front that was right outside our condo was not very kid friendly. it was made up on coral rock, barely no sand. It was gorgeous. Also, it was a great place for snorkelers and divers to shore dive and see some great marine life. So the days we wanted to swim in the ocean instead of the pool we went to Seven Mile Beach.

This beach is one of the reasons why Grand Cayman is considered the ultimate Caribbean destination according to the Grand Cayman website. It is a very well-known beach. The water was so clear and bright blue. If there were fish swimming by my feet, I would see them perfectly. The sand on the beach was so white and soft, compared to lake beaches. It was definitely a place I did not want to leave!

There were resorts, hotels, and condos located right off the beach, which I could only imagine how perfect that would be. Since this is a public beach, you can walk the entire beach without it turning into private property. To even make to more awesome, there was restaurants and beach bars along the beach! Even though, I only was there to work on my tan and enjoy the water. There was other people snorkeling off the shore, parasailing, jet skiing, and much more. I could get used to this beach, too bad I cannot be there everyday! It was perfect!

Alfresco

Alfresco was a restaurant that was recommended to us to eat at because of the great food. We glanced to the reviews for the restaurant before we went and people raved about the place and how great it was. After my experience I only somewhat agree to that. Alfresco has outdoor sitting on a patio right off the ocean. The view was fantastic, breathtaking actually. Everything on the menu was very reasonable compared to other restaurants in the area. We had some appetizers and I had a grouper fish for my entree. My company I was with had a pasta dish and pizza. All of us thought the food was great!


All of the food and wonderful scenery was ruined by the poorest service I have ever had unfortunately. Appetizers and dinner literally took 3 hours. I had a glass of wine, I would have liked to have another but the server didn't bother to ask. Our server never asked if we needed anything. She was not very friendly either. Our table was next to the staircase leading to the beach, which was good because the ocean kept my little cousin occupied while we waited for dinner. We had to find our server and ask them to get the check ready right after dinner because we did not want to be there any longer. Like I mentioned before the place gets great reviews, so maybe it was just a bad night. I would recommend this restaurant to others if there was better service.

Cayman Turtle Farm

The Cayman Turtle Farm was a great attraction to visit. It was fun for all ages, but I believe it is geared more to younger children. My 6 year old little cousin LOVED this place, and wanted to go there everyday for the rest of our vacation! If you plan to visit there go during the morning because it closes at four everyday and you need to give yourself some time there. The pricing is a little high but it seems like a lot is expensive on the island and it's worth it!

The park had plenty to see. There was  a breeding pond filled with hundreds of HUGE sea turtles. They said there were some weighing in more than 500 pounds! Also, there was several tanks filled with younger turtles. They allowed you to touch or pick up these turtles. Well that was if you can catch them! That was my cousin's favorite part of the park. She did not want to leave them either. I have to say though, it was my first time I held a sea turtle, so it was pretty awesome!

Turtles was not the only animal at the park, you can see sharks, barracuda, and even a crocodile! You can go snorkeling with turtles and other marine life. You can feed Caribbean birds out of your hand for only $1US dollar. I almost forgot that I did have one bad experience with the birds. The employee that worked with the birds put a bird on my shoulder so I can have a picture, but sure enough the bird had to use the bathroom! (Yuck!) For more information on the Cayman Turtle Farm visit their website HERE.

Shopping!

So who doesn't love to shop while they are on vacation? Well, I know I sure do. I usually need to do some souvenir shopping for friends and family and of course, I need to do some shopping for myself. Shopping is mostly takes place in Georgetown, which is the capital of the Grand Cayman. I had the chance to shop around Georgetown my last day on the island. There were tons of little stores along the coast of the ocean. I noticed that Georgetown was where the cruises docked the ships so people could explore the island on the cruise. Anyway, there were tons of beautiful jewelry stores everywhere, which was very tempting for myself. Also, there were restaurants, souvenir shops, duty-free shops, luxury shops, etc, etc, etc. It is the place to go for shopping!

Georgetown was a very crowded town. The roads were full of cars and parking was hard to find. If you wanted to go shopping you have to make a whole day out of it or else to would not be worth it. On the other hand, we were shopping while a cruise ship was docked so it might have been more crowded. My guess would be if you go when a cruise is not scheduled for that day, the town would not be as crowded.

I did not buy a lot while I was there, maybe next time I visit I can invest in some jewelry! I did buy a Christmas ornament for myself. It is a stingray with santa laying across it holding on. I try and buy an unique ornament for every place I travel too. It is a great remembrance that could last forever and I will not get sick of. :) Just an idea if you want to start your own collection!

Where is Grand Cayman located?

Hey everyone! I hope everyone is doing great as am I. Before I start getting into details and recommendations about the prettiest place to be in my blog. I want to inform you on the island itself, such as the location and a little background to make sure all of us are on the same page. Sorry to the people that are reading this thinking 'how do you not know where the Grand Cayman Island is?' Well, when I was informing people about my vacation, a pretty big chunk of people asked me where the island was. So here is a little geography lesson for you today on the Cayman Islands! :)

The Cayman islands consists of three islands, which are the Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac (see map above of the islands). The islands are in the western Caribbean Sea and is  south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica. Grand Cayman is the largest of the three islands and where most of the tourists visit especially since that is where the international airport is located. The island is about 22 miles long and 8 miles wide, so it is a rather small island to be on. One of the positives to this was we were rather close to everything. The Cayman Islands are considered to be a British Overseas Territory, which was new to me. This island is becoming more and more popular for vacation. Most of the visitors are Americans, which is not surprising to me because the islands are located so close to the east coast. While on vacation for the week, we met mostly Americans, one couple from Turkey that lived there, and a couple locals. The locals were very down to earth and relaxed. There is definitely a mix of cultures on the island but growing more and more for the tourists.

Now that we are back on the same page about the location, come back to visit my blog about some activities!

Coconut Bay Condos

Coconut Bay Condos is where I stayed for the week I visited the Cayman Islands. It was located in West Bay, Grand Cayman, which is only a couple miles away from Seven Mile Beach. It was a two bedroom, 2 bath condo. It was very well kept, spacious, and clean for a reasonable price. Also, there was a kitchen so we had the luxury of saving some money by cooking some meals at the condo instead of eating out everyday. To put a cherry on top, right outside the back door was a pool and hot tub with a gorgeous ocean view. It was nice, quiet, relaxing, and somewhere I would not complain about owning, that's for sure!

Walking distance from the condo was ocean access, you can shore dive or snorkel at the convenience of being close to your condo and seeing tons of awesome sea creatures! There was an unbelievable view of the sunset, it could not have been more perfect. Also, there was a restaurant and a couple attractions that were walking distance from the condo. We had to drive to the public beach because it was a few miles away, but for how beautiful it was, that was not something I could even make myself complain about. There are hotels up and down the ocean front beaches, but sometimes the prices could get a little more expensive. I would love to stay at Coconut Bay again sometime in the future when I go again and I would recommend these condos to you! I think you will have a blast!!

10 ways to prepare yourself for the Cayman Islands

Before you head to the Grand Cayman, here are a few pointers to prepare yourself and make you aware of to make your adventure that much more enjoyable...

1. Do NOT forget your passport! - Yes, you are leaving the country and you will not get very far without your passport.

2. The Grand Cayman time zone is Eastern Standard time. - I am from Illinois, so there was no time barrier for me, which was a plus! An interesting fact about the island is they do not change their clocks for daylight savings time.

3. The Cayman Islands dollar is equal to $1.25 US dollars. - The Grand Cayman has a permanent fixed exchange rate for the US dollar. Everywhere on the island accepts US dollars, but if you receive change it will most likely be in Cayman Island money, which turned out to be very convenient. So, remember CI $1 = $1.25 US.

4. The capital of Grand Cayman is George Town. - Ladies, you will discover this to be where all the shopping is!

5. Cars drive on the opposite side of the road! - Our rented car was backwards from a US car. The driver seat was usually wear the passenger sits. So look both ways, but look the opposite ways first! This is something that was very hard to get used to! 

6. Be prepared for a lot of roundabouts! - Instead of right and left turns to get places, the Grand Cayman had a lot of roundabouts. This is not as easy as it sounds when you have cars coming from opposite directions, rather scary actually!

7. Grocery stores are closed on Sundays. - If you are shopping for food during your vacation, make sure its anyway but Sunday. :)

8. No language barrier. - Don't worry, Caymanians do speak English! English is the official language of the island.

9. The water is safe to drink. - I would double check depending on where you are staying, but overall the water is safe to drink on the island. The island has desalination plants to supply quality water.

10. Lastly, bring sunscreen!! - You would not want to get burnt and ruin your experience!

When to Travel

If it was up to me, I would think anytime of the year it would be great time to visit the Grand Caymans! Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The busiest time of the year for the island is December through April. The weather is a comfortable, high temperature, and who would not want to hang out on a beach during winter time? The island's rainy season is supposedly May through November. 

My vacation was the second week of June and it was beautiful weather, so maybe we were lucky. Some people do not travel there during the summer months because the sun is too strong for them. So, if you do not enjoy high heat I would definitely recommend visiting during the winter months. Everyday it reached at least 90 degrees. Maybe that is where I differed from others, because the weather was one of my favorite parts! It did rain a minimal amount a couple days, but it only lasted for around five minutes each time and was followed by a clear sky right after. Sometimes, if I was inside while it rained, I would not even notice.

Everyday, I was there at some point we were able to hang out by the pool of the condo we stayed at, which I will tell you more about in my next blogs! We also visited a couple beaches, and enjoyed the gorgeous ocean. The water was so clear. I could see my feet at the bottom every time! No wonder they call it the world's leading scuba diving destinations! 

Welcome to my blog, travelers!

Hello everyone! If you are interested in the Grand Caymans, you found the right blog! First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am a student at Illinois State University and I am majoring in Accounting and Finance (only one year to go!). I am creating my first blog and first website for an Electronic Business Management class. One of the many things I am passionate about is traveling, if I would travel all the time I could, but too bad my college funds do not let me do that. (Hopefully one day!) I do usually travel around the United States for the most part. Last summer, I had a wonderful opportunity to study abroad in Europe. I lived in Bristol, England for a month, and visited Ireland, London, and Belgium. It was a blast!

This summer I was lucky enough to travel to the Grand Cayman island for one week, actually I just came back to the US a couple days ago! I did not know much about the island till a couple weeks before when I started searching the Internet. During my vacation there, I experienced so much and it was a beautiful place to be! So I want to share with you some need to know information, recommendations, and first hand experiences from myself! Also, I would like to be able to learn more about this interesting, amazing island! So for the next four weeks of the summer, please follow my blog and you will learn more about unique experiences, restaurants, beaches, scuba diving, attractions, and chickens (yes, wild chickens!). So, I hope you enjoy this blog and learn more with me about the captivating Caymans! :)