Tag Archives: Cayman Islands

Exiting Eden

After five days in the hot Cayman sun I’m dark enough that Arizona police would likely arrest me on sight if I weren’t carrying proof of citizenship. For our last day in the glorious Cayman Islands we piled into our rented Suzuki Grand Vitara, possibly the world’s slowest SUV, and headed out for some snorkeling amongst the rocks and coral surrounding Georgetown. The abundant sea life on display was typically wondrous and we were reminded again why divers flock to this ocean paradise. The Grand Vitara, however, must surely have been created to make the Ford Focus seem sporty. It does 0-60 in something under an hour, and has ... [Read More]

Spectacular Stingray City

Today was one of those days I just know I’ll remember for the rest of my life. It was a typically beautiful Cayman day: temps in the high-80s, slight breeze blowing off the ocean, the smell of salt in the air. A perfect day to set out on a boat to mingle with stingrays on Grand Cayman’s famous sandbar. Stingray City is a series of sandbars in the North Sound area of Grand Cayman, not far from Rum Point. It’s crawling with stingrays, many as big as five feet across. They’re very accustomed to people, and you can interact with them in the water. This is my ... [Read More]

Cruising Cayman

I’m not fond of cruise ship passengers. I resent their mass invasion of my tranquil island getaway. It irritates me that they spend a few hours wandering about the touristy shops buying coffee mugs with dolphin-shaped handles and think they’ve experienced the Caymans. They mill around aimlessly, confused because no one is telling them where to be, desperately searching for the next buffet line. I actually heard one guy today say “we’d better hurry or we’ll miss the 5:00 feeding.” (He may have said meal, but I heard “feeding.” And he said this at 2:30.) I don’t like cruisers. To them, because I’ve managed to get to town all by ... [Read More]

Another day in paradise

Most people have to die to go to heaven. I flew Delta. Today was a typically hot, sunny, perfect Caribbean day. I’ve got the sunburn to prove it. Real men don’t wear sunscreen. I said as much while assuring my friends that I didn’t burn easily and didn’t need to lather their cocoa-butter, SPF 30, water-resistant, herb infused cream over all the exposed parts of my body. Real men are stupid. The only thing that makes my sunburn appear less bad is the lobster-like hues being sported by Emily and Terri. These two were so pale when we arrived in the Caymans that immigration mistook them for albinos and passed ... [Read More]

Wahoo, Cayman style

  A mere two hours after being locked in a metal tube with a screaming infant intent on shattering my ear drums, I arrived in the glorious Cayman Islands. (I did suggest to the boy’s mother that we stow the shrieking child in an overhead bin, but there were none empty, and the stewardesses seemed unwilling to put him down below with the luggage. We settled on giving the demon spawn Benadryl and vodka. Note to travelers –a drunk child is a happy child.) If there’s a heaven I think the Caymans stole the blueprints. This tiny island nation is unreasonably beautiful. I’ve been to the Caymans many times. ... [Read More]