Cayman Islands – A Unique Tropical Experience

When it comes to variety, the Cayman Islands is perhaps no different from the world’s most popular tourist destinations. What would probably be the only difference is the quality of the experience – the food, the social life, the adventures, and all the other things that are mostly classified as upscale.

Food

With such a wide array of restaurants and other outstanding gourmet establishments, food and eating at the Cayman Islands can rank among the best in the world. The food is fresh and the cooking is superb, although the price may be a bit on the high end.

The specialties are turtle steaks and turtle soups, conch chowder and conch salad, red snapper sea bass and lobsters. There are restaurants with very good services and they accept credit cards.

Bars and restaurants are well-stocked with all kinds of beverages normally available in America and Europe. Some even have draft beers available in some few bars.

Night life

At Grand Cayman, the day does not end when the sun goes down. In fact, it is just starting at the comedy clubs, bars and nightclubs around. There is variety of music and the clubs have everything: salsa, reggae, calypso, disco and others.

There are also concerts at such places as Lions Centre in Red Bay and theater productions at the Harquail Theatre on West Bay Road or at the Prospect Playhouse in Red Bay.

There are also dinner cruises on board at a replica pirate ship and a 19th century tall ship. For the latest on entertainment on the islands, visitors can follow through the events at the local newspaper.

Shopping

The shopping center at George Town with its array of boutiques and duty-free shops is now one of the leading centers in the Caribbean group. Local foods abound at the Farmers Market Cooperative on Thomas Russell way or Frankie’s Fresh Fruits and Juices on Read Bay Road.

There are also new and modern shopping places with goods from American and European fashion brands, furnishings and household goods. There are local goods, as well like the Tortuga Rum company specialty rum and rum cake, shell jewelry, caymanite (the island’s semi-precious stone) tropical fruits and wood carvings.

The Cayman spirit

At the Cayman Islands, life is a blend of local traditions and American and British social conventions. Shaking of hands is still the usual greeting. Because of the prevalence of people with the same family name, a person may be introduced by his Christian name (Mr. Tom or Mr. Jim).

Flowers are acceptable as gifts on arrival or after a visit for a meal. It is deemed normal to prescribe modes of dressing on invitation cards. Casual wear is acceptable in most places, but beachwear is best confined to the beach. (Topless bathing is prohibited.)

Money

Ten to fifteen percent tips is normal for most services, and hotels and apartments state the specific amount. Restaurant bills usually include the 10 to 15 percent in lieu of tipping.

Currency is in Cayman Islands Dollar with denominations in 50, 25, 10, 5 and 1 cent. US dollars are accepted currencies, too, as are credit cards.

At Cayman Islands, everything is accounted for. Simply bring along your sense of fun and adventure.

Cayman Islands’ Perfect Weather And Geography For Vacationers

One of the best places to go for a vacation in the Caribbean Area is the Cayman Islands. The islands’ temperature and location make them suitable for people to enjoy their summer vacation with so many activities.

The Cayman Islands can be found in the western Caribbean Sea. The islands are located in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, west of Jamaica and south of Cuba. The islands are about 400 miles south of Miami, 180 miles south of Cuba, and 195 miles northwest of Jamaica. Among the islands, Grand Cayman is said to be the biggest with a total area of 76 square miles. Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are the two “sister islands” of Grand Cayman which are located about 80 miles east of the island. The three islands were said to be formed by large coral heads that cover the submerged ice age peaks of the western extensions of the Cuban Sierra Maestra range. Two endemic species of Amazona parrots can be found in the islands. The Amazona leucocephala hesterna, also known as the Cayman Brac Parrot, is native to Cayman Brac. The other one is the Amazona leucocephala caymanensis, also known as the Grand Cayman Parrot, is native to the Cayman Islands. Another notable species found in the islands of Cayman is the endangered Blue Iguana which lives in the Grand Cayman. There are also the agouti and the Booby Birds on Cayman Brac.

If you are looking for a tropical place, the Cayman Islands are perfect for you to visit. The islands have a tropical marine climate. You can experience a wet season of warm, rainy summers from May to October in these islands. Whereas a dry season of relatively cool winter from November to April can be felt if you visit the place. The biggest problem that you can encounter here are tropical cyclones that form during the Atlantic hurricane season that happens from July to November. If you are into a hot vacation, this place is just perfect for you as the place has an average maximum monthly temperature of 89.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

The islands are also said to receive an average of 4.7 inches of rain per month. In the months of May through November, the average monthly temperatures in the islands exceed 90 degrees. While in the months of December through March, the maximum temperatures average about 87 degrees. From January to April, the rainfall is moderate at 1.7 inches per month. The amount of rainfall goes up to 8.3 inches a month when it reaches the months of May to October. It rains for 20 days in the islands in the month of September and 19 days in the month of October. If you are planning to go there, the perfect time to do so is in the late winter to spring as the best weather can be experience in this season.

Having a nice vacation in a tropical island can be experienced in Cayman Islands. With the islands’ ideal temperature and geography, it is impossible for you not to enjoy your visit there.

Top Questions About Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands ranks very high in the list of tourist places to visit. Coming mostly from temperate countries, the typical Cayman Islands visitor wants to enjoy the warm, tropical sun plus the relaxing tropical sea breeze.

Not only that, the tourists would also like to enjoy the sights of the underwater world, enjoy the food and the culture of people.

Since some of the visitors are first-timers, it is only understandable that they have tons of questions about the islands that are not quite clear in travel brochures or books. The following are random questions (and answers) all about enjoying one’s stay at the Cayman Islands.

Does it rain in the islands?

There are two seasons here, the summer (or “rainy” season) and the winter (or “dry” season). Summer in the islands runs from mid-May to October, followed by “winter” or dry season from November to April.

It is not unusual that there are brief afternoon showers in the “summer” months. This is also true in the mornings when brief drizzles do sometimes occur.

Is it very hot?

The average temperature in the “winter” is 75º Fahrenheit and 85º Fahrenheit in the “summer”. In short, the temperature moves within the 70º to 90º F range throughout the year, summer or winter. (Most properties have air-conditioning units.)

Why is diving said to be so good?

First, there are no mountains and there are no rivers, so there is no run-off of water to the sea. This makes our reefs so well-developed and the sea water so clear around them, which makes for the best diving conditions.

We also limit fishing and outlawed anchoring. We educate the divers and do our self-policing in our dive operations.

What if I get sick?

The Cayman Islands’ Health Services Complex is at George Town, Grand Cayman. It has modern equipments and facilities handled by highly trained personnel.

There is also a 24-hour hyperbaric decompression chamber available for divers and an air ambulance service for other emergencies.

There is also a private hospital, Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial, in George Town as well as a number of other private facilities that offer a variety of professional medical services.

Another government hospital, Faith Hospital, is located at Cayman Brac. In Little Cayman, there is a small clinic to serve for emergencies.

Are there any beaches for nude bathing?

There are no nude beaches in the Cayman Islands. Please note that any and all forms of nudity, including topless sunbathing, are prohibited in the islands. Many business establishments also request that you wear shoes and appropriate clothes before entering.

Are there activities for children?

As a matter of fact, there are many. They will enjoy the various water sports like banana boats, two-person parasailing, or discovering the beautiful marine world through snorkeling and swimming.

Adolescents over 12 years can also learn to dive. There are also submarines and other submersibles to view our amazing underwater reefs. Don’t miss the stingray city with tame southern stingrays in their natural habitats.

At the Cayman Islands, you can do a lot of enjoyable activities like diving, sailing, and swimming. The other tourists would like to rest and relax while enjoying the sun, the sea and the sand. The authorities are making every effort to let it stay that way.

Cayman Islands’ Best Places To Visit

If you plan to have a vacation in Cayman Islands, it is worth noting the places in the islands where most people visit and enjoy. The islands offer unique tourist attractions which include Sting Ray City, the Cayman Turtle Farm, and Pedro St. James Historic Site. Below are some of the islands’ best spots.

The Sting Ray City offers visitors an opportunity to have a close encounter with large stingrays. You might love the idea of stepping out from a boat into three feet of water on a sandbar and have legs rubbed with the wings of stingrays. It is said that the stingrays in the area became used to human touch years ago. This happened because fishermen would stop their boats on the side to clean the fish they caught and throw its remains over the side.

The Rum Point is a picturesque place on the side of Grand Cayman where you can hang out for swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, and dining. The place is ideal for these activities because of its casual island atmosphere.

The Grand Cayman's Q. E. II Botanic Park is a two-acre Heritage Garden. It showcases a restored early 20th century, three-room, zinc-roofed Caymanian wooden cottage. You can also relax on its 2.5 acres floral garden that displays hundreds of tropical and sub tropical plants.

The Cayman Islands National Museum offers you more than 2,000 items of historical artifacts. These include old coins, rare documents, and natural history specimens. The private collection of historic memorabilia of the late Ira Thompson is said to be the museum’s foundation.

The Boatswain’s Beach (Cayman Turtle Farm) can educate you about sea turtles. It provides expanded facilities for visitor education. The farm holds a research and educational facility dedicated to the conservation of sea turtles. The farm also has some birds, caiman, and other creatures.

The Cayman Craft Market is located in central George Town. The market provides you with locally made wood and leathering products, thatch and straw work, and local visual arts. Going to this place makes you immerse in a unique Caymanian atmosphere where you can buy a real part of Cayman and at the same time learn about the place’s culture and history.

The islands of Cayman also offer you an opportunity to visit caves. Caving opportunities include Bat Cave where you can see a colony of bats; Great Cave which gives you a taste of living in a pirate cave; Peter’s Cave which is known as a hurricane refuge; Pirate’s Caves which are natural limestone caves located below the southern part of Bodden Town; Rebecca’s Cave which is named after a girl who took refuge on the cave when a hurricane was plaguing the area and died and buried in the cave; and Skull Cave which got its name because its entrance looks like a skull.

In addition, you also have the option of hiking in the islands. You can go across Cayman Brac where trails include easy hikes, a group of caves on the southern shoreline, and two miles of trails through a reserve for the rare Cayman parrot. You can also take Grand Cayman’s Mastic Trail where you can see orchids, parrots, doves, woodpeckers, snakes, and lizards.

With all of these tourist spots, you can never be bored in your stay in Cayman Islands. All of these are the best ones to entertain you from day 1 up to your last.

King Of The Cayman Islands

Peaceful, alluring, breathtaking, and magnificent are just some of the many positive responses of tourists talking about the Grand Cayman, the largest of the three-island group of the Cayman Islands.

It is not surprising for tourists to stay longer than planned, reasoning they have not explored all the other fantastic sites in the Grand Cayman alone.

This biggest of the Cayman Islands boasts of a diverse array of tourist attractions, nature and wildlife sites, white sand beaches, snorkeling and diving spots. The following are some of the top attractions of the island.

Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park

This famous nature park of flora and fauna is 65 acres big, but is easy to trek for anyone. Tourists marvel at the path of bromeliads, orchids, mahogany trees, dry thickets, swamp and wetland.

There are around 300 native species of birds and reptiles living in the palms and the wood swamps inside the park.

Turtle farm

There are more than 16,000 sea turtles at the Turtle Farm in Boatswain’s Beach that had been attracting tourists since 1968. The farm is the only commercial sea turtle farm in the world.

The turtles are in different sizes of pools and are released to the wild after being taken care of. Sometimes, tourists sponsor the release of a baby turtle into the sea.

Butterfly farm

At the Butterfly farm, tourists are treated to a nature walk inside where all types of butterflies are housed. Photographers are treated with so many subjects for their shoots, including the complete life cycle of a butterfly.

There is a resident entomologist to lecture tourists on the many interesting facts about butterflies. (Come early and watch a chrysalis opening and a butterfly coming out of it.)

Seven Mile Beach

The perfect place to swim and enjoy the sun, Seven Mile beach is never crowded even on weekends. The waters are clear and the white sand stretches across five and a half miles.

It is the one of the most sought-after beaches in the world where one can also snorkel, dive, watch the sunset or simply cruise around away from the noise of the city.

Rum Point

This is even more secluded and peaceful than the other beaches, perfect for lounging around in hammocks to relax or to also go snorkeling.

You can come here via the bus shuttle service. Best is by renting a car because going there is also a marvelous experience watching the view.

Pirates' Caves

These are natural limestone caves with many openings leading to the sea. Children will have a great time inside as it has a petting zoo, a gift shop, plastic dinosaurs, fake bones and talking parrots.

Eden Rock

Eden Rock has two must-see reefs for divers – Devil’s Grotto and Evil’s Rock. At Eden Rock, snorkelers can feed and play with yellowtails, sea fans, sergeant majors, sponges and other fish.

The numerous grottos, caves, and miniwalls of Eden Rock are also popular with tourists.

If you plan to go exploring the beautiful places of the Cayman Islands, the Grand Cayman should be the first place you should visit to start your fun-filled, memorable adventure right away. See for yourself why this place is sought-after by tourists all around the world.

Life In The Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands belong to those groups of places on earth that is near perfect in terms of beauty and the promise of fun-filled adventure days. However, regular life in a place way different from where you come from needs some orientation, tips, and guides. We usually get them from those who had been here before.

The people

Even being more liberal than the other Caribbean islanders, Caymanians are still relatively conservative. Public displays of affection (gay or straight) are not usually acceptable.

In the past years, gay cruise ships have been barred from calling in the Cayman Islands, although the recent policy now is to remain non-discriminatory. Gay visitors can expect the same levels of hospitality and service as others. (Expect some hesitation from older Caymanians.) The younger set is very liberal and will not care for the most part.

Social niceties

Caymanians are known to be very respectful. Greetings and pleasantries are common. People are expected to greet and be greeted even in shops. Islanders use titles of respect like Mr. or Mrs. followed with the given name.

Crime

The Cayman Islands is a relatively low-crime area compared to the others in the region. However, there are certain things you do not usually do even in the more sophisticated places in the world.

Walking or cycling at night in dark roads can put oneself at risk for assault or robbery. There were many incidents, too, of pedestrians being hit by cars along soft-shouldered roads.

Women traveling alone should be careful, especially at night. Be ready with your cell phones capable of calling the local 911, if you feel you are being followed or inappropriately watched.

Drunk driving and burglary

Drunk driving and hit-and-run accidents have been a problem in most cities, and it is no different here. DUI is a serious offense in the Cayman Islands.

Burglary is another problem. Most often, burglars hit some small hi-tech devices (phones, music and game players, etc.) and portable laptops.

George Town

It is generally safe at the capital city of George Town. Some areas are to be avoided (Rock Hole, Swamp, Jamaica Town, Courts Road, Eastern Avenue, Windsor Park) which is not much of a problem because these places are well out of the way.

Also, George Town is deserted at night as there are few centrally located restaurants, bars or nightclubs.

At the beach

No one will steal your towels, your sneakers, or your lunch. Thieves are not desperate to steal your used personal belongings or your snorkeling device.

These are just local teens who want to sell these items to other teens. An average pair of sunglasses is safe. A pair of Chanel replicas might just interest them.

Mixed notes

Locals will not eat barracuda because they might be poisonous. There are other reef fishes, however, that are very good — groupers, eels, sea bass, snappers, mackerels, etc.

There are no natural fresh water resources in the islands. Drinking water is supplied by desalination plants and rainwater catchments.

Be sure to put on sunscreen the whole day if you plan of going out around town or elsewhere in the islands. It is sunny the whole year.

Just like in other places, life can be simple in the Cayman Islands. The difference is that taking account of everything here, it can be almost paradise.

6 Perfect Venues to Learn Diving at the Cayman Islands

You never thought that you will be interested to try and learn diving. You don’t consider yourself as the greatest swimmer, which makes you more hesitant to go way beyond the surface. Now that you are already scheduled to visit the Cayman Islands, you might as well benefit from the trip from learning new sports. This is the perfect time to conquer your fear and start to learn this fun and exciting water activity.

To make you feel at ease about this venture, you must look for dive resorts and programs that are recognized by the Professional Association of Dive Instructors or PADI. It won’t be that hard to look for these spots in the region. To guide you in the process of trying to sort out your choices, here are some of the PADI recognized venues and programs that can be found throughout this nation.

1. Sunset House Hotel. This can be found near the George Town. This is where you can find the Sunset Divers. There are two wrecks that are perfect for the activity at the reef offshore. Diving at the offshore can be done during the day and at night. This also houses the My Bar, which can be found the resorts grounds, where most divers usually hang out.

2. Cayman Diving College. This institution is at the George Town and is managed by Ashley McKnight. This is a teaching venue for professional dive instructors. This also offers the Discovery Scuba Diving treats that last for three hours. The Diver Down is affiliated with this, which is a program about boat diving where divers are brought to various sites at the Grand Cayman.

3. Divetech Ltd. This can be found at the Grand Cayman where you can avail stay and dive packages at the Cobalt Coast Resort and Suites. The packages include instructions for recreational diving and technical programs. This also offers a diving learning program for kids. They allow their participants to dive into the Grand Cayman’s reefs and north walls and also at the Stingray City once a week. It also offers other special programs, which include handicapped scuba programs, treasure hunting underwater and snorkeling and picnic at the beach treats.

4. Red Sail Sports. This offers expert diving programs at various beach dive centers and hotels. This is offered at the Marriott Beach Resort, Hyatt Regency, Morritt's Tortuga Divers, Rum Point, Courtyard by Marriott, Westin Casuarina Resort and Sea Grape.

5. Reef Divers at Little Cayman. This accepts diving instruction programs for beginners to Dive Master and they give out the corresponding certification. They take advantage of the wall diving features and great marine environment at the Little Cayman.

6. Ocean Frontiers, Ltd. This is at the Compass Point Resort on the east end part of the Grand Cayman. Aside from diving, they also provide fishing trips and snorkeling.

Surprise your friends and relatives by coming home with a new found skill and love for diving after your trip to the Cayman Islands. This can be easily achieved by trying any of the programs that are being offered by various institutions that can be found in the region.