Episode 4: The Cayman Islands
August 2024
I’ve been aware of the Cayman Islands my whole life. Which is much different than knowing the Cayman Islands; up until this summer, I’d never been there. But I’m old enough to instinctively remember the old Cayman Islands jingle from their tourism commercial in the 80s; that one that goes “The Cayman Islands, just a few know of us; The ones who know us love us, The Cayman Islands.” And my uncle was actually born there and spent his childhood there, so I’ve been regaled since I was very young with amazing, borderline unbelievable stories about what it was like coming of age on an island paradise. About the massive changes that have transformed a once sleepy island into the tourist mecca it is today. And, most of all, about how great the beaches are and how incredibly clear and calm the water is. So, I’ve always wanted to go.
On the flip side, though, I’ve also had other Cayman visitors tell me that they didn’t understand the appeal of Cayman, and that they had most definitely seen prettier water elsewhere. So I didn’t know if the Caymans were actually worth the trip, or if maybe my extended family’s love of Cayman was a love of fond reminiscence. I thought that the best way to find out would be to finally see it for myself. This time, I traveled with my husband and kids, as well as with my parents (who had all also never been to the Cayman Islands before).
Luckily, there is a very easy 3 hour direct flight from Houston to Grand Cayman. And car rentals upon arrival are as close as a 2 minute stroll down the sidewalk outside of the airport exit doors. We stayed on Seven Mile Beach, a very literal 7 mile stretch of white sand running between George Town and West Bay. The day we arrived, and the two days after, were absolutely beautiful. Hot, as was expected; but the wind was low, the beach was soft and wide, and the water was calm and absolutely crystal clear. For the latter portion of our trip, though, a tropical storm rolled past, to the North of the island. This kicked up the wind, brough a heavy dose of rain, and made the seas a bit more turbulent and a lot less clear than they were days before. The same strip of beach and sea in front of our room looked like a different place entirely, and made me realize that everyone I had spoken to about the Caymans, especially with regard to the water, was absolutely correct. Depending on the day it could be like looking at azure glass, or like looking at a silty soup.
Aside from beach time, we had planned a few dinners, and a couple activities. I honestly wasn’t especially optimistic about the food. I’ve been to quite a few Caribbean islands over the years, and haven’t been overly impressed by their fare. Especially not on those islands that have seemingly shifted to tourist-focused themes. But, I am happy to report that I was absolutely incorrect about dining on Cayman. The seafood options were plentiful, and fresh, and varied. We had seafood curry, seafood risotto, and “Junior Lobster” for the kids at the Lobster Pot (with the added bonus that the boys got to feed tarpon after dinner). We had seafood curry and “kid’s steak” at the Grand Ole House; had oysters, “grouper wings”, escovietch, and ricotta gnocchi at Calypso Grill; and had Johnny Cakes, cracked conch, and crab cake salad at the Cracked Conch. All of the dishes were good, with the seafood curry, the ricotta gnocchi, the cracked conch, and the Johnny Cakes (which are more a bread than a dish) being our favorites.
As for the activities, we planned a day tour of Stingray City and Starfish Point with the Red Sail company, as well as an evening trip to the Bioluminescent Bay with Six Senses Tours. The Stingray City trip was supposed to be first, and when we woke up for it, it was pouring rain. We walked to the meeting point anyway, and got on the waiting bus, which then immediately drove to the next pickup point. After sitting on the bus there for 15 minutes, the driver turned around and said, “Sorry folks, the tour is cancelled” (which was finished in my head with, “the moose out front should have told you”). So, that tour got rescheduled for later, and we did the Bioluminescent Bay first, when the storms had subsided. The Bioluminescent Bay at Grand Cayman is one of the few places in the world with high enough concentrations of tiny single celled plankton (called dinoflagellates, or Pyrodinium Bahamanse) that will produce light when the water around them is disturbed. We met on the boat at about 7pm, and were all given wetsuits to put on. One of my kids complained about his wetsuit “feeling weird” for the entire 30 minute ride out to the bay, but as soon as we arrived at Bio Bay (in the dark) and got in the water with snorkel gear, all of that was forgotten. It was wild! With everything dark around you, any time you moved your limbs, the water around them lit up. Moving your hands would create a brightly lit, frozen hand trail behind them. You could see everyone else snorkeling by the light emitting all around them. I don’t know if this was a once in a lifetime experience or not, but it was certainly worth doing and seeing. It lived up to my high expectations.
Our last tour was the rescheduled Stingray City and Starfish Point tour. I have done “Shark Ray Alley” in Belize, and have seen a lot of rays while scuba diving and snorkeling, so I didn’t know whether it would be exciting or not (though I knew it would be for the boys). You basically boat out to a shallow area where, in the old days, fishermen used to clean their catch. They noticed, when they were cleaning fish, that stingrays would circle the boats and eat all of the parts being thrown into the water. Some enterprising person realized that there was money to be made by bringing tourists to that spot, and Stingray City was born. And, it was a lot of fun for everyone. There were a LOT of very large and very friendly (or, very hungry) stingrays. Henry was initially afraid of the being severely injured by a stingray barb, in spite of our assurance that the tour wouldn’t exist if there was any likelihood of that happening. But by the end was swimming around with his brother, chasing fish and rays everywhere. Michael figured out how to pick up and hold some of them on his own, without the guide; much to my, and the guide’s, chagrin. And, I may or may not have kissed a ray or two. After about 20 minutes at that spot, we moved to a nearby snorkeling spot. Michael and I snorkeled the whole time (we saw some fish, some conch, and another ray), but it was a bust for the boys, whose masks fogged constantly and whose snorkels “didn’t fit”. Last, we stopped at Starfish Point, which was my absolute favorite spot of the trip, and I wish I could have stayed there longer. The starfish, big and small, were everywhere, and they would suction to you and walk/crawl around. I loved every second of it.
On our departure day, we drove to the “Blowholes” on the east end of the island. There are holes and cuts in the coral along the shore there, and as the surf and waves advance and retreat, air and mist is pushed through the holes making a breathing sound (and sometimes a spray or two). Probably not worth the 50 minute drive, but what else were we going to do! On the way from the Blowholes to the airport, we stopped at the Czech in Grill for conch fritters, tacos and burgers. They have a full bar, but it doesn’t open until noon and they won’t serve anything that doesn’t come in a can or bottle until then (and there is a good chance that can or bottle will be room temperature when you get it!) The food was actually decent, and much better than airport food, so I consider it a win. After our quick lunch, we went straight to the airport for our uneventful flight home, and our return to real life.