Cayman Islands

Advantages: Great People, Great Place
Disadvantages: Hurricane Season

...me tell you about the Cayman Islands. They are 3 beautiful little islands (or splashes of colour as we call them) situated in the middle of the Caribbean in between Jamaica and Cuba. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus after seeing Turtles nearby. The island is a British Overseas Territory so many things operate similar to Britain including driving on the left. The Main Island and home to the Capital George Town is Grand Cayman. This is ...
...plane takes you from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac. There is not a lot to do on these island other than relax and dive. Grand Cayman is a fantastic place to be. The island town centre George Town harbours the huge Cruise ship that visit the island. The moment you set foot on the dock you are faced with countless Duty free shops selling mainly, Booze, Jewellery and Perfume. In Town you will find some fantastic places to Drink and eat. ... Read review

Advantages: The memory will stay with you for ever
Disadvantages: Expensive

Grand Cayman is the only place in the world where members of the general public can descend to 800 feet in a research submersible. They have two submersibles in operation, each carries two passengers and the pilot, and operates five times per day, seven days a week. Its been about five years or so since I was there, and it was 269 US dollars per person then (about £180 at that time). Expensive, yes, but the one hour journey was worth every penny ...
...on the globe, and the Cayman Wall, just a few hundred metres from shore, is reputed to drop almost vertically for 25000 feet. I can vouch for the first 800 at least. Having booked the trip several days earlier, I turned up at the harbour for weigh-in armed with my video camera and accompanied by my wife. The submersibles are moored about half a mile from shore so they had to take us out in an inflatable to board it. The trip out there took ten minutes ... Read review

Advantages: Warm Waters and Warm people on shores; Aquamarine, deep waters; Lots of fish to keep you stimulated!
Disadvantages: None encountered

...the calm waters of the Cayman Islands! The nearest boat to yours is at least 1 mile away. In the distance, you can see the lights of the nearest city. Your kids or friends are busy watching a football, rugby or any game for that matter via satellite. No this is not a dream. This can be pure reality. If you are a boat owner, you can make this trip to one of the Caribbean jewels. If you are seriously thinking about a great getaway, you can make a good ...
...locals. Most of the Cayman Islands residents can speak at least these three languages. Back in 1989, my family and some family friends headed out to the Cayman Islands for a week. We had no problems at all. When we docked our boats at the local harbour visit the city, we did have to pay the fees. We made a point to tip the workers. We walked all over the town and never had any trouble with criminal types. Many say that various groups of people commit ... Read review

Advantages: Clean, beautiful, friendly
Disadvantages: more expensive than other areas

...a cruise that included Grand Cayman as one of the ports of call. In a word, it was AWESOME. The snorkeling was fantastic at Eden Rock, part of the Seven Mile Beach. Don't miss the Stingray Adventure. You will board a boat and travel four miles out to sea. Your boat will anchor on a sandbar ranging in depth from around 3 - 6 feet. Once you enter the warm water, you will be surrounded by stingrays. It is an incredible sight to see these wild creatures ...
...offer use of snorkeling equipment. Take advantage of it. Shopping was good, but not as inexpensive as other islands in the area. Prices were firm, no bartering. Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe on the beach was pricey, about $40.00 US for 2 hamburgers and cokes, but very good. Locals were very friendly. However, several people working in shops along the beach, had recently moved to the Caymans. They were not very knowledgeable about the area - could ... Read review

Advantages: Beautiful clean beaches, clear water and nice weather.
Disadvantages: Can be expensive and over run from people from cruise liners.

I went to Grand Cayman last October and found it to be everything I'd imagined it to be. The beaches have lovely light coloured soft sand, beautiful clear waters and the snorkelling is fantastic. So many brightly coloured fish to see and reefs to explore. In October it is very hot there but there is the occasional downpour which tends to be very heavy. However, the rain does not last long and within half an hour everything is dry again. We stayed ...
...excellent and is situatied at the north end of the island. The food was really good and they also laid on barbecues in the evenings on the beach. I would recommend avoiding staying at any of the hotels along seven mile beach. These hotels also cater for passengers visiting from the huge cruise liners that moor just off the island about 3 times a week. The hotels along here are literally swamped with tourists from the liners and we found this out ... Read review

Advantages: Marine reserve. Fantastic visibility. Vast array of sea life.
Disadvantages: High cost of living and little to do apart from diving.

...Sharks, turtles, sting rays, manta rays, moray eels, baracuda, they've got the lot. The entire Cayman Islands area is a marine reserve, and no-one is even alowed to drop anchor there. Every 100 metres around the islands you will find buoys to tie up to. These have been carefully fixed into the sea bed so that the corals don't get damaged by anchors. Consequently, the coral is second to none - the best I've seen anywhere in the world. This also means that there is a stunning array of sea-life, including some of the most colourful and unusual fish you could wish to see. Grand Cayman's coast is divided into a number of distinct areas by the local dive leaders, each with a name to identify it. These areas may be grouped into three main groups - West Coast, South Coast and North Coast, the east, I gather, is shallower and less... Read review

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Advantages: none
Disadvantages: many

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Advantages: Cheap, but nasty with it.
Disadvantages: Poor customer care.

...Once was enough, you'll never catch me travelling Airtours again. "Fly direct to the Cayman Islands on one of our Boeing 747s" the brochure said. Direct doesn't mean non-stop, it took 13 hours to cross the Atlantic to the Carribbean because we went via Bangor Maine. As for the 747, I learned later that Airtours didn't have a fleet of 747s, they didn't even have one, so we spent 13 hours cramped up on a 757, which is a sort of stretched 727. By the time we arrived we were already sick of Airtours, then the hotel where we had booked a twin room told us they didn't have any twin rooms. This was the Cayman Islander, subject of a separate opinion, and it turned out to be a right dump. I think we saw the rep once for the customary hard-sell of day trips and a glass of weak punch. I'd rather pay the extra few quid to go with Kuoni... Read review

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