Tales of a Caymanian Tour Guide

I have been SUCH a bad blogger lately...it turns out I haven't posted on here for over two months. However, it's not my fault - I blame my parents entirely.

For most of September, I got to play tour guide for my parents (they are terrible tippers), immerse them in Cayman life and be a tourist in my own backyard for a few weekends. And I have to say, there is an incredible amount to do on an island this small, given I previously thought nothing much happened here. There are numerous activities we didn't even manage to fit in while they were here and had to go on the "next year" list (or in my case, next weekend list). Obviously, there are the stunning beaches, white sand, crystal blue water, yada, yada, yada...

Horrible spot to spend a day or three.

Booooring. So what ELSE is there to do once you've had enough of sunning yourself on Seven Mile Beach or paddle boarding around the island? Why is a trip all the way over here worthwhile (other than to visit me and my sparkling personality, of course)?

Not a wave in sight. And yet.....

Well, here are my top 5 reasons to come to Grand Cayman.

1. Snorkelling & Diving

Starting with the obvious. Given that Grand Cayman sits entirely on coral reef,  snorkelling and scuba diving opportunities abound. There are many hot spots around the island where you're guaranteed to see awesome fish, stingrays, reef sharks, star fish or turtles. The very first item I purchased on island was a snorkel which was a pretty good omen of life here. My favourite spot is Smith's Barcadere which is stunning little beach about 10 minutes' drive from my house. You can wander down in the afternoon, snorkel off to left, lie down on the beach for a bit, snorkel off to the right, lie down on the beach for a bit....repeat.

The gorgeous Smith Barcadere

I do not scuba dive because it is wholly unnatural for a human to be down that far and is very scary so you'll have to ask someone else about the diving, but by all accounts it's some of the best in the world.

2. Stingray City

Most Australians are horrified when they hear about Stingray city, which is a natural sandbar off the North Western tip of the island, where you swim with, feed and kiss stingrays. The entire country is clearly still scarred from the Steve Irwin story and in need of some exposure therapy. So come to Grand Cayman to overcome your fears, people! It's actually completely safe, they're super cute and it is honestly a once in a lifetime experience. They say if you kiss a stingray you get 7 years' good luck, so needless to say I was pashing as many as I could get my hands on.....

You might get 7 years' good luck but it doesn't make it any less gross and fishy!

3. Bioluminescence

Another once in a lifetime experience in Grand Cayman is visiting the bioluminescence bay where on a moonless night you can swim in water filled with teeny tiny plankton that light up in response to movement. When you put on your snorkel, put your head under the water and move your arms, the invisible plankton light up gold and you can conduct your own symphony underwater (humming aloud through your snorkel for the world to hear), pretend to be a wizard at Hogwarts (Hermione, obviously) or make golden water angels (below - mine were better). The photos make it look blue but in real life, it sparkles gold. Ah-may-zing. I may yet get my Hogwarts letter.....

4. Turtle Centre

I had always heard that Australia is the only country in the world where its people eat the animals on their coat of arms but it turns out we are not alone - hello Cayman Islands! The Cayman Islands has a little turtle on top of their national crest and one of the Island delicacies is in fact turtle meat.

So, the Cayman Islands turtle centre is a rather weird and uncomfortable combination of research, education and conservation centre plus theme park and tourist attraction plus turtle farm to harvest and sell turtle meat (so locals have a regular supply and don't try and catch the wild turtles to deplete the natural population). If you ignore the third part that's off behind a wall somewhere, you can snorkel with turtles, hold them, feed huge mama breeding turtles and ride a fun waterslide for hours.

Oh hey, Squirt. 

5. Restaurants

A big surprise for me when I arrived in Grand Cayman was the sophistication of the restaurant scene here on island. There are countless high quality, internationally recognised restaurants here with particularly good seafood (mahi, wahoo and snapper are caught fresh daily and conch is a local delicacy), great wine and superb cocktails. Having visitors in town is the perfect excuse to try them all*!

The Lighthouse restaurant at East End

Morgan's Restaurant

* you absolutely cannot try them all - there are too many - this will be a several-year project. More visitors would be appreciated to speed up the process. Thank you.

Now, this list does not include visiting the Blue Iguanas at Queen Elizabeth II National Park, going to any of the museums on island, visiting the Crystal Caves or countless other activities that I haven't had a chance to do yet. But hopefully it's enough to whet your appetite for a Caribbean vacay. See you soon :)