Cayman Islands - What to Expect

We stay at Cobalt Coast Resort for the diving. The resort is BEAUTIFUL and you will find no better host than owner Ari. We've stayed at CCR for at least three visits and on these visits, Ari has taken us to the medical clinic when our son Ben got an ear infection, driven us past Hell, bought pool toys for our son, bought a kite for our son, and taken our extended family into town to visit the turtle farm. Rooms have AC and TV (important when traveling with the youngsters!). Good reliable internet connection. Resort has a pool, iron-shore (dead coral) beach, long pier, small sandy area for sun-bathing. Summer has a great introduce-kids-to-water program. Resort also has a dog (Mojo) and cat (Ginger) and a bazillion hermit crabs to pick up and chase. Easy resort to get to (hop from Houston is about 2 hours). Plenty of diving: 2 boat dives each morning to beautiful finger reefs. Shore diving available but there is a long swim out to get past the iron shore. Resort is a little out of the way, but about a 7 to 10 minute drive away from 7-mile beach so rent a car if you want to do more than dive. Menu is limited: it has seven items on it but that's it. It doesn't rotate. Chef is willing to customize (we were able to easily get food Ben would eat). US dollar is accepted tho exchange rate is set so that the Cayman dollar is worth a quarter more than a US dollar so it's expensive. Everyone speaks English.

Wonderful island paradise with a touch of old England. Visit the Turtle sanctury where they rear turtles and release them back into the wild. You must visit Hell and send a franced post card.

About 99% of all visitors to Cayman Brac come for one reason and one reason only; the excellent scuba diving. The Cayman Islands are well known for the murky off-shore banking and for the wonderful coral reefs. Cayman Brac has no shady bank offices, but it has coral reefs to suit most people. For the unlucky non-diving partner, Cayman Brac in all honesty does not have a whole lot to offer by way of sights. There is a small hill called “The Bluff” with a few birds and there is a small “swamp”. Instead, non-diving partners will most probably end up in one of the spas that now seem to be a standard outfit in all hotels on the island. However, for the hard-core diver I would recommend the even smaller sister island Little Cayman, even further away from Grand Cayman. There is even less to do on Little Cayman, but the diving is also a whole lot better. The dive centres on Cayman Brac have tried to spice up the diving by adding artificial reefs (wrecks). The first bigger one was a Soviet-built warship bought from Cuba. The sinking included a member of the Costeau-family staying onboard while the ship sank. Unfortunately, the ship did not end up exactly where planned. In addition, the ship was built from aluminium and the combination salt water, sand and aluminium caused galvanization. The ship was later broken in a storm.

Bloody Bay Wall! Greatest, most pristine coral wall in this hemisphere.

On the northwest part of the island, you will find a very small town called Hell. It is a great tourist trap with great little souveniers. The limestone formations in the area have left a craggy, gnarled landscape of rock which the locals call Hell. The Devil's Hideout is run by a very funny older gentleman who dresses like the Devil. You will have many picture opportunites here. They have a post office, a few shops, and a bar. Don't forget to send postcards to everyone you know from Hell!

You've got to go Sea Trekking!!! It's beautiful w/ loads of colorful fish sea creatures. Water is warm the perfect turquoise! Also, if u have time, rent a scooter to see more of the island.

Take a charter out to Stingray Island. Feeding the rays (yes, they still had their stingers) was a memorable experience. The island itself is very commercialized and expensive. Find a beach and enjoy clear water.

If you are traveling to the Grand Caymans there is a lot to do. One of the must see things is Stingray City. They take you out on a boat and give you snorkel gear and then you jump in the shallow sand bar and hang out with the sting rays. There are tons of them. You can pet them, swim with them, and even get your picture with them. Oh and don't worry they are used to people.

Did some wonderful scuba diving here. Stingray City is very cool - you can pet the stingrays like puppies!

Great scuba diving, high-end shopping, and more. A lot of famous, wealthy people have houses on the island, which tells you that this is not your average Caribbean island. There are plently of nice restaurants and some nightlife, but the main appeal has to be the simple beauty of its beaches and turquoise waters.