K. Ware

This forum was so helpful to me in planning my trip!! The ideas and suggestions I got over the last few months were invaluable. Thanks to all those who posted trip reports and other information. I wanted to return the favor, so here's my trip report. Warning, I got a little carried away, so it's kind of long! Please email me if there is anything I can do or answer for anyone. <BR> <BR>Thursday, May 25, 2000 <BR> <BR> My husband and I groggily left Richmond at 7:30 am. We had not received much sleep the night before from the excitement of our upcoming vacation in the Cayman Islands! This was going to be our last vacation in quite a while because of some projects that are coming up for both of us, and we wanted to make the most of it. We both travel for our jobs and through the Marriott Rewards program, we were able to obtain free roundtrip tickets to Grand Cayman plus a week's stay at the Marriott. We also decided to top off our holiday with a 2-night stay on Little Cayman. We had a short layover in Atlanta where we took the advice of people on the discussion board and bought 4 bottles of booze at the duty free shop. I had misunderstood the exemption and thought it was two bottles per person and not two bottles per family. Someone on the board had advised others to hide any extra bottles and lie at Cayman customs. Hindsight being 20/20, I'm inclined now to agree, and if I had to do it over, I'd either have dumped the extra bottles in the garbage or hidden and lied! But, I decided that I wanted to be honest, so my husband and I nobly marched up to the declaration line to declare our extra liquor. It turned out that we had to shell out more in duty for the extra two bottles (over $30) than they had originally cost ($27). That was merely a forewarning for the expense that would await us in the days to come! <BR> We caught a taxi to the Marriott and checked in at about 1 p.m. Cayman time. They were wonderful about our certificate and gave us no problems. Our room wasn't yet ready, so we left our luggage with the bellman and went outside to enjoy our first rum punch by the poolside bar. It was a great way to gradually acclimate. We basked in that wonderful Caribbean smell that's a combination of ocean and floral fragrance. The bartender was nice enough to let us know when our room was ready, so we dashed upstairs to see our new home and to change into our bathing suits. The room was really nice and spacious. It looked out over a tropical courtyard where there were palm trees, flowers and a stream running through the middle. The stream was full of pond turtles and there were Caymanian birds all over the courtyard. There were plenty of clean towels, and the bathroom had a really pretty tropical tiled floor. There was a minibar in the room, which during the week, became our fridge after we moved some of the items out. Another feature of the room that we both appreciated was a free safe located in the closet. We just stored our passports, tickets and other valuables in there, and kept the key with us. There was a coffee maker in the room, and you could purchase coffee from the minibar, but we took the advice of the travel board and brought our own coffee and filters. <BR> We unpacked, and went down to check out the beach we'd heard so much controversy about. It seemed like there were so many discussions and questions on the travel board about whether the Marriott beach was still in tact. It was a very pretty beach but filled with beach chairs, so there wasn't much room to walk. I noticed that the width of the beach was about the same as that of three beach chairs placed end to end (longways, if that helps to gauge the beach size a little bit). There wasn't a whole lot of space left, so we staked out a section of the beach next door and hit the water. The water was every bit as clean and clear as I'd heard. The visibility was incredible. The nice thing about the Marriott beach was that it was sandy for quite a way out in the water before becoming covered at the bottom with coral and rock. We could walk out to our waist before having to watch the bottom. We noticed at some of the other beaches that, although there may have been a bigger, sandier beach above the water, it wasn't very pleasant to wade in because the coral and rock are began at ankle level. <BR> After about two hours of swimming and relaxing from our flight, we decided to walk up to Kirk's grocery store for fruit and juices. It was a nice walk of about a mile with sidewalk all the way. On the way back, some nice ex-pats offered us a ride back to the hotel and told us about some good live music at The Royal Palms. This is a beachside restaurant and bar that is only a couple blocks up from the Marriott. It's a very hot spot on Friday nights, but they have live music outside every day except Sunday with no cover charge. <BR> We showered and changed and then walked up to The Wharf for dinner on the deck. I got the conch chowder and the pan seared nori roll, which were both very good. My husband got the catch of the day, which he was not impressed with. There was a live steel bank playing in the background, and the tarpon started arriving at about 8pm to await their feast. It was exciting to watch them get fed. The Wharf staff was letting customers throw food in, and the fish were huge! It was a great way to begin our vacation! <BR> <BR>Friday, May 26, 2000 <BR> <BR> We woke up fairly early because we were still in East Coast daylight savings time mode. We took a morning jog and made reservations for the famous Friday night Marriott Pirates Buffet. At $40 per person, it's considered a bargain on the island. After packing some drinks in our portable cooler, we walked up to Treasure Island to do some snorkeling. One piece of advice I would offer, especially for people who enjoy a cocktail, is to bring along a portable six-pack type cooler. It doesn't take up very much room in the suitcase, and it can be filled up with ice from the hotel ice machine and used to cart rum punch, (which we mixed using fresh tropical juices from the grocery store and either used the juice bottle or an empty water bottle to store it in). It can also be used to tote soft drinks, water or snack items of course! <BR> The Treasure Island beach was especially nice because it was almost deserted. It seemed that the Marriott beach was so much more crowded than the other beaches in the area. Maybe they were running a Memorial Day special. It was nice to sneak away from the crowds, and nobody hassled us for being on a private beach where we weren't staying. The snorkeling was also pretty good. After a few hours on the beach, we walked to the Lone Star and had a really good lunch. We tried conch fritters everywhere we ate during our stay, and the Lone Star had the best, in my opinion. There was actually more conch than breading in the fritter! The Lone Star also has a good number of vegetarian items and was reasonably priced, comparatively. <BR> After lunch, we took a big, decadent nap, and when we woke up, we could see the huge lines for the buffet. There are 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. seatings and both looked equally crowded. Since we were still pretty full from lunch, we decided to cancel our reservations and walk up to the Royal Palms, where we had a great time. We brought our obligatory cooler of rum punch, split a fajita, did some good people watching and danced under the stars! A great day concluded with a romantic beach walk back to the hotel. <BR> <BR>Saturday, May 27, 2000 <BR> <BR> We woke up early and took a morning jog. We were extra excited because we had scheduled our trip to Stingray City for this morning. We took the advice of people on the discussion board and reserved a space with Captain Dexter. We were able to make our reservations through email, which was very convenient, and he picked us up at our hotel. We were really happy with him. There were only 8 couples on board, and he really seemed to have a lot of love and respect for island's beauty. He was all about conservation and preservation. The stingrays were wonderful and very gentle. Capt. Dexter held one up for us to pet and photograph and then fed his pet eel at another snorkel site. He served us fresh cut mangoes, homemade fruit punch and other beverages, and we left the docks so early that we were only the second boat onto Stingray City. Although it was $30 and some other operations advertised $15, it was worth the money because we saw other tour boats packed with over 100 people that left the dock after we did and were returned and unloaded way before we returned to the dock. <BR> We again took the advice on the discussion board and had a great lunch at Chicken Chicken. The portions were huge and the herbed potatoes were to die for! Neither my husband nor I could finish our portions. We could have easily split a meal and been more than satisfied. <BR> After more relaxing, enjoying a few cocktails on our deck and feeding the Antillian grackles and Caribbean ground doves, we headed out again. We walked up the beach and through Treasure Island Resort to Fidel Murphy's for a couple of beers, seafood chowder and more conch fritters. <BR> <BR>Sunday, May 28, 2000 <BR> <BR> After an early morning wakeup call, we took a taxi into Georgetown to attend a Cayman mass. It was very different and wonderfully upbeat. I would highly recommend attending a Cayman church service, even if church isn't normally your thing. We came back and had a decent breakfast at the Marriott breakfast buffet. We felt like we had pretty much done and seen everything within walking distance, so we decided to brave the roads, traffic, and left-sided driving. We rented a very small Diahatsu Sirion for $28 US/day, which was $5/day less than the rate the same agent quoted on the first day we arrived. I don't know why there was such a difference. I think that a lot of people were just down for the Memorial Day weekend because after Monday, the hotel seemed a lot less crowded with tourists and more crowded with conventioneers. The car was a perfect size, very easy to maneuver and also good on gas. Sunday was a very good day to begin driving practice because it's the least busy day traffic-wise. It was funny, I had read on the travel board that the way Caymanian people know when a tourist is going to make a turn is when the windshield wipers come on. Sure enough, that was the first thing my husband did when he went to put on his turn signal! Those right-handed driver's seats take some getting used to! We made our way to the touristy spots of Hell and the Turtle Farm. Since it was Sunday, the Hell post office was closed, but the two tourist shops were open and were run by really nice and friendly natives (Actually, every native we met was really nice and friendly. What a wonderful change from other Caribbean islands!). Although the turtle farm was interesting, it was also a little depressing. I enjoyed holding the turtles, but the place was truly a farm. The comfort and well being of the animals were definitely not top priorities. Most of the tanks looked very overcrowded, and some of the turtles appeared to be suffering from a type of skin fungus. They did have a small zoo where we saw an agouti for the first time. People call it a Cayman rabbit, so that's what I was expecting to see. It looks nothing like a rabbit though, more like a creepy cross between a ground hog and a guinea pig. It was an interesting surprise, and I don't want to sound disparaging to the poor agoutis out there. They are supposed to be very nice though. <BR> We decided we needed a little change of pace and headed over to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Park--Wow! It was beautiful and very well done. We practically had the place to ourselves. We saw blue iguanas, whistling ducks, warblers, two types of dove, and the Caymanian parrot. The only thing I would do differently is to go earlier in the morning. Since the park is inland, it was really hot in the afternoon, and supposedly the birding is better in the mornings. It was really pretty though, and should not be missed by anyone who has any interest in bird watching or gardening. On theway back to the hotel, we stopped at The Edge for conch fritters and seafood chowder. Great bread and view! <BR> For dinner, we took another discussion board recommendation and walked up to the Thai Orchid. The food was wonderful and very authentic. It made a great breakfast the next day too! <BR> <BR>Monday, May 29, 2000 <BR> <BR> We went to Cemetery Reef for the best snorkeling so far! The fish are very friendly, and were actually a little too friendly for our comfort. It was a bit disconcerting. Schools of chub followed us everywhere we went, but we eventually got used to them. We saw a spotted moray eel and lots of other great reef fish. <BR> For lunch, we went to the Paradise Bar and Grill in Georgetown and had some good conch. We wanted to try it because parts of the movie "The Firm" were filmed there. The view was really pretty and there were no cruise ships to block the harbor view. <BR> That evening we took the Hyatt ferry to Rum Point to see the Barefoot Man (there are 20% off coupons for the ferry in those hotel coupon books-don't pay full price). That was our only disappointment on the trip so far. We found out after we had arrived that the restaurant won't let people just come in for drinks and appetizers when the Barefoot Man is playing. You have to buy the Rum Point Restaurant's three-course meal plan. Since we had read on the travel discussion boards not to eat at the Rum Point Restaurant, we had eaten a big, late lunch specifically to avoid eating a full meal there. Because they weren't crowded though, the maitre'd was nice enough to give us a good table and snuck us some free bread. The Barefoot Man's original music was really good, but we both thought that he was too accommodating to all the smaltzy Buffet requests, and we heard very little original stuff. It was still fun though, and I'm glad I finally got to see him. He was really nice and friendly to people in the audience, and we picked up several of his cds later on. He sells them directly, and they are also sold at most of the gift shops around. <BR> <BR>Tuesday, May 30, 2000 <BR> <BR> We slept late for the first time and then went off to snorkel in the Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto area. We should have done it the day before because there were four cruise ships in port and Georgetown was packed! We did see a family of reef squid and lots of fish. We decided to go back to Cemetery Reef where it was quieter. I made the mistake of feeding some leftover french fries to the chubs. It was fun to see but then they really wouldn't leave us alone. Since it was late afternoon and we had just been feeding them, they kept swimming around us. The living reef is about 100 yards offshore, and by the time we swam out there, they had completely surrounded us. I wasn't wearing flippers, and one of them gave me a very painful bite on my toe. It must have looked too temptingly like a french fry! On that note, we packed up the snorkel gear and went back for a shower. <BR> We had made reservations that evening at Papagallos. We had been pinching pennies all week on food, and we wanted to splurge at least one night, but we still had sticker shock. Our dinner included soup, salad, entrees, a bottle of moderate-range wine, after dinner coffee and was over $200. Not to sound like a whiner, I just want people to be aware. The service, setting and food were all excellent. I got a seafood dish, and my husband got a beef dish, and I think the seafood is the better bet at that restaurant. <BR> <BR>Wednesday, May 31, 2000 <BR> <BR> It rained on and off all morning, so we decided to hit Georgetown for some shopping. Our first stop was Pure Art, just outside of town. That was where we saw the best gifts and souvenirs by far. Most of them were handmade and very reasonably priced too. We stopped at the post office for philatelic stamps and the Tortuga Rum Company for lots of yummy take-home rum cakes. We had to turn in our rental car by 1 p.m., so we headed back to the hotel take care of that and to polish off our leftovers from Papagallo. <BR> That evening we enjoyed our last dinner on Grand Cayman at the Almond Tree. My shrimp were decent, but my husband absolutely loved his seafood-encrusted grouper! The outdoor setting was beautiful. It's set a little way back from the ocean under a covered deck, but there is still a beautiful view. Either the Almond Tree or the more casual Tree House Restaurant and Bar would be a wonderful place to take in the sunset. <BR> By this point, both my husband and I felt like we'd had enough of Grand Cayman. The island is beautiful, and the people are wonderful, but it just seemed so crowded, expensive and busy. Both of us were really looking forward to our mini getaway at Little Cayman the next morning. <BR> <BR>Thursday, June 1, 2000 <BR> <BR> We checked out of our hotel very smoothly and caught the 9:45 am flight to Little Cayman. Our plane had less than 20 seats total, and we were two of only four people on it. We had a good flight, and it was really nice to fly over the eastern end of Grand Cayman, since we had never made it out there. We flew right over Morritt's Tortuga Club, which looked like a really nice place to stay. There was nothing around it, and it was situated on a deserted tip of the eastern side (could be good or bad, depending how you look at it). <BR> I'd read about the Little Cayman airport, but it was still something to see. We landed on nothing but a grass and gravel strip of runway next to the main road. The plane drove over to the road where all the bags were unloaded. Thank goodness there were no cars coming. I guess people just know to stay away from that section of the road at certain times. There was one small building at the end of the runway where Nina, our representative from The Southern Cross Club, was waiting to pick us up. <BR> The first thing that hit me when I got off the plane was the lack of noise on the island, at least human generated noise. There was no traffic or steel bands playing, only the sounds of birds from the nearby Booby Pond and the sound of the breeze through the trees. Not surprising, I guess, for an island with a population of only around 100 residents. We knew already that we were going to love it here and that two days were not nearly enough! <BR> Nina was just as nice as she could be. She must have recognized our "deer-caught-in-the-headlights" look and called us over to where she was parked. She helped us load our luggage in the back of the Southern Cross Club pickup truck, and we were off. It was only about a mile to the Club, and on the way she pointed out The Hungry Iguana, (the island's only standalone restaurant and bar), the famous Booby Pond, the Little Cayman Museum, the National Trust Museum, and other small charming looking resorts. <BR> When we pulled into The Southern Cross Club, it was like we had been magically transported. It was exactly how I would picture my dream resort. There are five pastel cabanas dotting the 800 ft, palm covered beach. Each cabana is divided into two very spacious and perfectly decorated rooms, with tile floors, throw rugs, a full bath, and cheery bedspreads and curtains. We were instantly relaxed! While we were waiting for our room to be prepared, our luggage was magically whisked off, and Nina sat us down by the pool to give us a rundown of the place and a tour. The bar was on an honor system every day until the bartender arrived, three meals a day were served in the main house, and the kayaks and bikes were ours to use at our leisure. Every time someone walked by us, guest or staff, they would extend their hands and welcome us sincerely. It just seemed too good to be true. <BR> After our room was ready, we ducked in to change into our suits and explore. Southern Cross Club is situated within a lagoon that's protected by an outer wall of coral reef. Inside the lagoon, the water is a calm turquoise blue, but waves breaking along the barrier reef can be seen and heard from shore, which further adds to the ambiance. In the middle of the protected lagoon is a deserted island called Owen Island where someone can swim or snorkel to. I decided that would be my first destination. I got impatient waiting for my husband to get settled, so I grabbed a kayak and paddled over. Although the beach right off the SCC has a lot of turtle grass directly offshore, the beach at Owen Island was a perfect deserted point surrounded by ironshore rocks and mangrove trees with a big beautiful sandy beach at one end. If we had more time, I would've liked to have spent an entire afternoon basking and playing at Owen Island. By the time my husband caught up with me in his own kayak, it was time to go back to the main house for lunch. <BR> When we arrived, the morning dive boat had just gotten in, and the dining room was full of happy excited divers (all 15 of them including us) talking about the day's dive. The size of the resort and attitude of the staff just invite people to jump right in and start making friends. Most of the people there were in bare feet and right away we received a very warm welcome from the other guests. Although simple and light, our lunch that day was the best meal we'd had so far in the Cayman Islands. It consisted of crab chowder, a vegetable and rice salad, an artichoke, hearts of palm and tomato salad and was topped off with a brownie. Lunch was served with iced tea, water, or fruit punch, and everything was homemade. SCC has its own chef who has won several awards throughout the islands. Every flavor complemented one another perfectly and it was just the perfect amount of food for a clear, warm day! <BR> After lunch, my husband went back to take a nap, and I went to grab a bike. I felt like our time on this special island was so limited that I didn't even want to sleep for fear we'd miss something. I biked back down toward the airstrip to get a better look at those famous red-footed boobies. The National Trust has a small, one-room museum right on the pond that is equipped with free high-powered scopes on the porch for viewing the birds. Unfortunately the museum wasn't open yet on the inside (Both the Little Cayman museum and the National Trust museum are only open from 3:30-5 p.m. every day. How's that for an island lifestyle?). I rode back up to the SCC and looked up the red-footed booby in the variety of picture books lying around the sitting area of the main house. The interesting thing about red-footed boobies is that they're dimorphic. About 90% of them are brown all over, and about 10% are white with a thin stripe on their wings. Nobody knows why, and their color remains constant throughout their lives. They all have beautiful blue coloring around their bills and those telltale red-orange feet. It was great to have the opportunity to see them in their natural environment! <BR> I biked back just as my husband was getting up from his nap, and of course, he wanted to bike down to the Booby pond. By this time the museums had opened, so we stopped into the Little Cayman museum, which was a quaint little one-room museum with old pictures, tools and newspaper clippings. The woman working there was the preacher's wife. There is only one tiny little Baptist church on the island located right next to the museum. There are also two tame iguanas that live on the grounds of the museum. We even got up our nerves to pet them, and my husband put one to sleep. We went across the street to the National Trust museum on the Booby pond, and then biked up to The Hungry Iguana for a couple of beers. We had a great relaxing conversation with the bartenders and then headed back to the bungalow for a shower and change of clothes. <BR> After freshening up, we joined the rest of the guests at the pool bar for an informal happy hour before dinner. Our evening meal was every bit as good as lunch and consisted of fried chicken, a green seasonal salad, a savory garlic and veggie pasta dish, some incredible herb mashed potatoes, corn, bread, and a dessert that I can't remember because I was too full to eat it. Most of the guests settled back at the bar after dinner. My husband and I spent the rest of the night talking and laughing with the other guests and Mark, the bartender who had just moved from Seattle with his wife (also the manager of SCC). I was going diving the next morning, and we were pretty tired from our busy day, so we called it an early night. Although it was pretty early when we went to bed, we were still the last ones to go to bed. I guess that's what all that heavy-duty relaxing will do to a person after a few days! <BR> <BR>Friday, June 2, 2000 <BR> <BR> I woke up bright and early in the morning, mostly out of nervousness about my impending dive trip that day. It had been about five years since I had last gone diving, and although I had originally planned to do some diving in Grand Cayman, it never seemed like we had the time. My husband moved me along and walked me to the dock. He's not a diver and was anticipating his fishing trip that afternoon. There were 12 people total on the dive boat (the maximum) and two dive masters, Terry and Aaron. Both dive masters were really lighthearted and fun, but also totally professional. They knew that I was feeling a little nervous and kept a close eye on me, as well as refreshing me on some techniques that I had long forgotten. <BR> Our first dive was The Mixing Bowl, (also know as Three Fathom Wall). It is one of the most famous of the Bloody Bay Park sights, and I soon saw why. We started off in about 20 feet of water, then began a swim-through starting at about 40 feet and swimming out of the wall at around 90 feet. It was the first time I had ever done a cave swim-through. It was initially very scary entering a tunnel where I couldn't see the end. It was also a little disconcerting not being able to see the surface. A quick look up to the surface is something I often do as a comfort exercise and to get my bearings. Thankfully there were people in front of and behind me. When we came out of the cave, wow!!! I looked up from the exit and saw the coral cathedral soaring upwards to 18 feet. I looked down and could see the sheer wall plummeting below to nowhere land. There were huge barrel sponges, whip corals and a countless number of tropical fish. This dive site was also where I met Ben, a big friendly grouper that liked to be petted and held. <BR> The second, shallower dive was at a spot called Joy's Joy. It was every bit as spectacular, but in a different way. There were interesting caverns to swim through, and there seemed to be more fish. I saw a sleeping nurse shark, a drum fish, giant crabs, and many other beautiful fish, corals and sponges. The reefs were all so pristine and healthy, while the underwater landscape was breathtaking. Diving Little Cayman was the highlight of my trip! <BR> Back on the boat, there was fresh fruit, water and excitement over talking about what we had all seen. After we got back to SCC, there was another wonderful meal waiting for us. Lunch consisted of an absolutely great grouper salad, corn salad, fresh bread, and fruit. We left the table in search of a BIG nap! <BR> SCC has a number of shaded beachside hammocks throughout the grounds. My husband and I staked our claim with books in hand and proceeded to read/sleep. We got up a little later and took a little walk along the beach to watch the bonefish feeding as the tides changed. They were ferocious! We also saw hermit crabs and other fish from the beach. While we were walking along the beach, people were getting ready for the big weekly event at SCC-the Friday evening dockside happy hour. People were setting up chairs and cracking conch for appetizers. <BR> My husband missed the whole happy hour celebration though because the highlight of his Cayman Island vacation was a fishing trip he had scheduled for that evening. They went out into the ocean to fish for tarpon, tuna, and shark. While they didn't catch any tuna, they did catch an amber, a 6 ft shark, a large tarpon, and a barracuda. Everything but the amber (bait for the shark) was catch and release. Unfortunately the fishing guide was a little intense and critical. I think his barking and yelling really cut into my husband's enjoyment of something that he had been looking forward to for so long. <BR> While my husband was fishing, I set off by bike again to explore the North side of the island and look for some wild iguanas. I grabbed a couple of bananas and set off. I only rode about a mile before I saw two huge iguanas by the side of the road. I hopped off the bike and made my way forward. I don't know if it was the bananas I had in my hand or the fact that I startled them, but one of them charged me. He didn't come very close, but it was enough to make me jump. He seemed to calm down when I started tossing bananas to him. It's so funny to see a creature that looks ferocious enough to be eating small children happily munching down on bananas. He even ran off with the whole peel. I learned on this trip that iguanas are very peaceful vegetarians that are endangered throughout the West Indies, mostly due to humans. I continued my journey to the north side of the island. I wished my husband were with me because there was nothing but deserted beach as far as the eye could see, and it would have made a very romantic place for a picnic. After finishing my bike ride and grabbing a shower, I set out to check out the happy hour festivities, which appeared to be winding down. I bellied up to the bar and chatted with the other guests and Terry, the dive master. <BR> Pretty soon the fishing crew rolled in and after they got cleaned up, we sat down to one of the best meals I've ever had! The dinner seating was supposed to be at 7 or 7:30, but the great people at

Brian in Atlanta

Though it looks like the ending got cut off, that's one of the best trip reports I've read here. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

Noach

Wow! That was some report! How long did it take you to write? I enjoyed reading it and it was nice to see how much you enjoyed your trip. <BR> <BR>Try to post the conclusion.

K. Ware

Hi! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I kept a journal while we were there, so when we got back I just transcribed it to the computer. It only took a couple of hours and it was a great tool for postponing all that post-holiday laundry. I posted the conclusion right afterward. It's under Grand and Little Cayman Trip Report Part II. I think it's gotten a little separated from this one, so you may have to look for it. Take care and thanks for reading.

BECKY

Great trip report, we too, went to GC a few years back and it was beautiful but too commercial for a true island experience. I've been trying to get some info on Little Cayman and cayman Brac - which being better. Your report has definetly steered me towards Little Cayman - looks like our kind of place.

David

I copied the second part to post witht he original posting: <BR> <BR> Message: Wow. I guess I really am long-winded. My whole trip report <BR> wouldn't fit. Here's the remaining portion for anyone who is interested-- <BR> <BR> Pretty soon the fishing crew rolled in and after they got cleaned up, we sat <BR> down to one of the best meals I've ever had! The dinner seating was supposed <BR> to be at 7 or 7:30, but the great people at SCC held our dinner for us and <BR> served us a hot fresh meal at 8 p.m. We both had the award winning crab <BR> cakes, and they were out of this world. They're very different from a blue crab <BR> cake, which is what I'm used to on the East Coast. They were meatier, <BR> almost like what a crab cake made out of snow crab would taste like. They <BR> were covered with a black bean ginger sauce and served with pasta, pea <BR> pods, baby corn, salad, bread, and mango cheesecake. Yum! My mouth is <BR> watering as I write this! We went right to bed after dinner, both because it had <BR> been such a long day, and because we knew the next day was going to be <BR> travel hell! <BR> <BR> Saturday, June 3, 2000 <BR> <BR> Well, it was travel hell. Nothing of interest to describe except the stop <BR> through US customs. Have you ever noticed that people will go off on a <BR> tropical vacation to relax and unwind, only to lose every iota of rest and <BR> relaxation upon entering customs? They act like having to stand in line to <BR> have a passport stamped and then transferring their luggage 50 feet to the <BR> domestic check-in is the worst thing that has ever happened to them. It's <BR> funny, if you're still in that island frame of mind, to just sit back and watch <BR> people completely and utterly melt down. <BR> Anyway, we had an absolutely wonderful vacation. I did everything I wanted to <BR> do at least once. Although Grand Cayman is beautiful, well developed, and <BR> has a lot of action, I don't think I'd ever go back. It's not that I found anything <BR> wrong with it, and I'm glad we went, it's just that I don't think my husband and <BR> I are Grand Cayman type of people. I can see why other people love the <BR> island though. It's a great place, with lots of things to see and do, where the <BR> natives are friendly, the towns are safe, and the landscape is very clean. <BR> I would, however, go back to Little Cayman in a heartbeat!!! My husband is <BR> seriously thinking about getting his recreational diving certification, and I <BR> would love to go back to the Southern Cross Club for a whole dive week once <BR> he does get certified. <BR> <BR> Thanks for reading, and please email me if there is anything I can help you <BR> with! <BR> <BR> <BR> K. Ware <BR> [email protected] or <BR> [email protected]

Debbie

K-WOW - what a fantastic trip report. Never been to GC/LC, but your report was quite informative to read. Sounds like it might be the place to head next year. Thanks for posting.

K. Ware

David- <BR> <BR>Thanks for attaching the second part. I don't know why I didn't think to do that originally. <BR> <BR>Also, thanks for the nice feedback everyone! I'm glad people are finding the report helpful!