Limin' in Jamaica

This was our very first trip to Jamaica (7/30-8/7/06) and it won't be our last. We had one MAJOR issue with our hotel but the trip itself was GREAT.

THE AIRPORT IN MONTEGO BAY: Sangster International is a fairly big airport that is very well organized. Upon landing, we had a long walk to immigration where we had to wait in line for about 25 minutes. The lines moved well due to a good number of agents (thank goodness since several planes landed at about the same time). After we picked up our bags, we had to go through customs. That was quick. No headaches whatsoever to report about the airport regarding our arrival and departure.

AIRPORT TRANSFER: I booked "Talk of the Town Tours" for our airport pick-up and drop-off for no other reason than ease. I chose them for our excursions and thought it would just be easier to book them for everything. The drive to and from Negril is about 1 hour 20 minutes. Final cost for the airport transfers for 2 adults: $110 (our son was free).

~~ WHERE WE STAYED ~~

I originally planned on splitting our stay between Montego Bay and Negril but after some research, I came to the conclusion that our place in Negril was IT (I couldn't find a hotel in Montego Bay that appealed to me as much as the one we picked in Negril).

HOTEL: It did NOT turn out to be IT :-( . We stayed at a boutique hotel called Idle Awhile. The whole concept of the hotel is a good one. Small, cute and intimate place nestled in gardens right on the gorgeous 7-mile beach. The hotel reminded us but fell short of one our favorite places in Mexico, the Hacienda Chichen Resort near the Chichen Itza ruins.

~ OUR ROOM: It is the only reason why it turned out not be IT. This is a really affordable hotel, so I had originally planned on booking a suite for the space. However, I noticed that several Trip Advisor reviewers complained that there was no AC in the living room area, so one couldn't really enjoy sitting there as it would get too hot/humid (there's AC in the bedroom and FANS in the living room). The fact that we were going in August meant that the living room area would probably be unbearable, therefore a true waste of money. So I went with a regular room, gardenview.

And let the rant begin. We ended up in room 101 which is on the first floor and next to the main walkway that goes from the entrance to the beach. What's wrong with that, you say? Well, you should see the windows in EVERY room of this hotel. There's a screen to keep the bugs out, and then wooden shutters. That's it. So guess what? Sound is NOT blocked off. You can hear EVERY person talking and walking down the path. At about 6pm, the tree frogs/cicadas/crickets/whatever would start singing and wouldn't stop till early morning. And they were LOUD (we did get used to them after a couple of days). My husband had an  suggested I drink 2 rum punches at night to knock me out. Don't laugh. I tried it I was so desperate for sleep! I could only drink one and I kinda/sorta slept better :-)) . 

To add to this, we ended up in Jamaica during a couple of national holidays and the equivalent of spring break. So on the weekends (just the weekends - we got there on a Sunday and were there the entire following weekend), there were parties further down the beach and the main road in Negril was packed with cars. On the whole, not a big deal to us except again at nights. We could hear the base from whatever party happening. Girls from rich Jamaican families would come stay those weekends at hotels in Negril (including ours) to go to those parties. Those girls couldn't have cared less about anyone else staying at the hotel, as they were LOUDLY coming in and out of their rooms at all hours of the night.

To top it all off, on our first night, the power went out during the middle of the night so the generator kicked in. I swear that thing felt like it was right outside our window. This happened one more time during our stay.

I don't believe in telling people to stay away from a hotel because we all have different likes, dislikes and levels of tolerance. What can be my nightmare can be someone else's paradise, and vice-versa. We admittedly go to bed early (around 9pm/10pm). We weren't looking to party. We wake up early. Sleep is very important to us as we get little of it back home (due to work and other issues that I won't get into). So to go on vacation looking for relaxation and rest and not get the latter was unacceptable to us.

After our first night there, we tried to switch rooms but there were none available. I don't know that it would have made a difference because we talked to a family from California who was staying in an oceanview one-bedroom suite and they told us they also thought it was noisy and that on top of that, they could hear the kitchen activities first thing in the morning! Yikes! We seriously looked into staying at another hotel. At that point, we didn't care if we lost our money. We couldn't find any available rooms at any of the hotels we tried. Unfreakinbelievable. We ended up leaving Jamaica a day early so we could get two good nights of sleep instead of one before going back to work. 

Despite the great staff and the great beach, we can't in good conscience recommend this hotel to anybody. But maybe our needs aren't like others. If that's the case, here's the rest of the hotel review and some advice.

~ GARDENVIEW ROOM: It's just okay. We don't think there's anything really special about it. We had a king bed with a very firm mattress. Closet space with hangers and shelves (no doors to the closet). Tiled floor. Small safe (too small to put our son's portable DVD player in it so we ended up stashing it in our suitcase - no problem). Empty mini-fridge. Small TV with  network and cable channels and the BBC, but NO ESPN to my husband's horror! :-) There's AC and a ceiling fan. By the way, those windows are a waste of energy when you have the AC on. The cold air goes right out the window! I HIGHLY recommend bringing bug spray for flying insects. Mosquitoes and others would get into our room EVERY day.

The bathroom was very unappealing...very basic and motel-like. There isn't an outlet in the bathroom, and there isn't a blowdryer.  

The terrace is really nice, spacious, well shaded with a ceiling fan. Due to the shade, it takes a couple of days for clothes to dry. So bring 3 bathing suits if you can. Also, protect yourself from mosquitoes if they love you. My son and I got some serious bites while sitting outside.

Some minor complaints: No iron/ironing board. The clock wasn't working properly, we had to constantly adjust the time. Same for the lamp. Phone died as we were trying to find another hotel (not kidding). The umbrella provided in the room was broken.

We did take a sneak peak at a one-bedroom suite and it looked really nice. We didn't see the bathroom so we don't know if it's like ours or not.

~ BEACH: We had NO idea Negril's beach was this BEAUTIFUL. Calm, clear water with soft sand. Shallow for quite awhile so perfect for little ones.

  

~ STAFF: Very nice. Jamaicans really do say "Yea Mon". LOVE it! One of the plusses of staying in a boutique hotel is that the staff ends up knowing you and vice-versa. Usually that means great, personalized service. One example: We had left our stuff (towels, son's toys) at the beach to go eat lunch elsewhere. Meantime, it poured. So after lunch, we went straight to our room. The beach employee brought us back our stuff at the end of the day. How nice is that? You'd never get that in a big resort because they'd have no idea who the stuff belongs to. 

~ RESTAURANT/FOOD: There's only one restaurant and it's called "Chill Awhile". It's outdoor, very casual, small with maybe 9 tables and a bar. Very cute and laid back with great, relaxing views of the beach. We ate breakfast and most of our lunches at the hotel and we thought those meals were good. We had dinner there one night and were not impressed with our grilled chicken breast served in Jamaican sauce. 

~ THE 'DREADED' BEACH VENDORS: They were just fine. A firm, polite 'no thank you' did the trick. My husband did get offered marijuana several times. Again, a polite 'no thank you' worked fine. The hotel security guy also made sure they were not persistent. We truly did not think they were an issue.

~ OUR ADVICE: If you do decide to stay at Idle Awhile, request a room on the 2nd floor and away from the walkway. Those rooms have got to be somewhat better in terms of the noise. I read a lot of reviews about this hotel before booking it and I did not see one mention about the windows/noise. I really don't get it.

~~ RESTAURANTS ~~

We actually did not go to a lot of them. We found that our 2 best meals were at VERY CASUAL Jamaican places compared to the more upscale international restaurants.

~ THE PORK PIT: We stopped for lunch at this Jamaican place during our visit of Montego Bay. It's sort of a fast-food place near Walter Fletcher Beach. We ate the BEST jerk pork ever! 

~ BEST OF THE WEST: This little place is right across from Idle Awhile. The guy cooks lobster, chicken, etc... on 2 grills right outside. You tell him what you want and he'll get if off the grill and wrap it in tin foil for you to go. We had the jerk chicken and it was DELICIOUS!

 

~ KUYABA ON THE BEACH: This casual place is located at the Hotel Kuyaba in Negril. It's on a wooden deck with a huge palapa for a roof right on 7-mile beach with views of the sea (the beach in that area is very narrow by the way). We had lunch there and sat on the most uncomfortable chairs I've ever sat on. I had a cheeseburger with fries. I did NOT like it. Whatever they use to marinate the meat is not good. My husband had the grilled chicken breast filet burger with fries and said it was adequate. For 2 cheeseburgers + 1 chicken burger + 2 cokes + 1 fruit punch, lunch came to $38.82 (tip not included).


~ NORMA'S: This International/Jamaican restaurant is located at the Sea Splash Resort in Negril. It's also on a wooden deck right on 7-mile beach with views of the sea. I had the jerk chicken with rice which was just okay and a bit on the dry side. My husband had the grilled filet of red snapper with potatoes. He said it was very good. For dessert, we had chocolate cake. Very rich! With 1 white wine and 1 coke, the total cost of dinner came to $56.93 (tip not included). We had taken a taxi to this place but decided to walk back via the beach after dinner. It was really nice.


By the way, we had considered moving to this resort when we were trying to get out of Idle Awhile. I'm so glad we didn't, the beach there is also narrow. On the surface, the hotel does not look as appealing as Idle Awhile and there was this unattractive small house right next to it.


~ LE VENDOME: This Jamaican/French restaurant is located at the Charela Inn hotel in Negril (right next to Idle Awhile). You can eat indoor or outdoor with views of the beach/sea. Indoor still feels like outdoor because of the big open arches. We sat on the terrace outside. Our food was good but not great. I had the filet mignon ($35). The gravy was really tasty but the meat itself was just okay. My husband had the pork chops caribbean style ($16). He said it was good, not great. For dessert, I had the banana flambe which was yummy! ($3.80) and my husband had the chocolate mousse which was good ($4.50). With 1 bowl of white rice (for the difficult eater aka 4-year-old child) + 1 red wine + 1 fruit punch + 1 pepsi, total for dinner came to $78.64 (tip not included).

~~ EXCURSIONS ~~

The following was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip.

We put aside 3 days to see parts of the island. Whenever we travel, we usually rent a car to sightsee. I planned to do that until I saw a Fodor's post where everyone was advising a person to go with a driver because the Jamaican drivers were aggressive, the roads were bad and had no signs, etc... So I booked our tours via e-mail with a recommended company: Talk of the Town Tours. Before our trip, I had a back-and-forth e-mail conversation with Sienna who was just lovely as can be while helping us plan our excursions.


This company does NOT take credit cards so you have to wire them the deposit, which is $50 for each excursion day and $50 for the airport pick-up/drop-off. Sienna will let you know which online company they use and it's all a very easy process. At the end of each excursion, you have to pay the remaining balance for that particular excursion in cash or in traveler's checks. We left the money in our room safe and would go get it when they'd drop us off. The cost of the excursions may seem a bit high (they did to us at first), but they really aren't when you realize what you're getting (vehicle, guide and no worries for an ENTIRE day). You can tell them that you're willing to share the excursion with other people. I assume the price would then go down. We chose not to share so we'd have the flexibility to make slight changes or cut things short if needed (better to do that when you have a 4-year-old in tow).


The excursions with Talk of the Town Tours MADE our trip. We had a FANTASTIC time with David, Solomon and Sienna. We have nothing but GREAT things to say about them and would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone and everyone.


EXCURSION #1: BLACK RIVER SAFARI AND YS FALLS
Total cost: $280 (includes entrance fees to Black River and YS Falls)


Our driver/guide on this trip was David. After picking us up at 9am, he asked us if we'd mind if he brought along his two teenaged kids (12 & 14). We didn't mind at all. Turned out they were the most well-behaved, lovely teens we'd ever met with an obviously great relationship with their father. The boy was a bit shy but the girl was a little more outgoing and took to our son right away. It was very cute to see.


We enjoyed the drive to the southern coast with David pointing out things of interest. We went though the fishing villages of Bluefields and Belmont and the town of Whitehouse, passed sugarcane and papaya fields.


BLACK RIVER SAFARI/BOAT TOUR: What a GREAT 45-minute tour this is. We got on a boat to tour the Black River, saw several crocodiles (they all have names) and the beautiful Mangrove Avenue. Talk of the Town Tours uses a boat captain named Cornell who is simply FANTASTIC. He is so informative and entertaining at the same time. 

After Black River, we stopped for lunch at a nearby place called the Bridge House Inn. We had some really good chicken, beef stew, yams and rice and beans. YUMMY!  

YS FALLS: They are located in a beautiful area of Jamaica: very green/lush, mountains, horses, etc...  You can't drive straight to the falls. You park your car at the entrance and then you get on a tractor ride that will take you to them.  This was lots of fun and the falls... WOW... they are BEAUTIFUL. There's a pool there too which the kids can enjoy if the falls are a bit too much for them. Both my husband and I did the rope swing thing. That was FUN! But the water there is COOOLD!! Bring water shoes for this one and a life jacket for little ones.

BAMBOO AVENUE: On the way back, David drove through the famous Bamboo Avenue. It was not as beautiful as I've seen in pictures. David did tell us the trees suffered from the last hurricane, and that last year there were huge protests over rising gas prices and people marched along that road destroying some of those trees. Too bad. 

EXCURSION #2: FALMOUTH + ROSE HALL GREAT HOUSE + MONTEGO BAY
Total cost: $270 (includes entrance fee to Rose Hall)


Pick-up time: 9am. Our guides on this day were Solomon and Sienna (married to each other - and David is Solomon's uncle). Let me say right away that this tour is not for everyone. It's more interesting and educational than 'fun'. It's only for people who enjoy a bit of history and want to explore what's under the surface to find out more about a country and its people.


FALMOUTH: This is an old Georgian town (built in the 1700s) located on the north coast of Jamaica. We parked the van in the town's center and proceeded to walk around to view some of the buildings.


St. Peter's Anglican Church built in 1795, 2nd oldest church on the island: 

 

Falmouth Courthouse, dated 1815 but a fire destroyed it in 1926. This is a reconstruction:

ROSE HALL GREAT HOUSE: This is about a 45-minute tour. Its history is interesting and creepy to say the least. One of the most sobering moments for us was when we were shown one of the traps that could be found around the slave quarters to catch any slave trying to escape.

After Rose Hall, we stopped for lunch at the Pork Pit which I mentioned under my restaurant reviews. In case I didn't say this already, the BEST jerk pork ever! 


MONTEGO BAY: We originally wanted to walk around downtown MoBay to get a feel of it but we were tired and it was HOT. So we asked Solomon and Sienna to just drive through it and we'd take a few pictures here and there. Traffic was HORRENDOUS, as bad if not worse than NYC! But I'm a people watcher so I didn't care and enjoyed watching a slice of Jamaican life unfolding before my eyes. 

EXCURSION #3: DOLPHIN SEARCH + PELICAN BAR
Total cost: $285 (includes boat captain's fee).


Pick-up time: 8am. Solomon and Sienna were our guides again. Bring water shoes and a life jacket for littles ones for this tour. The drive to Treasure Beach to catch Captain Dennis' boat took about 2 hours. We saw Jake's, which looked like a pretty interesting/funky place to stay at. The area of Treasure Beach is very unique. If you want to get away from it all, this would be a good place to be. We liked it.

DOLPHIN SEARCH: Captain Dennis was waiting for us. There were about 12 other people on the boat with us, and off we went to find dolphins. It was not a long search. We saw several of them fairly quickly. WOW! There is nothing better than seeing animals in their natural environment, let me tell you. 

PELICAN BAR: After the dolphins, Captain Dennis took us to the Pelican Bar. I didn't have my watch but it felt like a 20 to 30-minute boat ride to the bar. ANOTHER WOW! What a COOL place!! We loved it! The bar looks rickety but it is definitely well built. The area all around it is shallow so we were able to hang out for about 1 hour 1/2. Our son LOVED it as well.  

 
I think this was our FAVORITE tour. You can't go to Jamaica and not do this! 

~~ OTHER STUFF ~~

WEATHER: We sure were feelin' HOT HOT HOT! The sun is powerful so protect yourself well.  There were several showers during our stay but they were usually in the afternoon after we had already put in some 5 hours on the beach (remember we get up early). So we didn't feel cheated at all. Also we lucked out during our excursions, the weather was GREAT on those days.


RENTAL CAR: I am SO GLAD we didn't rent a car. The driving in Jamaica is a little out there and the roads are not great.


GLASS BOTTOM BOAT TOUR: We did a glass bottom boat ride with "Mike Glass Bottom Boat" for about an hour or more. His boat is near Idle Awhile. It was $20/adult (no charge for our son). He took us by a reef near Booby Cay island (we didn't snorkel). We saw a sea turtle, lots of starfish and colorful fish. Looks like it'd be a good snorkeling experience for anyone.


GIFT SHOP: There's a lovely gift shop right across from the street from Idle Awhile called "Jamaica Jane Gift Shop". It is affiliated with the hotel. It sells a variety of beautiful  items from art work to clothes. I bought a beautiful ceramic bowl and 2 paintings from a local artist. You must check it out if you're in the area.


MONEY: We didn't change any money upon arriving in Jamaica. We had no problems using the U.S. Dollar wherever we went. Sometimes we'd get change back in Jamaican dollars.


FINAL THOUGHTS: My husband and I basically came out of this trip astounded at the bad reputation Jamaica gets. The country is beautiful, the people are warm. There is poverty and we know there's crime but like any other major country, you just need to be careful about where you go and who you deal with. Watch any local newscasts here at home and you'd think the U.S. is all about robberies, rapes, murders and child sex offenders. Wouldn't you roll your eyes if someone told you they'd never come to the U.S. due to our crime probles? If you're not comfortable venturing out on your own, go with a tour company like we did. They know where to take you and not to take you. You'll be able to enjoy Jamaica like it should be enjoyed. 

Grand Cayman & Little Cayman

During Easter week 2006, we spent a week on Grand Cayman and took a day trip to Little Cayman.

GRAND CAYMAN AIRPORT: We were very surprised at how small it is since GC is such a popular tourist destination. We went through immigration/customs and got our luggage fairly quickly. Getting a taxi was a bit more tedious. If you need to take one to your hotel, you have to stand in line for the taxi dispatcher who'll write down how many in your party and where you're going. Then you have to wait until they call you, in our case "Party of 3 to the Hyatt". It was somewhat chaotic because they were short on taxi drivers that day (we were told).

HOTEL: We stayed at the Hyatt. Only the building housing the beachfront suites is open. The building seems to have been completely renovated with no signs of hurricane damage to it. The building across the street that houses the standard rooms has not reopened since Hurricane Ivan. The property is fenced off and no work is being done on it.

~ ROOM: We were in a lovely suite located on the 4th floor. Our suite had a small bedroom, a spacious bathroom, a living room/dining room area and a kitchenette. We also had a large patio with a fantastic view of the pools and the sea.

 

~ POOLS: There are 2 of them, fairly small, all with varying depths. One pool has a swim-up bar and the depth varies from 5 inches to 7 1/2 feet. The other pool has a jacuzzi and the deepest depth is 4 feet.

~ BEACH: I was a bit surprised by the beach. I thought the sand would be much softer and there would be a gentle slope into the water. There are lots of pebbles/shells on the beach, some rocks in the water and a fairly quick drop once you're in the water. This does not mean you need water shoes. You don't. I'm just saying the sand is not like powder (my own pre-conceived notion). My husband thought the beach was just fine, meaning I'm difficult. What. Ever. :-)) The color of the water is BEAUTIFUL.  

~ RESTAURANT: It was good but not outstanding. We ate by the pool, did room service and ate breakfast and dinner at Hemingway's, one of 2 restaurants on the property. A 15% service change is automatically added to all your bills. Your bill will show the total in U.S. and Cayman dollars.

THOUGHTS: We never felt that the property was crowded. We always found beach/pool chairs available whether we got there in the morning or in the afternoon. There were lots of families with kids, likely on Easter break like us. The kids (10 years old and under) were REALLY LOUD. So I would not suggest this hotel for couples seeking quiet and romance during school breaks. This is a VERY NICE hotel but can I be honest? We won our room with Priceline for $205/night. In high season, those suites go for $850/night and can be on sale for $550/night. We DEFINITELY came out on top with what we got for what we paid for. Personally, we'd never pay $850 for a room and food is not even included. If you can/do without blinking an eye, more power to you. I'd be more willing to pay the $550 for those suites, but why when I can get that price on Priceline?!

~~ ACTIVITIES ~~

~ STINGRAY SANDBAR: We originally booked our 2-hour excursion with Captain Marvin's. A couple of days before it, we got a call from them. They cancelled that excursion for our day (I had picked a Friday because there were no cruise ships in town). They said something about being Good Friday and the fact that they were no cruise ships in town. It was all a crock if you ask us, we think they just didn't have enough people signed up for that tour and chose to cancel it because it would not have been cost-effective. Not cool at all. They tried to book us on another excursion but we chose to spend our money with another company.

We went with SOTO'S CRUISES. They had a 2-hour excursion on the Friday we wanted (9:30am-11:30am). They picked us up at our hotel (Hyatt) and took us to the dock which turned out to be about 2 blocks from the Hyatt. There were about 35 people on the boat with 2 crew members (great guys by the way). The weather started cloudy with a bit of rain which really worried us as we thought our excursion would be ruined. However, the weather cleared pretty quickly. 

It's a 20-minute boat ride to the 1st stop: snorkeling at CORAL GARDENS for 30 minutes. I snorkeled and my husband stayed on the boat with our 4-year-old son. It was very nice, lots of colorful fish, but the water was CHOPPY.

After that, it was maybe a 3-minute boat ride to STINGRAY SANDBAR (another 30-minute stop). The plan was for my husband to just carry our son through the entire experience. Our son was all game, but just as he was going into my husband's arms, he got hit by a wave (the water was kind of cold), got upset and completely changed his mind. I ended up staying on the boat with him. The water was also VERY CHOPPY there. My husband would be standing with water by his knees, then the next minute, a wave would hit and water would be up to his neck! (he's 6'2''). My husband had a grand time at the Sandbar. Thank goodness, our son was fine on the boat only because he loves boat rides. However, we were very happy the excursion was only 2 hours or it could have turned out to be a VERY LONG day. One of the crew guys brought a stingray next to the boat for me to touch. Very soft and fleshy. Pretty neat. 

At the end of the day, we had a really good time. The trip was $85 for all 3 of us (our son was free). They only take cash.

~ TURTLE FARM: This is a no-brainer if you have kids. We paid $15 to get in (free for our son). We enjoyed it as much as he did. The turtles are separated by age. There's one big pool with the older turtles (they're HUGE!). Then there are several holding tanks with all the others. You can look at them and touch them. There's one tank with the smallest turtles and you're allowed to pick them up and snap a picture if you want. There's an employee who makes sure you do it right. There is one tank that has snapping turtles, you can't touch those or you'll lose your fingers. This self-guided tour is easily done in 30 minutes, less or more depending on how much your kids are loving it. Be aware that there are turtle turds floating in the water!! Yes!! Eewwwww! So make sure your kids' hands are properly cleaned afterward!

  

~ HELL: Yes, we went there being very well aware that it's a tourist trap. I think it's really easy for someone who's been there to turn around and tell someone not to go. I say go if you're in the area and have never been. I swear it takes no more than 2 minutes to see what it's all (or not all) about. Judge for yourself!

  

~ DRIVE TO RUM POINT: We took the long scenic route which took us about 1 1/2 hour. We stopped a few times to take pictures, etc... We saw remnants of Hurricane Ivan (damaged homes, uprooted trees, etc...). We saw lots of HUGE BEAUTIFUL homes, many of them for sale. Got a few million?

We finally arrived at Rum Point and may I say how overrated we thought it was? I know a lot of people like it. Yes, the beach is nice and the water is shallow for quite awhile. But there are lots of nice beaches on GC. 

So because everyone is told it's a must-do, it's CROWDED! So guess what happens to bathrooms in crowded places? There are only 4 toilets in the women's bathroom and 2 of them were backed up when I went in with my son. When we went in a 2nd time, a 3rd toilet was backed up.

Sorry to go from bathroom to food but our lunch at the Wreck Bar was MEDIOCRE at best. I had the jerk pork sandwich with fries. My husband had the chicken club with fries. Our son had the cheeseburger with fries. With 4 juices, the total cost came to $50 (15% tip included) for this meal. Did I already mention how MEDIOCRE it was?? We didn't get the whole Rum Point thing, but that's okay we don't all have to love the same thing, and maybe we just missed something. Needless to say, we didn't stay all day.

One of our favorite things to do when we travel is to drive all over the place. Thank goodness, the drive itself to Rum Point was enjoyable so we didn't feel like we wasted our day going there. You can take a shorter cut to Rum Point (we did on our way back), this will cut your driving time by maybe 20-30 minutes).

~~ FAVORITE BEACHES ~~

~ CEMETERY BEACH: This is a beautiful beach next to a cemetery that you'll see on your left side as soon as you enter West Bay. The water is clear, calm and the most gorgeous blue. I did a bit of snorkeling but did not go all the way to the reef. Saw a few fish, but not many. Others who went all the way to the reef said it was nice. There weren't too many people on this beach. There are no facilities, but you will find some trees for shade. This is one of our favorite beaches and would recommend it.

~ GOVERNOR'S BEACH: This is another beautiful stretch of 7-mile beach located right next to the Governor's house (which is near the Westin). We spent a morning there enjoying it. There are a few trees for shade but they're not really right by the water, more set back on the beach. There are no facilities here as well. This beach is our other favorite beach on GC. We walked back to our hotel from there, passing the Westin and the Ritz-Carlton's beaches. 

~~ RESTAURANTS ~~

Unfortunately, none of the restaurants wowed us in terms of food. One came pretty close but for the others, the food was either just okay, or good, or very good. Do always check your bill, as most restaurants include a 15% service charge. They will also write on the bill the total in U.S. dollar (assuming you're American).

~~ COCONUT JOE'S: This funky little place, which is not on the water, is located across the street from the Marriott. You can sit on the outdoor wooden deck and enjoy a good cheap breakfast. My son and I had scrambled eggs with toast. My husband had a cheddar omelette with toast. With 3 juices, the total came to $26.25 (tip not included). The combination of good food and funky/casual atmosphere made this place our favorite for breakfast. We'd HIGHLY recommend.

~~ EATS CAFE: This restaurant is located in a little shopping plaza across the street from the Westin hotel. There's indoor seating only. The look is modern. There are booths and also bar stool seating. Several giant TV screens tuned to whatever channel are up on a wall. The place is on the small side so there's a good chance you may have to wait a bit for a table. Luckily for us, our wait wasn't more than 5 minutes. My son and I had scrambled eggs with toast, my husband had a cheddar omelette. With 3 juices, the total came to $31.19 (tip not included). The eggs were SLIGHTLY BETTER than Coconut Joe's but we liked the atmosphere of Coconut Joe's better. 

~~ CIMBOCO CARIBBEAN CAFE: This is another nice little place for breakfast, located not too far from the Marriott. You can sit either inside or outside. The outside is really just the sidewalk with a view of the parking lot and the busy street nearby. We sat inside. They have EXCELLENT bread. The waitress told us that they make everything except for the pasta. I had a quiche lorraine, my son had his usual 3 scrambled eggs with toast and my husband had waffles. With 3 juices, the total came to: $37.75 (tip not included). The food was very good, and a place that plays Santana's entire Supernatural CD is FANTASTIC in our book! We'd recommend.

~~ CALYPSO GRILL: We had lunch there after our visit to the Turtle Farm. We LOVED this place and its look. You can chose to eat inside or outside. We ate outside on a wooden deck right on the water. So you know, there's not a lot of shade on the deck. Maybe 2-3 umbrellas and a couple of trees. I had mussels in a creamy white wine sauce and french fries ($13) and my husband had a cheeseburger with fries ($11). I thought my mussels were REALLY GOOD. My husband tasted one and thought the sauce was GROSS. Go figure. His burger was good. We thought they made GREAT french fries. With 1 coke, 2 fruit punches and 1 bottled water, total cost: $44.56 (15% tip included).

~~ DECKERS: This restaurant is located right across the street from the Hyatt. We had our dinner there on our first night in GC. This is the restaurant whose food came VERY CLOSE to WOWING us. You can chose to eat inside or outside. We sat on the patio outside. Lovely mood/atmosphere. They play all music genres (I think they have live bands on the weekends). I had the teriyaki chicken which is a breast of chicken marinated in teriyaki sauce over penne pasta with light cream sauce ($24). My husband had the jerked pork tenderloin ($24). Our son had the pasta with marinana sauce. With a strawberry daiquiri ($9.25), 1 bottled water ($8), 2 juices, the total cost came to $100 (tip included). Our food was VERY VERY GOOD. We'd HIGHLY recommend.

~~ PAPPAGALLO: This was to be dinner on our 2nd night in GC. Well, we got there and our son proceeded to throw a tantrum. So to not ruin other people's night out, not to mention ours, we left. We were so FURIOUS with him. We were really looking forward to dinner at this place which gets really good reviews. I bet the food there would have WOWED us. Oh well....

~~ CALYPSO CHICKEN: ....And so this is where we ended up that night. This is basically a take-out place. We ordered some food to take back to our suite. The food was just okay. We ordered 2 bbq ribs with rice ($30) and 1 jerk pork with mashed potatoes ($12). The portions are really big. With 2 sodas, the total cost came to $47.

~~ THE LIGHTHOUSE: This is another restaurant with a great unique look. You can eat inside or on a covered patio with a view and the sound of the sea. Really lovely.  My husband had the lasagna ($18) and I had the filet mignon ($48!). Our entrees were good. The desserts were YUMMY. With garlic bread ($4) + 1 bottled water + 3 fruit juices + 1 cheesecake ($9) + 1 chocolate mousse ($9), the total cost came to $123.55 (15% tip included). So you know, the Lighthouse is a bit of a drive from the 7-mile beach area. We miscalculated the distance and the rush-hour traffic and it took us 50 minutes to get there. The drive back was much better, only 30 minutes. If you're a couple out for a romantic dinner, try to book this table:

~~ HEMINGWAY'S: This restaurant is located at the Hyatt. You can chose to dine inside or outside on the terrace. We sat on the terrace which is surrounded by lit tiki torches and near the water. Very nice, relaxing setting. My husband and I both had the soy and ginger marinated salmon ($55 for both). It was VERY GOOD. However, there was a side called Udon noodle cake which we thought was just GROSS. They also brought us a fish fritter as an appetizer (complimentary of the chef). It was a blended tuna and salmon with a tamarind sauce, and it was EXCELLENT. Anyway, with 1 juice, 1 Cayman Colada and 2 desserts, the total cost of dinner came to $98.11 (15% tip included).

~~ THE REEF GRILL AT ROYAL PALMS: We had dinner there on our final night. You can dine inside, outside under the stars (not quite on the beach) or indoor on an upstairs deck with a sea view. We ate under the stars. Another lovely setting. This is not an upscale place, more of a casual chic place (casual due to the plastic chairs). I had the sea bass. My husband had the red snapper. Both fish were good. Desserts were YUMMY. I had the cheesecake, my husband had the chocolate hazelnut mousse. With 1 juice, 1 coke, 1 bottled water, 1 glass of red wine, the total cost came to $101.88 (tip not included).

~~ LITTLE CAYMAN ~~

After I booked our trip to Grand Cayman, I started looking at Little Cayman and Cayman Brac to figure out if it would be feasible to do a day trip to one of the 2 smaller islands and whether it would be worth it. After some research, I decided that Little Cayman would make a GREAT day trip, and boy was I right. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip. We flew Cayman Airways Express (a DHC-6 Twin Otter that carries 19 passengers) mid-morning for the 37-minute flight and took a flight back to GC around 6pm. 

We rented a jeep with McLaughlin Enterprises a few weeks before our trip. He's located right by the airport and the only car rental company on the island. His business number is 345-948-1000. Gas is a little over $5/gallon.

Our first stop was Point of Sand beach, located on the southeastern part of the island. The most beautiful out-of-this-world beach you could ever find. It will make you feel soooo good, as if you're the only person in the world. There's one big palapa for shade with a couple of picnic tables under it. Just a GORGEOUS piece of paradise.

After spending the rest of our morning and early afternoon at Point of Sand, we drove to the restaurant called the Hungry Iguana for a late lunch (it's back by the airport). We did 2 cheeseburgers with fries + 3 drinks + 2 desserts for a total of $55.35 (15% tip included). It was a VERY GOOD lunch.

After that, we drove around the island. It's about 10 miles long so it's a quick tour. The island has a mangrove pond called Booby Pond. It is home to lots of birds. The STENCH of the pond is UNBEARABLE. It's amazing that it doesn't  overwhelm the entire island! We took a picture and climbed back into our jeep VERY QUICKLY!

We saw quite a few Iguanas who apparently have the right  a way in Little Cayman! LOVE it!

There's another GORGEOUS piece of paradise in Little Cayman and it's called Owen Island, a little island right off Little Cayman (about 600 feet away). You can go to the Dive Shop at the Little Cayman Beach Resort and rent a kayak to cross over or have them take you ($5/person) on a little motorized boat. They'll leave you there, just let them know when they should come back to pick you up. According to the guy who took us to Owen Island, the water in between both islands is between 2 to 4 feet deep and you could walk across if you wanted to. How cool is that? Owen Island is a Robinson Crusoe fantasy. Beautiful clear water, lots of conch shells on the beach. There's nothing else on the island though, no facilities and no real shade. Go there for a couple of hours, bring water and maybe some snacks. This is yet another piece of paradise. 

If you don't handle the sun very well, I don't think a Little Cayman day trip would be good for you. If you love solitude and the feeling of being on a deserted island, you'd love Little Cayman. If you need entertainment and people around you, then don't go because you'll get bored. For us, this was a  FANTASTIC day trip.

~~ OTHER STUFF ~~

WEATHER/WATER TEMP: We had mostly GREAT weather. On day 2, it poured for about 10 minutes early afternoon and on and off the rest of the day. We had a couple of days when the weather didn't look good in the morning but then the clouds cleared up quickly. The sun is POWERFUL so protect yourself WELL if you need to. The evenings were PLEASANT, very comfortable with a nice breeze. I found the water temperature to be a little cold when you first enter, but fine once you're in. My husband says it was fine.

MOSQUITOES: They love me, my son and ignore my husband. Invariably. My son and I got bitten multiple times while having dinner that first night at Decker's. So I sprayed myself and my son for all the following outdoor dinners and we were okay. The days were not an issue. So spray up in the evenings if you need to.

RENTAL CAR: We booked a rental car through the Avis desk at the Marriott for 3 days and drove all around the island. Be aware that traffic on West Bay Road (this is the main road along 7-mile beach) and Georgetown can be PRETTY BAD. Gas is about $5/gallon.

GROCERY STORES: We bought some items (fruit, juices, yogurt, bread, etc...) at a couple of different places (Foster's and Kirk). You can find pretty much the same brands you find in the U.S.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I do a lot of research before a vacation and Grand Cayman turned out to be mostly what we thought it would be. We agree with the common opinion that a Cayman vacation is not cheap, but there are options for doing it on somewhat of a budget (Priceline, using less expensive restaurants, grocery shopping, etc...). We did find the island to be MUCH MORE Americanized than we had imagined. You could be forgiven for thinking it's a U.S. territory and not a British one.

We liked GC because of its great beaches/water, sun, the multitude of restaurants and the friendliness of the people. If you like fun-sun-sand-sea and don't mind the crowds and the americanization, you will love Grand Cayman. It was a VERY GOOD vacation for us. I personally am not tempted to go back because I'm not crazy about highly developed and americanized islands. My husband really liked the beaches and said he'd go back. Well, since I plan our vacations, the only way he'd go back would be with his next wife I guess! :-))