Caribbean cruising to Hell!

The Cayman Islands are a hotspot for travellers with sandy beaches, beautiful B&Bs and sea adventure trips. Yvonne Trueman, MBE, writes about her experiences.

Wonderful sandy beaches, guaranteed sun, luxurious five-star hotels and golden sea adventure trips are all on offer to visitors to the Cayman Islands.

This holiday destination is in the British West Indies/Caribbean – just 40 minutes flying time from Florida, next door to Jamaica and a stone’s throw away from Cuba. 

British Airways run a direct flight from London and the hotspot is just eight hours away.

I have just returned from the most fantastic holiday experience and whilst I agree it is a fair distance to get to, it is well worth the effort.

The islands form an archipelago of three – the largest Grand Cayman, the next Cayman Brac and the smallest, of course, called Little Cayman – with air and sea links between them.

I first discovered this paradise some years ago on a trip to enjoy a spell of holiday flying. 

The Caymanian people remind me of Bahraini folk, they are gentle, quite laid back and enjoy welcoming visitors from other parts of the world.
 
I discovered a wonderful B&B (bed & breakfast) which boasts all the luxury you could desire at an acceptable price.

Based away from the capital of George Town, this property, run by a delightful retired couple, is situated in a lovely part of the island at West Bay, with the delicious name of Shangri-la, Sticky Toffee Lane – it has beautiful gardens overlooking a lake with iguanas resting on the grassy bank, shared with an array of wild birds.
 
Shangri-la has its own pool with jacuzzi and if you have a downstairs luxury room, then you can open up the door and go straight into the pool area for a morning swim.

The breakfast is to die for.

Once settled in, with so much choice of what to do you’ll begin to wonder if you can fit everything in during your holiday.

If you have chosen the islands, well known for sandy beaches, the first visit just has to be to the glorious Seven Mile Beach area where you will find all the major up-market hotels, offering beachfront activities.

All water activities are available from skiing, snorkelling, scuba diving, kayaking, fishing, surfing, you name it – it’s on offer, and there are also instructional facilities if you just want to try something new having never had the opportunity before

On the south shore route, stop at the famous Blow Holes and watch sea spray high into the air (sometimes it can reach in excess of 15 feet) close by the entrance to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Park.

Visitors can delight at the sight of large blue iguanas inside the park, which are decades old. There is also a turtle farm, an absolute must for the children.

Close by is a famous post office called Hell, where tourists go to buy their postcards to send to their friends, truly telling them it’s a postcard from Hell? A gimmick – yes, but it’s holiday-time!

And don’t forget the islands’ Car Museum, home to a wonderful collection of vintage and modern day vehicles including an original James Bond movie motor and the Bat-mobile.

The Caymans are an idyllic place to stage weddings, every detail can be taken care of to ensure a wonderful day and one thing is guaranteed … the sun will be shining! But most of all, it is a destination visitors are guaranteed to fall in love with.

So now you know exactly where they are … off you go, get packing! Once dubbed the islands that time forgot, it’s now time for rediscovery. Happy holidays.