As always, we booked our trip through:
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Monday, September 13, 2004
After reading all the reports online today, we wanted to say that our thoughts go out to all Caymanians. We had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful island this past June and we are just devastated by the reports coming out of Grand Cayman. We know that Grand Cayman will rebuild and be every bit as beautiful as it was prior to September 11, 2004. Hope everyone is safe and Godspeed to you all on your recovery.
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Check out my message board after the pics.
Here is the trip report.....then the pics............
Hello again folks! Well, after spending our previous two summer vacations on Cozumel, we decided to try Grand Cayman this year. What a wonderful decision that was! Nothing against Cozumel. We love Cozumel and will return there again, but Grand Cayman and Seven Mile Beach was simply awesome. In my opinion, there is not a more beautiful stretch of beach in the world than Seven Mile Beach.
I am going to do a brief trip report here and then............ The pictures!
Upon arrival, all went smooth.......customs, getting the rental car at Cico Avis (they are great, by the way).......THEN............I had to drive on THE LEFT! But, actually, after all the fears I had conjured up about left-side driving, I got used to it on the first day.
We drove to our Condo to get acclimated before we hit the grocery and liquor stores.
Ok.....our condo.......
I can't say enough about it. We stayed at the Villas of The Galleon, in the heart of Seven Mile Beach. I did a lot of research on the web before our trip and it paid off! The Villas of The Galleon was everything that we had expected and more! We stayed in unit# 19, a second floor, 2 bedroom/2 bath oceanfront condo. It had the most wonderful view of the beach and the Caribbean (as you will see in the pictures in a few minutes). The condo was very roomy and comfortable, decorated nicely and had just about every amenity that one could need or want. The VOG has no pool, but we never missed that...........the beautiful beach and ocean was 50 yards from our door.....who needs a pool?!!!!!!!
The VOG is in the perfect location. Liqour store is right across the street 1/2 block down (very important!) Foster's Food Fair is only a couple of blocks to the south. We stocked up on breakfast items and snacks here. The Ritz Carleton is under construction right next door, and I do mean RIGHT NEXT DOOR! The traffic on West Bay Road is very busy and the construction of the Ritz didn't make it any better. I never really heard the construction noise coming from the construction. The only way I knew it was there was the fact that it LOOMS ABOVE the VOG. The Ritz is going to be a beautiful hotel, but I get the impression that a lot of the locals really don't care for it being there at all.
The staff at the Villas of The Galleon is great too! Lisa, in the office, was always very courteous and helpful with anything that we needed. Jonathon was always pleasant and a wealth of information (and a very good design engineer too!....he was designing and building a PVC platform for stepping up to the tree swing on the beach and it was quite the marvel of engineering). Also, Tilda our maid was great! She did a great job and was always pleasant and helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the VOG and are planning on returning there next June!
I'm going to make the rest of this brief so we can get on to the pictures. We had some wonderful eating out experiences and a couple of just ok ones. Here are my views of the places where we ate:
Number 1 on my list is Decker's. It was a bit pricey, but the food and the service was five star! We paid $ 150 US for dinner and drinks for three (drinks for two, my son is 14). Next, Coconut Joe's, a little farther south on West Bay Road was great for lunch. Good food and reasonable prices. Eats/Legends bar was good for dinner. Not too expensive (for Grand Cayman). We went to Cracked Conch By The Sea for lunch one day. It was good, and not too expensive. Then................we went on an around the island excursion one day and stopped in at Rum Point for lunch at the Rum Point Grill. Beautiful surroundings and strong drinks but..........we had two very mediocre chicken sandwiches and a decent cheesburger for $89 US............just a bit much for lunch! Well so much for the cuisine...........
We spent a lot of time at the condo and on the beach. We did go the the turtle farm and Hell. But I have to say that the highlight of our trip was the snorkeling trip to Coral Gardens, the barrier reef and the sand bar at Sting Ray City. WOW, what a fun day! We booked the trip with Capt. Marvins, which is also located right across the street from the Villas of The Galleon. Capt. Marvins was great! We went out with Capt. Jimmy and his crew. Everyone at Capt. Marvins was wonderful, from the girl that we booked the trip with, to the shuttle bus driver, to the crew on the boat and the videographer. We bought the DVD of our trip and what a great vacation memento it is! I recommend Captain Marvin's very highly if you go to Sting Ray City.
My overall view of Grand Cayman is...........if you don't mind spending a little money, you will have a great vacaction here. It is a beautiful island with very friendly people. We went there expecting things to be a bit pricey, so we were ready for it. If you worry about every dime you spend, Grand Cayman might not be for you.
Anyone with any specific questions about Grand Cayman, feel free to e-mail me and I will be more than happy to answer them to the best of my ability.
After the pictures are links to things "Grand Caymanish", my guestbook (please sign) and my e-mail link.
Ok..........enjoy the pictures........
View from our condo at the Villas of The Galleon
Justin with the remote.......just like home!
The condo at the Villas of The Galleon
Unit #19......upper left
Grounds at the Villas of The Galleon
The view in front of our condo
The beach view from the balcony of our condo at the Villas of The Galleon...
(I now have this picture as my Windows desktop wallpaper..........a daily reminder!)
Justin on the world famous tree swing at the Villas of The Galleon
Michele "chillin' " at the condo
The grounds at The Villas of The Galleon
( Construction of the Ritz Carleton in the background)
The beach at The Villas of The Galleon
The common area in front of the office at The Villas of The Galleon
The Westin Casuarina Resort, right next to the Villas of The Galleon to the North
Seven Mile Beach in front of the Villas of The Galleon, looking South
These guys were eating out of our hands on the condo balcony
(I included this because I love the quality of the the macro zoom setting on my Fuji S5000 digital camera. :-) )
The "Blowholes" Just past Bodden Town on the south shore
Coconut Joe's.....a cool place for lunch on West Bay Road
Here I go with the macro zoom again
The harbour in Georgetown
Michele & Justin in HELL
Our rental jeep for the week
Michele at the turtle farm
Steve at the turtle farm
Sea turtle at the turtle farm
Macaw at Cracked Conch By The Sea
Michele on Seven Mile Beach
Rum Point, on the North shore
Sign at Rum Point....(Can someone tell me what "Fair Dinkum" means?)
Using the zoom lens from in front of the Villas of the Galleon, looking South towards Georgetown
I love this sign...one you won't see in the good old USA
Steve at the condo at the Villas of The Galleon
Steve on Seven Mile Beach
Sunset from the Villas of The Galleon
And another................ ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........
Just one more........
(I took so many of these it was hard deciding which ones to put on here)
And now for the snorkeling pictures. These were taken with a disposable fuji waterproof camera so they aren't the same quality as the previous pics.
Justin in front of the Villas of The Galleon
Justin at Coral Gardens, North Sound
Steve at Coral Gardens, North Sound
Honest guys! I was taking the picture of the sting ray!
Sting rays at the sandbar, Sting Ray City
Another from the sand bar
Sting ray at Coral Gardens
The sad day.......time to leave Grand Cayman.... :-(
We'll be back next year!
One more look at the sandbar and the barrier reef from the plane as we leave this wonderful island
Here are some links to things "Grand Caymanish"........
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Here is a good link for those of you spending a week or so on the island and want to plan days around the cruise ships not being in port, such as booking your trip to Sting Ray City. (Not good to book Sting Ray City on a day when lots of cruise ships are in port.)
Cayman Islands Port Authority cruise ship schedule:
Click here for the latest hi-res satellite image of the Caribbean.
Click here for the latest updates on active tropical weather systems.
More links to come...........
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