Road trip around magical Grand Cayman

Wednesday 18 Mar, KY day 4: Today we blow caution to the wind, rent a car and cruise around the island.

All restaurants and businesses that allow multiple people to gather will be closed from Monday onwards. So we decide we’d better enjoy the island while we can. The other good news is that the island appears to be Covid-19 free. The 19 people who came in contact with the deceased Covid-19 patient from a cruise liner, have tested negative. So the next potential exposure for Covid-19 to get onto the island is when 4-500 students currently studying in UK and US, will be flying home in the coming days. They will be asked to self isolate for 14 days after their arrival. Kids coming to Cayman from a winter in UK and not being allowed out to the beach? Let’s see how that works out! Anyway, our conclusion is that now is a good time to sight-see the island.

Our rental car is a small Kia and we are on the road by 9am with first stop at the Seven Mile Beach just north of us. This is the best beach in Cayman and it stretches from George Town all the way to the NW corner of the island. It is lined with hotels and condos. And oh what a beach it is! Stunning. It’s also very quiet, with most of the hotels now empty. We pledge to spend some days here later on. It’s an easy cycle ride from the boat, no need to waste a hire car day to come here.
After a quick visit to the Flow shop, we go to Hell and back. Yes, literally, there is a place called Hell, in the NW corner.

Then we pop into the Cayman Islands Yacht Club where we manage to get a glimpse of Governor’s Harbour, a very safe but shallow anchorage next to the large North Bay. It may be a safe anchorage, but the water is green. So we decide that we are far happier where we are right now: getting to town is easy and the clear blue water is clean enough for us to make RO water. If we are to be stuck in Cayman for a while, our ability to make water will be very important. While at the yacht club we find a very nice restaurant called Morgan’s, where we have an equally nice coffee. We feel so VERY civilized! We vow to come back here one evening for a cocktail, before they shutdown on Sunday.

From the Cayman Islands Yacht Club we drive across George Town on a beautiful road of European highway standard. We could be driving on any modern bypass road in UK. It almost feels surreal to be on such a road in the Caribbean. Next stop is the yacht chandlers at Harbour House Marina. Well, we were actually looking for a canvas shop (which was shut) and next to it was a chandlers. It’s very well stocked but prices at least double compared to USA’s Defender marine supplier.

From here we drive east the full length of the island along the south shore, about 20 miles. Occasionally we stop and walk though the many “public access to beach” paths, between private properties, to the shore. Not great beaches but pleasant turquoise water behind the reef.
At the SE corner we stop at a large dive center and inquire on diving costs. But they also are closing down from Sunday. Pity, because next week the weather is next due to settle down. Perfect for diving. They have a very professional looking dive setup and we end up having a beer and snack in their restaurant, Eagle Rays, overlooking the turquoise Ray Bay. Again, it feels so very civilized here. It really doesn’t feel like a Caribbean island at all.
The next corner, the NE corner, we stop briefly at a mediocre resort and have a walk around. Surprisingly, there are still quite a few guests here, though clearly in a state of under occupancy. Next week it will likely be empty.

We then travel west all the way to Rum Point. Along the way we find modern houses dotted along the seashore, and we notice that the majority of them have real estate “For sale” signs outside. We wonder why. Last time we saw such volume of signs was in Spanish Wells in Bahamas. And we couldn’t work it out there either. Both seem to be wonderful places to live. Could you get bored with living in paradise hence high property turn over?
At Rum Point, which is a piece of land that juts out into the north of North Sound. It’s like a little piece of Florida coast. Magnificent houses, with docks onto the water. We visit Star Fish beach where we find 3 tourist catamarans anchored and about 50 tourists all looking for star fish! If this is what it’s like with virtually no tourists on the island, we wonder how it could be at normal times!
We take our time walking along all the beaches in front of all the amazing properties (the beach is public, once you find a way to get on it!). Then go to Kaibo Yacht Club for a sunset dinner. It’s again very pleasant. So nice to be served by British waiters! Are we really in the Caribbean, let’s pinch ourselves out of this pleasant dream!

By now it’s getting dusk. Although George Town is only 10 miles to our west we have to virtually circumnavigate the island to get there. It takes us over an hour to get back. We drove straight back to Morgan’s and treat ourselves to a cocktail and yet another snack. The restaurant is quite busy but we have the bar to ourselves. The Indian barman fixes excellent cocktails. We chat to him and find he has been a professional barman in Bahrain for 14 years before coming to Cayman. We might have even seen him in Bahrain!

Back at the boat by 9:30pm we are feeling super relaxed. It was a really wonderful day. We think even without Covid-19 we wouldn’t have wanted to leave this island any time soon. We actually feel blessed by our situation. If we’d stuck to our original plan we would be marooned in Panama right now unable to leave because all the Pacific island are now closed to outsiders. And no where else to go.