The Cayman Islands Alive! 2nd Edition (Hunter Travel Guides)

278 Pages·2003·2.59 MB·English

by  Paris Permenter

Cayman
Islands
AA LL II VV EE !!
2nd Edition
ParisPermenter&JohnBigley
HunterPublishing,Inc.
130CampusDrive
Edison,NJ08818-7816
(cid:1)732-225-1900/800-255-0343/Fax[phone]
www.hunterpublishing.com
[email protected]
INCANADA
UlyssesTravelPublications
4176Saint-Denis,Montréal,Québec
CanadaH2W2M5
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INTHEUK
WindsorBooksInternational
TheBoundary,WheatleyRoad
Garsington,OxfordOX449EJEngland
(cid:1)01865-361122/Fax[phone]
ISBN1-58843-371-4
©2004,HunterPublishing,Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform,
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record-
ing, or otherwise, without the written permission of the pub-
lisher.
Thisguidefocusesonrecreationalactivities.Asallsuchactivi-
tiescontainelementsofrisk,thepublisher,author,affiliatedin-
dividuals and companies disclaim any responsibility for any
injury,harm,orillnessthatmayoccurtoanyonethrough,orby
useof,theinformationinthisbook.Everyeffortwasmadetoin-
suretheaccuracyofinformationinthisbook,butthepublisher
andauthordonotassume,andherebydisclaim,anyliabilityfor
lossordamagecausedbyerrors,omissions,misleadinginforma-
tion or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if
sucherrorsoromissionsresultfromnegligence,accidentorany
othercause.
FrontCover:TheCaymanIslandsis
oneofthebestdivedestinationsintheworld.
BackCover:CruiseshipoffGrandCayman
PhotoscourtesyoftheCaymanIslands
DepartmentofTourism,unlessotherwisenoted.
MapsbyKimAndréandToniWheeler,©2004HunterPublishing,Inc.
IndexbyNancyWolff
4 3 2 1
About The Authors
John Bigley and Paris Permenter fell in love with
the Caribbean over a dozen years ago and have
turnedtheirextensiveknowledgeoftheregioninto
an occupation. As professional travel writers and
photographers, the pair contribute travel articles
and photographs on the US and the Caribbean to
many national consumer and trade publications.
The husband-and-wife team have also written nu-
merousguidebooks.
ParisandJohnareauthorsofseveralotherHunter
guidebooks, including Adventure Guide to the Cay-
man Islands, Adventure Guide to Jamaica, Jamai-
ca:ATasteoftheIsland,JamaicaAlive!,Nassau&
TheBestofTheBahamasAlive!,Antigua,Barbuda,
St. Kitts & Nevis Alive!, and Romantic Escapes in
theCaribbean.
Paris and John are also frequent television and ra-
dio talk show guests on the subject of travel. Both
aremembersoftheSocietyofAmericanTravelWri-
ters(SATW).
More about Paris and John’s work can be found on
their website, www.parisandjohn.com. The couple
also edit Lovetripper.com Romantic Travel Maga-
zine, www.lovetripper.com, featuring romantic and
honeymoon destinations throughout the Caribbean
andaroundtheglobe.Whenthey’renotontheroad,
theteamresidesintheTexasHillCountrynearAus-
tin.

Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Ready,Set,Go! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TheAttractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
TheBestIslandForYou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
TheAlivePriceScales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Accommodations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Restaurants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
ACapsuleHistory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The16th&17thCenturies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The18th&19thCenturies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
TheIslandsToday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ThePeople . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Flora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fauna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hurricanes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
PlanningYourTrip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
WhentoVisit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
EntryRequirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
WhattoPack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
InformationSources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
GettingHere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ByAir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ByCruiseShip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Inter-IslandTravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Practicalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
MoneyMatters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Telephone&Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
TimeZone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
ElectricalCurrent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
vi CaymanIslandsAlive!
Culture&Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
WhattoExpect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Weddings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Grand Cayman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
OffshoreBanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
ACaymanBankAccount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
GettingHere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
ByAir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
FindingYourHotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
GettingAround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
OnWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
ExploringtheIsland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
BestPlacesToStay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Resorts&Hotels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Condominiums&Villas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
GuestHouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Live-Aboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
BestPlacesToEat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
TraditionalCaymanianFoods . . . . . . . . . . . 103
FavoriteCaribbeanDishes. . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
PriceScale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
GeorgeTown&SevenMileBeach . . . . . . . . . 105
RumPoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
SunupToSundown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
In&OnTheWater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
OnLand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
InTheAir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Day-Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
ShopTillYouDrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
MoneyMatters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
GeorgeTown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
WestBayRoad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
AfterDark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Bars&Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
EveningCruises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
NightDive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
TarponFeeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Contents vii
Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
WestIndiesShow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Cinema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
GrandCaymanAtoZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
AmericanConsulate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
AmericanExpress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Babysitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Banks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
CurrencyExchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Dentists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
GroceryStores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Emergencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Hospitals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
HyperbaricChamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
HousesofWorship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
OpticalServices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Pharmacies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
PhotoLabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
PostOffice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
ShoeRepair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Telephone&Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
VideoRentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Little Cayman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
GettingHere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
ByAir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
GettingAround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
OnWheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Orientation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
BestPlacesToStay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Resorts&Hotels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Condominiums&Villas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Live-Aboards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
BestPlacesToEat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
InformalDining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
ResortRestaurants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
SunupToSundown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Beaches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Contents ix
CaymanBracAtoZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Banks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
CreditCards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Dentists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Emergencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
PhotoLabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Booklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
TripPlanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Airlines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Attractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Historic&NaturalPreservation . . . . . . . . . . 266
Recreation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
RealEstate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
UnderwaterPhotography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Weddings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Maps
TheCaribbean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TheCaymanIslands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
GrandCayman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
GeorgeTown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
EastEnd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
WestBay&SevenMileBeach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
DiveGrandCayman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
LittleCayman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
DiveLittleCayman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
CaymanBrac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
DiveCaymanBrac . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
About the Alive Guides
Reliable, detailed and personally researched by knowl-
edgeableauthors,theAlive!serieswasfoundedbyHarriet
and Arnold Greenberg. This accomplished travel-writing
team established the renowned bookstore, The Complete
Traveller,at199MadisonAvenueinNewYorkCity.