Why Do Vacations Have to End? – Beautiful Grand Cayman

 

Besides dealing with laundry and our daily routines, I have spent the week reminiscing about our wonderful time spent on the island of Grand Cayman!  Even after being home a week, it’s hard to get back to reality!

This was our 6th time back to the island (5th time with the kids) and each time I find it harder and harder to leave.  I literally had tears in my eyes while driving back to the airport.

Grand Cayman Pool and Beach

What keeps bringing us back to Grand Cayman year after year?

There are just so many things but I would say the beaches are the number one reason we keep returning!

Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach

Seriously, how amazing is that water?

Beach Umbrella on Seven Mile Beach Grand Cayman

And on this trip, even more than previous years, it was all about the water!

Stingray City Grand Cayman

We spent our first full day on a sailboat trip to the famous “Stingray City”!

Snorkeling Rum Point

After playing with the stingrays, we had a few hours to spend at the lovely Rum Point.  The shallow water at that beach was a perfect area for the boys to snorkel and we were pleasantly surprised with the number of fish we spotted!

Red Sail Sports Rum Point

After lunch, we rented kayaks and spent the day in the sun.

Kayaking Rum Point

We rented a double kayak to share with my 10 year old and a single for my 13 year old.  He picked it up right away and even had a race with my husband.  Seriously, how do I have a teenager?!!…

Rum Point Sign

And a trip to Rum Point isn’t complete without taking our traditional photo on the pier…

Rum Point Pier

As you can see, my boys were much more cooperative in the early years…How sweet they were when they were little.  Now…not as much!

Cayman Sunset

A couple days later we headed back to the Rum Point side of the island for dinner at the Kaibo Beach Barbeque.  Taking the ferry to dinner was a new adventure for us and being able to watch the sunset while on a boat made it extra special!

Kaibo Beach Barbecue Grand Cayman

We spent the evening enjoying a barbecue buffet with live Caribbean music and dancing under the stars.

Full Moon over water

The full moon shining on the water that night made the trip back feel magical!

The next day we were back on a boat for a snorkeling trip.  Instead of traveling all the way to Rum Point this time, we only had to head over to the Westin a few doors down for sailing and snorkeling.  The trip was called “Swimmin, Chillin and Grillin” and ended up being my favorite excursion for the week!  A great time with a fun international crew who made us feel so welcome.  There is just something so charming about an Australian bartender who asks, “What can I get you, love?”…Ahhh vacations…

Red Sail Sports

We sailed south on Seven Mile Beach and snorkeled off the coast of Georgetown.  This was the first snorkeling trip for my boys (besides the shallow water snorkeling they did on the beaches.) I will never forget how fascinated my 10 year old looked when we got into the water and told him to look down.  If you have ever snorkeled you can understand.  Putting your face mask in the water for the first time and seeing a whole other world below you is just amazing!

Red Sail Sports Catamaran

After the snorkeling portion of the trip, we sailed back up the coast, lunched on a delicious barbecue buffet and listened to live reggae music performed by the crew.  Yes, all this while stretching out in the sun drinking a rum punch.  I seriously did not want the afternoon to end!

In fact, we all loved the snorkeling trip so much that we booked another trip the very next day.  No lunch or live music on that trip but we did get to visit two different snorkeling sights.  The first stop was the USS Kittiwake Wreck which you could imagine, was so exciting for the boys!  This submarine rescue ship was sunk off the coast of Seven Mile Beach just a few years ago as a planned snorkeling/diving site.  You can read more about the fascinating history of the wreck – HERE.  After exploring the exciting shipwreck we sailed over to another beautiful reef and swam with even more fish.  Another memorable afternoon for us all!

When we weren’t off on sailing excursions, we spent most of our time swimming at the beach in front of the condo.

Cayman Beach

These cheap $5.00 rafts kept the boys busy horsing around for hours!

Condo Pool Grand Cayman

We would just walk back and forth from the beach to the pool all day.  Definitely a relaxing week for us all!

Beach Reading

I also had plenty of time to read on vacation.  I can’t think of a better place to finish a wonderful novel!

Please note that this post contains affiliate links which means I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

I will write a full review on Kristy Woodson Harvey’s 3rd book, Slightly South of Simple this week but I can tell you now that you need to add this one to your summer reading list!

Seven Mile Beach Grand Cayman

The nine days we spent in Grand Cayman blew by but were were left with lasting memories of a wonderful family vacation!

Grand Cayman Sunset on Seven Mile Beach

Of course, we were jolted back into reality as we lined up in the tiny, Cayman terminal to board our return flight. The cramped room was filled with not one, but two plane loads of people heading back to the New York area.  We were booked on the United flight to Newark, NJ and the other group was heading to New York on Jet Blue.  In a flash, I went from having Australian guys calling me, “Love” to having the loud New Yorker behind me yelling, “If everybody would just stay in line, we could get outta here!

Yeah, the vacation was over…I guess all good things must come to an end!

I will need to write a whole other post just for restaurant recommendations because we ate in some fabulous places!

In the meantime, if you would like to see some previous Grand Cayman trip reports, feel free to click on any of the links below…

Grand Cayman 2013
Grand Cayman Restaurants
Island Shopping
Grand Cayman with Kids

What vacation was your most memorable?

I would love for you follow along so you don’t miss a post!
Follow by email – HERE

Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

Grand Cayman Family Activities

 

Similar Posts

16 Comments

  1. Shelley, what a beautiful vacation for your family. The island looks gorgeous, not one that I have visited. Those memories will last a lifetime!

  2. Oh this looks like a fabulous trip for the family. Green with envy at all that beach time.

  3. What fun, I love snorkling (the best I've done was in Hawai'i) and the water there is so clear!! The best vacation overall I think was Paris.

  4. Just beautiful, Shelley! Visiting here is on our bucket list. My niece is the Director of Conferene Services & Catering at the Kimpton Seafire Resort. She moved her family there when she was offered this job, and they could not be happier! Gotta go visit! So glad you had such a great vacation!

  5. What an incredible vacation. That water!! I am definitely putting this on our vacation list for the next few years. I love how you had a mix of activities and down time…that makes the best vacation.

  6. What gorgeous photos. That water is so blue and crystal clear. Glad you're all home safe and sound though. At least you're not coming home to snow!

  7. Your trip sounds absolutely amazing Shelley! Adding this to my bucket list. What a beautiful spot on earth! So glad you had a fantastic time with your family!!

  8. It looks absolutely fantastic! We just came back from Clearwater Beach Florida, which is exotic for us Swedes, where we still have snow by the way 🙂 Have a lovely weekend! Anneli in Sweden

  9. Wow, Shelley!!! It looks beautiful!!! Would you believe I have never been to the Caymans? I need to change that! I don't want to miss the May "Take Me Away" party – I have good things to share this month. Hope you had a great weekend! xoxo

  10. Your pictures transported my right back to our Grand Cayman vacation – such a beautiful island ! I'll be featuring your post at Best of the Weekend tomorrow night!

  11. Beautiful pictures. The water is incredible. I wish I could beam myself there! Your pictures from each year of the boys are to be cherished. They will remember the incredible vacations for sure. How lovely to share your happiness with us.

  12. What a fun trip! I went to sting ray city once… still remember it… this was before in the infamous attack on Steve Irwin! Thank you for sharing a lovely trip, I need to check out that book.

  13. Grand Cayman looks beautiful!! It's still on my list since I've ventured to other caribbean islands first. This one needs to move up on the list quicker 🙂 Rum Point looks amazing!Amanda @ Cupcake N Dreams

  14. What an amazingly beautiful, exotic and peaceful destination!! We just returned from a family vacation to Disney and I am still wishing it wasn't over. Yet we have never taken a couple's vacation – I think this may need to change asap!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *