Our "El Cheapo" view!
So I'm kind of catching up here from June. Earlier this year we decided to take the kids to Maui. Well the day we were to book the trip our Subaru decided it didn't want to be turbocharged anymore and well the bill to repair it (so we could unload it) consumed a great portion of our budget. Shortly thereafter I began to look for other destinations that would have a similar WOW factor, but would be cheaper for the family. After debating south Florida vs. the Caribbean I decided the kids would really like to get their passports stamped and I picked Grand Cayman. I am so glad I did!
Grand Cayman is the largest of the 3 island chain and while its not Maui it is pretty awesome in its own right. Travel for us entailed a 6am departure from CMH and a connection barely 2 hours later in ATL where we boarded an old MD-80 for the 2:30 flight into Grand Cayman. We used Delta Air Lines (who else) and collected lots of Skymiles and bonus miles swelling my account to about 150k miles. We booked thru Delta Vacations and got a killer package on flights and hotel and transportation in Cayman. While we booked the "el cheapo" rate consisting of no balcony no view we did in fact get a great room with both the balcony and the water view. We stayed in the Marriott Grand Cayman Resort and it was everything we hoped it would be. The only issue we could come up with was the lack of cold water in the shower and the air conditioner working so well that it got too cool at night. To me those are not issues but expectations. While technically it was the start of hurricane season the chance of a big storm in June is almost non-existant. The weather for us was great. The beach.....Seven Mile Beach lived up to its reputation of one of the best beaches in the world. Our end was so quiet and the snorkeling was amazing on the artificial reef that have been created just off shore at the Marriott.
The Reef Balls artificial reef at the Marriott
The downside to the trip is eating. It's not cheap anywhere-even fast food was $35 for a family of 4. A sit down meal at a family place is going to cost you roughly $75-100 and a nice meal for 2 is about $150 or more. We knew this going in and just considered it part of the expense of a trip. There are so many cool things to do there, but the number 1 attraction (for non scuba divers) is Stingray City. This sand bar about 4 miles out is super cool. A chance to get in the water and play with hundreds of wild Southern Stingrays in their environment. I will never forget holding a wild female stingray as long as I live. This 7 foot across and 180 pounder was the highlight of my trip. We went there with Red Sail Sports and they took great care of us on their catamaran with a great sail home after some awesome snorkeling in water that ranged from 12 feet to 6000 feet. So neat to do.
The money shot
Flying home was the reverse of the trip down with the exception that our departure was much later at around 1:30pm and that put us into ATL at the busy hour. Our MD80 was again old, but this time it was empty and allowed us to have full rows to stretch out. We also got a chance to see Cuba as we flew over. We also said to heck with carry on's and checked our luggage since it was free for AMEX/Delta cards and this made it much easier to travel and end our journey on a relaxed note. After the fun of the trip I even managed to get a bottle of Dom Perignon home from the Duty Free shop without hacking off the US Customs people.
Swimming with the Stingray
1 comment:
Sounds like an incredible time away from it all! Glad you were able to go!!
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