Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are a territory of three islands in the western Caribbean Sea. Grand Cayman is the largest, and a major cruise port, and the smaller islands Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. I had the chance to spend a day in Grand Cayman on a cruise excursion in 2011. I fell in love right away.

View from the Cruise Ship dock

Not only is Grand Cayman island inhabited by such warm and friendly locals, it has a lot to offer tourists. We had the opportunity to visit Seven Mile Beach. This white sand, public beach is home to the majority of the islands luxury and resort hotels. It was absolutely stunning, and a notably popular with cruisers. A lot of people on the ship parked themselves there for the day to relax and soak up some sun. Interestingly, this beach recently received the award for "the Caribbean's Best Beach" from Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine.

Seven Mile Beach

Next on the list? Stingray City. Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars of the Grand Cayman island with an abundance of southern stingrays. I really didn't know what to expect with this excursion, but it turned out to be such a good time! Basically, the stingrays know they are going to be fed when the boats circle in the water so they are not harmful. We jumped into the ocean, which in this area was only about 4 or 5 ft deep. The stingrays were all around your feet. It was incredible. The tour guides picked them up and held them so we could pet them and even encouraged a back massage. They get you to bend over a bit and place the stingray on your back and he moves around. Once you get over the fear that a stingray is on your back, it's a pretty amazing experience. Swimming with stingrays on the bucket list, check!

Don't fear, they are friendly!

The Cayman Turtle Farm is another popular tourist attraction. This turtle farm is home to Green Sea Turtles, the largest hard-shelled sea turtles and second largest of all turtle species. Some of them even weigh over 500 pounds! At the farm you can hold and interact with the turtles at the turtle touch tanks and wading pools.

In the Education Centre, you can learn all there is know about the turtles. You can also view the turtle hatchery where during breeding season (May to October) you can witness new hatchings making their way up through the sand of their incubation boxes!

This destination is a must see if you are a turtle lover or animal lover in general. So much to learn about this incredible species! Don't forget to snap a selfie!

Last but certainly not least on the tour of this breathtaking island, Hell. There are many versions of how Hell got its name, but they are generally variations of the exclamation "this is what Hell must look like." Roughly the size of half a soccer field, are these short, black, limestone formations.

Tourists are not permitted on the limestone formations, but viewing decks are available. Hell also has red hell-themed post office where you can find an abundance of postcards to mail back home to loved ones from Hell. When you enter the building, there is a man dressed as Satan, who greets you with phrases like "How the hell are you" and "Where the hell are you from?" Postcards not your thing? Check out the t-shirts, ball caps, and souvineers from Hell. It's kind of inevitable, I mean, who wouldn't want something to remind them of their adventures in the mysterious town of Hell.

Welcome to Hell Post Office & Gift Shop

If that didn't convince you to want to visit the Cayman Islands, I don't know what would. The Tour guides and locals were so inviting and welcoming and really were experts in knowledge of their island. This was my first travel destination where they drove on the opposite side of the road as North America, too cool! I absolutely adored every minute of this day adventure and would love to get to go back and spend more time and see more. *mentally awards Grand Cayman my favourite cruise destination*