Our hiking buddy Deb suggested that we go to the Cayman Islands aboard the Aggressor for a bit of diving over the Christmas break. We couldn't argue!
The Caymans are easy for Americans to travel to. The official language is English, the power is the same as ours. You can drink the water on the Grand Cayman island and I didn't see a single mosquito (in December). They accept dollars; unlike in Palau, my REI VISA charged me a 2 percent foreign transaction fee, but no fees were levied with my Chase MasterCard. On the other hand, I only used my MasterCard at Margaritaville. Since it's a US company, that could explain the lack of fees.
We arrived a day early and stayed at the Sunset House. It's quite comfortable, has a great outdoor bar, and is geared towards divers. It is also the home of the renowned photographer Cathy Church, who we met. And across the street was an incredible Christmas light display.
Unlike travelogues of the past, the photos are only available on Google photos. So check out the album in full screen (F11) and use the menu to view a slideshow.
I retrieved the coordinates of our dive sites from the following two URLs:
| Grand Cayman - Southside 12/23 | |||
| Spott's (8:22, 10:51) | 19'16.117N | 81'18.683W | |
| Pedro's Castle (14:18, 16:49, 19:45) | 19'15.987N | 81'17.662W | |
| Grand Cayman - Southeast 12/24 | |||
| Lighthouse Wall (7:56) | 19.288699 | -81.19438 | (estimate from my phone) |
| Kelly's Cavern (10:28) | 19'17.480N | 81'08.794W | |
| Tunnel of Love (14:18) | 19'17.41N | 81'07.46W | |
| Little Cayman - Northside 12/25 | |||
| Randy's Gazebo (7:55, 10:21) | 19'41.046N | 80'04.999W | |
| The Meadows (13:45, 15:47, 17:52) | 19'41.55N | 80'04.12W | |
| Little Cayman - Northside 12/26 | |||
| Lea Lea's Lookout (8:06, 10:38) | 19'40.890N | 80'05.335W | |
| Donna's Delight (14:19) | 19'41.068N | 80'04.840W | |
| Bus Stop (16:43, 19:16) | 19'41.33N | 80'04.24W | |
| Little Cayman - Northside 12/27 | |||
| Nancy's Cup O'Tea (8:05) | 19.693872 | -80.069396 | (estimate from my phone) |
| The Mixing Bowl (10:27) | 19.684677 | -80.079438 | (estimate from my phone) |
| Great Wall of Cayman (14:13) | 19'40.94N | 80'05.11W | |
| Grand Cayman - Westside 12/28 | |||
| USS Kittywake | 19.361256 | -81.401132 | (estimate from my phone) |
| Devils Grotto | 19'17.549N | 81'23.250 | |
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Copyright © 2013 Bill Wohler Last modified: Sun Jan 20 21:22:07 PST 2013 About photos |
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