Last week, we were lucky enough to celebrate New Year's in the Cayman Islands! Rick's friend Eric invited us to stay at his family's condo on Grand Cayman to kick-off 2011. We've been looking forward to the vacation for quite a while and couldn't wait to escape the remnants of the Christmas blizzard.
As soon as we landed at the small Cayman Airport, we were greeted with sunshine and a warm breeze. The airport is small enough that you walk directly out onto the tarmac when you land, so that was pretty cool. Eric's family has a condo on the popular Seven Mile Beach on the west coast of Grand Cayman. The beach is beautiful and the condo was right on a nice private spot along the water. Some of the other parts of Seven Mile Beach get very crowded, so we were happy to have a more secluded spot. 
We went on our first excursion on the day of New Year's Eve, after Eric's friend Kimmy had arrived. We went to visit the Cayman Turtle Farm, a marine park and breeding program for turtles. The best part of the visit was holding a baby green turtle! We were able to hold little guys that were just under three weeks old! They were so adorable and soft. They also got sleepy when their little necks were rubbed and they closed their eyes. They were just like "Little Dude" from Finding Nemo!On New Year's Eve, the island held a beautiful fireworks show off a barge on the beach. (No photos, unfortunately-- but trust me, it was gorgeous!) There were tons of fireworks going off all along the beach. Fireworks are legal in Cayman, so it seems like every other person on the beach was setting off fireworks. The island's official fireworks show was so impressive-- it was a great way to ring in 2011.
Much of our vacation was spent on the beach; sunning, reading, swimming and snorkeling, people-watching and enjoying the official beer of the Cayman Islands- Caybrew. Growing up as a Cape Cod beach baby, I could spend all day on the beach (as long as I have some shade) so I never got tired of it. People-watching in Cayman was especially interesting. The island seems to attract people from all over the world-- we heard many different accents all week. Cayman also attracts many animal-lovers, as it is known as a dog-friendly vacation spot. The addition of dogs to the beach made people-watching even better. 
My favorite part of our vacation was a boat trip to Stingray City. Stingray City is a sand bar off the coast of Grand Cayman. Long ago, fishermen would stop at the sand bar to get out and clean their tools, which attracted stingrays. The stingrays were tame and used to people because of the fishermen, so Stingray City became an island attraction. We took a trip with Captain Marvin's Tours and it was great. There were about 20 of us on the boat, so it wasn't overloaded. Some of the other tour boats pack people on, but this was perfect. 
Our tour included a stop at Stingray City and two snorkeling spots. Stingray City was awesome! The stingrays come up and rub against everyone's legs and they are extremely soft. I was surprised at how soft and smooth the stingrays are; touching them was so cool. I was also surprised at how pretty their eyes are-- they have dark eyes with a brown iris. I was expecting more reptile-like eyes, but their eyes were more like that of a mammal. When we were on the sand bar, we also got to feed the stingrays squid and hold them. Stingrays have a great sense of smell, so five or six would rush over at once as soon as squid was in the water. They would bump right into my leg looking for the squid! Our Caymanian tour guides told us that kissing a stingray brings seven years of good luck, so I puckered up! When in Cayman...The rest of the boat tour was great. We stopped at two fantastic snorkeling spots, where we saw fish of every color. At the second spot, Rick and I even saw a little sea turtle swimming underwater. The trip to Stingray City was definitely the highlight of our trip. It was so unique and awesome to get up close to such interesting creatures.
The rest of our vacation was very relaxing and low-key: a perfect combination. I would absolutely go back to Grand Cayman and recommend a visit to anyone. And if you ever do visit, don't forget to try Caybrew, eat some conch fritters and visit Stingray City!
