Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9411160002
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: F8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUZANNE MURPHY-LARRONDE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When people bring up the subject of night life in the Cayman Islands, the discussion doesn't usually turn to gaming casinos, discotheques or Las Vegas revues. Evening spectacles in this Caribbean hideaway are indeed a popular attraction, but the action is likely to take place, not topside, but beneath the ocean's surface, where exotic denizens of the deep perform for an audience equipped with face masks and air tanks.
Apart from its welcoming citizenry, who number about 25,000, abundant, watery natural wonders are the country's premier attraction: mile upon mile of easily accessible coral forests, sheer canyons plunging thousands of feet to the ocean's floor and colorfully painted populations of marine life, all awash in A relatively new and increasingly popular venue for the serious diver is the live-aboard dive boat that comes staffed with its own divemaster and in some cases with such amenities as on-board darkrooms for the immediate processing of underwater pictures.
Together, these stunning attractions have won this British Crown Colony a place in the spotlight as one of the world's outstanding dive destinations. In just a few short years, that reputation has drawn legions of scuba and snorkeling aficionados, deep-sea anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts to the area's sandy shores for a sampling of what many consider to be the ultimate in water-sport vacations.
The Caymans are a chain, albeit a short one, of three diminutive coral and limestone islands anchored on the western fringes of the Caribbean, some 480 miles south of Miami. Grand Cayman, with its thriving financial and political capital of Georgetown, is the largest and liveliest of the trio, followed by its smaller siblings, rugged Cayman Brac and tranquil Little Cayman. All told, they add up to about 100 square miles of picturesque but increasingly pricey West Indian real estate.
While Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are drawing a growing number of visitors for game fishing and diving forays, it is 78-square-mile Grand Cayman that remains the focus of most vacation activity. Its famed Seven Mile Beach, a stretch of powdery white sand, is home to many island hotels, condominiums and restaurants, plus a good sampling of the more than 20 dive operations.
On one recent morning, in what has become something of a Caymanian ritual, scuba instructor Sabah Benson of Bob Soto's Diving Ltd. put a half-dozen eager novices through the paces of a resort course in the pool of the Holiday Inn at Seven Mile Beach. Several hours later, the group was prepared to make an afternoon excursion to one of the area's most popular sights, Stingray City. Here, participants, from a seated position on the ocean floor, can actually pet and hand-feed the enormous, butterfly-like stingrays that circulate in these waters.
Relative to their other Caribbean neighbors, the Caymans staged a somewhat late entry onto the vacation destination scene, but today they rank second only to the Florida Keys as a water-sports destination, with more than 200,000 visitors a year.
Paralleling the colony's meteoric rise in the tourism industry is its equally astounding growth as a world-class, offshore financial center that processes millions of dollars annually. Over the past 25 years, its reputation for stability and strictly enforced secrecy laws has attracted scores of banks and other registered corporations.
This low-lying region was first settled in the mid-1600s by shipwrecked sailors and army deserters, but their numbers dwindled under the relentless assault of Spanish buccaneers. For the next century, although ostensibly under British control, the Caymans became the unofficial domain of roving pirates. Tales of fabulous treasure awaiting discovery in limestone caves and interior swamplands continue to be passed down from generation to generation and are told with great gusto by tour guides in their lilting island accents.
Caymanians demonstrated their loyalty to the British Crown in 1962, choosing to retain their colonial affiliations even after Jamaica, to which they were administratively annexed for centuries, opted for independence. Today, the democracy's racially mixed inhabitants (by the 1800s, a majority of the population was African) live in harmony as their sunny haven has flourished over the passing decades, in growing prosperity.
With its remarkable range of dive opportunities, from close- to-shore reefs and shipwrecks to the 6,000-foot drop-offs along the dramatic Cayman Wall, this trio of islands has something to fit the needs of every diver and every pocketbook. To introduce the novice to scuba diving, for example, many dive operations offer preliminary lessons covering equipment operation, basic safety rules and pool run-throughs topped off by an actual ocean dive. With their newly won certification, resort course graduates are free to continue diving, but always in the company of an instructor. The more ambitious sportsman also can take the weeklong NAUI, PADI or other internationally recognized certification courses that confer the all-important "C-card", allowing bearers to rent equipment anywhere in the world.
A relatively new and increasingly popular venue for the serious diver is the live-aboard dive boat that comes staffed with its own divemaster and in some cases with such amenities as on-board darkrooms for the immediate processing of underwater pictures. To preserve those golden vacation memories, dive operations also provide videotaping services of visitors' subterranean forays.
For snorkelers, several outfits organize boat excursions for an in-depth look at splendid formations of elkhorn and brain coral, plus schools of angelfish, parrot fish, turtles and other marine life found along the north shore reef. Passengers can dive for conch in shallow waters and enjoy them for lunch along with other fresh fish delicacies at a beachside picnic, all for about $30 per person.
Other sports include game fishing, windsurfing, small boat and catamaran sailing, water skiing, aqua triking, jet skiing, paddle boating, parasailing and swimming, to name a few. And for landlubbers, there is tennis or golf at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Britannia Club on Seven Mile Beach.
Those who prefer to dive without getting their feet wet can go for a ride on the world's first passenger submarine, the 50-foot, 49-ton Atlantis, carrying 28 passengers past tropical reefs and shipwrecks, to depths of up to 150 feet. For a still deeper plunge, Research Submersibles Ltd. operates a research sub that carries a pilot and two passengers to depths of 750 feet along the Cayman Wall and past shipwrecks.
With visitor attention focused mainly on the sea, it's not surprising that Caymanians are taking increasing pains to protect the health and beauty of their natural resources. In 1986, a system of marine parks was established throughout the colony, along with strict regulations prohibiting the mutilation, destruction or collection of most forms of subterranean life by residents and visitors alike. "Take only pictures, leave only bubbles," advises a popular slogan.
Topside, you can take a drive to the island's interior for a visit to the Botanic Garden's new nature trail, with its variety of plants and birds. Then head off to West Bay for a look at two attractions, the Cayman Turtle Farm and a roadside hamlet called Hell, both favorites with visitors.
The farm is actually a research center for the preservation of several endangered turtle species. Hell was so christened in the 1930s to commemorate a barren one-acre plot of jagged limestone and coral spires that lies behind its tiny post office. This is the place to buy and send custom-made postcards with corny messages such as: "You always said I'd go to Hell."
Suzanne Murphy-Larronde is a freelance travel writer based in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
by CNB