Grand Cayman Off The Beaten Path

There is actually a town on the island called "Hell". And they have a post office.

The name comes from the craggy looking rocks sticking up in the swampy feild behind the area. More of a mangrove marsh thats secluded by trees but the have a wooden pathway and deck for you to travel and take pictures from. Pretty desolate place. Even if you ventured into the area with combat boots, a person would surely slip and fall against one of the spires and rip a gash in an arm, leg, etc...

There are 2 tourist shops on-site to get the cheesy shirts from and also the mandatory & obligatory postacrds. They you can walk into the post office and have them mailed globally. During my 2006 visit, they had a sign up saying that only USD would be accepted among foriegn curriencies. Now, your friends can say they got a postcard from hell.

And of course...you have been to hell and back.....ba-dum-dum.

If you get on the road (there's not too many) and head towards 7-Mile and the turtle farm...be sure to keep left. There a turn to the left, not well noted, and a half mile later, you're at the post office. It's really easy to miss it and head straight into a neighborhood garage sale.

Most people miss the natural look of the island. The tour busses take people only to the highlights of things that survived the hurricanes. But traveling out to the East End, and one will see where all dirt has been stripped away from the coral rock base as far as several kilometers inland.

The driving out there is quiet and offers spectacular sunsets. Many places can be found to turn off the road and tromp about on foot.

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Look around carefully and you will see these chicks wandering all around the island. Guess what they escape their cages after the hurricane Ivan struck in 2004 and since them they are roaming the island quite freely and enjoying their freedom until someone decides to make a meal out of them.

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So you want to get away from the crowds of 7 mile beach huh? I've got the perfect spot for you. Smith's Cove. This little honey of a beach is extremely hard to find. I drove past this beach 10 times looking for it, I asked the people at Don Fosters where it was & I still couldn't find it. I finally stopped at Pure Art and they gave me perfect directions to find it. Thus, you know that when you do finally arrive here, you WILL be protected from all the crowds and hooplah, lol. Smith Cove is not a large beach area, but is large enough to hold a number of families wanting to get away from it all without disturbing the other groups. It is also another good snorkeling spot. So you not only have your choice of lounging around soaking in the rays, but you can don on those fins & mask and enjoy that wonderful underwater world the caymans has to offer.

Smith Cove is located on South Sound Road. The locals will tell you that it is located right across the street from the big castle. What they call castle's are what us american's call plantations. Park in the parking lot right next to the castle/plantation and walk across the street. Please look both way's. We want to see all our friends back here on VT! :-)

A Stingray city in the middle of the ocean, about 12ft deep at its deepest. This is where years ago fisherman would come to clean and cut their daily catch. With that brought in droves of Stingrays. You can snorkel or dive here. The Stingrays are all around you, there are plenty of tour boats leaving SMB daily/hourly. It's a wonderful trip even just for the boat ride. The boat drivers get into the water with the travelers and catches a Stingray for your petting pleasure. They feel like a portobello mushroom, watch out where you step as they use there tails as a defense and it can hurt if you step on one. Their favorite food is squid and you can hand feed them in the waist deep water.

Home to Red Sail Sports offering just about every type of water activity.
They have changing facilities, showers, restaurant, hammocks, volleyball court and very shallow water to cool off those toasty toes.

For a fee you can take the ferry from the Hyatt on 7 mile beach to get here.

A fun thing to do is go to the town of Hell. The proprietor of the local general store dresses up in a devil costume every day. He's also the local postmaster, so you can send postcards to your friends, family, and yourself from Hell.

There is a gelato place called "Antica Gelateria" that has authentic Italian Gelato.It is sort of set back in a shopping center,but it is the best gelato I have ever had and the prices are reasonable.It feels like you've stepped into a European cafe or something.Everything was brought over from Italy, and we talked to the family who runs the place and they are extremely nice people.One day I saw them in the supermarket buying all their fresh ingredients so believe them when they say it is fresh.