Honeymoon Grand Cayman

I would say you have to see at least one sunrise and one sunset. The sounds of the ocean lapping the beach 20 feet from your room, the gentle warm breeze, the sun rising against a pink orange sky. It is not a dream, these are real.

Dive-Dive-Dive: Excellent staff, excellent gear, excellent sights and sea life.

Bring your sunblock or lotion.

Quick Tips:

Shop for your food/supplies at main shopping center near Durty Reids.

If coming from US, bring your own USDA original packaged meat and save a LOT of money. We did a lot of our cooking and learned that you are allowed to bring up to 250 pounds of USDA meat in original packaging.

Best Way To Get Around:

Plenty of shuttles, no need to rent a car/jeep unless you are going to be on the road every single day. If you are there for sightseeing, there is a shuttle that takes you to/from town every day. If you are interested in diving they pick you up and bring you back for free.

Best Things Nearby:
Ocean 10m/30 feet from back door, the Dive/Fishing boat and their staff 25m from any room. A hammock outside the back door and weather good enough you could sleep there at night if you wish.

Best Things About the Resort:
Location - Location - Location, if you are a diver this is a MUST SEE. Only caution: besides depth of dive, I saw everything inside the reef snorkeling that I saw outside the reef on the Dive$.

Resort Experience:
First of all, the island is "SMALL," so a few things to consider. First, if you have a shopping list, shop BEFORE you go to the Morritts - the Morritts is far away from the tourist traps, which of course is where the best foodmart/Walmart-type stores are. Second, do you want to score big points? If flying from the US (usually Miami) into the Cayman Islands? Buy a cooler, load it up with USDA meat and check that as your third bag, load it with dry ice, check with your airlines to check dimensions and all, but BELIEVE ME, it is legal as long as it has the original USDA stickers on the meat (no repackaging to save space or you can't bring it in to the country). Third, to rent a car or not, is something you need to think about. We did rent one and honestly we used it three times, once for a trip to the other side of the island to rent some tanks and wade in for some diving and to ride jet skis (there was a shuttle available). They drive on the LEFT side of the road, so be prepared. Rental fees for cars, not too shabby, but like I said, we we didn't use it much (shopping for breakfast foods at local market, stuff we forgot, etc.)

Plenty of sunshine, warm, soft sand beaches. Also some rocky entry beach points. FISH - oh my GOD, if you love to fish or eat FRESH fish, this is the place. I cannot for the life of me remember the Captain's name, but he takes you fishing, and when you come back he cleans the fish, then comes to your unit and prepares the fish and the whole meal for you. (Expect him to sit down as a guest.) The meal was incredible and well worth the mere $60 spent on the trip.

The diving - WOW, I have been lucky enough to dive around the world, this is an excellent location with clear water and plenty of sea life. HINT: do not waste your time dragging your gear with you, rent the gear there. Excellent near-new gear (including underwater cameras) - they even have a service on site that develops your pictures and puts them on CD for you.

In closing, we will go again.

We caught a 6-foot/2m hammerhead shark while there, by accident. It was an ultra-rare sighting for any shark and made all the papers on island.

At the Morritt's we had Karaoke Night and met the owner, who sang "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" but sounded nothing like Elvis.

Oh, they have the Newlywed Game every week, there is also a comedy club (adults only)... I would say go shopping and make your own breakfast - although the staff is very friendly, breakfast did not seem to be a focus (maybe the best cooks were still sleeping).

The facilities were very nice; as is customary, there is a deposit for electricity. There are shuttles to take you anywhere you want.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

This is in direct conjunction with a fishing trip. I can not remember the boat captain's name, but he is a local and associated with the Morritt's Tortuga. You pay approximately $60 for the fishing trip, you catch fish, he brings you back, cleans and spices the fish then prepares a whole meal for you right there in your suite at the Morritt's Tortuga. This may be available in other locations but I cannot confirm that myself.

The food was excellent, expect the Captain to join your party for the feast.

Very nice breakfast/brunch buffet on Sundays - it was $9.95. This was the ONLY place I found on the island where I enjoyed breakfast. Granted, I did not drive from the Morritt's Tortuga (where we were staying) into the tourist area some 30-45 minutes away.

Learned a valuable lesson. Snorkel first, dive later. We paid probably close to $1,000 US for multiple boat dives at various locations at varying depths. On the last two days of our vacation, while allowing ourselves to decompress for flight, we went snorkeling inside the reef. [smacking forehead] Duh, everything we saw outside the reef, we saw inside the reef, and the snorkeling inside the reef with our own gear was free. [shrug] Probably still would have gone on the boat dives, you never know when you are going to find a treasure!

The crews were great, the diving was excellent and the rental gear was near new.

Oh yes, visit the dive camera shop on-site for great disposable or rental dive cameras as well.

Very very safe, even for young folks. They have ONE eel that is like 6 feet long who loves the squid the boat captains give you to feed the stingrays.

We stayed at the Morritt's Tortuga, so had to drive to ???? Point on the other end of the island, better location for jet skis and free dives from beach as well as taking everyone to the stingray/eel petting zoo.

The stingray's belly feels as soft as butter, the top of them feels coarse like sandpaper.

You can ask anyone on the island how to get there, his pub is near one of the largest shopping malls (more of a Walmart) on the island.

Look for the Washington Redskins Jeep out front.

The T-Shirt Says:
Durty Reids Palace...A Beanery
Warm Beer * Lousy Food * Surly Help

I found them to be quite the opposite of their advertising. Mr. Reids is an American who is also a Redskins fan. Bring him any NFL merchandise and you're apt to get a free brew of your choosing.

Beware the spicy chicken, I am a fire breather and their spicy chicken took my breath.

You can take family there during the day - GREAT lunch menu.

First of all, let me pre-qualify this by saying this was after a hurricane had done some major damage to the facility, including sweeping away 40-50% of the inmates. Yes, I call them inmates.

This place had an odor like you would not believe. And it was, as I said, underpopulated. I would hate to smell that place at full population.

I believe it cost around $12.95 per man/woman/child. They sold turtle soup next door. It was just not what I was expecting.

I would like to see any international organization truly concerned with sea turtle conservation take over this facility, which is in my humble opinion being poorly run or at least poorly represented to the public.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Hell, and it's in on Grand Cayman Island!

There are three main things in Hell.

#1: the post office.
#2: two local shops' picture opportunities outside where you stick your head through the cutout as either a devil or an angel. They sell all of the Hell merchandise.
#3 is a night spot for the 18 to late 20s.

The story is that one of the US Presidents went to this locale hunting water fowl, got amongst these rocks that absorb and reflect heat and said, "This place is hot as hell"... And it stuck.

YOU NEED TO KNOW there are TWO main "HELL" locations about 1/4 mile apart. We stopped at the first one (with the cutout photo stop out front) and thought that was the main stop including the post office.

The other is the HELL Post Office. Apparently they do a lot of business. One employee told me someone had sent out divorce celebration notices through their post office. Better divorce announcements than wedding announcements through the hell post office, I always say. [Grin]

So ummm... Go to Hell, have a helluva great time!

In closing, I clicked this off as family, but that would be like a PG-13 thing.

DON'T FORGET the #1 export from Grand Cayman Islands...THE RUMCAKE. You find it in many shops here, but it is much cheaper off the beaten path at some of the local grocery stores off of the main road.

Remember the beach is FREE.

Through a camera lens, 7 Mile Beach (the main tourist area for the cruise ships) looks like a paradise.

You can rent dive tanks nearby and walk in the ocean and dive for free. The water is crystal blue and you can see what seems like infinity.

The beach sand is soft, although it looks almost manufactured. It has been gone over by so many tourists that the beach is nearly sterile. No sea life, no crabs, nothing. Almost like a swimming pool attached to the sea.

There are many picnic tables on the beach for basket lunches or sunset dinners. The breeze is near constant and warm.

This area is where you find Hard Rock Cafe, Haagen-Daaz ice cream, and many other touristy-type shops.