We wound up not actually coming here. The stop was replaced with Port Antonio, Jamaica (I think due to weather). But I was excited about this stop and scrounged up some fast facts about the location to share with the family upon arrival. Rather than have them go to waste, I figured I’d share them here. We’ll just have to be sure to visit here in the future!
1. The Cayman Islands is a gorgeous 102-square-mile territory comprised of three islands: Grand Cayman (the biggest and most populous of the islands), Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. Even as the largest island, Grand Cayman isn’t all that big – at only ~76 mi2, it’s only a few square miles smaller than Seattle (which is ~84 mi2). More astonishingly, though, is that this teeny island sits on top of an inactive volcanic trench called the Cayman Trench, an area that is 25,216 feet deep, making it the deepest part of the Caribbean. This trench is almost as deep as the Himalayas are high! And the trench is home to eyeless shrimp with a light-sensing organ on its back. Picture that as you fall asleep tonight.
2. The islands were first named (by Columbus) “Las Tortugas”, Spanish for “The Turtles”, because of the abundance of turtles he saw in the area. And indeed, there are turtles in and around the islands, including historically green, loggerhead, hawksbill, and leatherback turtles. Unfortunately, commercial harvesting destroyed the populations of turtles and some (like leatherback turtles) no longer nest here. Now there are extensive turtle beach nesting program to protect the turtles and help in the recovery of their numbers. Among the solutions include “turtle-friendly lighting” along the beachfronts, more subdued lighting that resembles candlelight to help minimize the chance that baby turtles will get confused and swim away from (rather than towards) the sea. Actually, baby turtles are a much better picture to fall asleep to at night, so picture them instead of the eyeless shrimp.
3. Just to be clear, the Cayman Islands are not their own nation. Rather, they were initially administered as a dependency of Jamaica (yeah mon) and became an independent colony in 1959. Now they are a self-governing British Overseas Territory. They even drive on the left and you can find the Union Jack on their flag (along with a cute turtle with a pineapple on its back).
4. A delicious little fact is that apparently the Mudslide – the drink that features vodka, Kahlúa, and Baileys Original Irish Cream – was invented around 1970 at the Wreck Bar in Rum Point Club on Grand Cayman. Supposedly, a customer came in and wanted to order a White Russian (it was probably the Dude from The Big Lebowski) but the Wreck Bar was just a thatched hut and didn’t have any heavy cream. So, they improvised with Irish cream liqueur and voila, the Mudslide was born. While checking on this fact, I discovered that if you swap the vodka for amaretto, it’s called an Orgasm. if you keep the vodka and add amaretto, it becomes the Screaming Orgasm. Is it getting hot in here?
5. Years ago, supposedly, when fishing boats would return from sea they would navigate behind a reef in the sound and clean their fish. The fish guts and squid would be thrown overboard and stingrays would congregate to feast. Over time, the stingrays associated the sound of a boat engine with food (classical conditioning, kids) and just hung out for their easy buffet meal. Nowadays, this area is known as Stingray City and is a huge tourist attraction where you can snorkel with, feed, and pet the stingrays in the wild. The water is only waist-to-chest deep and there are dozens of stingrays with which you can frolic. You can even get some squid meat to feed them. Yes, totally touristy, but sounds fun nonetheless.
6. You can’t really talk about the Cayman Islands without mentioning it being a premier tax haven. The Cayman Islands don’t have a corporate tax and essentially act as a haven for multinational corporations to shield some (or all) of their incomes from taxation. Plus, they don’t impose taxes on residents, making them a destination the wealthy want to move to. Heck, I’d like no taxes. Mental note to look into what it takes to move here…
7. Avast ye! I’m bummed about missing out on this, but it sounds cool so I’m mentioning it so I remember to come back for it someday. Every year – around October/November – the Cayman Islands host an annual Pirates Week Festival, complete with costume contests, party nights, and even a mock pirate ‘invasion’ from the sea! Saying “Pirates Week” is a bit of a misnomer though, as it lasts several weeks across the three islands. It’s huge – and looks fun. Yo ho ho, maybe since our stop here was cancelled we should just plan to return in time for this. If any of you lily-livered scallywags want to join me, let me know.
8. The fastest of facts here – the famous Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman… is only about five and a half miles long. But who’s counting?
9. This one isn’t exactly shocking given the beautiful waters surrounding the islands, but scuba diving is *huge* here. I saw one estimate that there are over 40 dive operations and 365 dive sites. That means there is literally a dive site for every day of the year. Well, except leap years. But I’ll bet somebody could find a 366th dive site if they wanted to.
10. The green iguana is everywhere – and considered a nuisance. It is a non-native invasive species that was first noticed on Grand Cayman in the early 1990s. As of 2018, there were an estimated 1.3 million iguanas living on the island. Remember how small the island? That’s a lot of iguanas in a small area. So they started paying hunters to harvest the green iguanas to try to reduce the overabundant population. Supposedly it’s only about $5/iguana, but still.
There ya go. 10 fast facts about a place we were supposed to go, but didn’t. Someday… 🙂