Day 3: Grand Cayman

We have arrived to our first stop which I have been to several times!  The one thing I do not like about this stop is you must take a tender boat to get to shore.  They take forever because they load at least 200 people before leaving so it is super slow!

The Cayman Islands are considered one of the safest islands in the Caribbean probably due to some of the strict laws.

80% of the island was wiped out by category 5 Hurricane Ivan.

It is also known as the island where people “hide” their money. 

Today, I am on an excursion to Pedro St. James and the Cayman Turtle Centre.   

Pedro St. James is a national historic site.  It is the birthplace of democracy in the Caymans.  We had a guided tour that started when we stepped off the bus and when it ended we were escorted directly back to the bus.  Bummer because it would have been nice to have at least 15 minutes to walk around the grounds.

The Cayman Turtle Centre is a tourist-based conservation area that focuses on everything about sea turtles.  They have over 10000 turtles.  There were so many huge turtles in the breeding pond.

I wandered around and was amazed at what I saw.  It felt more like an amusement park than a conservation site.  There was a waterpark with slides, touch tanks, open snorkel area with fish, and other activities.  I left with mixed feelings and probably would not go back.   Oh and as gross as this sounds . . . turtle poop is way bigger than I expected; sorry no photos.  I walked across the street to check out the beach . . .

. . . not exactly what I had in mind but the water was beautiful.  The bus arrived so I boarded the bus back to the port and caught the tender to the ship!