If you appreciate a Caribbean island where you can truly relax and decompress, make sure that Grand Cayman is on your list.
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Holiday Travel
Thanksgiving is thought of as a horrible time for travel. Well, we have discovered that the Thanksgiving holiday is one of our favorite times to head to the Caribbean. This year, we chose to spend the holiday in Grand Cayman (one of my personal favorites). I will let you in on the trick that we have found: travel Thanksgiving morning!
Past Trips
Kipp and I were both familiar with the island prior to booking this trip: Kipp on a family cruise when he was young and me on a trip with my mom a few years back (and on family cruises as well). Mom and I went a few years back and loved staying on island. Back in 2019, mom and I found a steal of a deal through JetBlue Vacations that allowed us to spend 4 nights at the Ritz Carlton (I am pretty sure it was a mistake fare). The Ritz was as you would expect a Ritz to be…ritzy. Midway through our trip, we were informed that there was a hurricane sitting over eastern Florida (which was our connection). Well darn, we ended up having to stay on island for another three days – ALWAYS GET TRAVEL INSURANCE YALL! During this time we actually moved down to the Westin Seven Mile Beach property. This was much more our style.
Flights
Getting to Grand Cayman from Dallas isn’t too challenging. There are nonstop options and many connecting flights through Florida. We ended up booking DFW to FLL via American Airlines and then FLL to GCM via Southwest Airlines points.
Westin Grand Cayman
So when Kipp and I started looking into a Thanksgiving holiday in Grand Cayman in 2022, the Westin is where I wanted to stay. Now, the Westin is not in our budget. But Monica, how did you end up staying there? Well I am glad you asked. We booked our trip around staying at the Sunshine Suites Hotel, which is much more reasonably priced. Sunshine Suites is a local hotel that is located right across the street from the Westin. A stay at this hotel allows you to utilize all of the Westin facilities. We booked this through a third party site that allowed flexible cancellation. Kipp and I were content with this booking BUT we were monitoring Westin prices a couple of weeks prior to the trip and noticed a drop in price and we jumped on it.
We spent 4 wonderful nights on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, which, fun fact, is only really 6.3 miles long. If you are planning on spending time on the island, Seven Mile Beach is the place to be. The beach is calm, has perfect white sand, and clear blue water – exactly what you look for on a Caribbean island. The Westin is a fantastic property with good sized rooms, fluffy beds, great food, the perfect stretch of beach, a wonderful pool, and a beautiful lobby/lounge. We spent most of our Thanksgiving holiday on Grand Cayman relaxing in our beach loungers and eating great food. There are great food options all over the island: we loved Ferdinand’s Restaurant at the Westin and also enjoyed some food in the Camana Bay area where there are a handful of restaurants and shops.
Catamaran Fun
On our last day we did a catamaran snorkel trip that we booked with Red Sail Sports at the hotel. It was a wonderful day out on the water. The captain took our small group (it was a Sunday which is a traditional travel day) out to a couple of great snorkel spots and the team grilled us a tasty lunch on board.
We snorkeled for hours. Crystal clear water made it so you could see everything. If you have never been to GCM and end up going, you will understand what I mean – it is definitely some of the clearest in the Caribbean with the whitest sand around. While snorkeling we saw hundreds of fish and I saw a huge Nurse Shark – its ok, they are the nice ones. We spent hours snorkeling and I literally ended up having to pull my fish of a husband back onto the boat as he would have stayed out there til dark.
On our way back to the resort we contemplated moving to the island, you know, the things all people do on vacation. Honestly though, we could easily move to Grand Cayman. It is one of the cleanest islands around and has a safety to it that many Caribbean islands lack. We were reluctant to get on the plane the next day but our dogs (and work) were waiting for us. Thanksgiving in Grand Cayman will definitively be repeated.
Where to Stay on Seven Mile Beach
- Westin Seven Mile Beach
- Stayed here multiple times and love it!
- Kimpton Seafire
- Walked the hotel grounds and it is *chef’s kiss* – would definitely like to give this resort a try.
- Ritz Carlton
- Great location and fantastic property – a bit too quiet for us.
- Sunshine Suites
- Simple hotel and where we would stay on a tight budget. Reasonably priced and you can utilize all of the Westin facilities.
Things to do:
- Catamaran snorkel day trip
- Rum Point day trip – or you can take a ferry from Camana Bay
- Swim with the stingrays
- Shopping in Georgetown
- There are many more options but these are my favorites over the years. There are a handful of full day or partial day trips on the island that are great excursions as well.
Let us know if you decide to visit Grand Cayman, we would love to hear about your adventures. We can’t wait to go back ourselves.
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There’s so much to see and do there! I can’t wait to go back.