My wife and I had our honeymoon in Grand Cayman in 1979. We returned after a long hiatus in 2006. We were so enchanted with the place in which we were staying on Seven Mile Beach, we returned the next month for another week.
The next year, after Dart closed the suites where we stayed, we went to a nice two-storey condo on the beach further toward town. We had such a pleasant, quiet time. We returned again that year. The next year we rented side-by-side condos for the week and brought the whole family. We did that in 2018 and 2019. We averaged total daily expenditures of around $1,000 per day per condo.
As I loved the experience of the island and its culture, early on I became a daily reader of the Cayman Compass, which I still am to this day.
By following local events through the paper, though, I have noticed a very pronounced trend to put as many cruise tourists and high rises on the island as possible. Crime is up. Corruption is obvious in government and the traffic has become absolutely terrible. Where is the charm in all that?
We can’t see it.
We are going to pass on coming back for a while until all this plays out. We have two weeks planned at a more peaceful and less-crowded spot in the Caribbean for this year.
I’m sorry to see the direction of the island and where it is leading. I hope this government can shed itself of its ties to developers long enough to say enough is enough.
John Wilson
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
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Could not agree with you more. We have visited 3 times now, over the course of 3 decades, and have seen paradise turn into just another overused, and abused island. To expensive, too much traffic, too many people, ruined beach snorkeling, and sadly headed in the wrong direction fast.
We will not be back, which is a real and very sad shame.
Please slow down and preserve what you have left.
Dave Mallon
New Hampshire USA