Vacationing in the Caymans By: Marcella Hill

 

   The one thing that always gets me through the school year is knowing that I have a tropical vacation to look forward to in the summer. In 2019 my family had decided that we were going to vacation in the Cayman Islands. We booked our rooms at the Ritz Carlton Resort along the Seven Mile Beach, and booked our flights with Jet Blue Airlines. When we arrived in the Cayman Islands we got picked up at the airport and got driven to our resort. The resort was gorgeous, it had bright colored flowers everywhere and the people were so friendly. We brought our bags up to the room and immediately went down to the pool and beach area to begin our vacation. 

Throughout the week we spent our days relaxing in the warm weather by the beach. The people at the resort would set up beach chairs and towels for us everyday. They even brought us food and drinks throughout the day, we were treated like royalty there! My family went on a few excursions throughout our trip. We went horseback riding along the beaches, and even went horseback riding in the ocean, without a saddle on the horse. This was an extremely terrifying experience for me because the guy leading our group kept going out so far in the ocean that the horses couldn't even stand. I truly thought I was going to die that day. Then on our way back from the water, one of the horses carrying another tourist just passed out, while the girl was on his back. This is the exact reason why I will never go horseback riding again. 

My favorite excursion by far was going wave running and snorkeling in the middle of the ocean. I got to drive my own wave runner through the open ocean. Along the way we stopped at many different snorkel spots suggested by our instructor. The water was so clear and the coral was amazing. We also stopped at a spot called Stingray City and Starfish Cove. We saw real life starfish and got to hold them. We also saw so many stingrays and got to feed them and pet them. Lastly, we also visited this turtle aquarium and got to swim and hold baby turtles, they were adorable. At the resort we lounged by the pool and on the beach, we also rented paddle boards and hobby cats and just relaxed. We drank lime daiquiris and pina coladas all day long and had great seafood meals. This was definitely one of my favorite vacations because the water was so blue and clear and there was just enough to do so we didn't get bored by just relaxing. I hope to be able to go back to the Cayman islands soon!