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Grand Cayman

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Caribbean Club 2017

BlueCollarPrep

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The Caribbean Club at Grand Cayman will always have a special place in my heart. I have had so many special memories here. Not to mention, it is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed in. I thought I was dreaming when they said they would have my family and I back. This time, we knew we wanted to stay a little more low-key and spend more time at 7 Mile Beach at the hotel. We still explored, we just didn’t do as many excursions as our first trip. The room this time around was just as beautiful as the first time. As soon as you open the door, the big open space just make it feel amazing and luxurious. It had 3 large bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The master bedroom had a king bed, a huge master bath with a jacuzzi tub, twin sinks and a stand up shower, and then sliding glass doors leading out to the oversized balcony with amazing views of those Caribbean blues. The second bedroom had a queen bed and another huge bathroom. The third bedroom had 2 twin beds and a shared bathroom that you could access from the hallway as well. Each room also has tons of closet space. It’s so nice when there is actually room and you don’t have to live out of a suitcase the entire vacation! The kitchen and living room were so spacious. It’s an open concept area complete with a full kitchen, a breakfast bar and stools, a dining table, full couch and chair, and of course 2 large sliding glass doors leading out to the amazing balcony. There was a washer and drier off of the kitchen as well. I was pretty much ready to move in! On to the balcony…it’s just amazing. It’s such a big space for a balcony, with room for a dining table, 3 lounge chairs, and some extra cushiony outdoor seating. We were out there every morning, every evening and just about anytime we popped into the room for something. You can’t help but wander out there any chance you can get to experience the view of the pool, 7 Mile Beach and the never-ending sea of the most beautiful blue ever. Most of our days were spent on the beach under one of their cabana huts sipping on the pina-colodas from Luca, their in-house restaurant. We also spent the other part of our days taking out one of their paddle-boards and enjoying their world-class snorkeling about 100 yards out. We love that you can see things like turtles and cuttlefish literally 10 feet off-shore! This has been the only island we’ve ever experienced anything like this so close to shore! And, since Nate doesn’t know how to snorkel yet, it’s really cool when he gets to see a turtle come up to the water surface for air. He was so excited to see the little guy pop his head up – it was adorable. My wife and I also went scuba diving at Eden Rock, which is about a 15 minute drive from the hotel. It’s actually our favorite place to snorkel! We love being able to rent the gear and just jump right in the water and make our way out to the reef alone. This year, we saw our first shark! It was actually really scary even though it was a small shark (LOL). It wanted nothing to do with us, but it was just a reminder that they are out there somewhere, and it has always been my greatest fear to come across one. Well I did, and I made it (haha). We also took a venture across the island to the Cayman Crystal Caves. Despite the fact that it’s an hour drive, it was a really nice time. Nathan was soooo into it! We were surprised at how well he listened and behaved and was intrigued by all there was to see. We got to see bats, a few different caves, and an amazing underground water pool, surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites – it was a total Goonies experience! On another day, we also experienced their Carnival parade go right past the hotel. I found out the hard way, but you might not want to take your kid to see it (LOL). It was all harmless, but there was some serious grinding, with a lack of clothing, that might not be kid appropriate! (LOL) It was an experience though! With that said, if you visit and don’t have kids with you, go get some glitter and head down and join the fun because it looked like a blast. We usually spend at least 2 nights at Camana Bay. This is a little area with cute shops, great restaurants and fun water fountains for the kids to play in (I joined in with Nate this time), and it’s a perfect way to end your evening. We always end our vacation with a long day at the beach right in front of the Caribbean Club, and having dinner at our favorite restaurant, Luca. The food is absolutely amazing and the staff is always so welcoming and friendly – I can’t say it enough how friendly they were to my family and I. It’s a romantic little atmosphere at the base of the hotel where you can either dine inside or out. We always choose out, because how can you not with the crazy warm weather and gorgeous views! It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been home and we’re honestly already to go back. The Caribbean Club is amazing. The staff, the rooms, the views, the restaurant, the beach…everything is just breathtaking. My son is already asking me ‘When are we going back to Grand Cayman again?’ I don’t know what it is about this place in particular but when I think about both of my trips here with my family, I get all nostalgic and could literally just keep coming back ever year! We LOVE you Caribbean Club, and thank you again for having us! We hope to be back again next year (if not sooner), LOL. If you’re planning on vacationing in Grand Cayman, definitely consider this place. I can’t say it enough, how much we LOVE it here and all the unforgettable memories you will have!

Family Travel

CARIBBEAN CLUB AT GRAND CAYMAN

Caribbean Club Grand Cayman

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For years my wife and I would take a vacation every year to the Caribbean. We were never really the sightseeing type and always want to be occupied doing a water activity or sitting on the beach taking in some rays and drinking cocktails! When my son was born I didn’t think I was going to make it back to an island for at least 10 years. I just didn’t think there would be enough to keep a kid his age occupied (no boardwalk or rides!). However, we missed that clear blue water way too much and couldn’t resist any longer! We decided to take a trip and partner up with the Caribbean Club to make our first family Caribbean trip to Grand Cayman. I have to admit, I was not expecting to fall in love with the island so much! Nor did I realize just how beautiful this resort was going to be. I mean yeah, I looked at the website pics and went on trip advisor, but still I was blown away! I am pretty sure though, that I will never get to stay in a room (actually a full luxury apartment) like that again. The room had 3 full bedrooms: 1 with a King bed, 1 with a Queen bed and 1 with 2 full beds. It had 3 (yes 3) full gorgeous bathrooms (1 for each bedroom) with 1 of them being shared as a communal bathroom. No matter how nice your hotel room is, I usually never want to waste time being in the room on vacation. But, with a suite like this, I found myself so happily relaxed lounging around in between dives, the beach, and pool time. Being that my wife and I are certified scuba divers and love snorkeling, we had always wanted to visit Grand Cayman. One of the things that drew us to the Cayman Islands, besides the obvious crystal clear water, was that a friend of mine had visited once before and told us that there was really good shore diving on the island…so we were excited to try that for the first time! Since we woke up around 4am to head to JFK Airport, we decided the first day on the island we would just hang out at the hotel, order some (lots) of pina colada’s from their on-site restaurant, Luca, and do some snorkeling on the beach. At first we were kind of bummed by the amount of fish we were seeing. We had been to enough islands to know that not every beach you can just jump in and see tons of fish, but we heard so much about shore diving and snorkeling here that we just figured we’d jump in to a giant fish tank! Luckily, we were given a tip by a fellow diver that you if you just swam straight out about 100 yards we would find what we were looking for…and we did! There was huge coral reef with tons of wild life…such as lobsters, turtles, parrot fish and more. We were in heaven! For the second day, we wanted to try and find something that Nate could participate in and hopefully would let him see some fish since he can’t snorkel just yet. Although, I was actually surprised by how much he just loved floating in the ocean. He’s used to the Jersey shore where the water is freezing and you can’t see your own nipples (lol) never mind see fish swimming by your feet. And, he was thrilled by the lack of seaweed! We booked a full day trip with Stingray City Cayman Islands that started with swimming with the stingrays at Stingray City. I have been diving and snorkeling before where I seen a sting ray, but never with so many! With this trip they were everywhere…I mean there was at least 30 swimming between our legs and all around. It does get a little crowded at Stingray City and for Nate the water was a little choppy, but we just held him since the water is only 3 feet deep. The tour guide holds the rays so you can take pictures with them and pet them. My wife, Sarina, and I also snorkeled around, swam, and pet them. It really was amazing!  For the next stop we headed to Starfish Point. There wasn’t really much to see here but on the bottom of the ocean floor there were these beautiful starfish. I’m normally a big sissy with touching unknown creatures, but I really wanted to look cool in front of my son (lol) so I dove down about 15 ft and picked up a starfish to show him. I could feel his little suction cups on my hand – it was pretty cool, and my son dug it. Next stop was at coral gardens, but to be honest, I could’ve of skipped this stop. I didn’t really see anything that I couldn’t see snorkeling off the beach at the hotel. We then headed back to land and went to the Cayman Turtle Centre. This turtle farm and the whole trip was really an amazing hands-on experience. Right through the front doors you’re greeted with these HUGE sea turtles. I have never see turtles these big…I mean, when they come up for air its like a whale blowing its blow hole. They also actually have a lagoon where you can swim with a couple of different fish and tons of sea turtles, a giant pool with a pretty cool water slide and a man-made waterfall. One of my favorite moments of the trip was when Nathan and I went in the holding tanks and got to hold the sea turtles in our hands. We were taught (and it actually works) that when you pick them up and they get squirmy, if you rub their neck, they calm down. We bought him a turtle souvenir and he rubbed Cayman’s (his new pet turtle’s name) neck the whole ride back to the hotel. (he’s too cute) The next day we knew it was time to do some diving! Even though we took a refresher course, we both were still nervous to do any deep dives and really just wanted to shore dive. We decided to head to the Eden Rock Diving Center where we rented some scuba gear and jumped right in the ocean. It was such a cool experience and the first time we went diving without a guide. The shop owner showed us a map of the reef to show us where to go once we were underwater. To be honest, my adrenaline was pumping so much I didn’t really remember what he said, so we just explored. We swam with turtles, a barracuda, 5ft fish, and so many other creatures. Normally we go on a boat with other divers so I was a little nervous not having other bodies in the water with us (I’m kinda scared to come across a shark), but I can’t wait to do more shore diving on my next trip – so fun! At night we explored and ate at different restaurants. We felt so safe walking around at night and the location of the Caribbean Club was perfect…right on 7 mile beach! I could probably keep going on and on of just how amazing this trip was, but I’m not sure you’ll read much more (lol)! Overall, a breath-taking suite, in a beautiful hotel, with the nicest staff members, in the Caribbean with my amazing family…it was really a great way to end our summer. Thank you again Caribbean Club for the unbelievable accommodations! You made my son Nathan’s first trip to the Caribbean an unforgettable one. Now, how are we going to match that room on our next family trip?!!! My son will be expecting that! haha Hoping to be back again one day soon!