Grand Cayman: Day 2

Every morning, we were up bright and early for two reasons. One: we would go to bed at a v. reasonable hour so it was easy to wake up with the sun and two: our Marriott lent out GoPro cameras starting at 8:00 so we wanted to be downstairs to ensure that we'd get one.

After snagging our GoPro, we went over to Anchor & Den to enjoy their breakfast buffet.

CEMETERY BEACH

For our first snorkeling experience, we headed up north to Cemetery Beach. It's easy enough to find (the cemetery is quite easy to spot with its colorful collection of artificial flowers) and many people either parked on the shoulder of the road adjacent to the cemetery or across the street in the grassy lot. We opted for the lot.

The snorkeling here was pretty great, but we did have to swim out quite far to get to the reef. We didn't have fins but managed fine; however, if you are not a strong swimmer or apprehensive, I recommend having some fins for this expedition.

The reef was a lot smaller than I expected and quite a bit deeper, however, we did see plenty of fish and the clarity was quite nice. However, due to the depth, it was a bit of a challenge trying to get some good video and photos using the GoPro. I'm just sharing a handful of the best snaps we managed.

HELL

After snorkeling, since we were already close by, we decided to take the quick five minute jaunt to Hell.

We sent out a couple of postcards to a few friends before heading behind the buildings to check out the reason for this little town's name.

Thanks to these creepy looking limestone formations, this place really looks like Hell.

MACABUCA

Standing around in Hell made us hot and hungry so after we'd gotten our fill of the tourist town, we hopped back in the car and headed over to The Cracked Conch for some lunch. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for lunch but fortunately, its sister restaurant, Macabuca, was open.

M opted for the fish and chips, which were awesome. We said they were the second best fish and chips we'd had (the first being the ones my dad ordered in Hawaii). The breading was incredibly light and crisp.

Dad wasn't feeling too hungry so he went for the cracked conch appetizer. The conch was super tender with a crispy breading and I was in love with the light curry sauce that came with it.

I went for the spicy fried lobster sandwich. Huge chunks of lobster fried in a crispy batter topped with a creamy and spicy sauce on a homemade milk bun; it doesn't get much better than that.

After lunch, we drove back to the hotel and relaxed on the beach. We enjoyed the sunset before heading out to dinner.

By the way, you guys, I was like Monica Geller Jr. on this trip. My hair was out of control frizzy as soon as we landed. And with every ocean dive and every shower, my hair would get curlier and curlier and poofier and poofier.

CALYPSO GRILL

I think this restaurant might have won out as the best meal of the trip. It was incredible.

We started off with the conch ceviche. Thinly sliced pieces of conch were presented in a briny and bright marinade with pickled vegetables. It definitely hit the spot.

For his main, my dad went for the special, which was a pan-fried whole snapper. It was incredible. The fish was super fresh (and did not smell fishy in the slightest) and cooked to perfection.

M went for the grilled mahi mahi, which was really well done. The fish was tender and there was a light cream sauce that was a lovely condiment for the meal.

I went for the wahoo escovitch. The fish was coated in a light batter (that was spicy) and flash fried so the meat inside was soft and tender while the outside was crispy. The escovitch was the best part though. Simply pickled onions with scotch bonnet peppers, these pickles were perfect for a Korean family that eats kimchi almost every day.

For dessert (and yes, for the second night in a row) we opted for the sticky toffee pudding. This version was much more decadent than the one we'd enjoyed at Casanova. However, the cake itself was still incredibly light and moist. It was served steaming hot so that the ice cream started melting immediately, but I saw that as a good thing, as the warm cake was extra delicious.

After dinner, as usual, we meandered back to our hotel and fell prey to our food comas into an early night's sleep.

xoxo.