Reported by Brian Simm, Sundeer 56 – 29 January, 2018

Grand Cayman Island is not a destination for sailors, unless you are a diver, but rather a stopping point on passage. We were en route from Cuba to Belize. The anchorages are very weather dependent. But once in, almost hurricane proof.

On arrival you should go to Georgetown on the west side. Port security, channels 16, 14, works efficiently 24 hours a day and will give you instructions. There are 5 free moorings 250m north of the port, large red buoys. If all are occupied then ask permission to anchor. Customs and immigration are at the main dock and will normally ask you to go alongside. In our case the port was busy and the harbour patrol boat collected us for check in without docking.

This anchorage is exposed to Northers and if blowing the only recourse is to go to South Sound where there is a landing dock used by cruise ships in poor weather.

The big attraction of Grand Cayman is the large but shallow North Sound entered through a poorly marked pass, position accurate on navionics. This pass is not usable in northers or in any weather above 20 knots or so. We came out in 22 easterly and had to punch through the swell, I would not enter in those conditions. We saw a minimum of 2.7 m in the pass on a 0.2m tide, dropping to 2.4 m close to the entrance to Governors creek.

Anchorages are free and in the sheltered mangrove creeks among the millionaires houses, mostly 2.5 to 3m. Governors creek is a large anchorage area near the Cayman island Yacht club, fuel etc. Further in it leads to Mitchell’s creek, also a large area of 3m or so. A more recent alternative is in the large commercial shopping village of Camana Bay, where new canals have been dug.

The pluses on Cayman are superb supermarkets: Duty free fuel, after checkout: and duty free booze from Tortuga in the customs building, delivered to you by the customs on leaving. Otherwise think of it as the most expensive island for living in the Caribbean.

We are currently in Cayman, it’s a wonderful place to visit and a shame so few yachts stop here. I’d like to correct and update a few things we’ve learned here:
1. You can stay up to 6 months WITHOUT paying import duty on the yacht. You will initially get 30 days on clearing in, then you need to apply for an extension in writing to the main customs office by the airport. Email is acceptable but it would be best to phone the office via the number on the customs website and ask them who to email it to. When my extension hadn’t been issued by day 30 I went personally to the customs office. The correct office is the one upstairs with a separate entrance, not the main office downstairs. I explained that it was the last day and the staff were very helpful and I left with a letter granting the extension. The extension costs 100 cayman dollars per month.

2. Mitchells creek is a great, sheltered place to anchor in 2m, weed and mud but the anchor held well on second attempt. Anchor off the end of Lime Tree Bay road and there are some holes in the corner of the concrete wall there where you can lock your dinghy. Cost U Less big box supermarket is just over the road.

There are a line of free orange mooring buoys off georgetown, to the west of the main dock. If you ask “Port Security” on channel 16 they will usually permit you to stay on them as long as you like. Also free short term mooring buoys at all the dive sites.

The entrance to the stingray city sandbank is just East of Main Channel and marked by small white floats. Main channel itself is usually well buoyed but some buoys were missing at the start of our visit (now replaced).

Make sure to get the free PDF cruising guide from the freecruisingguides website and make use of the waypoints in it to navigate North Sound.

You can get parcels delivered duty free but its a hassle. After trying all the other customs officies I found that they need to be collected from the customs office in the port authority building, not the airport or the cruise terminal. A customs officer is supposed to accompany you and see the parcel going onto the boat but this requirement might be waived.

Cayman is a very friendly place to visit, probably the most developed and “first world” of the caribbean islands. It has a wide range of shops and well stocked supermarkets. AL Thompson is a huge superstore for DIY, hardware, paint etc. etc. and prices are pretty good compared to the chandleries.

Cayman does have good boatyards and chandleries but their prices are excessive and we chose not to use them.

And a note for gun owners, they will inspect your boat with a drug and gun sniffing dog so you will have to declare your guns and they will take them and lock them up, even if you have safes on board. First time that has happened to me so far.

We approached Cayman Brac by night and tried to get in touch with the customs but we got no answer. Mr Raymond Scott that works as a Shipping Adviser did answer and helped us to do a safe approach. I wish all countries could have the same service! Makes life a lot easier and safer for us sailors! The Ship adviser also helped us out with contacting the customs and immigration so that we could clear in- Thank you for this service!

Daniel & Anna