Pirates Week 2015: Featuring the Jolly Roger!

Pirates Week in the Cayman Islands is held every November and is great fun not only for children but for adults and anyone who enjoys dressing up as a pirate and dancing around Georgetown. It is also an excellent opportunity to celebrate Cayman's long standing island heritage.

The cardboard boat races are a funny activity that happens on the final Saturday of the festival. Each team must build a boat from cardboard and whoever makes it around the target and back to the beach first wins... providing they don't sink!! This year it was the Mepco Viking boat as the winners, and yes there was a sinker but they nearly made it back to the beach so props given to everyone who made a boat!

Flomotion, the acrobatic group performed to the entertainment of all, they even used the Jolly as a giant prop and spring board!

This was the first year they did an Illumination Night Parade and it was lovely and lively! Then the evening was topped off with fireworks as a grand finale to mark the closing of this festive and fun week. (See videos below)

For more photos of Cayman Pirates week check out our post from last year: Pirates in the Caribbean: Cayman Style

The Incredible Silver Sands Seaside Pool!

During the low season Silver Sands takes the opportunity to make improvements to the condos and the grounds. This year we did the tennis courts and the pool! Oasis Pools did a fantastic job revamping the whole pool and specifically, putting in the extended step so there is a large shallow area making a safe comfortable place for kids or a nice lounge area for lazy adults. 

Thanks to one of our owners Karen, who was here during the entire process, she got a step by step photo tour of the pool redo.

Once they started gutting the pool they realized there was a huge crack down the center, so once they stitched that up, they could move onto the rest... the extended steps and the new tiles!

Thanks to everyone who worked hard to get our pool looking beautiful again!

And presto! We have out new and improved pool back, can't wait to take a dip myself!

Photography by:

Heather Holt Photography

Karen Shearer

Silver Sands News Summer/Fall 2015

French, Fish and First Class Views: Not to Miss Venues to Get Your Fill

Introducing a few new Grand Cayman restaurants in 2015. In no particular order they all offer a pleasant dining atmosphere whilst delivering you culinary delight.

Morgan's
Some of you might remember the restaurant Morgans, that used to be up at Morgan's Harbor, well this is the new and improved Morgans! With a view equal to the old venue, the new restaurant is bigger, with a more diverse menu, and sits at the water's edge at the Cayman Islands Yacht Club. From fresh caught seafood, to chicken Schnitzel, you are sure to find a delicious dish on the menu.

Photo credit: Stephen Maciolek and Morgan's

Catch
The venue that USED to be Morgan's... is now Catch! I know it is only slightly confusing but not to worry either one you choose you can't go wrong. Catch also has super fresh seafood, the owners have certainly achieved their goal to serve only the freshest catch... and with the view of the quaint Morgan's Harbor and the North Sound, you can't go wrong. 

Photo Credit: Catch

The Bistro

In the mood for something slightly different than seaside dining? Try this new French restaurant in the heart of 7-Mile. It is casual and friendly experience with a modern-vintage flare. The restaurant is done by Mise en Place, a top notch catering company on the island, and from quiche and crepes to steak and snails, the menu is diverse and delicious.

Photo Credit: The Bistro

Sun Showers in September

The end of summer in Cayman is a pretty cool time of year. The island is fairly quiet due to low season, the water is calm and warm, turtles are nesting and hatching, it is hot as hades, and rainy season is in full swing. These summer thunderstorms that come passing through the island are beautiful, noisy and a pretty amazing site to see. There are times the sun stays shining, as seen from the photos in this post, making the water and blue of the storm pop against the sun lit surroundings. Don't let these storms deter you from visiting us at Silver Sands, you might get the passing storm that clears in a few hours, and it might not even rain on you at all! Never the less it is a gorgeous time of year to be here if you are willing to risk a shower or two.

Part of living and visiting the Cayman Islands during this time of year is that it is also Hurricane Season. Technically hurricane season is June until November but it is usually most active in September and October. The memorable Hurricane Ivan hit us on September 11, 2014. For a trip down memory lane and to see how far Silver Sands has come since that monster storm, check out our past post Hurricane Ivan's Destruction and Rebuilding of Silver Sands. 

Lucky for us we live in a day and age where we can prepare and predict these storms from the moment they are created off of West Africa. The storm system changes and grows and sometimes dissipates as the system approaches the warm waters of the Caribbean. Weather Underground is my personal favorite site to track these weather systems.

Photography by Heather Holt Photography