Who knew Hell Could be Fun!

Just outside of West Bay, and only about a 6 minute drive from Silver Sands, on the North-West tip of Seven Mile Beach, lies the community of Hell. Hell is host to one of the most colorfully-named post offices in the world. Many visitors stop by in order to send a postcard, franked "Hell, Grand Cayman". They have been to Hell. Are you going too?

Hell’s fame, in addition to its great postmark, lies in the rock formations rising out of the ground. Short spikes of eerie-looking black rock look like lava in the aftermath of a volcano. The black, threatening rock gives an intimidating impression of what the other Hell may well be like. These jagged rock formations occupy an area around half the size of a soccer field. People are no longer allowed to walk among the rocks, for fear of damage. However, two observation platforms give a fascinating view of this Infernal landscape.

The rock formations are not actually lava, despite their appearance. They are a mixture of limestone and dolomite. The stone has been eroded over the years by algae producing a landform called a phytokarst. The algae attacks the calcium in the limestone, leaving a predominance of the harder dolomite. The resulting shapes are those which can be seen in Hell today. No further erosion will now take place as the algae requires water to stay alive. The rock is actually bright white in color, but has been blackened by the algae, giving rise to its weird appearance.

Info courtesy of Ecay Online.

Photography by: Heather Holt Photography

Cayman Hurricane Season 2017

A few weeks ago we posted about the West Bay Dock and Public Beach, and how gorgeous it is. Unfortunately despite Hurricane Nate being 300 miles from the Cayman Islands we still felt the effects. The West Bay dock got some huge swell and did not fair well. These photos were taken the day after the big swell so you can imagine the waves the dock had to endure! Other areas along 7-Mile and South Sound had rough waters and large swell as well but nothing too serious.

During Irma we also got a bit of wind and waves. Silver Sand's beach and the other beaches around the island were covered in sea weed and many of the trees suffered from the sea spray and had to be cut back, but all in all Cayman has lucked out with the hurricanes this season and we are all so grateful our little island is, for the most part, still in tact. 

Photography by: Heather Holt Photography