Getting away without having to pack your passport is a rare thing when you live in the Cayman Islands. Yet with so many people living their daily lives up and down the Seven Mile Beach corridor, breaking away to the more relaxed Eastern Districts can be a real change from the daily grind. Even just a weekend away can recharge the batteries without the suffering associated with long lines at immigration and trying to find all your shopping receipts when coming back through customs.

On a recent escape to the Reef Resort in East End, I had the opportunity to experience the tranquillity of what, in Cayman terms at least, passes for the Far East.

With a ground floor deluxe studio right on the beach, all it took was opening the sliding doors and walking out onto the sand to experience the great outdoors. Then again, the great indoors was also something well worth experiencing. Although some may be fortunate enough to have a bathtub with a view at home, I found relaxing in the tub and drawing back the curtains to enjoy the ocean view quite an experience.

There are few things more relaxing than spending some time chatting to friends, or making some new ones, at the beach bar around sunset, while the food at the Saturday night barbecue was excellent, hearty stuff, perfectly enjoyed under the stars.

I spent some time chatting to Tom McCallum, manager of the Reef Resort, whose enthusiasm for his product seems to know no bounds. He told me the motto of the Reef Resort was ‘We make relaxing look easy as we practice hard at it every day’ and it is a very apt motto indeed.

The sociable dinner was followed by another quick stroll along the beach, although not much farther than it took to get to our room and then to bed.
The ideal start to the morning would have been a sunrise stroll on the beach, but in our case we were there attending the Reefathlon, a cycling event dreamt up by Tom.

So we had to substitute the early morning stroll on the beach with a gruelling 19-mile time trial. Of course, some people consider such things fun. However, for the participant’s families, it was just another day relaxing in the pool.

Of course, after a weekend of relaxation, the last thing you want is a long and arduous drive home. Fortunately, a Sunday afternoon scenic drive back into George Town is relaxing in itself and one of the finer ways to close off a glorious weekend.   WH