San Diego Beach Round-Up

After our four days in Las Vegas, we rented a car and drove down to San Diego for two weeks. Finally, we could relax and enjoy two whole weeks together. It was the longest amount of time we have been together since the kids were born.

We went to five different beaches during our two weeks there. Most of the days were very chilly, usually in the low to mid 60's, although it got into the lower 70's a few days. One of our favorite beaches was La Jolla Cove.  It was surrounded by higher cliffs so it blocked off most of the wind, making it more pleasant.

The kids and Steve went exploring a bit in a cave near the beach while I watched and took pictures. The funnest part of this beach is watching the nearby sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. Parking can be difficult to find, though, so get there early.

We drove across the huge bridge off San Diego's mainland, to a jutting peninsula where we hung out at Coronado Beach.  Parking was great, just off the street across from the beach. The beach has a beautiful stretch of sand and is next to Hotel Coronado, a hotel built in the 1800's.

Since it was so windy, the kids spent most of their time running across the sand. Steve sculpted this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for them.

Closer to our rental house, we found the two Carlsbad beaches and spent an afternoon there. It was very, very windy at these beaches, but the kids still wanted to go in the water with Steve. They also loved being buried in sand.

We also checked out the beach in Oceanside. I wish I had pictures of it, but the thing I remember most about this day was climbing the rocks that lead out into the ocean as a natural pier.

I've saved my favorite beach for last. Although it was a 45 minute ride from where we stayed, it was so worth the trek out to Laguna Beach.  It was still pretty windy and cold, but it was really gorgeous and the kids loved, loved, loved climbing on the rocks. We're not a sit on the beach type of family. There always has to be some element of adventure there.

Have you ever been to San Diego?

Grand Cayman - Smith's Cove

Smith's Cove is the perfect spot for snorkling. Many, many places in Grand Cayman have thick reeds to wade through, but Smith's Cove had beautiful sand and shallow waters right off the shore. It's a secluded spot, and not easy to find. There are no big signs off the road, which is a good thing in my opinion. Even with that said, while were were there, a tourist van pulled up and about a dozen people jumped off and started taking pictures. There were mostly older white folks. Then, about ten minutes later, a type of ice cream truck, pulled up and every one crowded around the van for thier treats. Since we had just watched Nim's Island the night before, it was funny to see these tourists act just like the one's in the movie.

Steve snorkled a bit more here, but it soon started to rain. We had thought it would be just a light drizzle, so we had a picnic lunch under a tree, but the rain soon grew heavier, so the kids and I went to rest in the car, while Steve snorkled by himself. At least the rain scared off those pesky tourists!

Grand Cayman - Cayman Kai

Our second favorite beach, one we liked almost as much as Rum Point, was the public beach at Cayman Kai.  We tried on two occassions to be at the beach during sunset. We did catch a little of the sunset before it was totally dark, but we never managed to get there to watch it right when the sun just starts to sink below the clouds. Still, it was very peaceful, calm, and, because we were always the only people on the beach, very private.

Alexa loved writing in the sand, and then throwing big handfuls of sand into the ocean.

Jared climbed the trees with Steve's help...

and was absolutely delighted to find a crab walking through the grass.

We came another afternoon to the beach at Cayman Kai for a picnic lunch, and the kids walked with Steve all around the edge of the shore that lined the park.

Afterwards, we drove a short way to the northernmost tip of the island (still Cayman Kai area). I included some pictures below to show how deserted this area was. And it had the most clear patches of beach we found on the island.

We walked along the beach for a while, gathering little treasures from barrels (I think they were supposed to be parts of piers that were never built), and walking along portions of piers into the ocean.

As we rounded a corner, we were so thrilled to find about ten starfish in the water. It was so awesome to pick up live starfish in the wild. We stayed there quite a while just taking in their beauty.

Grand Cayman - Our Home Beach

Several times during our stay, Steve took out a little raft, which belonged to the owner of the house, out to the reef about half a mile from shore. It would have been a bit much to have all four of us in the raft, but Steve did take the kids out to the end of a broken down pier (it had been destroyed with Hurrican Ivan).

They also had a whirlpool at the other end of the porch. It was a nice break from the salt water. At one point, while we were right in the pool, Jared let go from the edge, and his head went under the water. It was a scary moment. I really, really would like the kids to take swim lessons.

Jared especially liked to swim with Steve. He also loved it when you'd play shark with him.

The kids often played and "swam" in the beach in front of the house, although the water only came up to their waists before the reeds began.

It was so relaxing to have dinner on the porch, often BBQ, while we could look at the ocean. The kids are very, very light and, especially Jared, picky eaters. We are lucky to have them sit still for five minutes with us before they want to run around and play, so it was nice to have a relaxing dinner while watching them play in the sand or by the water.

 

Grand Cayman - Nightly Crab Walks

I will always deeply remember and cherish our nightly crab walks. At least 3/4th of the nights, when it would get dark around 6:45 at night, we'd take out two flashlights and comb our beach for crabs. Every night we would see some type of crab. The most common were the medium sized crabs pictured above.

Jared loved, loved, LOVED looking for crabs. He became an expert at spotting them much faster than Steve or me. We'd shine the light about three feet ahead of us and sweep it back and forth til we spotted a crab. Usually they would scurry down into a hole before we could see them up close, but many crabs also posed for us, too.

We did see, right on the porch, a huge crab, the size of a king crab. It sat for a while, just looking at us. And then there was this hermit crab that dug a huge hole right under the porch. One thing to be wary of in Grand Cayman when driving is hitting a crab. Just like we have to always swerve to avoid hitting squirrels in Illinois, in Grand Cayman you have to avoid the crab claws from puncturing your tires.

We did see a few other animals like this beetle on our nightly walks, too.

Grand Cayman - Seven Mile Beach

When most people think of Grand Cayman the first thing that comes to mind after billionaire's bank accounts is Seven Mile Beach. I knew it was supposed to be the most crowded beach, and the one that most tourists flock to since it is so close to the cruise ship drop-offs, but we wanted to at least check it out before leaving the island.

We got lucky in that first, we came in September. I cannot say enough about the benefits of coming to the Carribean during September. Sure, you might run into rainy days. And it might be scorching hot at times, too. But, you will find almost all things you do, as long as they are not super touristy, to be very private. Going to the islands in September is great for kids under five or homeschooled families.

Secondly, we happened to pick a really great beach access at our first stop. We stayed for a little while (it also happened to be right next door to the mayor's home!), but since there wasn't a restroom, we went further on to the public beach.

  

The next stop wasn't as private as the first beach acess (maybe 6-10 more people?) but we still had fun exploring this side of the island.

Of course, to the kids a playground is just as exciting as visiting a new beach.

On the way home we stopped at the docks and bought some red snapper from local fishermen. Steve grilled it at the apartment. Yum!