Since finding out about our pregnancy in February, we’ve been contemplating when and where to take our babymoon vacation. On the first day of July, we found out that the husband’s work schedule is going to have some changes in the upcoming months. This means the 4th of July weekend was looking like the prime time to take our babymoon vacation. After some intense research, we decided to take our babymoon in the Cayman Islands. So, within 2 days, we booked the plane tickets and hotel stay, and made it happen!
Why We Chose The Cayman Islands for our Babymoon
My idea of a perfectly relaxing vacation, which is everything a babymoon should be, involves 1) nothing on the agenda 2) clear & blue water & white sands 3) short enough flights (pregnancy-related swelling is not fun). Pretty simple, right?? I thought it was. But ZIKA has to be wreaking havoc almost everywhere in and around the Americas that offer the kind of beach destinations we are interested in. So, I found this website that lists out 10 Zika-free beach destinations to visit in 2018 and went from there. We narrowed things down to Bermuda and the Cayman Islands and ultimately picked the Cayman Islands because it’s a shorter flight from San Diego. Here’s why we picked the Cayman Islands for the babymoon, in summary:
- Short enough flights from San Diego, CA. We flew to Houston for 2.5 hours, and then from there flew to Grand Cayman for another 2.5 hours.
- The Cayman Islands has been declared Zika-free & safe to travel to by the CDC in 2017.
- In the summer, the beach water in the Cayman Islands is consistently in the 80’s.
- The Grand Cayman is a relatively small place. From the airport to the Kimpton Seafire resort was a 15 minutes Taxi ride (that cost $32 USD), and most of the restaurants/other major hotels are located off of the Seven Mile Beach which in reality is about 6.5 miles. It doesn’t take much time to see things in and around the resort.
Why We Chose the Kimpton Seafire Resort
I’ll be quite honest, it was through the blogs where I came across the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa. Especially the VeganMos and Bonv0yage Bitches. We were looking for a hotel that 1) has the right aesthetics 2) is relatively new or recently renovated 3) has their own private beach. Ritz Carlton, which many travelers tend to compare the Seafire Resort to, was simply too expensive. So we picked the Kimpton Seafire knowing that 1) it was built and opened in 2016, 2) it’s located at the northernmost end of the Seven Mile Beach and away from the hustle-bustle of the cruise tourists, and 3) it’s super photogenic. Just look at their Instagram account.
How Kimpton Seafire Resort Truly Wowed Us
With nothing on our agenda for this babymoon except relaxing and enjoying ourselves, Kimpton Seafire turned out to fit the bill more than 100%. We were given a room on the 10th floor, and apparently, the Seafire Resort building is the tallest building in all of Grand Cayman, so we had the view of the entire stretch of the Seven Mile Beach. The resort staff and the service they provided was impeccable. For example, when we arrived in the Taxi, bellman Paul greeted us with our first names as we stepped out. We were truly impressed that they customized their service to this level. Another example was regarding asking for extra water for our room. I phoned them ahead of time to let them know I am 22 weeks pregnant and with the heat in the Caribbeans, need to hydrate very often. When we checked in to our room, there were 8 bottles of water already in the room. Two days into our stay, we called and asked for more water, and this time what showed up was a whole case of it – 24 bottles, LOL. Needless to say, we didn’t need to ask for more water for the remainder of the trip.
Activities During Our Kimpton Seafire Resort Stay
With nothing on our agenda, here’s how we enjoyed the 4 days and 3 nights stay at Kimpton Seafire Resort, on our babymoon in the Cayman Islands: we took advantage of every corner of this beautiful resort!
- 1st (half) day // Took a breather and checked out the facilities and the beach. We arrived at around 4:30 PM that day, and Seafire Resort’s main restaurant, Ave, doesn’t open until 6 PM. So, we kept busy by touring the resort and the beach, and came back to Ave and enjoyed a meal of Mediterranean style seafood goodness.
- 2nd day // This day was dedicated to beach activities. We slept in, got to breakfast (in Ave as well but this time it was their breakfast buffet) at around 10:30 AM, and got all the food we wanted by 11 because that was when they stopped serving food. We made the mistake of starting the day a bit late because by the time we got to the beach it was somewhat crowded (still much better than other hotel’s beach) and super hot already. Nevertheless, we frolicked by the beach, swam, snorkeled, and chilled by the beachside on lounge chairs and hammocks.
Disclaimer: A sincere Thank You to Seafire Resort for gifting me the prenatal massage session. It was truly wonderful and one of the best massages I’ve had.