Postcards

Flying to the Caymans is half the fun

When Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands in May 1503, it was by accident. He had been blown off course on his way to Hispaniola.

Of course, Columbus didn't have GPS, loran, or VOR receivers — or particularly good charts, either, at least by today's standards. All of those amenities are available to pilots interested in flying to the British crown colony in the British West Indies, south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica.

The Caymans are composed of three islands — from largest to smallest, Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman — that together comprise only 104 square miles, one-sixteenth the area of New York's Long Island. The Caymans are home to 35,000 people; all but 1,300 live on Grand Cayman.

When Columbus happened upon the "sister islands" of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, he found them to be full of turtles and named the islands Las Tortugas. Later known as the Caymanas, the islands became a popular stop for ships with crews hungry for fresh meat. The turtle population suffered greatly and flirted with extinction; today the green sea turtle is protected, and a government-run turtle farm on the east side of Grand Cayman raises hatchlings for introduction into the wild.

Today, cruise ships call at the islands' capital, George Town, on the west side of Grand Cayman — bringing tourists for a day of shopping or a visit to the white sands of Seven Mile Beach. Instead of sailors searching for meat, businesspeople arrive to conduct transactions at a formidable offshore financial center. More than 500 licensed banks operate in the Caymans, as well as some 350 offshore insurance companies.

Flying from South Florida is preferable to sailing from Spain. From Key West, the trip is about 330 nm. The route follows G-448, the Giron Corridor, southwest to Varder NDB, at Varadero on Cuba's north shore. As you approach the south side of Cuba, look out the left side of the airplane for Bahía de Cochinos — the infamous Bay of Pigs. A relatively new VOR on the islet of Cayo Largo is the last navaid before Grand Cayman's Owen Roberts International Airport. (GPS reception is excellent along the route, but loran coverage drops off south of Cuba.)

The flying's a piece of cake. For many general aviation pilots, the journey to Key West — especially during the summer thunderstorm season — can prove more challenging than the flight to Grand Cayman itself.

There is some paperwork. A Cuban overflight permit is required; the pilot must be instrument-rated and current, and the aircraft instrument-equipped. Island Air, the Grand Cayman FBO, and several other companies can help to arrange your overflight permit if you don't want to do it yourself; information on both alternatives can be found in AOPA's Caribbean Operations Portfolio (available for $8 by calling 800/USA-AOPA). The Cuban government reserves the right to charge pilots for the use of its airspace, although it doesn't always do so; if you are billed, it's currently against U.S. law to pay the charge directly.

The FAA's International Flight Information Manual, excerpted in AOPA's Caribbean portfolio, explains how to obtain the required prior permission for landing in the Caymans. Life vests are required for the trip, and a survival raft is strongly recommended (rafts are required for commercial operators and larger aircraft); both can be rented.

Don't forget the 12-inch N-numbers, exterior aircraft data plate, and FCC aircraft radio station license, all still required for international flight. Make sure that your aircraft insurance will cover the trip.

In flight, you will find the Havana Center controllers to be friendly and easily understood. Deviations within, and even outside of, the corridor for weather are approved routinely. Cuba's radar coverage is good, so IFR position reporting is seldom required; communications near the southern extreme of Havana's airspace, on the other hand, often require relays from other aircraft.

Grand Cayman has no radar, but arrivals are normally directed south along Seven Mile Beach — a picturesque left base for Runway 8. If there's a cruise ship in the George Town harbor, it will mark your turn to final. Clear Caymanian customs and it's time to relax.

So, what to do? Most tourists come for the watersports: scuba diving, snorkeling, and sport fishing. On the coral reef just off Seven Mile Beach, where many of the hotels are located, can be found a variety of brightly colored tropical fish. Serious scuba divers may opt for half-day, full-day, or night "wall dives" where the ocean bottom rapidly drops (the north wall of Cayman Brac drops from 60 to 14,000 feet). Many dive on the numerous shipwrecks that surround the islands; one of the newest is the M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts, a 330-foot Russian frigate built in 1984 and intentionally sunk as a dive site in shallow water off Cayman Brac in 1996.

Popular with divers and snorkelers are Sting Ray City and a nearby sandbar, where docile stingrays congregate and swim up to human visitors, hoping for handouts of squid or other treats.

Diving experts differ with the Aeronautical Information Manual on safe intervals between diving and flying. Dive authorities recommend that you avoid flight for four hours after diving if you (or any passenger) have been under water less than one hour in the past 12; wait 12 hours if you've been under water between one and four hours (or made any deep dives); and wait 48 hours if underwater more than four hours (see "Scuba and Altitude," March 1987 Pilot).

The Cayman Turtle Farm is one of Grand Cayman's most popular tourist attractions. Another is Hell, a small district in West Bay marked by distinctive formations of ironshore, a type of limestone. Stop at the Devil's Hangout Gift Shop, buy a postcard from Hell, and mail it from the Hell post office next door.

Credit cards and U.S. currency are accepted almost everywhere in the islands. The relationship between U.S. and Caymanian dollars is constant; a U.S. dollar equals 80 Caymanian cents.

Driving in the Caymans is on the left side of the road, and rental-car license plates are of a different color from those of residents' cars. This allows the locals to give tourists a wide berth. If you're not accustomed to driving British-style, you might want to rent a "right-drive" vehicle with the steering wheel on the left side. Otherwise, you'll spend your visit climbing in on the wrong side of your car, and turning on the windshield wipers when you intend to signal a left turn.

Grand Cayman offers a wide variety of dining. One recommendation is The Wharf, at the south end of Seven Mile Beach. It features outdoor waterfront seating and a fantastic sunset view; don't miss the periodic feeding of the tarpon from the restaurant's dock. Nearby in George Town is the Almond Tree, a more intimate restaurant that offers outdoor dining by torchlight. You can guess the fare at the Cracked Conch, near the turtle farm in West Bay. Caribbean cuisine is the specialty at many restaurants; be sure to try a turtle steak during your visit — it doesn't taste like chicken.

Like your meal, a visit to the Caymans is too soon over. You'll be planning your flight home — and contemplating your next trip south.

Links to all Web sites referenced in this issue can be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links.shtml). E-mail the author at [email protected].

Go with the flow

Fly well-organized wings to the Caymans

For the past seven years, pilots have enjoyed an organized group fly-out from Key West, Florida, to Grand Cayman Island for International Aviation Week.

Cayman Caravan organizers Paul Bertorelli and Ross Russo first made the flight in 1990 and found it to be a "real doable trip." They hypothesized that apprehension about overwater flying and a reluctance to tackle the paperwork kept more pilots from going. "We thought that if we did the legwork for them, a lot more people would do the trip," Bertorelli explained. He and Russo would provide information on overwater flying, survival techniques, and basics of international operations so that pilots would feel comfortable in undertaking similar flights in the future.

The Cayman Caravan has grown considerably since Pilot's last look (" Postcards: The Cayman Caravan," March 1994 Pilot). The first organized flight, in 1991, drew 37 airplanes; it now averages 100.

One surprise was the number of repeat customers — about 15 percent from year to year. "There's a group dynamic that we hadn't anticipated," Bertorelli said. "People enjoy the camaraderie and being with like-minded pilots."

International Aviation Week, held June 9 to 15 this year, includes two days of aviation safety and pilot training seminars conducted by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation and the FAA, U.S. Coast Guard air/sea rescue demonstrations, and well-known aviation speakers. There is also a beachfront airshow featuring military and civilian aircraft.

Cayman Caravan information packets are free. Caravan registration, which includes a Cuba overflight permit, all charts and approach plates, flight-plan filing, and Customs expediting, is $279 per aircraft ($329 after May 10). For more information on the Caravan or on International Aviation Week, call 850/872-2495 or visit the Web site ( www.cayman-caravan.com). For discounted lodging in the Caymans during International Aviation Week, call the Cayman Airways Aviation Desk at 800/346-3313. — MPC