So your plane’s landed, the heat is wrapping itself around you like a scarf and endless days of lazing on icing sugar beaches and swimming in turquoise waters lie ahead in a sunny haze. Maybe you’ll take a stroll into town and look at the Rolexes and diamonds or perhaps you’ll choose to loll by the pool and sip a cocktail for just a little longer…

Careful! Days on Grand Cayman have a habit of blending into one another and your time will fly. The pace of life is chilled, nobody wants to rush in the heat, and even the billionaires with their super cars are restricted to the fifty mile and hour speed limit. Only when the shadows lengthen and the cool blue night follows a peachy sunset does the pace pick up, the cocktail bars filling while runners pace it out along Seven Mile Beach.

Before you get too relaxed with you copy of Sunlounger 2, have a look at my eight island must dos!

STINGRAY CITY

Kissing a giant stingray wouldn’t be top of my list normally but I’ve kissed worse and a snog from one of these giant creatures is said to bring seven years good luck so for that alone it’s worth a trip! This wildlife attraction consists of a series of shallow sandbars where the water is gin clear and the most astonishing sparkly turquoise hue. Stingrays gather here and are petted and fed by visitors. The stingrays are wild but interact with humans every day and associate us with food so they are very friendly and totally unthreatened by the hordes of tourists who descend on them. They love company and have even been named by the locals. My favourite is called Sandy and she always comes over for a cuddle. The story goes that the stingrays began gathering in the area centuries before when fishermen returning from beyond the reef would clean their catch in the shallow waters. The rays soon learned that boats meant food and being greedy creatures congregated there. Now you can feed them by hand but they do tend to come flying! There are many companies that run trips out to the sandbar and it truly is the experience of a life time. We take our boat there at least once a month and I love swimming with these amazing creatures.

RUM POINT

If you close your eyes and picture the perfect Caribbean beach, white sand, blue sea and fringed with palm trees, then you have just visualised the brilliantly named Rum Point. This spit of land is towards the north of the island and is probably as far as you will ever drive here – Grand Cayman is only 22 miles long. At Rum Point you can laze in a shady hammock, sip a cocktail, eat lunch or just enjoy swimming in the bath water warm sea. It’s a great spot for just chilling!

JERK PORK

You could spend all your holiday on Seven Mile Beach and eat at some of the world’s top restaurants or you could take a detour out of town and sample the true taste of the Caribbean. Sundown on a Friday and Saturday is Jerk Pork time and across the island clouds of smoke rise from cut down oil drums and the air hangs rich and heavy with spices. Heading out of Georgetown along Shamrock Road you will find a wooden shack with pumping reggae, crowds of people in the party spirit and the best spicy pork on the island. Buy a box for just a few dollars and eat it on a jetty while watch the moon rises over the sea. Just don’t think about trying the hot sauce – the locals must have mouths made of asbestos because it is fierce!

SUNDAY BRUNCH

Going for Sunday Brunch is a huge social occasion on Grand Cayman. The majority of shops close on Sundays as most people attend church and afterwards it’s time to feast and catch up with friends. There’s a venue to suit every pocket from the plush champagne banquet at the Ritz Carlton to the smaller restaurants on Seven Mile Beach. My favourite spot is at the far side of the island and about a forty minute drive. It’s called Tukka and is an Aussie bar and here you can sit out on the deck and watch the waves break over the reef while enjoying an all you can eat barbeque. Kangaroo steaks are optional! Once you’re full you can doze in the shade or work it all off by walking along the beach.

SNORKELING

Grand Cayman has some of the best water and marine life in the world and the lack of rivers on the island means that there is no silt or pollution spilling into the sea. It’s a Mecca for diving but if, like Tess in Last First Dive, the thought of being underwater makes you feel nervous then snorkeling is a must. Just stepping off the beach and into the sea is like being in an aquarium because the most amazing tropical fish are swimming all around you. You can also choose to go on organized trips where you will see turtles or be taken out by boat to snorkel over a wreck. All you need then is Jack Sparrow…

WATCH THE SUNSET

Cayman has the most beautiful sunsets and watching the sun slide into the sea is a must. Whether you find yourself a spot at one of the bars and sip a cocktail or just sit quietly on the beach this is one of the most magical experiences imaginable. The sky turns the most amazing shades of peach and pink and the sea is oily blue. Simply beautiful.

DRINK A MUDSLIDE COCKTAIL

Mudslide cocktails are an island specialty and a delicious and lethal blend of vodka, Kahlua and Baileys blended with ice, cream and chocolate sauce and topped with a cherry. Each one probably contains more calories than I’m allowed in a week but it’s worth it. Everybody’s day should end with a couple of these.

BUY SOMETHING SPARKLY

Grand Cayman is famous for its status as a millionaires’ tax haven and no trip to the island is complete without a spot of duty free shopping. It’s the only place I’ve ever worked where even the school caretaker wears a Rolex! From perfume to jewellery to watches you’ll be spoiled for choice. Spoil yourself; after all you’re on holiday.

Ruth Saberton’s SUNLOUNGER 2 story – The First Last Dive – is set in Grand Cayman. Her first SUNLOUNGER story – Pablo – is set in Spain.