Living and working in the Cayman Islands - Is live-aboard an option?

[Zanziba]

Does anyone on here have any experience of the marinas in Grand Cayman?

As you may know I live on a yacht in the UK but a job has come up on the Cayman islands. Rent is very high there (£1500/month for small rental) but I also love to be on my boat.

Do the marinas allow live-aboard? Looks like about £600/month on a 40' boat which is a lot cheaper than a house albeit more than my current moorings.

 

[rustybarge]

Does anyone on here have any experience of the marinas in Grand Cayman?

As you may know I live on a yacht in the UK but a job has come up on the Cayman islands. Rent is very high there (£1500/month for small rental) but I also love to be on my boat.

Do the marinas allow live-aboard? Looks like about £600/month on a 40' boat which is a lot cheaper than a house albeit more than my current moorings.

Did you see the documentary about cayman on BBC last week? Looks like a Paradise, but a very very expensive one!

I've been looking for a place to retire to which has sunny winter weather, where English is their first language and is easy to get to from UK. We went to have a look at Gibraltar this christmas and came back dissapointed to say the least; reminded me of a typical British seaside town with one main street selling duty free fags and booze and' fish and chips.'

La linea The Spanish town just over the border is perhaps the worst place I have ever visited in many years, and Aljerceras across the bay has an oil refinery , electricity power station and huge container port all in view from GiB.
The rock itself is spectacular and well worth a visit on the cable car.
Overall: 2/10....

I'll be very interested to see if you can live aboard on a boat in the caymans.

 

[ip485]

Rustybarge - with slight deviation from the original question Barbados sounds a far better better with much more reasonable prices, a couple of good marinas and very pleasant climate.

 

[bob234]

Rustybarge - with slight deviation from the original question Barbados sounds a far better better with much more reasonable prices, a couple of good marinas and very pleasant climate.

Unfortunately that wouldn't work for the OP. Port St Charles doesn't allow you to stay aboard overnight. They are not a marina as such and don't call themselves one. It is a waterside property development where house owners can park their boats. The new Port Ferdinand next door I believe operates the same way although it was still a building site a few months ago.

 

[rustybarge]

Rustybarge - with slight deviation from the original question Barbados sounds a far better better with much more reasonable prices, a couple of good marinas and very pleasant climate.

Funnily enough my son was invited by a school friend on a trip to Barbados, and he loved it. The locals were very friendly and culture interesting with lots to do. Ive heard that lot of islands in the carribean don't like white people, and automatically associate us with colonionist slave owners; which I suppose is totally justified!

Many years ago I visited the Seychelles,really beautiful islands, but the local black children used to throw stones at us in our rented mini-moke and shout insults; maybe things have changed since then ...

I've set the bar very low for suitable retirement place: sunny winter weather that's not too hot, English speaking, interesting boating ....that's about it!After experiencing ' ex-pat' communities living in foreign countries I know that its gets very irritating very quickly; you end up being friendly with people you would normally make friends with just because they speak English.

 

[Zanziba]

Replies from a few emails to Cayman confirm many people rent out canal spaces that liveaboard can use and a marina offered a mooring for $12/foot/month which is budget in Cayman lol

 

[overstag]

Rustybarge, have you had a look at Malta? Can highly recommend it.
Sorry for highjacking the thread..

 

[rustybarge]

Rustybarge, have you had a look at Malta? Can highly recommend it.
Sorry for highjacking the thread..

What's the winter weather like in Jan & feb? Is it windy and wet?

I'd be very happy with sunny and cool, I'm not interested in hot weather.

 

[Ashman]

The Marinas are expensive. We are anchored for free in Governers Creek, there are a couple of liveaboards here who have laid their own moorings.....it is very sheltered. Yes you could find a canal side berth to rent, I guess it wouldn't be difficult. Public transport is good and plenty of local services.