Craving the Cayman Islands

From pristine sand on Seven Mile Beach to gourmet meals at beautiful restaurants, everything in the Cayman Islands is eerily perfect. Just go with it—the too-good-to-be-true vibe is just how it is, and makes it easy to see why top chefs choose to convene here each January for the Cayman Cookout food festival.

stay: In Grand Cayman (the largest of the three Cayman Islands), book an ample suite at the Ritz-Carlton (for a million-dollar view, request an oceanside room), and immediately head to the beach, where each plush lounger comes equipped with its own personal sun shade and friendly hotel staff deliver towering pina coladas right to your chair. If Grand Cayman is too developed for your taste, fly over to Cayman and park your flip-flops at the Little Cayman Beach Resort, where rooms are basic but sunrises are phenomenal. Or, try Cayman Brac, where the gorgeous Le Soleil d’Or is a fave property among foodies for thanks to fare prepared using ingredients from its very own farm.

eat: In Grand Cayman, a conundrum—look svelte in your bikini or enjoy the bounty of delicious food? We vote for the latter; it would be a shame to miss out on such incredible meals. A short walk from the Ritz-Carlton, Andiamo serves decadent truffle fries and rich lobster gnocchi. For a true island treat, the Cracked Conch will bread, deep-fry or ceviche your sea snail (our favourite iteration: conch fritters with a curry tartar sauce). For an upscale Italian meal in in a dark-wood, leather-chair, impressive-wine-list setting, make your way to Luca. From start (seared foie gras) to finish (fresh and filling branzino al sale), you can’t go wrong.

sightsee/shop: If you end up at the Stingray City Sandbar with other tourists, don’t be a snob about it. Take the opportunity to interact with (and maybe even kiss!) one of the majestic ocean critters that flock to the sandbar (just avoid their venemous tail spines). For a little retail therapy, take a taxi or walk about 30 minutes from the Ritz-Carlton to the spotless Camana Bay development for cheerful Lilly Pulitzer prints at The Cabana and beachwear at Sand Angels. Don’t deny yourself a quick wine tasting at the West Indies Wine Company; simply load a card with cash, then choose from 80 wines by the glass (it’s all self-serve, Menchie’s style, minus the fro-yo).

savour: Planning your trip to coincide with the weekend-long Cayman Cookout in January is well worth it. The chef lineup is always tops (in 2015, Lynn Crawford represented for Canada, with Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson and Sean Brock also in attendance), with friendly and relaxed cooking demos and some of the best food we’ve ever tasted (OK, the ocean air, sand between our toes and general paradise-like surroundings likely helped). www.caymanislands.ky —Karen Kwan