Cayman Islands Living: What’s it really like to live and work here?

Cayman Islands living is filled with sunshine, short commutes and a busy social life! Cayman Islands LivingAs a British ex-pat, I have found it surprisingly easy to settle into life on our beautiful Caribbean island. Coming from a busy city in the UK, I’m enjoying a much slower, and much less stressful pace of life! Since my arrival many candidates (and friends and family back home) have asked: what’s it really like to live here?

Here are my TOP highlights for Cayman Islands living:

My Commute: In the UK, I spent 50 minutes a day on a hot inner city bus, but here in Cayman my air conditioned drive takes a whole 10 minutes (15 minutes max on a cruise ship day!).

Shorter Workdays: The shorter commute makes my days feel longer. Although I’m in the office for 8 hours, we are not expected to eat lunch at our desk nor are we expected to work late every night; work life balance is encouraged. Having the whole evening to yourself is life changing. I feel that my energy levels have increased and I’m able to make the most my weekday evenings, even choosing to spend them at boot camp!

Connectivity: I expected to feel a little cut off from friends and family, and miss big city life…but actually, nearly everywhere has free Wi-Fi, so with Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp etc. it’s very easy to keep in touch. Also, friends and family are endlessly keen on hearing stories of the Caribbean and seeing photos of turquoise waters. As for missing the big city, Cayman is small but has all the amenities of a large city. The shopping is a little lacking, but Miami is a short plane ride away!

Social Life: There is a big ex-pat community with a range of nationalities –from Canada to South Africa, Ireland and the UK. There are more than enough bars and restaurants to keep you busy! I’m quite surprised that after a year of living here, I am still discovering new places to eat – the food here is world class. I love the festival atmosphere every weekend and there are a lot of seasonal celebrations, such as Pirates week, Cayman Carnival Batabano, Cayman CookOut, just to name a few.

Settling in: It can take a little while to set up home in Cayman. I found that getting internet installed, opening a bank account, buying a car and passing your Cayman driving test all took longer than it would in the UK. But once I started to relax into island life and got used to the ‘manana’ attitude, I started to embrace the laidback culture.

Cayman Islands living is both laid back and exciting. I enjoy the beautiful weather and stunning beaches, and have a better work life balance, which makes me a more content person. Something must also be said for the community; people are kind, helpful and happy, it must be all that sunshine!