Duty Free Shopping at Grand Cayman

The duty free area of George Town is right at the harbor, in handy reach of the cruise ship visitors. It's bounded by Fort Street, Edward Street, Goring Avenue, and Harbour Drive, with a few important outliers for buyers who still have their land legs.

Here's a 'walking tour' of the district for those of you getting off a ship in Hog Sty Bay. Exit the port, ignoring the tour buses lined up at the curb, and cross the street. One of the first stores you'll see is Columbian Emeralds International, selling, as you'd guess, jewellery with a mainly emerald theme. If green is your color and jewelry your thing, then this is your store. You can even buy from their website after you get home.

Avenue

Exit the Emerald store and turn left along Harbour Drive to start the tour. The first place you'll come to, after you cross Cardinal Avenue, is another jewelry store -- Landmark Jewellers -- part of the Island Companies. This store makes you jewelry from ancient coins, Spanish doubloons would seem the topical choice for a holiday in the old 'Spanish Main' but they also do ancient Greek, Roman or biblical times and places.

The main drag for shoppers, Cardinal (or Cardinall, you'll see both) Avenue, cuts right through the duty-free district and now you've done the two stores either side of it, you've a hard choice to make. Follow Cardinal or keep to Harbour Drive? For this tour, we're continuing down Harbour, past the Museum and Goring Avenue, to the Bayshore Mall where we find another jeweler -- Kirk Freeport.

After the Mall, we pass Hard Rock Café and continue on to our next stop, the Tortuga Rum Company's Duty Free Liquors and Fine Wine Emporium, which happens to sell (and ship) rum cake as well as providing free samples should you need convincing. They also have a web address so you can have care parcels shipped when you get home.

The walk to Tortuga Rum's store has taken us away from the main shopping district so we'll double back after leaving the shop, passing Hard Rock and the Bayshore Mall again, before turning right onto Goring Avenue. Following Goring a short distance brings us to Cayman Camera, which sells all things camera related.

Retracing our steps on Goring, we reach the junction with Edward Street. A short walk on Edward brings us to a roundabout where we have a choice of a right turn onto Elgin, and the 'Hobbies and Books' store, or continuing on Edward to the Caymania Duty Free in the Royal Plaza building. Here's where you'll find the original (and trademarked) Cayman Island Hook Bracelet as well as other fancy gifts.

Continuing on Edward, and crossing Cardinal again, we arrive at the Duty FreeCentre where you'll find stores like British Outpost and 'De Sunglass Man'. From the Duty Free Centre we return to Edward Street and, turning right, continue on our way to Fort Street.

By the way, in all this walking, the distance we've covered so far will probably take you no more than thirty minutes with time added on for shopping, of course. George Town must be one of the world's smallest capital cities.

At Fort we turn left, heading back to the sea, passing Bacchus Restaurant and Wine Bar on the right. On the left, just after we leave Bacchus, is another Island Companies' store and shortly after that we reach the junction with North Church Street where we turn right. Then it's a very short walk to The Waterfront Centre and The Camera Store with its own Cathy Church Underwater Photo Gallery..

You may have landed on Grand Cayman across the street from this point because this is the site of the new cruise ship terminal. If that's the case, follow on from here because this is a 'circular' tour.

Retracing our steps (or begin the tour if you've just joined us from the new cruise ship terminal), we start heading back toward Hog Sty Bay and the center of shopping action on Cardinal Avenue. You won't miss Cardinal because it begins right where we started -- at Columbian Emeralds.

First, the Anchorage Centre, a mall hosting such stores as Caribbean Jewelers, Churchill's Cigar Store, Grand Switzerland Jewelry, House of Tanzanite, London Jewelers, and Tropical Trader -- something for pretty well everyone on your list. Further along Cardinal is the Kirk Jewelers flagship store, which includes boutiques by Cartier, Fossil, Swatch, Waterford and Wedgewood, and Kirk Leather.

If you're visiting Grand Cayman from a cruise ship, the tour I've just described will fill your afternoon. If you're staying on the island, spin it out, take your time. With the cruise ship people back on board, you can look for some bargains.

Duty Free Shopping at Grand Cayman

http://www.grand-cayman-wanderer.com