Cayman Brac with Rock Iguana

I don't normally go on a vacation within a vacation...but that is indeed what Joe and I did! Joe told me he had planned a "surprise" adventure for vacation about three months before we were set to go to Grand Cayman, which naturally meant I pestered him until he told me what we would be doing. Although no longer a surprise, I was beyond excited to hear about our full day rock climbing excursion to an entirely different Cayman island.

Joe booked the "Epic Full Day Adventure" tour with Rock Iguana Ltd., a company that specializes in rock climbing on Cayman Brac, the medium sized Cayman Island which Goldilox would describe as just right. He coordinated everything via email with Rock Iguana founder, Angel, and Joe said it was seamless. Since we were coming from another island, he also booked round trip flights via Cayman Airways.

The long-awaited day was upon us as we boarded our 7am flight to Brac. 

It was a quick 25 minutes, and upon landing we were greeted by our amazing tour guide, Karen from Colorado. After quick introductions, we set off in the Rock Iguana van and quickly learned that Brac was a laid back island with few cars and awesome views. 

Thanks to Karen, we packed a lot into our day including:

School Cave

Since we were both beginners, Karen got us geared up and set up the ropes. She explained how we would be rappelling down into what seemed like a black hole, and after a bit of practice I bit the bullet and went down first...

And then Joe...

And then Karen..who set up our two climbing courses as she went. We unclipped our rappel gear, put on our climbing shoes, and began our first climbs of the day. 

It was challenging and fun, but beware the rocks are sharp - leggings would have been a more practical choice for me.

Peter's Cave

After taking in the view at Peter's Overlook, we crouched down into Peter's Cave to check out the first of two caves on our list.

Cayman Brac Lighthouse
While not your typical New England lighthouse, Cayman Brac Lighthouse featured a stunning view and a nice trail. Normally there are Brown Booby Birds but we didn't see any until later in the day at the bluffs.

Nani Cave
This cave was the most recently discovered cave on the island and it was larger then Peter's. To put it into perspective, many people sought refuge in these caves during hurricanes in years past.

Lunch at Captain's Table
A laid back spot with some basics. I had the 'real' quesadilla (a.k.a fried tacos) and Joe had a burger. And we even made a new friend!

The Bluffs
After picking up two more in our crew, we set off in the van to our final climbing spot, and Karen definitely saved the best for last. It was a short walk to the rock face that housed multiple climbs, three of which we each would do. 

And luckily enough, one of our new additions worked at a rock climbing place in Nashville, so he helped Karen get our courses set up and even belayed for some of the climbs. This helped us maximize our climbs since Joe and I needed to head out a bit early to catch our flight.

Overall, I can't speak more highly of Karen and Rock Iguana. Karen was flexible with our schedule and even coordinated our early pickup from the bluffs to make sure we were on time for our flight. I hope to come back to Cayman Brac very soon and experience more of the climbs (and dives) the island has to offer. Cheers to Karen and Angel for being awesome!

But most importantly, thanks to Joe for giving me an EPIC full day adventure. You da best!