Cayman Schools
Cayman Schools
Anyone give some advice about teaching and living in the Caymans as a teacher? Is travelling off the island to South America difficult as it appears flights all go to North America? Are there any good schools there?
Re: Cayman Schools
As an avid diver I looked into the school on Grand Cayman and did some research about living there. Being an island, everything is very expensive, and goods somewhat limited. And as a very small island, there's not a lot to do but dive and/or drink. The school's package at the time wasn't very good, so I sought employment elsewhere.
Response
There are flights to Mexico and Belize, the problem is there all regional jets so they can basically hop to other islands or they head to the states where you connect with a much larger aircraft that can take longer routes.
Id agree with @heyteach, unless your completely into the beach and surf culture, there isnt a whole lot to do. That and FINCEN will start looking at your earnings VERY closely, since you will essentially be banking in the Cayman islands. Dont be surprised if your audited, forever.
Id agree with @heyteach, unless your completely into the beach and surf culture, there isnt a whole lot to do. That and FINCEN will start looking at your earnings VERY closely, since you will essentially be banking in the Cayman islands. Dont be surprised if your audited, forever.
Re: Cayman Schools
Hi Chuck, I can't comment on the schools in Cayman but I lived there for 3 years previously (I used to be a dive instructor). As someone else has said, there is no income tax but it is an expensive island mainly because import duty is so high. I'm not from the US so don't know how it works for taxes for you guys. Rent is expensive. You need a car because the public transport system is useless. Grand Cayman is a small island and you start to get island fever after a while. Luckily it's easy to hop off to Little Cayman or the Brac; I used to go to Miami a lot. When I lived there up (I left 2012) there were no flights to Belize or Mexico so you might want to check psyguy's info if you're counting on flights to Central America. Cayman Airways do fly to Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica as well as a few US cities but flights are not particularly cheap so it's not a great place to base yourself to travel.
All that said I had an awesome time living there. If you like laid back beach life you'll like it. We used to BBQ on the beach, play volleyball and go to bars at night. When you get to know people (which doesn't take long) you can benefit from resident rates at some bars and dive shops. A lot of good restaurants too and a small cinema. At weekends we used to hang out on the beach, or dive. There is no 'surf culture' btw, you will be disappointed if you expect to surf much in Cayman. Diving is the most popular pastime. I found the diving quite average and somewhat boring but some people love it. As heyteach says, if you don't drink or dive you will most likely get bored.
As for the schools, I believe there are some good ones but I couldn't tell you which sorry. Do your research very carefully - one of my friends taught at a high school there and hated it. Her school had a lot of gang/drug problems but I don't think that's the norm!
All that said I had an awesome time living there. If you like laid back beach life you'll like it. We used to BBQ on the beach, play volleyball and go to bars at night. When you get to know people (which doesn't take long) you can benefit from resident rates at some bars and dive shops. A lot of good restaurants too and a small cinema. At weekends we used to hang out on the beach, or dive. There is no 'surf culture' btw, you will be disappointed if you expect to surf much in Cayman. Diving is the most popular pastime. I found the diving quite average and somewhat boring but some people love it. As heyteach says, if you don't drink or dive you will most likely get bored.
As for the schools, I believe there are some good ones but I couldn't tell you which sorry. Do your research very carefully - one of my friends taught at a high school there and hated it. Her school had a lot of gang/drug problems but I don't think that's the norm!