Which comes first in the life of an obsessed pickleballer? 😂😎 In 2024, from a swimmer friend’s suggestion, I signed up to do the popular community one mile open water swim by the Frank Flowers family – originally created as a fun way to get young children on the island to learn how to swim.  33 years later, with over 800 registrations this year, swimmers and volunteers travel from around the world to be a part of this fun event!

Since most if not all hotels on Grand Cayman charge a $75+/night “resort fee”, in 2024 I opted to do the Airbnb avenue.  The host declared they had pickleball courts, but in reality the property was super close by to the fairly new Pickleball Cayman with the Roost sports bar.  It was a fantastic surprise as I was in my first year of playing pickleball.

This year I found a really great condo out in the West Bay area and ended up with my own private beach!  Morning swims @ 6am were mandatory! 🏊

This year I really wanted to improve my swim time by 10+ minutes but also wanted to maximize my pickleball play.  Between the Roost and the Pickleball Academy, I was able to play almost 2X daily!  Yay!  See below!

Pickleball Cayman aka The Roost is just adjacent to the airport, so as soon as I finalized my rental car, I headed on over to check it out and score a burger at The Roost!  A last minute email alerted “members” that Friday night was going to be a Pro-Am tournament with some of the professional APP athletes that would be competing Sat/Sun.  I did not get my bid submitted in time, and I had dinner scheduled for Friday night.  But, during the Friday morning open play, I was able to see several of the pro and even speak with some of them.  Totally chill vibe around there because to do not get to the Caymans by mistake!

I was able to do open play Friday morning, Saturday morning, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon at this facility.  Good times and very friendly people! ~~Hello Frenchie! 😎🤣🤘👀

I had noticed a mostly vacant Pickleball Academy on the West Bay end of the island. On my way home Saturday night after playing pickleball in the morning, doing my open water swim in the afternoon and then watching the pros at The Roost, I saw some people at the Academy, so I pulled in to watch.

Turns out there was a group of people doing an inaugural fundraiser for a new halfway house for women… They invited me to play and man I had so much fun; and, for a good cause!  Great locals!  

Then, I had heard the open play on Monday nights was off the chain so I came back and shure enuf…two rock solid hours of banging ball, laughing and talking smack!  I can hardly wait to get back to the island!