popeb:
Wow! So it really was "not a lot"! Still, at least the cost of living is cheap over there - it would have to be, wouldn't it!
The cost of living can be reasonable,
if one lives like a local. You can go to the one of the 2 or 3 modern supermarkets (such as they are) and buy items that are old favorites from the USA, and even theoretical cuts of beef and other meats. But you had better be making serious coin.
Vacationers can pay the resort gift shop price for Flor de Cana Rum, or they can save a lot by going to one of the above markets- or they can get it dirt cheap by knowing which 10x10 bodega grocery shack in the neighborhood is selling it. Ya gots ta know the lay of the land.
Vacationers believe they enjoy dinners out at Romeos, Gios, or the Yacht Club. Local places, if they survive, have the best eats and for cheap. Although Tres Flores closed down, there is still the Garden of Eatin, The Argentinian Grille, and now a new place, The View. For $9 a person you can go, eat and drink and be sated. But then again, $9 is a lot of money on a $50/wk salary, no?
The Bay Islands are what Cayman was 40 years ago. If you want to drop out of society for a while, gain some dive skills, toil your way through DM, AI and OWSI, this is something one should do when they're young and full of youthful enthusiasm. Just make sure that you have a source of funds, be it family or previous work nest egg, or lottery winnings.
Life in paradise is in so many ways a costly proposition... if not, then why isn't it overcrowded? It's not available to everyone. Youth and enthusiasm are 90% of the battle, but it's the food and shelter thing that takes up the
"other" 90%.