New Year’s Eve on the Sister Islands

The New Year arrived with the bang of fireworks
around both Sister Islands

Brackers enjoy good food at the Watering Place Park

Brac Community Development Officer Annie Rose
Scott celebrates the New Year with husband “Junior”
Scott

Divi Tiara Beach Resort provided a fifteen minute
professional fireworks display for everyone

Channings Connor intended to enjoy the New Year
celebrations

A mix of ages enjoyed the good food and company at
Watering Place, where the party started for many
Brackers

Friday,  January 6, 2006

Folks on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman rang in the New Year with parties and fireworks as usual, though some resorts reported losses due to the early closing hours.

A spokesperson from the Little Cayman Beach Resort said that usually on New Year’s Eve, people would have stayed at the bar past midnight to celebrate, and the cut off time meant that the hotel lost “quite a bit of money”.

As for stay-over guests, she said that the early closing did not affect them too much this year, as people generally booked their Christmas and New Year vacations in January, but with the same laws in effect next year, it might put a damper on next year’s bookings.

Divi Tiara Beach Resort General Manager Max Hillier said the early closing cost the hotel half of their normal New Year’s Eve takings. 

The fact that next year Christmas and New Year will fall on a Sunday has the potential to negatively impact visitor numbers over the 2006/2007 holiday period, said Mr Hillier, who is President of the Sister Islands Tourism Association (SITA).

“This is not good for tourism on the Sister Islands,” he believed.

On Cayman Brac, many residents enjoyed private parties, including an annual bash at the Watering Place Park, hosted by Sister Islands MLA Julianna O’Connor Connolly.

The MLA, who said she had cooked all the food for the occasion herself, said she liked to give families the opportunity to enjoy the New Year celebrations together. 

People of all ages from all around the Island ate and talked under the sea grapes and cabanas, while the children played on the beach. A small fireworks show heralded a series of displays on both Islands, both small private affairs and larger productions.

The Brac Reef Beach Resort held their display at 10:00 pm, so that residents could enjoy both their fireworks and the ones at Divi Tiara, which started at midnight. The Divi display is done each year by professional fireworks coordinator Karl Bertelsen. As the main New Year’s Eve party on the Brac, Divi provided the fifteen minute display for visitors and residents of the Island, who were able to watch the fireworks and a huge screen showing the countdown to midnight at Times Square in New York on CNN.

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) on both Cayman Brac and Little Cayman reported a quiet night with no major incidences on New Year’s Eve.

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