Happy Days: The Best Coffee Spot in Grand Cayman
Great coffee should be easy to find everywhere in the Caribbean. Our islands are home to some of the world’s most celebrated coffee varieties, after all. In the region’s most touristy circles, though, finding great coffee is often a challenge. At least it has been in my experience.
Look around Palm Beach in Aruba. The most ubiquitous coffee brand: Dunkin’. (Not dushi.) Most everywhere else, it’s Starbucks. (*Shudder.*) Even in Jamaica, home of the legendary Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, Starbucks stands out.
(And no, the Starbucks’ in Jamaica don’t serve local Jamaican coffee. At least they don’t all the time. This is a real crime, if you ask me.)
All of this brings me to the Seven Mile Beach resort area in Grand Cayman, and Happy Days Paddle and Coffee. If you love great coffee (and even better people), then Happy Days is not to be missed!
I found what is to me the best coffee spot in Grand Cayman by accident. It was April 2026. I was at the tail end of an extended stay in Cayman. My home away from home at the time: The Marriott Grand Cayman.
Meh Marriott Coffee
Now, I really liked my stay at this particular Marriott. Nice comfy room, excellent view, decent food…
The coffee, though, wasn’t quite up to snuff.
Now, I’m no coffee expert/snob. My regular cup is simple: either a standard double espresso, or a black iced coffee with a splash of half-and-half. No sweeteners. No flavor additives. Nothing that detracts from or overwhelms the coffee’s naturally robust character.
In other words, no frou-frou brew for me.
My Marriott coffee was, you know…okay. Kinda’ bland. Middle-of-the-road-ish. Nothing to write home about.
For my last morning in Grand Cayman, I was determined to find something better. I hopped in my rental car, took a left, and headed north. Surely, there had to be something better amid the popular shops, resorts, and restaurants on West Bay Road, right?
Almost immediately, I was inspired to stop at the sight of this cheery-looking little food truck.
Inside, I found Yaz.
Mr. Happy Days
A walking, talking, fully-caffeinated embodiment of joy, Yaz owns/operates Happy Days with his wife, Sarah. Originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yaz moved to Cayman in the early 2000s after living in Canada. Sarah, who hails from Toronto, arrived in Cayman in 2018. Between then and the day we met in 2026, they met, married, started a family, and birthed their awesome combination roadside coffee cafe and paddleboard rental shop.
More specifically on the business, Happy Days opened in October 2023. They settled in their current location in April 2025.
All that’s to say, they’re kinda still a bit of a new face around Seven Mile Beach. The quality of Happy Days’ coffee, though, has me thinking they’ll be here a long, long time.
Yaz, you see, is very passionate about good coffee.
No, check that: he’s extremely passionate about GREAT coffee.
A cup of coffee is no simple drink to him. Fresh, high quality beans matter. Where those beans come from matters. (Happy Days sources their coffee from Costa Rica.) Barista tools and equipment matter.
The care one takes in achieving an optimal extraction also matters. I’m talking the kind of extraction that times out perfectly to limit the bitter flavor of plant fibers at the tail end of the process, while also maximizing the sweet/syrupy goodness and bright sour/citrus notes at the onset.
Yeah, you get all that Happy Days. Yaz makes sure.
The persnickety approach Yaz takes to coffee, though, contrasts with his warm, friendly, and eminently personable nature. He’s no coffee snob either, at least not in the traditional stuffy, condescending way. Instead, Yaz oozes fun, positivity, and inclusiveness. It’s impossible to leave here without a smile on your face and a great cup of coffee in your hand.
Indeed, the happiest days for coffee lovers in Grand Cayman start here.
Editor’s note: Coffee isn’t the only thing on the menu at Happy Days, as you can plainly see above. I didn’t get to try any of their all-natural smoothies or gelato treats, though. Nor did I manage to squeeze in any paddleboarding fun with Yaz and Co. Both things, though, are high on my list for my next Cayman adventure. So, stay tuned for future stories on both.
If You Go…
Happy Days is open daily from 7am to 2pm. They’re located at 720 West Bay Road, immediately south of the Buckingham Square Shopping Mall. Go for the coffee, stay for the laughs and great conversation, and please say hello to Yaz and Sarah for me.
Oh, and also be sure to follow them on Instagram for their latest news, specials, and hilarious videos of Yaz doing his thing like this one.
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