Things to do in Port

What is there to do on your own in port? We aren't there for an extended amount of time to utilize an excursion IMO (our kids are not the fastest when it comes to getting up and going in the morning lol), so we're looking at just getting off the tender and finding stuff to do on our own - whether its sightseeing, shopping, grabbing lunch etc. Any suggestions?

Not sure how old your kids are or if this is your first visit, but when you get off the ship, there will be tour operators standing by for a lot less $ than the cruiselines charge. You can do a 2-3 hour tour that will give you a tour of the West Bay...the Turtle Farm is a great family activity. Then usually there is a stop in "Hell" which is not much than rock formations and a post office, but you will also get a drive by view of the beach. It's been a long time since we did this but I can tell you our kids enjoyed it (8 and 10 at the time).

Not sure how old your kids are or if this is your first visit, but when you get off the ship, there will be tour operators standing by for a lot less $ than the cruiselines charge. You can do a 2-3 hour tour that will give you a tour of the West Bay...the Turtle Farm is a great family activity. Then usually there is a stop in "Hell" which is not much than rock formations and a post office, but you will also get a drive by view of the beach. It's been a long time since we did this but I can tell you our kids enjoyed it (8 and 10 at the time).

Thanks :) Ours are 9 and 4 - we've never been to GC, so this is first for all of us. Normally my youngest doesn't love taking tours in port - he gets very antsy lol - so we're trying to figure out what to do on our own that wont have him stuck on a bus or trolley or shuttle or anything for an extended period of time.

Hope on a bus to the beach...$2.50 pp....if that is good for you. It's about 10-15 mins. on the bus to almost anywhere along 7 Mile Beach. Longer coming home, do to traffic, tho. Shopping is an easy walk off the tender pier.

You never can tell about children! Sometimes, they like the most unexpected things.

Some actually love the tender ride.

We were having lunch/drinks at Paradise Bar & Grill at Eden Rock. Several children were having the best time feeding the fish with the fish food purchased at the snorkel/dive rental place there.

Taxi to turtle farm. Easy, short trip there, and most kids love it.

Downtown there's a museum and a lot of stores that likely won't appeal to either kid...unless they need fancy watches or diamond jewelry? :-)

Our kids enjoyed the turtle farm, viewing "Hell" and sending a post card from there, and we also went to the stingray sand bar which was a highlight of the whole trip. We did a ship's excursion though and this was a few years ago. There is also a Rum Cake store which is on many islands, but they enjoyed that too.

We have always enjoyed walking around town and/or visiting a beach.

Keith

Do Stingray City trip. It is a boat ride out to a giant sand bar where stingrays come for feeding. Your kids will LOVE it. Nothing cooler than stingrays swimming around you, rubbing against your legs like a cat, asking for food.

Anything to do right at the port?

Anything to do right at the port?

Shopping and restaurants are most of what's near. There's a museum, and a couple of spots where you could shore snorkel.

Kids don't want to do excursions so we are looking for something in port.

Kids don't want to do excursions so we are looking for something in port.

As I said, within walking distance it's shopping and restaurants. Or the museum. The snorkeling spot is a bit too advanced for kids.

Anything else will require at least a taxi or bus ride.

I know you can take a bus to the turtle farm. What if you want to stop in Hell after that? Does the bus go there too?

There are plenty of shops that offer t-shirts, souvenirs and other items the kids might like. You could also go to Margaritaville for lunch and let the kids use the pool there. They have a waterslide as well. During the day we saw plenty of families there.

Within walking distance is “Locked In Cayman,” which is an escape room adventure. We walked from the ship, the room took an hour, and then we had time to explore on our own. (I think some ships offer this as an excursion) It was well worth it.

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Thanks :) Ours are 9 and 4 - we've never been to GC, so this is first for all of us. Normally my youngest doesn't love taking tours in port - he gets very antsy lol - so we're trying to figure out what to do on our own that wont have him stuck on a bus or trolley or shuttle or anything for an extended period of time.

Turtle Farm would be a good excursion for your son. Its not something you need to keep up with a group. You can visit the different ages of turtles, snorkel in their bay and swim in the pool. Its a good all inclusive type day. Food on site is very good. You can do your own thing until transpo takes you back to the ship.

What is cost of taxi to turtle farm?

Do Stingray City trip. It is a boat ride out to a giant sand bar where stingrays come for feeding. Your kids will LOVE it. Nothing cooler than stingrays swimming around you, rubbing against your legs like a cat, asking for food.

 

I always remember Steve Irwin. He was simply floating with them. Can't get in the water with wild stingrays. Out of my comfort zone.

I always remember Steve Irwin. He was simply floating with them. Can't get in the water with wild stingrays. Out of my comfort zone.

I can totally respect different people's comfort zones, and them making decisions on their activities based on those. That applies to looking at death rates from flying, driving in a car, SCUBA diving, visiting marine parks, or doing a cruise.

If a highly prominent person being killed means you are uncomfortable doing something, then nobody has the right to try to tell you that you should go ahead and do it.

I can totally respect different people's comfort zones, and them making decisions on their activities based on those. That applies to looking at death rates from flying, driving in a car, SCUBA diving, visiting marine parks, or doing a cruise.

 

If a highly prominent person being killed means you are uncomfortable doing something, then nobody has the right to try to tell you that you should go ahead and do it.

The prominence means nothing. It could be anyone killed by swimming with sting rays that would deter me. I don't fault anyone else for choosing the activity. But, some might not know the danger when words like "kitten or cat rubbing against you" are used. Swimming with sharks is dangerous too....but most do know that.

The prominence means nothing. It could be anyone killed by swimming with sting rays that would deter me. I don't fault anyone else for choosing the activity. But, some might not know the danger when words like "kitten or cat rubbing against you" are used. Swimming with sharks is dangerous too....but most do know that.

IMO, there is more danger flying to the cruise or leaning out from your cabin balcony than in visiting Stingray City. It's the coolest experience I have ever had. Yes, the stingrays are wild, but they are very used to humans. It's very safe as long as you use common sense. You are absolutely entitled to feel that it is not an activity that you feel safe partaking in, but there isn't any real danger in the stingrays rubbing against you. Be more scared of the bus and taxi drivers in Cozumel and similar ports. For more info, read my standard blurb below.

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Dangerous Stingrays?

Stingrays are generally non-aggressive. When threatened, their first reaction is to swim away. This is easy for them to do at Stingray City, since it's just a section of open ocean and the stingrays aren't penned up in any way. They don't just attack you and sting you (although they can be fairly enthusiastic and/or boisterous in their quest for squid chunks). There is a small chance that they could sting you by reflex/accident if you step on one. That's why you are not permitted to wear water shoes at Stingray City, and why you are told to shuffle your feet rather than lift them, so that you will not accidententally step on one.

There are many, many types of rays. Steve Irwin was stung by a bull ray, a totally different type than the southern rays at Stingray City. It is also suggested that what killed him wasn't the sting itself, but the fact that he was stung in the chest and then pulled out the barb. There is also the issue that the bull ray was a wild ray and unused to people, while the Stingray City southern rays have spent years and years learning that people are not the enemy, they're a ready source of squid snacks.

For most stings, which are extremely rare, Wikipedia says that the remedy is usually hot water to dilute the venom plus antibiotics. I don't personally know anyone who has ever been stung, nor have I ever read about someone being stung at Stingray City, so I just have to trust my research on that part of the issue.

From my experience at Stingray City, which is very extensive, the usual "injuries" from stingrays involve "hickeys" from the suction of their mouths during a search for squid (say when your DH has stuffed a chunk of squid down your bathing suit for fun) or accidental scrapes from their tails when they swim by you too fast looking for squid and the tail kind of whips against you. These injuries are very minor, though, and are far from life-threatening.

You'll notice the common element here is squid. Stingrays at Stingray City are only interested in one thing...the snacks that they know you've brought with you. No squid = no stingray attention at all. They're worse than cats that way. If you aren't giving them treats, they've got very little interest in you. They may swim by, just to double-check for squid, but as soon as they realize you haven't got any, they'll swim away again fairly quickly. If you are at all nervous about them, stay away from the squid and the stingrays will stay away from you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingrays

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death

I've been to Stingray City dozens and dozens of times, and never had a problem with the stingrays. (With my DH, sure, but never the rays.) It's very safe as long as you behave with respect and common sense.

The prominence means nothing. It could be anyone killed by swimming with sting rays that would deter me. I don't fault anyone else for choosing the activity. But, some might not know the danger when words like "kitten or cat rubbing against you" are used. Swimming with sharks is dangerous too....but most do know that.

OK, once again - I can respect you for your own decisions about your own level of risk tolerance for you and your family. However, to imply (however subtly) that people who do it are ignorant of the real dangers is a tad insulting.

Thousands of people visit Stingray City (the dive site) and Stingray Sandbar (the waist-deep location) every year and leave with at most a small hickey as a souvenir. Briefings will tell you how to deal with an overly-jealous stingray - you just put the flat of your hand on her nose and she will veer away from you and leave you alone. I SCUBA dive and see stingrays out in the wild quite often - they do not attack. They will either ignore you and carry on feeding, or circle you at a safe distance, watching you, or just leave if they feel you are getting too close. For the record, I see sharks fairly often too, and they will either just lie on the bottom (nurse sharks) or disappear rapidly (every other type). So the blanket comment about swimming with sharks being dangerous is an over-generalization. It's about doing it right and will full knowledge.

I would be far more concerned about catching some sort of food-borne illness on a cruise ship, or being mugged in some of the ports of call than I would be about being killed by a Stingray or shark, and that is based on statistics and my own level of risk tolerance.

I would encourage anything who is thinking of going to Stingray Sandbar to do some research on the topic - not just the "when Stingrays attack" types of sites, which are geared towards click-bait and creating fear, but actual statistics and experiences. Don't use a well-publicized single point of data as an indication of what is typical - if you do you would never fly, travel in a car, take a cruise ship, swim in the ocean, eat food at a restaurant or any other of a slew of things that most people consider part of a great travel experience.

There was a glass semi-sub excursion that boards a few blocks from the tender pier in town. It was about $20 per person and lasted about an hour. Your kids should enjoy that.

Grand Cayman is expensive! Lunch consisting of a shared pizza, a Diet Coke, and an umbrella drink was over $40.

There was a glass semi-sub excursion that boards a few blocks from the tender pier in town. It was about $20 per person and lasted about an hour. Your kids should enjoy that.

 

Grand Cayman is expensive! Lunch consisting of a shared pizza, a Diet Coke, and an umbrella drink was over $40.

We've done the glass bottom semi-sub and enjoyed it