7 mile beach break Grand Cayman!

[SMSACE6]

I am hoping this is the right place to ask advice. I have been looking on the Carnival Cruise website for beach excursions. The only one I see for Grand Cayman is the 7 mile beach break, for 29.00 dollars per person. It seems to include transportation, and chair only on the beach. My question is has anyone had any previous experience with this land tour? or does anyone know if we are better to hire a taxi to take us to 7 mile beach. But we dont know where to ask the taxi to drop us off, and if we would be able to get a chair. Any advice would be welcome. Thankyou.

HelenW

[Wheresthesalt]

There are taxis at the peir. We used them when we got to Caymans to take us to Hell. I would think it would be very easy to get a Taxi and cheaper and just ask them where a good place to be dropped off is at.

[czimm]

it will be much cheaper to go to 7 mile on your own. Sea Grape is a nice spot at 7 Mile Beach (right past the Courtyard by Marriott). Cemetery Beach has a great reef for snorkeling (past all the hotels along 7 mile). There are chairs for rent pretty much everywhere (usually about $10 per chair, some include a free drink) and umbrellas for rent too, along with watersport rentals. Drinks and food can be expensive on Grand Cayman. Get back in plenty of time for the ship - tender lines are usually very long (an hour wait is not unusual).

 

Have great time!

[UpstateCruizer]

I am hoping this is the right place to ask advice. I have been looking on the Carnival Cruise website for beach excursions. The only one I see for Grand Cayman is the 7 mile beach break, for 29.00 dollars per person. It seems to include transportation, and chair only on the beach. My question is has anyone had any previous experience with this land tour? or does anyone know if we are better to hire a taxi to take us to 7 mile beach. But we dont know where to ask the taxi to drop us off, and if we would be able to get a chair. Any advice would be welcome. Thankyou.

HelenW

 

YES save yourself the money and grab a taxi when you into the port area. There will be several taxis lined up and make sure you ask the total rate before you get in. The excursion you are talking about is going to take you to Sea Grape Beach. We've gone twice on our own and paid $6 pp each way to get to the beach. The drivers all know where it is. There will be several taxi vans lined up outside Sea Grape Beach when you are ready to return. It's one of my favorite beaches. Many people lay their towel in the sand by the picnic tables for some shady. We've never rented the chairs but they were $10.

[SMSACE6]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, think we will try doing it on our own. Also good reminder that the lines are long for tenders back to the ship, so may just stick to the town.:)

[UpstateCruizer]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, think we will try doing it on our own. Also good reminder that the lines are long for tenders back to the ship, so may just stick to the town.:)

 

NO don't do that. The lines are only long if you wait til the last minute to get back to the dock. We prefer to leave ourself plenty of extra time so we leave the beach at least an hour before the last tender. When we get to the dock there are 2 tenders running back and forth. The process goes very quickly too. As long as you don't wait til the last minute you will be fine. Don't miss out on the gorgeous beaches and blue water for fear of the tender lines. Pay attention to the last tender time and not the ships scheduled time in port. The last tender is usually 30 minutes before the ship is scheduled to leave. Enjoy your cruise :)

[Kstofflet]

Do not book this tour through the ship! The taxi was 4.00 per person (each way) and we went to the royal palms resort. no resort fee and chairs to use at your leisure. Take a towel. The Royal Palms also has a tiki bar if interested in spirits. so... 29.00 goes down to 8.00 per person and the good news is IT IS WALKING DISTANCE from the ship. BTW you can see the ship from 7 mile beach

[sunseeker09]

Sea Grape is a bit more spacious and typically less crowded than the Reef, particularly if you don't rent chairs and lay on towels. Then there's loads of room. The Reef has better food though, I think. Sea Grape is further (about half way don the beach, so about 4 miles from town or so). Another option is the bus. It's really easy to take from town to the beach. I agree with pp... don't stay in town! It gets super crowded.

[klmorg]

Sea Grape is a bit more spacious and typically less crowded than the Reef, particularly if you don't rent chairs and lay on towels. Then there's loads of room. The Reef has better food though, I think. Sea Grape is further (about half way don the beach, so about 4 miles from town or so). Another option is the bus. It's really easy to take from town to the beach. I agree with pp... don't stay in town! It gets super crowded.

 

Here, here! Another vote for doing this on your own, and Sea Grape beach is very nice. Don't have any others to compare it to, but it's about $5 PP by taxi, chairs & umbrellas to rent, water sports if you want, and a nice bar/grill place. I've heard that the Carnival excursion packs in a bunch of people paying too much money who are crowded in a small roped off area of the beach. You'll have plenty of time to get to the beach and lounge around, then back to the pier area to shop & catch the tender. Whichever beach you go to, I'm sure will be beautiful though!

[lovacruz]

I was just there. Take a taxi and go by yourself.You will see all your fellow Carnival guest s there.The beach is beautiful.Nicest beach I went to. You can call Marriott and ask them what it would cost to use there facility for a few hours. they have a pool and lounges. Beautiful hotel.

[blondie151o]

i did the 7mile beach excursion in may this year .. after our excursion we decided it would have been cheaper like others are saying to get your own taxi.. the free drink it came with was one soda. not any special drink... i say do it yourself!

[NanCan]

We are going to Grand Cayman on the Freedom (september 20th cruise) I haven't been there but we are doing the Stingray City excursion <booked privately> and having them drop us off at 7 mile beach after for a few hours... as I have heard it is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! Here is a comment I read on Frommers that pretty much sums it up, it's close and pretty much a must see...I agree with the poster who said not to let worries about catching the tenders prevent you from seeing this beautiful island!! Grand Cayman is NOT a large island!

 

"You must be going on a cruise? Seven Mile beach is within walking distance of the main pier, if you love to walk, but if you want to see the far end of the beach, you will want to get a bus or taxi. The beach is free, and as you walk down the street you will see small signs indicating public access points for the beach. That was not made clear to me when I went on a cruise. I do agree with others that the fish are incredible!

Are you going to Sting Ray City? I would recommend it! If you do a little online research, you will find some good recommendations. And probably a lot more personal and less expensive than the ones suggested by the cruiselines. Have fun! Wish I could go again. "

Hope that helps a bit :) Happy Cruising!!!

[SMSACE6]

These are all great tips, thanks to everyone who replied. So I think we will either take a taxi to Sea Grape beach, or try walking from the pier. I am so glad I found this board. All the advice is much appreciated, and makes the decsion making so much easier.:)

[Froufie]

These are all great tips, thanks to everyone who replied. So I think we will either take a taxi to Sea Grape beach, or try walking from the pier. I am so glad I found this board. All the advice is much appreciated, and makes the decsion making so much easier.:)

 

 

Not sure if you have discovered the 'ports of call' boards? Here is the one for Grand Cayman: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=147

 

Lots more tips and info there on the beaches, transportation,etc. Have fun!

[Rumrunner10]

Several years ago my DH and I booked the 7 mile beach excursion. Best $$$$ we have ever spent. The water is the best. Beach magnificent and the drinks were primo. You just simply can't go wrong. We continue to talk about our trip at 7 mile beach to this day. Don't miss it.......

[toolgrl919]

I'm real happy to come across this post because I have been planning on taking a taxi to the beach instead of going through Carnival.

How is the shopping in Grand Cayman, and good stores to check out?

[T. Advisor King]

Our last cruise had three ports, including Grand Cayman. We did (expensive Carnival) excursions at the other ports but simply took a cab to 7-mile beach at Grand Cayman. It was my favourite day of the whole cruise.

 

We went to the public access at the Reef Grill. Public washrooms, lots of beach, chairs available and a patio restaurant with "burger bar" prices - just my style.

 

Here's a link to the Reef Grill site with a webcam showing a shot of the beach, including the chairs for rent. We walked down a bit and sat on our towels. If there were ships at anchor, you'd see them in the background of the beach-cam shot.

 

http://www.reefgrill.com/netcam/index.html

[shipty2]

We took a taxi to seven mile beach and parked ourselves near the Reefgrill as well. We rented one chair to put our stuff on so our towels would not get full of sand and off we went into the water. The taxi fare was very cheap maybe $4 or so. You will save a ton of money taking a cab instead of the excursion and then you can stay as long as you want conversely leave as early as you want.