Free/almost free in Grand Cayman

[crojemupeo]

My fam of 6 (kids 16, 14, 13, 11) are cruising in 2 weeks. Grand Cayman is one of 4 stops (plus Cozumel, Belize, Roatan). We will only be able to do one paid shore excursion during this entire 7-day cruise (these excursions add up when they are for 6!!). I have spent HOURS and HOURS (I think i will have put more time into researching excursion options than the entire amount of time we will be ON this cruise by the time we depart), I still have not decided what we are going to do.

 

So, I'm going to make a decision going backwards. For the port of Grand Cayman ONLY (I'll ask this same question in the boards for the other 3 ports), would you tell what you have done for FREE (besides the cost of a taxi ride maybe) or for almost no cost, that your family loved? Maybe if I find some great free/low cost ideas at each port, that are SAFE, it will help me decide which port I'll plan our excursion in.

 

thanks so much!

Jennifer

[TurtleTagger]

Just my two cents, but if you miss out on Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman, you missed out on one of the best attractions/experiences in the Caribbean. Every port has free beaches you can visit, Grand Cayman included, but no other port provides an experience quite like Sting Ray City. That's what I'd save my pennies up for.

[crojemupeo]

Just my two cents, but if you miss out on Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman, you missed out on one of the best attractions/experiences in the Caribbean. Every port has free beaches you can visit, Grand Cayman included, but no other port provides an experience quite like Sting Ray City. That's what I'd save my pennies up for.

 

that is the one i think we'll be doing but i wanted to make sure. who did you use for your sting ray city tour? so far, people have mentioned 8 of them!!! does it come down to price? of course, everyone says their sting ray city tour was the best. :-)

[cruisecrzy]

Strictly my opinion, after having many years of travel experience in the Caribbean, I have enjoyed swimming with the sting rays much more at Belize. I use Coralbreezetours.com, the rays/reefs/Caye Caulker is fantastic. The stingray part is much more peaceful and not crowded, you are usually the only boat there. If you are lucky the nurse sharks will be there too!

 

Grand Cayman is very easy to do on the cheap. There is 7 mile beach, accessed by the local mini bus for a couple bucks per person, and Eden Rock is close to where the tender docks, if you have snorkel equipment it's free to snorkel there.

[Capt_BJ]

of the places you'll visit

 

Cayman has the best beach . . . or

 

if you have snorkel gear you can drop in at Eden Rock for no charge (or a small charge if you need to rent gear)

[m-of-connor]

Hi, we took our kids on a cruise last year with the same stops. We had our budget in mind when we went to the ports. I will have to agree with the poster above. If you have not done this (stingray's) it is a must. My kids loved the stingrays, we have great pictures and good memories of kissing the stingrays. They(Captain Marv) made 2 other stops where we were able to snorkel. We still had time to walk around the town and sample/buy the rum cakes. Grand Cayman was the only stop where we paid for an excursion.

Just my 2 cents on the other ports.

Cozumel - We all ways go to Paradise Beach, over the years it has changed. last time we were there they were not finished with the pool area. I know that it has been completed. This is one of the kids favorite the have great water toys ie...slides, trampolines climbing towers all out in the water. You can also kayak and snorkel (not much to see) You had to buy wrist bands ($10) for the water toys not everyone in party had to buy one. We did have to pay for the chairs and umbrella it was around ($5) we only got 2 chairs, kids did not need them. I hope with the addition of the pool that this has not ruined this great place (crowds or expense.). It was cheap and we all had a great time.

Roatan- We were on Carnival and they stopped at the new port that they built, we had a great time just staying on that beach. It is the one that has the ski lift to the beach (we walked). I would love to venture out into Roatan, it looks like a beautiful country but it was a great day to sleep in and then sit on the beach (our kids are younger 10 and 8 at the time).

Belize- Just rode the tender and had drinks at one of the restaurants, kids looked for their names from the last time we were there(able to wright on tables) We have not felt the need to go into Belize with the kids (too young for what we would like to do, cave tubing)

[rockbock]

I agree about not missing the stingrays! I wrote an extensive review on the company my family used because it was so good...it was also bargain priced!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1499068

[Keith1010]

The Stingrays are very special.

 

Keiht

[Lvteks]

In all my cruises, the sting ray excursion describes the whole Caribbean experience; water, sunshine,nature literally up close and personal. Be sure to be able to stand in the water and pay more if necessary to be in a small group.( We were 4 so perhaps you can arrange a private family trip) We fed the stingrays ourselves Our Captain has retired but you will find good references here on CC,

 

Avoid the big boat to a deep? reef which is too many people, too few crew and requires treading water constantly to watch a crew member feed the rays.

 

Blessings,

 

Gail

[Jess S]

Jennifer- we are doing the same ports, and your free/cheap question has been really helpful.

 

Rockbock- I booked with Frank based on your review. I'm very excited!

[illiniwahoo]

We did the same ports two years ago. I enjoyed the Stingrays, but that would not be the #1 thing on the islands.

I would definitely zip-line is Roatan. That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We booked thru shoretrips, but the same excursion was offered thru island marketing for 5 dollars less ($52 pp). Then they dropped you off at fosters beach, which included a free drink. You could walk down the beach for great snorkeling, but it was too rough the day we were there.

 

(And since you are on these boards you will get good advice on non-ship excursions and depending on what you budgeted, you might be able to do two for the price of one ship one!)

[JulieRose]

The stingrays scare the s**t out of me.

 

That being said, we're going on a stingray/ reef snorkeling tour through a private vendor at $45pp.

 

You really should look into private tours. We were looking at about $325- $350pp for 2 excursions & a chairlift ride run by the cruise line but by splitting up the same activities between ports with private vendors we have 1 really exciting thing to look forward to every day and are paying the same amount for what I think will probably be a much better experience.

 

Originally we were going to do this:

Grand Cayman- Dolphin & Stingray encounter through the ship

Honduras- chair lift to Mahogany Beach through the ship (which is actually cheaper than paying when you get there. group rate?)

Belize- zip line & cave tubing through the ship

Cozumel- No excursion

 

now our itinerary looks more like this

Grand Cayman- Stingray, reef & coral garden snorkeling independently

Honduras- Zip line canopy tour independently and chair lift to Mahogany Beach through the ship

Belize- Cave Tubing through the ship

Cozumel- Dolphin Swim & Snorkeling at Chankanaab independently

[gmaKay]

We stumbled upon the greatest place ever and had a wonderful time CHEAP!!!!! We left the cruise ship dock and started walking toward 7 mile beach but only got 1/2 block before we came to a bright orange store that rented kayaks, snorkel gear and offered every watersport you could imagine. We opted for a guided kayak tour with 2 snorkel stops because there were 6 of us. It only cost $35 per person with a guide that dove down and brought up conch for us to see, lured the tropical fish to us for awesome pictures and so many other sights including a wrecked ship. We were in site of the shoreline the whole time and it wasn't a bit scary. They even offered a cheaper option of just renting mask, snorkle & fins (with vest) for $10 per person and you can leave from their beach to swim to the wrecked ship. You can throw in a guide for the snorkel thing for about $20us for the whole group I think. If you haven't chosen anything else yet, this is your best bet for the money. You won't be disappointed!!!!!!

[glander2007]

@gmaKay

What port did you come into; from what ship?

I would really like to find the same place you were at, it sounds exactly like what I am looking for