How much is taxi? What beach to go to?

[canadian85]

There are 4 of us including a 5yo and 3yo, how much should we expect to pay for taxi to beach? Do you pay per way or on return?

 

What section should we head to for shallow water, and somewhere to buy couple drinks? Less crowded would be good too.

[cb at sea]

We took the bus to 7 Mile Beach....$2.50 pp, the water is calm enough, and there were eateries/bars, chair/umbrella rentals, and restrooms all along the beach!

[Lionesss]

There are 4 of us including a 5yo and 3yo, how much should we expect to pay for taxi to beach? Do you pay per way or on return?

 

What section should we head to for shallow water, and somewhere to buy couple drinks? Less crowded would be good too.

 

There are a million taxis on this island.

Take one to TIKI beach, the cab dropped us off at the entrance, clean restrooms, showers, concesion stand, rentals, like for water activities and beach chairs. We just put our cruise towels down and one of us stayed with stuff at all times, since it is a public open beach.

It is a nice size beach, you will not be crowded, and you will be with other cruisers.

You can get a taxi each way for around $10 plus tip.

Depending on the time of year you go, it is HOT!

We only made it here 2 hours and got bored and headed back.

Others from our group rented jet skis, snorkeled and swam and were there for hours.

No trouble getting a cab back, they were waiting at the entrance.

Sea Ya

[meliss35]

Is there lockers for your stuff at Tiki Beach?

[Lionesss]

I did not need one so I did not look for one.

Gosh, I should have.

Sorry

We always kept one person with beach stuff at all times.

I am sure at the rental desk they would have to have something. But do not know for sure.

Sea Ya

[mominva]

The taxis are $4 per person to the Royal Palms or $5 to the public beach (Calico Jack's or Tiki Beach). I think the buses are $2.50 per person. I am not sure if they will give you a break since your kids are younger. I bet they cost the same because they will take up a seat. The taxis are these vans with lots of seats.

[OCruisers]

The $5 pp to Calico Jacks by taxi is worth it to us rather than waiting on a bus. No problem getting a taxi there for our return to the ship. :)

 

LuLu

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[canadian85]

We're leaving 11 days, can't wait! Hopefully it will be nice and warm.

 

Thanks I'll head to tiki beach.

 

I don't think I want to try the public bus it might be a little too far for the kids to walk (actually i'll probably be carrying them...)

[meliss35]

I emailed Royal Palm and there are no lockers. Are there any All Inclusives on 7 mile beach that include food and lounge chairs?

[bookbabe]

Nope, sorry. No AI resorts.

[OCruisers]

We're leaving 11 days, can't wait! Hopefully it will be nice and warm.

 

Thanks I'll head to tiki beach.

 

I don't think I want to try the public bus it might be a little too far for the kids to walk (actually i'll probably be carrying them...)

 

It'll be VERY warm. Take a taxi and have a wonderful time. :)

 

LuLu

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[Artemis]

All-Inclusive Day Pass

There's at least one all-inclusive on 7-Mile Beach available by day pass arrangement for cruisers: the Westin. The Marriott offers a day pass, but it doesn't include food or drink. I believe the lore on both is, you can call the property directly to learn the price and details for a walk-up pass. It will not include your transportation to/from. Or, for one-stop shopping, you can find a seller of a combo pass/transport ticket, but you will have to plan your day around their transport schedule.

 

To learn more about your options, first, check your cruise line shore excursions to see what they offer in the way of beach breaks. Second, Google resort for a day (which will lead you to a specific site that markets resort day passes). Third, do a more generic Google search to see if you can quickly identify any other options.

[Artemis]

Royal Palms on 7-Mile Beach

We were just there a week ago today. Wish I was there right now! Here is my detailed review.

 

Day 5 - Grand CaymanThere were so many ships in Cayman this day! :eek: We heard a lot of grumbling by fellow pax about crowds everywhere, and one of the ship's own tour operators really dropped the ball in failing to provide enough buses to transport everyone to the turtle farm and stingray city--that tour turned into an all-day hurry-up-and-wait adventure causing those folks to barely make the last tender back. You can check the Cayman cruise ship schedule on their port authority website.

 

I goofed and forgot to snap the posted taxi rates here, but after we weaved through the busy cruise terminal and made our way to the street, I saw a couple of the shared-ride taxi vendors holding signs indicating the rate to our destination, the Royal Palms beach club at the close end of 7-Mile Beach, was $4 pp. Call us really crazy, but just like in Ocho, we decided to walk there! It is a straight shot down Church Street to the left as you exit the terminal, probably about 2 miles, as it took roughly 45 min. on narrow sidewalks (we also made one beach/water passage detour!). Okay, I just checked on Google maps, and it is 3.1 km or 1.92 miles if you stay on Church>W. Bay Rd. Like any of you will do this?! And yeah, the sun was burning down on us. But we had on our sun screen and hats, and we kind of like those spontaneous walks to get a taste of a place and feel like we're "far from the maddening crowd," even though you're never really far from tourist civilization in these ports!

 

And weirder than grocery stores, we like visiting cemeteries when we travel, so naturally, we couldn't resist meandering through the seaside Dixie Cemetery located just before you reach 7-Mile Beach. It was a serene resting place with a view of the cruise ships! I can't tell which ship that is, can you?

 

 

The walk was worth it. Here's a shot of my second row vista at the Royal Palms beach club:

 

 

Beaches are public in the Caymans, so you can stretch out on any piece of sand that pleases you, but you can't use the chairs or facilities, of course. So Royal Palms is an economical, no frills option that we like because we don't drink enough to justify the all-inclusive passes at other resorts and it's close enough to the port to squeeze every last minute out of the day. The day pass is $2 pp, which gets you access to the bathrooms, outdoor shower and pool with swim-up bar. And complimentary Internet access (with a code, more reliable up at the bar). Beach chairs are $7 pp, and an umbrella is $10 (big enough to shade two chairs). So, before food and drinks, it's basically $28 for two people (plus we tipped the beach attendant $2 for finding us an umbrella, which was something of a feat considering the crowd!). We had a couple of beers to start at $6.50 each (import or domestic, all beers are $6.50--this is the Caymans, everything is a tad pricey!), then I ordered a beer and hummus appetizer, which turned out to be quite a nice lunch of two kinds of hummus, warm flatbread and salad. Here's a pic (I realize it's odd to post this picture--although after a grocery store and cemetery, my oddness was sealed!--but because I'm always frustrated by beach club lunches of burgers and fries, I figure someone out there might feel the same way and be happy to see what a good option it turned out to be!), plus a snap of the receipt so you can see the pricing in Cayman dollars vs. US dollars (note, also, that a 15% service charge is included).

 

 

 

Although Royal Palms was packed when we first arrived, by early afternoon, it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We left a little after 3 to make the last tender at 3:30 PM (that would be cutting it too close at beach clubs farther out on 7-Mile Beach because of the heavy traffic from the beaches back into town). Taxis were out front waiting, and we easily made it to the cruise terminal. The tender queue was so long, we had a long, hot wait!

[boowaaccaa]

Artemis - thats for your post. I love to walk and we usually do! However, this year we are travelling with our 10 month old. Would there be room on the sidewalk for a stroller.

[existentialtraveler]

Artemis - thats for your post. I love to walk and we usually do! However, this year we are travelling with our 10 month old. Would there be room on the sidewalk for a stroller.

 

No. The roads are narrow with a very small shoulder and not many sidewalks. There is also usually a lot of traffic. I would not use a stroller.

[boowaaccaa]

No. The roads are narrow with a very small shoulder and not many sidewalks. There is also usually a lot of traffic. I would not use a stroller.

 

Great to know. We also have a carrier. It might be a bit hot to carry him in it--but I guess if it is we will wave down a cab..!

[Sue33]

Thanks Artemis for your review. This is just what I was wondering as to how far a walk the nearest beach is. We will be going in February and I wondered if anything was walkable. I really don't want to schedule anything but just have a relaxing day. Also the hummus and the cemetery sounds just like what we would do. When we were first dating which was eons ago we would stop and visit cemeteries. Another weirdo. Thanks again.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Sue33

[ryanw]

I emailed Royal Palm and there are no lockers. Are there any All Inclusives on 7 mile beach that include food and lounge chairs?

 

I went to the Royal Palm with my wife and she was very concerned about needing a locker. We even bought a dry sack that we could carry in the water. It was not needed as the lounge area of the beach was quite shallow. You could see everything from the water. It was very safe.