Getting to and from Rum Point

[BOOGALOO509]

My wife and I will be in Grand Cayman in February on our latest cruise.  We have visited the island before which is when we discovered Rum Point.  During our next visit we want to go back to spend time there before heading back to George Town and Seven Mile Beach for the rest of the day.

 

During our last visit we hired a car to tour around and would be happy to do that again, especially as we are from the UK so it means driving on "the proper" side of the road 😉, however from reading other threads it seems we may have a couple of other options open to us now, public transport and a ferry crossing.

 

Can anyone first of all advise whether or not there is a public bus service from near to the port to Rum Point or would we have to change from one bus to another in Bodden Town?  If we have to change buses would the cost of our ticket take us all the way to Rum Point or would we need to buy one to Bodden Town and then a second one from there to Rum Point?

 

Secondly, is it actually possible to get a ferry from the port area or from Seven Mile Beach to Rum Point and if so from where and what is the cost of a return ticket?  Subject to ferry timetables and costs this may actually be our preferred option as it would enable us to see more of the Island from the sea.

 

We will be visiting on a Saturday so hopefully everything will be operating that day.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help/information provided.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

[bookbabe]

There is a ferry, not sure if the schedule suits your on-island times, you’d have to check.  It takes you to the Kaibo, however, not Rum Point.  It’s about a 25 min walk from the Kaibo to Rum Point, or so google maps says.  I’ve never tried it, and think it’d be a long hot trek.

https://camanabay.com/experience/set-sail-to-the-eastern-side-of-grand-cayman-with-a-water-ferry/

The Rum Point Club (restaurant) does have a ferry service, but I think it only runs in the evening when the restaurant is open.  You’d have to check with them to see if it runs in the daytime.

There is a bus stop by Rum Point now, although I’ve never seen a bus at it.  Then again, I always have a car so I haven’t been looking.  I would message or call the Rum Point Club and ask about the logistics of getting there by bus.  They may have an idea if it’s possible or not.

http://www.rumpointclub.com/contact
 

Edited November 8, 2019 by bookbabe

[jaga04]

More on the ferry:  It leaves from Camana Bay shopping center, so you'd have to get there from the dock, via bus or taxi.  They take you from Kaibo to Rum Point by van if you wish, and pick you up for the return trip.  

[BOOGALOO509]

Many thanks to both of you for your information.

 

I will check out the timetables, fares and amount of effort needed to use either of these options compared with using a hire car and will go from there.

 

Cheers

 

John

[LSKC]

On 11/8/2019 at 12:14 PM, BOOGALOO509 said:

My wife and I will be in Grand Cayman in February on our latest cruise.  We have visited the island before which is when we discovered Rum Point.  During our next visit we want to go back to spend time there before heading back to George Town and Seven Mile Beach for the rest of the day.

 

During our last visit we hired a car to tour around and would be happy to do that again, especially as we are from the UK so it means driving on "the proper" side of the road 😉, however from reading other threads it seems we may have a couple of other options open to us now, public transport and a ferry crossing.

 

Can anyone first of all advise whether or not there is a public bus service from near to the port to Rum Point or would we have to change from one bus to another in Bodden Town?  If we have to change buses would the cost of our ticket take us all the way to Rum Point or would we need to buy one to Bodden Town and then a second one from there to Rum Point?

 

Secondly, is it actually possible to get a ferry from the port area or from Seven Mile Beach to Rum Point and if so from where and what is the cost of a return ticket?  Subject to ferry timetables and costs this may actually be our preferred option as it would enable us to see more of the Island from the sea.

 

We will be visiting on a Saturday so hopefully everything will be operating that day.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help/information provided.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

 

hi john, we are just starting to look into something to do in Grand Cayman... we want a nice beach day i think. Can you share with me how you got there last time (did you prebook car tour somehow?) and how far away from port it is? We are at GC tendered from 10-6. There are 4 of us and maybe we'll just take a cab if there is no cheaper/better way? any info appreciated.

 

 

[Capt_BJ]

I suggest some of ya'll pull up a map of Grand Cayman and locate Georgetown and the cruise tender landing area, and then Rum Point.  Then you may appreciate certain issues with getting from A to B ......

 

 

a road trip from anchorage to RP goes from Georgetown to Bodden Town to Breakers to Old Man Bay to Rum Point.  A ferry to RP leaves from the shore  EAST of Georgetown. <Seven Mile is just north of 'anchorage'>

[bookbabe]

As the good Captain points out, it’s a long drive to Rum Point.  Takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get there, depending on traffic.  And then the same back.

 

Although I mention above that there is a bus stop, I probably wouldn’t try getting to RP by bus if I was visiting by cruise ship.  The bus schedule can be erratic, and you wouldn’t want to get stuck out there and miss the ship.

 

And with the new rates, taxis are no longer even remotely economical.  The trip from airport to RP is now approx $140 US (up to 4 passengers, before tip).  I just got back from a quick trip, and we ended up renting a car for the week even though we didn’t need it.  Car rental was $125 US for the week, less than half of what the two taxi rides would have been.

 

The ferry/water taxi is pretty reliable.  And if you absolutely don’t want to rent a car and your heart is set on Rum Point, I’d try to make their schedule work.  Or book an excursion that includes a stop at RP as part of the day’s activities.

 

But a rental car is my top recommendation for anyone wanting to visit Rum Point.  It’s the safest, most practical way of getting there if you are visiting by cruise ship.

[BOOGALOO509]

First of all many thanks to those who have responded.

 

Being from the UK hiring a car is not an issue for us as everyone drives on the "proper" side of the road for us 😁.

 

Having hired a car the last time we were on the island we were looking to see if there were any alternates open to us but it seems clear using public transport is not viable and while the use of the ferry may be a nice way to travel across to Rum Point getting from the port to the ferry terminal and then getting back again seems a lot of faff for us so I think we will go with the hire car option again.

 

LSKC

 

We were there about 10 years ago and we just hired a car for the day, not part of any tour etc.  I cannot recall the name of the hire company but my wife assures me it was an International company such as AVIS, EuroCar etc and their office was in George Town not at the Airport.   We actually walked to the office from the port so it was definitely within 10 mins or so of the port exit gates.

 

We did have the car hire in place before we left the UK.

 

Given the advice above we will be doing the same when we visit next February.

 

The island is relatively easy to drive around, providing you do not leave everything to the last minute for getting back to the ship in case you hit rush hour.  We just went where we fancied and ended up at Rum Point.  Just along the road from the restaurant there we found an area that was totally empty and was, in our view the epitomy of what we expected a Caribbean island to look like.  There was gently sloping calm walm waters, palm trees growing out of the sand and absolutely no one else there.  We are hoping it will be unchanged when we get back there.

 

Subject to time and traffic we also plan on stopping to see Bodden Town.   Last time we visited Hell when we headed back to George Town which was interesting for a short visit but is not somewhere we will go back to next February.

 

Good luck with your research and enjoy your visit.

 

 

[Ron Don]

We have been to The Caymans several times.  Sometimes we go on tours, sometimes we rent a car and go around to Rums Point for a relaxing day.  When we rent a car, we have always rented from a local company called Andy's   www.andys.ky.  They are not located on the dock when you get off but have a courtesy car that can take you to their location on 7 mile beach for check-in.  They have several choices of vehicles and are very easy to deal with.  We were there in March and rented a 4 passenger Jeep that wound up being around $120 including the drivers permit for the day.  As I recall there were less expensive alternatives available.  I hope this information is helpful to you.