Carnival Island tour

[Atlasta Cruise]

Explore this beautiful port of call and hit all the hot spots in air-conditioned comfort.

 

On this excursion you will:

 

"Take a short drive through Georgetown, the capital city, and see Cayman’s architecture.

View the spectacular scenery as you pass famous seven-mile beach.

Learn as your guide explains the history and culture of the island.

Venture towards the West Bay and the turtle farm.

Witness green turtles weighing in excess of 650 lbs. before they are re-introduced to the wild.

Stop in the town of Hell, a dramatic rock formation who some believe is what hell would look like.

Send postcards to your friends marked from Hell.

Visit the Tortuga Rum factory store, the Governor's residence and old Cayman Homestead.

Stop in the heart of Georgetown for some of the famous duty-free shopping."

 

Has anyone done this tour lately?

Is the Turtle Farm admission included or do you have to pay it extra?

How long do you stay at each place and is the Rum Factory Store the actual factory or is it one of the stores downtown?

 

thanks

[twinkletoes4445]

We did this a couple of years ago and actually enjoyed it. We met the bus (it's one of those white smaller-bus type vehicles-seated maybe 20 or so) driver right as we exited the tender. I believe she had a sign, but I am not sure, but we had no problem finding this person.

 

Back when we did this excursion, the turtle farm was at the old location (which is just up/down the street from the new turtle farm), and the fee was included in the amount we paid for the excursion. I want to say the tour was $29 or so per person.

 

Basically you drive down 7MB, and you pull over at the Gov's mansion. You stop there for a couple of minutes (you don't get off of the bus) while the guide tells you a bit about the residence. Then you drive on and stop in front of the Old Cayman Homestead (I believe someone lives in the home), for a few minutes while once again, the guide tells you all about the place (you don't get off the bus).

 

Then we went to Hell, but there are actually two maybe three places that offer a view of Hell. The one we went to on the tour had a gift shop, a wooden devil to get your picture next to (he was gone when we were there in January-I think Ivan blew him away). I think we were there 15-20 minutes. You can walk out to an observation deck and look at the rock formations. They gift shop at this particular place isn't that large, but they had the usual Hell souvenirs.

 

When we went back for a week this past January, we went to the part of Hell that has a larger gift shop, and the guy who dresses up as the devil. They also have an observation deck, and out front, they have a devil and an angel that have the faces cut-out and you stand behind them for pictures. I don't know how they decided what one of these they go to, but we went to both (there may have even been a third one, but we only went to the two), but they are all close to one another. The first time we were there, I wanted to walk over to the one with the bigger shop and the man who dresses as the devil, but we didn't have the time.

 

Our next stop was the turtle farm, and I believe we were there for 30 minutes or so. At that time, the old turtle factory was next door to the rum cake factory, but now, it's across the street and up a bit. From what I remember of the rum cake factory, they did have something going on with making of the cakes. There was a glassed in area, where you could watch the cake making...I think. That's a bit foggy...but I seem to remember something going on...but it wasn't like a real "tour" of a factory. It was basically a gift/booze/rum cake store. They did offer samples of rum (I believe) and all the different rum cakes (chocolate was our favorite).

 

Also, this past time we were there, we bought "hurricane" flavored rumcakes at the turtle farm. They are chocolate/vanilla swirl, and they were quite yummy. They weren't Tortuga, but I think they said "Hook" on the box. They were on a table in the food area at the turtle farm.

 

After that, you are driven back toward George Town and instead of going all the way back on the road in front of 7MB, they took us on the cut-off, which takes you into town the back way. We were then dropped off right on Cardinal Street and we then did a little shopping in the stores (this is right across the street from the port).

 

I seem to remember the tour was from 8:30 to 10:30 or so. It was enjoyable because we'd not been there before. We saw enough from this short tour that we knew we wanted to come back for a week, and we did. It really gives you a nice look at that part of the island. Although our favorite part of the island is over on the East End...but I don't think the tours go that direction.

 

We did the tour through Carnival so we could be one of the first ones off the ship. We did have a great time. I think we tipped the guide $20 or so (there were six of us).

 

Have a good time! :)