Grand Cayman : Compiled info : beaches, transport, snorkling, interesting facts, etc

[SandyShores]

Cruise ships in Grand Cayman on a certain date plus Arrival and Departure time and amount of passengers :

 

http://www.caymanport.com/schedule.htm

 

Here you can find a schedule of all the cruise ships that will be docked at the Cayman Islands. Click on the top left hand side in an area : @ Port Today, @ Port this Month

 

 

A quick search for today brought this up ... I thought it was interesting:

 

Vessel Name Passengers Arrival Date Arrival Time Departure Time

 

Carnival Triumph 3027 2007-05-16 07:00 04:30

[SUWife]

This thread was a lifesaver for us, and my husband was very happy with the plans we made based on it. I printed out most of the thread that I thought we'd be interested in, and then we both discussed what to do. We ended up cabbing it to Seagrape. Husband got to kayak there, and it wasn't too crowded, and a beautiful beach. Thank you for compiling this for us.

[Daycare Provider]

Where is Blackbeards???????

[BigTee2000]

I took my son on Captian Marvins (http://www.captainmarvins.com) snorkeling trips when we were on a cruise in grand cayman. He was only 5 at the time and he loved stingray city. check out their web site. Thay take kids of all ages. It was a great experiance for both my son and I.

 

I also would like to recomend before you leave for your cruise that you go to a local walmart or any dept stor and get a couple of underwater cameras and take with you. They are great and take good pics in the water. I give one to my son on each trip we take snorkling and he takes some good pics of fish and things he likes. I get some too of him and other things. If you wait to get them you will pay between double and triple what they cost here.

[MsRed318]

I just found this website that offers shore excursions...slightly different than what the cruise lines might offer. Prices seem reasonable. It also let's you check out other Western Caribbean ports too for other ideas.

 

 

http://grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com/

[disneyfan551]

We used that site to book our 9/07 Nachicocum excursion. It was a very relaxing day at their private beach club, that accepts 100 guests daily. We maybe saw 6 other guests there when our group of 8 went last month. We'll be going back in December!

[AnnaOnTheMoon]

Thanks for all that information! I feel much more confident going to the Butterfly Farm on my own, now that I know where it's located!

[jetta]

Thanks for the info! I am doing the wester caribbean cruise on the legend in may. I think cemetary beach sounds like what I am looking for. I will need to rent snorkel gear though, can anyone tell me where i might do that since there are no services on that beach? I would appreciate any info on how to do this that you can give. This will be my first cruise. Thanks!

[hugsthecat]

A question to those who have been there or know.. In Aruba one can simply take a cab to Palm beach and rent a chair and umbrella near one of the big hotels.. Can you do the same here..or do you suggest going to one of the hotels and using their facilities.If you suggest a hotel..which one..

 

Michael

[cheropita]

Hi,

 

Has anyone been to The Royal Palms? It sounds perfect for a afternoon of sun and some lunch. I have been to the public beach and also to Sea Grape but would like to try something different. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

 

Vanessa

[ukiecruzer]

I agree with previous poster in regards to Captain Marvins Stingray tours.

 

Have used their services twice first time my daughter was 8 years old but we had younger kids on board including a couple with a young baby that also went into the water with the stingrays.

 

Captain Marvins uses smaller boats that the cruise ship excursions use with less people on board. On one of our excursions the captain of the ship allowed all of the kids to steer and pilot the ship. The crew are excellent very well equipted and with a smaller venue made the excursion very enjoyable.

 

Captain Marvins was the best

[jabberman_76366]

Was in Cayman Islands last year. The museum was closed, due to Hurricane damage. Is it open now/

[bratgrr1]

We are thinking of foregoing a planned excursion through the ship and hitting the beach on our own. Are there any spots on the beach that have a water trampoline, water iceberg, etc, lots of things for my teen son to do? Is taxi transportation readily available?

 

Would you advise hitting the beach on our own or booking something through the ship?

 

Thanks!!

[ukiecruzer]

you can do 7 mile beach on your own . take a taxi or a bus .

 

one suggestion I have and we did this tour in march is the waverunner sting ray tour

its a 2 hour waverunner tour to stingray city and also snorkelling to the reef all equiptment provided we had a blast with this tour

 

go to http://www.ebankswatersports.com for more info

 

they will drop you off at the beach afterwards if you want or they will drop you off at the tender

[momonthego17]

Hi Brattgrll1,

 

Here is what I wrote in my review of Enchantment of the Seas, 9-15-07:

 

Arriving in Grand Cayman the next day, I was concerned whether we would be able to make our tour meet time of 8:45. RCI staff said we would need to wait to board the tender till all passengers who had excursion tickets had got on. Fortunately, we were one of the last to board the first tender and we made our way to Captain Bryan's. At first glance, Captain Bryan's office looked like a shack and our stingray tour was moved from a 9:30 to a 10:00 departure. We shopped and had a drink and a swim at Hammerhead's, a beachfront bar across the street. Finally, we were on our way to the catamaran and we started motoring out. At first my DDs were nervous in the water with the stingrays, but after a few minutes they relaxed and enjoyed the playful bumps from the sea creatures. The water was waist deep on me and crystal clear. We had about 30 minutes there then motored to two other snorkeling sites. There were scores of beautiful fish and the captain took my family to see a moray eel in all of his green ribbon glory. Very helpful staff and we had a wonderful time.

We were going to stop at Royal Palms for some beach fun but ran out of time (the late start with Capt Bryan's). Since you have a teenager the waverunner sounds like a blast but I have to say after an hour waverunning off of Pompano Beach in Florida, I was beat!

I hope whatever you decide to do, you have a great time!

[WarmWaters]

Wonderful map of Grand Cayman showing hotels/beaches and a lot of other attractions and landmarks: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=19.3516391&lon=-81.3589096&z=12&l=0&m=a&v=2

[poochierebelbear]

Awesome list Warmwaters! Thank you for taking the time to put this one together. I must ask, I'm looking at going to Royal Palms, is the water pretty clear and free of coral reefs, oh and seaweed? This will be my first cruise and I am more interested in a clear beach with nice clear water and not interested in snorkling. Also, how far is Grandma Julia's Beach (Boggy Sand Road), Pedro St. James and Blackbeards from the pier? I'm going to skip out on Margaritaville at GC and try to get to it in Jamaica.

 

Have you been to Jamaica and if so what were your highlights there? I'll be traveling with my mother so I can't do anything to exotic but while visiting these places, I would love to learn about their culture and the land. Oh, also, perhaps a dumb question but is there jerk chicken in Jamaica?

 

Erica

[poochierebelbear]

Did you happen to check out the Tortuga Rum Cake Factory? If so, how far is that from the pier?

[cherun]

Need someone to confirm or correct me on the Time it is in the Caymans when our ship is there. Inspiration out of Tampa, I know both go on Eastern Standard time, but Caymans doesn't do Daylight Savings time, so would it be right if the Inspiration schedule says 8am to 3pm, that in Cayman time that is 7a to 2pm? Thanks for the help.

[jean-lynd]

cherun - You are correct. When we were in the Cayman's last week it was the same time as it is here in Illinois. You can always check the time at http://www.timeanddate.com.

 

I hope this helps!

[jean-lynd]

Easy Sailing, The beach at the Reef Grill is sandy. We did not get in the water there but you can see that there are some dark patches that would be coral, rocks and or seaweed but there are also light areas that should be sandy. If you look at their website http://www.reefgrill.com and click on the beach cam you can see exactly what it looks like.

 

Grandma Julia's beach is just north of seven mile beach. There is a rum cake factory farther north from there by the turtle farm but I don't remember which one it was. The Pedro St. James is on the way to the East side of the island.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Enjoy!

[cherun]

cherun - You are correct. When we were in the Cayman's last week it was the same time as it is here in Illinois. You can always check the time at www.timeanddate.com.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Thanks, it is a good site..

[poochierebelbear]

Easy Sailing, The beach at the Reef Grill is sandy. We did not get in the water there but you can see that there are some dark patches that would be coral, rocks and or seaweed but there are also light areas that should be sandy. If you look at their website www.reefgrill.com and click on the beach cam you can see exactly what it looks like.

 

Grandma Julia's beach is just north of seven mile beach. There is a rum cake factory farther north from there by the turtle farm but I don't remember which one it was. The Pedro St. James is on the way to the East side of the island.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Enjoy!

 

Hi Jean, for some reason the webcam doesn't come up on my computer. Let me ask you, what is the Reef Grill? Is that near Royal Palms or part of?

 

Nevermind, I see it on the info page.

 

Erica

[niecyd]

Which shallow water beach in Cayman is the best for a beginner snorkler?:confused:

Edited December 19, 2008 by niecyd

[Buffettfan 225]

Thanks for the response, just looking for a great beach location for upcoming cruise, glad you took time to post. Many do not understand cost to the business.

Look forward to Grand Caymen beach stop and amenities.