Cozumel and Grand Cayman - Port Activities

[Busygirl100]

We will be on the Magic in March and are looking for suggestions for port activities or excursions for Cozumel and Grand Cayman. Our son will be 7 and most of the excursions in Cozumel seem to take the entire day leaving little or no time for shopping and exploring Cozumel. Any suggestions??

 

We are thinking about renting a car in Grand Cayman. Has anyone done this and are there any issues we should know about?:confused:

[c*est moi]

We'll be leaving for our 7 day in 3 weeks! Yippee! We've booked a glass bottom boat tour that should take about 2.5 hours leaving plenty of time for beach parks and shopping! After our return, I'll update the post to let you know how the glass bottom boat tour turned out. In the meantime, the info is on cozumelcruiseexcursions.com

[c*est moi]

Sorry, I should have combined my posts. For our Grand Cayman excurions we've booked a Stingray City tour with Moby Dick Tours. They will pick you up from the boat and take you on the tour. From what I've seen they have an amazing reputation! Again, I'll update my posts upon my return. Tan, well rested, and probably well rounded :o

[Dave Mck]

Cozumel is a fun port to just walk around and explore. There a a ton of little shops with people trying to sell you everything. Some people get annoyed by this but we don't mind. We kind of like it. It is just like the Small World Ride when you go thru Mexico and they have the t.v screens with the Mexican guy trying to sell you stuff. I also like finding a bar right on the main street facing the port and drinking a few $1 Coronas.

 

In Grand Caymen we rented a car and drove to Rum Point Beach for the day. The beach was real nice. It was great being there before the ferry showed up and staying after they left. Getting the car was an easy fast process. You do have to drive on the wrong side of the road though. It wasn't to bad to figure out. The traffic circules are a little trickey though.

[gus30]

we are going in a couple of weeks and did the same cruise 5 years ago. We booked an Island tour on grand caymen, I think it would be good for your sons age. It leaves at 8am and is done by 1200-1230. You go to a turtle farm, hell, and a semisubmarine to sting ray city. In cozumel i plan on going to paradise beach, Which i heard good things about, it is suppose to be a 12$ cab ride there, there is a beach, bar on the beach umbrellas and chairs there is a couple of trampoline in the water for the kids and they have floats, I think for 8 or 10$ a person you get to snorkel, a float and go on the trampolines there is also some kind of climbing wall out in the water with a slide. I also heard the food is good and you can get massages on the beach. Good luck. ps, make sure you book the excursions on line before the cruise.

[shawnonrev]

We are going to Grand cayman in april 2007 on Costa Magic.

We are thinking about Moby dick. But when we wrote him he said on when do we meet. He just wrote we will let you know then? So do we hurry off with our two kids that means probley standing in line on the ship early in the moring to be one of the first of after off we wait or go in two hours. Not understanding.? We never done a shore thing before and only one cruise and was with out our kids. If you could let me know please do. I think we would love to do the sting rays and snorkle. :cool: :D

[RB Bonzo]

We like 7 Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, which is near the ship. We hired a cabbie to give us an island tour and to drop us at public entry to the beach. That worked out well. I don't think it was much more expensive than renting a car, and a lot easier to do.

 

Your 7 year old might enjoy taking a horse drawn carriage ride around town in Cozumel. Frankly, there's not much to this Island other than the beaches, although there are a few Mayan ruins. The state park is a good destination. Check out the ports thread.

[luv2travel29]

We booked the butterfly tour in grand caymen and in coz we are doing an all inclusive beach day. looks like fun.

[crazy4themouse]

When we're in Cozumel, aside from my refuse-to-miss shopping at Los Cinco Soles, we spend the day at Paradise Beach. (www.paradise-beach-cozumel) Tom did *such* a great job of fixing it all back up after hurricane Wilma, even better than it was before. DS (10) looooooves the water trampoline and I love the wonderful service and the gorgeous clear water and clean beach. Paradise Beach is the only thing I miss about doing an Eastern Caribbean itinerary! Luckily it's pretty cheap and easy to get to Cozumel from here, so DS and I might just make a special trip sometime. :)

 

-gina-

[poohs4me]

In Grand Cayman we booked a snorkeling excursion through Disney in the morning for the family - DD was 7. We were back on the ship before 1. DBf had plenty of time to do the submarine excursion as well. I wandered through the shops and felt we had plenty of time.

 

In Cozumel, we booked a snorkeling excursion but not through Disney. There was only the three of us snorkeling and DD got bored real quickly, but the boat was small enough and close enough that she stayed on the boat and watched us. Again we were back on the ship before one. DD thought it was too hot to go off the ship again and wanted to stay in the kids club. We ended up going into port for a bit just to see what was around.

[c*est moi]

We are going to Grand cayman in april 2007 on Costa Magic.

We are thinking about Moby dick. But when we wrote him he said on when do we meet. He just wrote we will let you know then? So do we hurry off with our two kids that means probley standing in line on the ship early in the moring to be one of the first of after off we wait or go in two hours. Not understanding.? We never done a shore thing before and only one cruise and was with out our kids. If you could let me know please do. I think we would love to do the sting rays and snorkle. :cool: :D

 

 

It might be a bit early and that's why the response was vague. I only booked about a month ago for our upcoming cruise, no money due until the day of the event. The response I received via email "Myself and Kim will be waiting by the South Terminal to greet you. We can't be missed, both are wearing bright teal Moby Dick Shirts and holding web site looking signs." Again, I will be very eager to share the details of the cruise and excursion activities, so I'll get you an update when we return, early February.

[shawnonrev]

It might be a bit early and that's why the response was vague. I only booked about a month ago for our upcoming cruise, no money due until the day of the event. The response I received via email "Myself and Kim will be waiting by the South Terminal to greet you. We can't be missed, both are wearing bright teal Moby Dick Shirts and holding web site looking signs." Again, I will be very eager to share the details of the cruise and excursion activities, so I'll get you an update when we return, early February.__________________

 

 

Great thank you for the great news. Your cruise is less then two weeks. I wish i could say the same. Not until April so maybe you are right about to early. I am a planner. Can not wait to hear what you have to say!!

 

Thank you,

 

Ginny

[katstoy]

It might be a bit early and that's why the response was vague. I only booked about a month ago for our upcoming cruise, no money due until the day of the event. The response I received via email "Myself and Kim will be waiting by the South Terminal to greet you. We can't be missed, both are wearing bright teal Moby Dick Shirts and holding web site looking signs." Again, I will be very eager to share the details of the cruise and excursion activities, so I'll get you an update when we return, early February.

 

Please do post about your experience with Moby Dick Tours and stingray city. I have booked the same excursion directly through their website and want to know how it went. From some net surfing I can find only good comments about their tour. So have fun and report back!:D

[d-dfoster]

OUr favorite thing to do in Cozumel is to take a cab to Chankanaab. It's a state park. here is a link to the site.http://www.cozumelparks.org.mx/eng/parks-chankanaab.asp

 

It's great .. they have lockers..showers.. all sorts of trails.. GREAT snorkeling.. WE typically go in the morning.. then head back to the ship to clean up.. have some lunch. then go into town to do shopping. You can get some great deals in town. Lots of fun stuff.. shouldn't be too boring for 7yr old. Lots of colorful stuff. And Bargain!! it's the Mexican way!

 

As for Grand Caymen.. I booked a Sting Ray toru tur Best Value Watersports.. not sure if theyare still around. We had a GREAT time. got to the sting-rays before the cruise ship tour.. had the sand bar to ourselves!

 

Have a great time!

 

~Donna

[DisneyCrazy123]

The state park in cozumel also has dolphin encounters and swim with the dolphins. We booked through http://www.dolphindiscovery.com for our March 2007 cruise.

[mom and wife]

Yes let us know about Moby Dick. We are booked for May 2nd 2007. I can not wait.

[Busygirl100]

Cozumel is a fun port to just walk around and explore. There a a ton of little shops with people trying to sell you everything. Some people get annoyed by this but we don't mind. We kind of like it. It is just like the Small World Ride when you go thru Mexico and they have the t.v screens with the Mexican guy trying to sell you stuff. I also like finding a bar right on the main street facing the port and drinking a few $1 Coronas.

 

In Grand Caymen we rented a car and drove to Rum Point Beach for the day. The beach was real nice. It was great being there before the ferry showed up and staying after they left. Getting the car was an easy fast process. You do have to drive on the wrong side of the road though. It wasn't to bad to figure out. The traffic circules are a little trickey though.

Great info. I really can't wait to go. Six weeks and counting!!! Thanks!!

 

Did you reserve your car in Grand Cayman??

[Papa Bear]

Folks,

 

I saw this thread and just had to reply. A year and a half ago, my wife and I were in Cayman during a cruise in the Western Carribbean. We were told to look up a guy by the name of Captain Crosby, who did excursions out to Stigray City. We actually contacted him via the internet, and I will tell you that it was an absolute blast! We watched as these large tour boat operators had people packed to the gills, and there were a total of 11 passengers on our boat! The entire trip was a blast, and Stingray City with Captain Crosby was the highlight...I and my 8 year old son will never forget it!

 

Papa Bear

[c*est moi]

Took me some time, but here's my update regardng the excursions we had in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

Grand Cayman - As I mentioned we did book through Moby Dick Tours and it was an absolute breeze. You get off the ship and you can not miss them and they are also so excited to see you! Seriously, they were very organized and considering how quickly you can get bombarded with solicitations, it's nice too see their friendly faces. You can't miss them - look for the aqua shirts. As for the excusrsion - loved it! Only about 30 people on our boat and this was very comforting because once you get to Stingray city and you see all of the other boats and the many, many people - it's very daunting. William, Zac, and Mark were the best. It was amazing. The second we got to Stingray City, Zac jumped in the water and was immediately swarmed by stingrays who were greeting him with a kiss - I am not kidding! These guys did an amazing job of making sure that all who wanted individual time with the stingrays were granted it (my six year old kissed 3 different stingrays, 21 years of good luck!.)

 

After Stingray City we went to an area for snorkeling. Once again, another boat arrived shortly after us and also left before us - these guys make sure you get lots of time in the water! After arriving, William (I think...) jumped in the water and came back shortly swimming with a nurse shark - again, I am not kidding!!! Talk about once in a lifetime experience. It was amazing!

 

Cozumel - My absolute favorite!!! We had booked a glass bottom boat tour though cozumelcruiseexcursions.com. Super quick and easy - their pier is certainly walking distance from the ship's port. Pablo and Alex were unbelievable! These guys gave us the very best experience. We had the boat to ourselves and our fare share of access to amazing Corona's and the best ever margarritas (they also had water and coke for the kiddos). While Pablo navigated, Alex would get in the water and move his hands in such a way that fish (amazing, beautiful, HUGE) would just flock to him. He made sure my 6 year onld daughter had one-on-one time with the fish. My 4yo was hesitant to get in the water, but the glass bottom boat gave her an amzaing view to the bottom of the ocean. We saw a huge (8 ft long) manta ray, we also saw star fish, which Pablo went down and brought back up for my daughters to touch. I can not say enough amazing things about these two - we had a once in a lifetime experience thanks to Pablo and Alex.

 

That said, the thing I liked best about both of these excustions is you can tell that these "locals" have an amazing amount of respect and appreciation for the habitats. They took very good care of their customers and very good care of the oceanlife.

[c*est moi]

I told you about the glass bottom boat tour we did in Cozumel, these were some of our guide Pablo's friends... he had these guys following us around everywhere while we snorkeled!

[c*est moi]

Zac with Moby Dick Tours kissing a stingray!

[metrowon]

Yes you can, save money, and have a Great time doing it. When something goes wrong a a non ship booked excursion, you may be on the dock watching the Magic sail away. I have pictures of people just standing on the dock, watching the ship leave without them. They just don't understand, why 3000 other passengers also have a vacation, and itirniary. I'm sure most of the times, everything goes fine on non sponsored excursions. The thing about sponsored excursions is they let the ship know if they'll be late, how late, etc.... We always wave to the persons on the dock, that are left behind! Bye, bye! Metrowon

[Earkid]

Thanks for the excursion report c*est moi. Very helpful. Glad you had such a great time.

[katstoy]

Took me some time, but here's my update regardng the excursions we had in Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

 

Grand Cayman - As I mentioned we did book through Moby Dick Tours and it was an absolute breeze. You get off the ship and you can not miss them and they are also so excited to see you! Seriously, they were very organized and considering how quickly you can get bombarded with solicitations, it's nice too see their friendly faces. You can't miss them - look for the aqua shirts. As for the excusrsion - loved it! Only about 30 people on our boat and this was very comforting because once you get to Stingray city and you see all of the other boats and the many, many people - it's very daunting. William, Zac, and Mark were the best. It was amazing. The second we got to Stingray City, Zac jumped in the water and was immediately swarmed by stingrays who were greeting him with a kiss - I am not kidding! These guys did an amazing job of making sure that all who wanted individual time with the stingrays were granted it (my six year old kissed 3 different stingrays, 21 years of good luck!.)

 

Sounds like you had a great time! I can't wait to go! Quick question - I am neither the most graceful or athletic person. Was it easy to get in and out of the boat both at stingray city and snorkeling? Ladder over the side or dive platform/stairs off the back? Thanks.:p

[Guest BeckyThane]

You may just want to do a beach break in Cozumel; most of those are about 1/2-day. In Grand Cayman, go to the Turtle Farm! I LOVE this place!!! I've been twice, and will go every time I make port in Grand Cayman. If I were a little boy, I think I'd love it, too.