Whats the best way to get around Grand Cayman?

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Thanks! Always great to get a reliable report of the local transportation options.
 
Hot off the presses on the Divetech blog - we discuss what the best way to get around during your vacation is.

https://www.divetech.com/post/how-to-get-around-on-grand-cayman

Let us know what you think. How do you get around when visiting?

Very nice - clear, succinct, and useful - but you should also add the Ferry to the list; it runs between Camana Bay and Kaibo Yacht Club.

If someone is staying on the North Side or East End and they want to visit the West Side but don't want to drive, they can go to the Rum Point Club to park their car. A free van will take them to the Kaibo Yacht Club to catch the ferry to Camana Bay. Then they can enjoy the amenities of Camana Bay, or walk to Seven Mile Beach, or catch a taxi or bus to take them to their desired destination.

Or vice versa, someone staying on Seven Mile Beach that wants to visit Rum Point, or go to the Kaibo Tuesday Night Barbecue, they can also take the ferry, see links below:

https://camanabay.com/services/cayman-ferries/

New – Cayman Ferry from Kaibo to Camana Bay | Grand Cayman Villas & Condos

KAIBO- Restaurant, Beach Bar, Marina, Cayman Islands | Kaibo


And Red Sail also runs boats up to the Rum Point Club from 7MB/West Bay for the Monday Night Barbecue:

https://www.rumpointclub.com/beach-bbq-buffet

This may be overkill, but you could also mention the Cayman Airways Express Flights for someone that would like to visit Cayman Brac or Little Cayman for the day:

https://www.caymanairways.com/libra...s-WEB_Schedule_valid_10MAR19_THRU_17AUG19.pdf

But remind them of the Wait to Fly rule if they want to dive the Sister Islands.
 
Great write-up. One minor correction, the driver permit is 16 CI ($20.00), and is good for 6 months, as I recall.

Sometimes you have to push the rental car agent to give you the full time permitted on the temporary drivers license.

We've had them ask "how long will you be on the island?" and then they try to date it for one week. That doesn't work for us because we spend the second week in the Sister Islands and we usually rent a car at least for a day. Besides, we might experience delays and need to stay longer - not a hardship!

You need to bring a valid license with you to rent a car; you won't need a permit if you have an international drivers license.

The rental agencies may try to strong arm you into buying insurance, and your personal car insurance from back home is probably not valid internationally (check) but your credit car insurance may cover everything except liability so you may not need the full packet of insurance options.

Check with your credit card to see what type of coverage they provide, and while you are doing that, also check to make sure that they don't charge any foreign transaction fees.

Downloading Google Maps in advance is a good tip to avoid roaming charges, but if you have a GPS and a car charger they may also be very useful. Garmin has good maps of Cayman.

The Compass Point Resort recommends using a Garmin GPS to easily find them on the East End, see link below:
Directions
 
We always stay on 7mb so everything is central. We walk everywhere if possible, even for groceries, otherwise we use the bus even with scuba and snorkelling gear. It's a great way to get a feel for the local life and see areas you wouldn't normally see. The only downside I've found is returning to 7mb from Macabuca or Divetech. Buses seem to go a different way back or be less frequent. We walked back to Church St/West bay road one night from Macabuca as we didn't know how to get the bus back.... interesting.
 
We always stay on 7mb so everything is central. We walk everywhere if possible, even for groceries, otherwise we use the bus even with scuba and snorkelling gear. It's a great way to get a feel for the local life and see areas you wouldn't normally see. The only downside I've found is returning to 7mb from Macabuca or Divetech. Buses seem to go a different way back or be less frequent. We walked back to Church St/West bay road one night from Macabuca as we didn't know how to get the bus back.... interesting.

I don't mean to sound snarky, and you enjoy doing the things like while you are on vacation, but if you are staying on Seven Mile Beach and not straying much beyond West Bay and George Town then you are only experiencing a small slice of the local life.

I'm not knocking it, if I were traveling alone that's where I would be because I am not crazy about driving on the left and negotiating the roundabouts - although I have done it and you can get used to it fairly easily. Luckily for me my husband actually enjoys it so I sit back and relax and let him take the wheel!

The more remote areas of the island like the East End and the North Side are much quieter and more rural than 7MB and GT and they have their own charm; and the Sister Islands of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are very quiet and different from the developed areas on Grand Cayman.

We appreciate that Cayman is a safe vacation destination. No place is entirely safe anywhere in the world and you always need to be aware and exercise common sense, but we never feel uncomfortable when we are out and about on any of the Cayman islands, and the roads are good, too. And those things are not true about some of the other tropical destinations we have visited.

We love all the different charms of Cayman and enjoy experiencing them all!
 
Very nice - clear, succinct, and useful - but you should also add the Ferry to the list; it runs between Camana Bay and Kaibo Yacht Club.

The reason we didn't add this is their schedule doesn't work well for our customers or boats. Also the ferry brings you to Camana Bay, which still means you need to transit up to West Bay. While it is a means to get back and forth to rum point, we felt it was better suited to SMB tourists who wanted to see Rum Point for the day, or those on the east end who wanted to see Camana Bay.

Great write-up. One minor correction, the driver permit is 16 CI ($20.00), and is good for 6 months, as I recall.

Yeah we neglected to write CI on that, but yes this is correct.

you won't need a permit if you have an international drivers license.

This is an interesting discussion point. It is listed on Cayman New Resident that they will accept 'international driver's licenses' but our own research has indicated this is not true. There's no provision for international licenses in the Cayman Department of Vehicle & Drivers Licensing. This is because there is no such thing as an 'international divers license.' The FTC has an interesting article on this: International Driver's License Scams

There are many companies and services that sell 'international licenses' to anyone, without any due diligence into the person, most of these companies are scams.

The rental agencies may try to strong arm you into buying insurance, and your personal car insurance from back home is probably not valid internationally (check) but your credit car insurance may cover everything except liability so you may not need the full packet of insurance options.

This is true, not just of the Cayman Islands, but anywhere you rent a car. What they try to say here, is your US-issued insurance will not cover you abroad, or in the Cayman Islands. Worth noting, some carriers will not cover you, but others will.

A car rental company here tried this with me every year I rented a car, despite having a copy of an email on my phone from my own insurance provider saying they would in fact cover me.
 
This is an interesting discussion point. It is listed on Cayman New Resident that they will accept 'international driver's licenses' but our own research has indicated this is not true. There's no provision for international licenses in the Cayman Department of Vehicle & Drivers Licensing. This is because there is no such thing as an 'international divers license.' The FTC has an interesting article on this: International Driver's License Scams
I don't think that is correct - For several years now I have bought an "International Driving Permit" from AAA in the USA and it has been accepted by all the rental agencies we have used on Cayman. AAA IDP International Driving Permit

$20 US and it lasts for a year, which covers 2 visits for me.

From the HertzCayman web site, for example:
"Please note each driver must purchase a Cayman Island Visitor Driving Permit. This permit is available at the counter for USD $20.50 per person and is valid for the duration of the rental. The permit is mandatory unless the renter presents a valid International Driving Permit at the time of pick-up and is valid for the duration of the rental. This fee is not included in the reservation as the fee being charged is contingent upon the number of drivers and whether each driver holds a valid International Driving Permit."

I doubt that the AAA would run a scam, and I doubt that the Caymanian rental agencies would accept it if it were....
 

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