Pre flight day suggestion

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Todd C.

Registered
Messages
18
Reaction score
26
Location
Colorado
# of dives
100 - 199
Hey,

We're having a great time at Compass Point, thanks in part to all your suggestions. We'll be taking the boys on their first night dive tonight. :)

Now I'm looking ahead to Friday. Since we fly out Saturday, it's a no-dive day for us. We've already done Crystal Caves nearby. I'm thinking about taking the family (wife and 13 & 15 year old sons) over to seven mile beach. There will be 4 cruise ships in town so I'm kind of worried about crowds at any public beach.

I'm thinking maybe lunch & if there's a nice place to hang out on the beach for swimming or something that would be a plus.

Anybody have any suggestions for where to head?

Thanks!
 
Glad you are having fun!

Another idea would be to do the snorkel at Stingray City- Not sure if you guys dove that already, but that is my plan for last day on Cayman next month!
 
Waist deep crystal blue waters with hungry stingrays all around.....nice way to spend the day...take the Catamoran out to the site.

Or I like Rum Point if you have a car....same area, but you’ll have less stingrays to see.laid back beach with chairs and hammocks.
 
My suggestion would be to visit a grocery store and pick up drinks, snacks, and lunch (sandwiches, salads, etc.) and, if your accommodation doesn't have one a cheap cooler.

The challenge with SMB and restaurants is that between about 10am and 2pm they get pretty well inundated with cruise visitors. The only possible exception is Coccoloba.

So if you get there before 10am, check out Royal Palms and Calico Jacks and Public Beach, but plan to get out of there when the buses start arriving. Head up to Governor's Beach or Cemetery Beach, or even Smith Cove (south of George Town) and have your picnic lunch. You can always go back to those places after 2pm once it starts thinning down, and enjoy the facilities there.

I think that it would be pretty easy to make work.

As an alternative, if you don't want to do the picnic lunch thing, do the same, but head up to Macabuca for a nice waterfront lunch before coming back to the beach later,
 
Macabuca, ++
Beautiful setting reasonably priced food, pretty good snorkeling.

There is a motor museum across the street as well as turtle farm if you are into that sort of thing.
 
My suggestion would be to visit a grocery store and pick up drinks, snacks, and lunch (sandwiches, salads, etc.) and, if your accommodation doesn't have one a cheap cooler.

The challenge with SMB and restaurants is that between about 10am and 2pm they get pretty well inundated with cruise visitors. The only possible exception is Coccoloba.

So if you get there before 10am, check out Royal Palms and Calico Jacks and Public Beach, but plan to get out of there when the buses start arriving. Head up to Governor's Beach or Cemetery Beach, or even Smith Cove (south of George Town) and have your picnic lunch. You can always go back to those places after 2pm once it starts thinning down, and enjoy the facilities there.

I think that it would be pretty easy to make work.

As an alternative, if you don't want to do the picnic lunch thing, do the same, but head up to Macabuca for a nice waterfront lunch before coming back to the beach later,

Agree with @Alucard - regarding crowds, you can reserve lounge chairs and umbrellas at Royal Palm, so you know you will have a space, and you can eat there. Governor's beach or Cemetery beach will probably be the least crowded, but bring a blanket to sit on and your food/drink (although there are casual restaurants across West Bay Road at Governor's within walking distance - Eats and Sunshine Grill. Heritage Kitchen and West Bay Diner - both very casual - half a mile north of Cemetery beach). Smith's is great snorkeling, they have picnic tables (so bring your lunch - or Sunset House/My Bar is a half mile south of the cove) and one of the two showers was working a few days ago. Calico Jack's is usually a zoo on cruise day afternoons, so I'd avoid that. Macabuca is a nice place to snorkel and great food, but the water can get rough so make sure it's a relatively calm sea day if you don't like snorkeling in a little chop. As long as the ladder isn't closed off the snorkeling should be OK.
 
Rum Point Beach is an easy drive from the East End and they have facilities and services and there is also nice snorkeling in the area, see Testudo's guide at the link below, but they get cruise ship passengers at Rum Point also. As mentioned, it is best to go early or late to miss the cruisers.

TESTUDO'S SNORKEL GUIDE Cayman Off the Beaten Path

If you would rather not drive all the way to 7MB, you can take the ferry from Kaibo Yacht Club near Rum Point - they have free buses between the dock at Kaibo and Rum Point, see the link below. Camana Bay is a shopping mall community but it is a beautiful spot with shops and restaurants, and it is an easy cab ride to the Seven Mile Beach attractions.

Grand Cayman Ferries to Kaibo | Camana Bay

We're older than you so I don't know if this would be your idea of fun but the Barefoot Man performs at the Wyndham Reef Resort on the East End not far from you. He is a local musician and funnyman and we enjoy his humor. He does a dinner/show at the Wyndham and the food is good but not great. If you don't want dinner you can sit near the bar and watch the show and there is a drink minimum for adults. You can find some of his videos on YouTube to see if his music and humor appeal to you. See the link below for more information.

Barefoot Man in the Cayman Islands Caribbean Music

Have you had a chance to check out Tukka, the Australia fusion restaurant? It's also on the East End and it is fun place to eat and they feed the Frigate Birds every day during Happy Hour and that is quite a sight, see the link below:

Feed the Frigate Birds! – Tukka

Regarding your trip home on Saturday, what time is your flight? The George Town Yacht Club opens early on Saturday and Sunday and starts serving breakfast at 8:30 am, see the link below:

George Town Yacht Club

If you get to the airport early and drop off the car and check in your luggage, you can grab the free shuttle to the GTYC (you catch it just outside the ticketing hall). It will take you to the restaurant which is only about 3 minutes away.

It's a lovely location on the marina and you can get good food in a beautiful setting and avoid some of the airport craziness and blah food. The shuttle will take you back to catch your flight at the time you indicate. It's a nice way to squeeze in a couple of more hours of vacation!

Glad you are having a great trip!
 
Have you had a chance to check out Tukka, the Australia fusion restaurant? It's also on the East End and it is fun place to eat and they feed the Frigate Birds every day during Happy Hour and that is quite a sight, see the link below:

Feed the Frigate Birds! – Tukka

I'll second this too. It was a fun little experience and good food! I bet the kiddos will love it if they aren't terrified of birds :)
 
I think it’s a great idea to head over to SMB. Four ships is not a big deal. Seven is. We used to use our day off from diving going out east as we stayed on the SMB corridor. Macabuca is a great spot. I also like the picnic idea and would to Governors for that. Camana Bay is another option. If you go don’t miss the Observation Tower.
 

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