Mom and teen, have done the popular stuff, what else?

[luvavacation]

Traveling with just my teen daughter in a few weeks. We have been to Grand Cayman before, and done the Stingrays, Turtle Farm, 7 Mile Beach, and Rum Point. Enjoyed it all for the most part, but this time my daughter would like to just walk around town, maybe find some mini-golf, just do stuff the locals do, not the touristy things.

Admittedly, I like this, certainly won't be as expensive as some of the excursions, but other than shopping by the port, is there anything else? For example, mini-golf? Or even an outdoor type mall, since from a teen girl's perspective, shopping in an island mall has to have better, different things, than the local mall! Perhaps a museum?

I would really love some ideas!

[TurtleTagger]

Camana Bay is the new lifestyle centre with outdoor shopping, dinning and pedestrian promenades. Also has a viewing tower to see the surrounding. Taxi or bus will get you there. http://www.camanabay.com/


Mini-golf is available on Seven Mile Beach next door to Deckers restaurant on the in-land side of West Bay Rd. Nothing special, but available. Again, taxi or bus.

[Stricklines]

I just wanted to let everyone know how great this excursion was. To start the tour guide meets you on the pier and then walks you about 5 minutes down the main road to the left to a bar and distillery named Hammerheads. This where you fill out your medical forms and have about a ten minute orientation that was very thorough for the time limit. You are then put into groups of four and assigned a dive guide. This makes for a very comforting environment knowing that your guide only has 4 people to watch. At this point you are outfitted with gear and walk down the ladder into waist deep water. Your guide will then assign you and one other person a raft with an air cylinder in it and hook all of your equipment up to it. once you feel good you start a 200 yard surface swim while holding on to your raft out to the point where you will start the dive. This is where the fun starts. Your guide, which they were all very friendly, will make sure you are ok breathing through your regulator and then ask everyone to go under and start the dive. The first thing you will swim over os the wreck of the Cali which is really interesting and is loaded with beautiful fish and then you will continue to a very large reef that is extremely beautiful. We saw alot of fish that looked like Dory from "Finding Nemo" .

The Dive itself lasted about thirty minutes and we were constantly moving in the water. This excursion was by far the coolest thing my wife and I have ever done while on a cruise and this was our 6th cruise. My wife and I were both pretty nervous when we got there but were very relaxed by the time the dive started.

Sorry for being so long winded but I enjoyed this excursion so much that I wanted everyone interested to understand exactly what went on.

[luvavacation]

Thank you, TurtleTagger! Camana Bay looks like a nice place to explore, and my daughter thought some of the shops sounded very intriguing. I assume there would be taxis there to take us back to the ship? It does look a bit long of a walk to the cruise ship dock.

I also found a historical museum downtown. I believe my family has walked by it in the past but never entered. Would it be worth an explore?

I shall look into the mini-golf, too, thanks for the information. If nothing else, we can say we played mini-gold in Grand Cayman!

[tlacabe]

My Husband, Son and I Snuba while in St. Thomas it was this best excursion we every had, not to mention the pictures was amazing. Thanks for the post

Originally Posted by Stricklines

I just wanted to let everyone know how great this excursion was. To start the tour guide meets you on the pier and then walks you about 5 minutes down the main road to the left to a bar and distillery named Hammerheads. This where you fill out your medical forms and have about a ten minute orientation that was very thorough for the time limit. You are then put into groups of four and assigned a dive guide. This makes for a very comforting environment knowing that your guide only has 4 people to watch. At this point you are outfitted with gear and walk down the ladder into waist deep water. Your guide will then assign you and one other person a raft with an air cylinder in it and hook all of your equipment up to it. once you feel good you start a 200 yard surface swim while holding on to your raft out to the point where you will start the dive. This is where the fun starts. Your guide, which they were all very friendly, will make sure you are ok breathing through your regulator and then ask everyone to go under and start the dive. The first thing you will swim over os the wreck of the Cali which is really interesting and is loaded with beautiful fish and then you will continue to a very large reef that is extremely beautiful. We saw alot of fish that looked like Dory from "Finding Nemo" .

The Dive itself lasted about thirty minutes and we were constantly moving in the water. This excursion was by far the coolest thing my wife and I have ever done while on a cruise and this was our 6th cruise. My wife and I were both pretty nervous when we got there but were very relaxed by the time the dive started.

Sorry for being so long winded but I enjoyed this excursion so much that I wanted everyone interested to understand exactly what went on.

[Stricklines]

Originally Posted by tlacabe

My Husband, Son and I Snuba while in St. Thomas it was this best excursion we every had, not to mention the pictures was amazing. Thanks for the post

That is the one thing that I am upset about. We did not take any pictures.

[dzak]

Originally Posted by Stricklines

I just wanted to let everyone know how great this excursion was. To start the tour guide meets you on the pier and then walks you about 5 minutes down the main road to the left to a bar and distillery named Hammerheads. This where you fill out your medical forms and have about a ten minute orientation that was very thorough for the time limit. You are then put into groups of four and assigned a dive guide. This makes for a very comforting environment knowing that your guide only has 4 people to watch. At this point you are outfitted with gear and walk down the ladder into waist deep water. Your guide will then assign you and one other person a raft with an air cylinder in it and hook all of your equipment up to it. once you feel good you start a 200 yard surface swim while holding on to your raft out to the point where you will start the dive. This is where the fun starts. Your guide, which they were all very friendly, will make sure you are ok breathing through your regulator and then ask everyone to go under and start the dive. The first thing you will swim over os the wreck of the Cali which is really interesting and is loaded with beautiful fish and then you will continue to a very large reef that is extremely beautiful. We saw alot of fish that looked like Dory from "Finding Nemo" .

The Dive itself lasted about thirty minutes and we were constantly moving in the water. This excursion was by far the coolest thing my wife and I have ever done while on a cruise and this was our 6th cruise. My wife and I were both pretty nervous when we got there but were very relaxed by the time the dive started.

Sorry for being so long winded but I enjoyed this excursion so much that I wanted everyone interested to understand exactly what went on.

Sorry but not familiar with Snuba. Do you need to be an experienced diver? What is the cost for something like this?

[Stricklines]

This was also my first experience diving. You do not have to be certified. I think it was about $80 per person

[bertha]

I also found a historical museum downtown. I believe my family has walked by it in the past but never entered. Would it be worth an explore?

Hello, We went to the National Museum last week after snorkeling at Eden Rock (all within walking distance of pier). Museum is located in the old Courthouse/Jail. Displays are interesting and informative. Nice little gift shop. Worth a visit..IMHO. Good snorkeling at Eden Rock, too!

[cb at sea]

A guidebook will tell you about shopping, attractions, transportations, restaurants....libraries are free. It will be the best thing to ensure your good time, and cheaply!

[TurtleTagger]

Originally Posted by cb at sea

A guidebook will tell you about shopping, attractions, transportations, restaurants....libraries are free. It will be the best thing to ensure your good time, and cheaply!

Guide books can be useful for general overviews of a locale, but many times the information contained within is dated or recycled from a previous edition. Pick up a current Fodors, Frommers, etc... edition to the Cayman Islands and audit which recommended restaurants are no longer open or laugh at the traveler advice to have cash for your departure taxes (it is included in airfare and cruise fare).

The nice things about forums like this one, is that they are in the here and now and you can receive current and specific information by folks who actual did did/experienced the things they write about.

[tlacabe]

Originally Posted by dzak

Sorry but not familiar with Snuba. Do you need to be an experienced diver? What is the cost for something like this?

No experience needed. My husband had only snorkel one time before he SNUBA and love it.

It's a perfect mixture of SCUBA Diving and Snorkeling. Can't wait to do it again.

[ladiva]

Originally Posted by bertha

I also found a historical museum downtown. I believe my family has walked by it in the past but never entered. Would it be worth an explore?

Hello, We went to the National Museum last week after snorkeling at Eden Rock (all within walking distance of pier). Museum is located in the old Courthouse/Jail. Displays are interesting and informative. Nice little gift shop. Worth a visit..IMHO. Good snorkeling at Eden Rock, too!

Thanks for the info--We are going to do an excursion through Carnival in the morning while at this particular port, but wanted to walk around and see the place when we're done with our excursion. I think I saw a picture of the museum on some website, maybe tripadvisor. Looks like something neat to do there.

[Sonnydjoe]

Originally Posted by dzak

Sorry but not familiar with Snuba. Do you need to be an experienced diver? What is the cost for something like this?

we just did the discovery dive its like snuba but wayyyy batter cause your not attached to a raft. we had never been in the water before and did not have a certification or anything.

it was $75 and they did everything for us, picked us up, took us on a great dive, took pictures of us, stopped at rum cake factory and 7 mile beach it was great !!!

here is the link http://www.jjdivers.com Grand cayman Diving.

tell 'em sonny and sandy said hi