Seven Mile Beach- Grand Cayman

Hey all..headed to Grand Cayman for the first time in seven years this September. As much as I want to do stingray city again.. wife says no.. she wants to spend day on Seven Mile Beach. I'm on vacation so hey.. I'll go along. Anyway who has the best beach... bars.. restaurants for a day pass or whatever.. I want to get settled and have everything close by with a nice view of the ship.. any suggestions?

We went to the Royal Palms Beach Resort. It was really nice. 1. it had the cheapest cab fair, 2. it did not have any of the ships tours dropping off buses of people. 3. It did not charge an entrance fee. 4. They did have free fresh water showers, which made it nice going back to the boat. 5. you could rent chairs right next door ($5 / chair). 6. the food was good; they did have round tables with umbrellas on the patio & a covered bar area when you wanted to get out of the sun. 7. We could see our boat & I guess either the tide changed or the captain turned the ship around to leave, because when we got there it was pointed one way & when we got ready to leave, it was pointed a different direction.

What part of Delaware of you from? I grew up in Rehoboth Beach.

Thanks for the reply... live in Newark DE.. (pike creek) area.. actually grew up in Maryland (Eastern Shore) and spent summers as a kid at rehoboth

We just came from there. We insisted that the taxi driver take us to a public beach on 7 mile which was a good choice for us. I don't know the name of the public area. There were little huts, bathrooms and a playground there. There was also an area right next door where you could rent beach toys, buy souveniers, and get drinks at a bar. You may have to really insist on the driver taking you there because our taxi driver kept pushing the resorts. It was beautiful there and it was free!

We just came from there. We insisted that the taxi driver take us to a public beach on 7 mile which was a good choice for us. I don't know the name of the public area. There were little huts, bathrooms and a playground there. There was also an area right next door where you could rent beach toys, buy souveniers, and get drinks at a bar. You may have to really insist on the driver taking you there because our taxi driver kept pushing the resorts. It was beautiful there and it was free!

There is a place called "Public Beach" along 7 Mile Beach.

It sounds like your cabbie took your request literally. ;)

Does any one know how much a taxi is to the public beach??

It is $5pp one way. We went to Hell first and then the public beach for $10pp.

Thanks

If it is $5 person and you have six people would it be cheaper to rent a car to go to the beach or get a cab?

We just came from there. We insisted that the taxi driver take us to a public beach on 7 mile which was a good choice for us. I don't know the name of the public area. There were little huts, bathrooms and a playground there. There was also an area right next door where you could rent beach toys, buy souveniers, and get drinks at a bar. You may have to really insist on the driver taking you there because our taxi driver kept pushing the resorts. It was beautiful there and it was free!

Could you rent chairs/umbrellas? We also want a public beach so we can take our own cooler and not have to pay to get into a resort. I never eat on the islands, so it is a waste to pay $60pp or so to get into a resort. I would rather have a nice public beach where we can rent chairs/umbrellas and maybe has a beach bar/restaurant to get a drink and DH to get lunch. Thanks

It would be cheaper to rent a car. We tried but the people from Avis never picked us up so we had to use a taxi which cost us a bundle(7 people). Other people have had good luck renting from Andys. We also got ripped off by one of the taxi drivers. That is a long story. Anyway, yes, I think there is just one public beach. Right next door, there is a place that rents chairs, waverunners, etc. I think it would depend on how busy they are as to whether you get some chairs. We were lucky enough to get one of the huts which were free. They have shaded chairs and a table. The chairs are not beach chairs. We did not want to pay for a resort either. It is beautiful there! We liked the public beach. The bathrooms were right there and there were showers as well.

Another question, does anyone know how much it is to rent a waverunner.

Do all of the resorts charge an entrance fee except for the "Public Beach"?

I know on Barbados places try but all the beaches are public by law....

Back to the waverunner question. I am pretty sure that it was $95 to rent a waverunner on the public beach. I am not sure how long that was for. I know that one woman was working out some kind of deal to rent one for around 15-20 minutes and I can't remember how much they wanted for that but it was expensive. We rented one of the giant paddle trikes for around $15 for 1/2 hour. My kids had fun on that and they could change out who was driving it.

We had a great day on Seven Mile Beach. Didn't pay entrance fees, did rent umbrellas and loungers, were right in front of the snack bar with very clean toilets and showers.

Here's a bit of video...

Can't remember the name of the beach but it was the second stop the taxi made and cost $1 each extra to go there, most people got off at the first stop.

Steve

Thanks for all the great info....anyone know of private catamaran companies? we want to rent for a party of 8...snorkel and beach...no stingrays this year.

Thanks!

Teresa

Back to the waverunner question. I am pretty sure that it was $95 to rent a waverunner on the public beach. I am not sure how long that was for. I know that one woman was working out some kind of deal to rent one for around 15-20 minutes and I can't remember how much they wanted for that but it was expensive. We rented one of the giant paddle trikes for around $15 for 1/2 hour. My kids had fun on that and they could change out who was driving it.

Thanks for your info, the paddle trike sounds kind of cool!!

We had a great day on Seven Mile Beach. Didn't pay entrance fees, did rent umbrellas and loungers, were right in front of the snack bar with very clean toilets and showers.

 

Here's a bit of video...

 

 

Can't remember the name of the beach but it was the second stop the taxi made and cost $1 each extra to go there, most people got off at the first stop.

 

Steve

Steve, do you remember what hotel this is by? Looks very good, just what we want. Any additional info would be great.

I don't remember any particular hotel right there, but zooming in on the video I was able to make out the name of the beach restaurant, "Calico Jack's".

Google has quite a few references which should help give you some more info. It seems it's on the north end of Public Beach. We enjoyed the food there and would certainly recommend the beach.

I think it cost $5 per person to get there and we had no trouble getting a taxi back to the ship.

Steve

I believe there is a Courtyard by Marriott Inn just a short distance north of Public Beach, on the island side of the road. Working from these maps <LINK>

Can any one tell me how long the cab ride is to the public beach?

I notice that in all the responses to the OP's inquiry, no one suggests taking a ship's excursion. Our ship offers Seven Mile beach (The Beach Club Colony); it includes transportation to and from (plus admission) the resort, use of the facilities, use of a lounge chair, casual beach BBQ buffet and complimentary drink (and restrooms, change rooms, fresh water showers). 3.5 hours. Are these types of excursions worth bothering with? Any drawbacks about which one should be made aware?

spearmint, in GC it hardly seems necessary to do a 7MB tour from the ship. You can do your own thing so easily and for less $$$.

Hi - we're on Celebrity Infinity Panama Canal 10-14 - 1st stop GC - been several times but always took ship excursions and this time wanted just to go to seven mile and do a little shopping in port - had several questions - but reading the last few posts answered most of them - We definitly will do the cab thing to the public beach and with the $32.00 pp we save not using the ships trip to the Beach Colony we'll drink a toast to all you great informants. Thanks

spearmint, in GC it hardly seems necessary to do a 7MB tour from the ship. You can do your own thing so easily and for less $$$.

I like the idea of having a lounge chair, perhaps an umbrella for shade, restroom facilities, bar facilities etc. as well as the beach. To where do you tell the cab to take you in order to access such things? To a public beach, to a specific beach, to a hotel? These questions may seem ridiculous, but I like to know what I am letting myself in for, before I travel. I hate spontenaity, I guess, when if comes to travelling in unknown territory. :)