TravellingBritNY

My vote would be to grab drinks at a liquor store on the way to Public Beach and hang out there - you can rent chairs and umbrellas and there are washrooms - no charge for entry, either. There are watersport options too. If you want a more sit-down high end drinks, walk up north to the Kimpton and visit Coccoloba, their beach bar.

The buses are running and will go from George Town (where the port is) right to the Turtle Centre. They run routinely on that route - all you do for the way back is watch for one - they honk their horn and you wave them down. It's a very decent service and costs just a few dollars. Not sure of the timing, but maybe half an hour? It depends how often they need to stop, I suppose.

Seven Mile Beach was absolutely not destroyed by any hurricanes. Whoever is giving you this information should be told to please stop spreading blatant misinformation. I was there a couple of months ago and some stretches are actually wider now that they have been in several years. The south end of Seven Mile Beach has been subject to beach erosion over several years, which has nothing to do with hurricanes and more to do with dumb property development on that end of the beach. The middle of the beach, an area known as Public Beach (still part of Seven Mile Beach), is really nice these days - all the way up to West Bay Dock, which is where the beach ends. You will find washrooms, food, and chair and umbrella rentals there as well as watersport offerings.

I agree with doing a snorkel at Eden Rock - spend your money on a good quality snorkel mask that you can use everywhere, if you don't have one already. You can rent the rest if you like. Or get the public bus up north to the bar Macabuca - you can snorkel off there and see a load of different interesting things. It's not a bad spot to chill either....

you mean paid the regular nightly rate for a room? Have you seen the room rates? 🙂 You would want a place with a decent beach, which counts out all the southern ones on Seven Mile Beach. I picked a random day in February 2023, to give you an idea... Cheapest rooms in US $ at Westin - $930 Kimpton - $1,139 Ritz - $1,129 Sunshine Suites (isn't on the beach but you have access to the Westin Beach) - $734 I think that puts it out of the price range for most visitors. The Marriot has zero beach, and no other hotels are beachfront.

Coral Beach is your only option for a turnkey beach club. It's not a great beach - has had some erosion due to being on the southern end of Seven Mile Beach (SMB). All beaches in the Cayman Islands are public, but there is only one Public Beach, which is a stretch of Seven Mile Beach, pretty much in the middle of it, north/south. There are chair and umbrella rentals there, plus lots of watersport options. Restrooms there are very clean, and you can change in them, based on my experiences. There are plenty of food options there - food trucks and locals set up their stalls, especially when cruise visitors are in. The quality of the beach there is far better than Coral Beach, too. of you want something nicer, you can walk up the beach a stretch to the Kimpton where there is a beach bar/restaurant called Coccoloba - https://www.coccolobacaymanislands.com/ If you just want to pick up some food and drink at the supermarket and head to a beach, there are two more sections of Seven Mile Beach that are worth visiting - Cemetery Beach and Governor's Beach - there are no facilities at either of them, but there are often porta-potties at Governor's - those are far less crowded, of course.

For the bus you just walk to the road and when a bus comes along it will honk its horn and you wave to it, and it stops. Not sure whether it actually goes to the ship, though - you may have a short walk in George Town. As for a taxi, there is an app for your phone so you can at least calculate the fare. https://www.caymantransport.ky/cayman-islands-transportation-app Getting one may be a challenge, depending on where on SMB you are.

I agree, Red Sail is probably going to be your best option.

When I was there a couple of weeks ago Public Beach had washrooms, chair rentals for cruise visitors and a food truck. That may be good enough for what you need, but in my opinion, right now there is nothing close to what the Royal Palms used to offer. There are plans to reopen the Calico Jack's site, possibly as something else but still a beach bar, but no word on when that will be. I haven't seen numbers on hotel occupancy for the past few months, but I was in the Westin and it was hopping! Locals were telling me that they couldn't get rooms at the Kimpton for a staycation, do I don't think their occupancy is down - they also have staffing shortages right now, so doubt they will be selling day passes. It's worth asking though.

Your phone may well have "WiFi Calling" on it. If you turn that on, and then connect to a WiFI somewhere in port, you can use your phone to message, or make phone calls. I have Verizon and it works for me when I am on island.

Yes there are plenty - The Sandbar - https://sandbarcayman.com/ - Caribbean Kitchen - https://caribbeankitchen.ky/ - Bat Crudo and a host of others.

Depends on if there is a food truck there or not, and I don't know if they have a definite schedule. There really isn't much food and drink available there, so I would do the grocery store option, honestly. If you go to Kirk's you will find a great selection of cheeses for example (like real Cheddar from England!) - get some crackers, pepperoni, grapes or whatever and you have a nice picnic on your hands. 🙂

Yes the buses are running. I an on island right now and see them every day.

Not through a cruise ship no, but I did a dive trip there and several of my group snorkelled and said it was fun. You have to be comfortable floating in deep water, though

The chairs in front of the Kimpton are for Kimpton guests only. If the Kimpton does day passes (and I don't think they are right now, if ever) then that would be different of course. Rent your chairs at Public Beach, would be my advice.

Yes there are restrooms available at Public Beach

I think that's the one, but not sure if they have a snorkelling entrance there.

Cayman is not for everyone that's true. If you don't like it, you can definitely stay on the ship. The Cayman government gets their fees whether you come ashore or not. The island and government are constantly trying to find a balance between the Caymanian locals, the very large financial sector, overnight tourism and cruise ship tourism. I wouldn't say that that automatically makes it "not a friendly environment", it's just not an island or country that relies on cruise tourism. What that means is that you aren't going to get as much of the "let's squeeze as much out of the cruisers as possible" mentality that you get on some other islands - places have to stay open for all the other income sectors too - if it were a ripoff then they wouldn't last long (and honestly, they don't tend to - I've seen it). But if you don't like it, that's ok - there is no one best spot in the world, luckily.

All beaches are public, even above the high water mark. That's Cayman law, in spite of what some property owners would like you to think. Yes you are right, you cannot use beach chairs, tables etc.

Based on a recent post I saw elsewhere none of the hotels are offering day passes. The beach is eroded at the south end of the beach, where Coral Beach is, but is still in very good shape at Public Beach and further up.

I agree for a beach club there is only the one option. Calico Jack's is definitely closed, and the Kimpton hotel now own the land. They are discussing with the government what to do with it - their ambitions don't line up with current regulations, as I understand it. My guess is that there will nothing soon. But if you want to walk into a bar and have a drink on the beach there is also Coccoloba by the Kimpton, just north of Public Beach.

You definitely don't need to go to the distillery to buy it. The same company also makes my preferred cheaper rum - Governor's reserve. Not sure of the prices you will see, honestly. The Blackbeards chain will sell them though - should be under $36 for a 750ml bottle. There is not sugar cane production on the island, so your rum options tend to be more commercial. Blackbeards, Tortuga and Cayman distillery are your three ones to choose form, with their assorted products.

Well, Captain Marvins used to do a Stingray City Sandbar then Coral Gardens for snorkelling, so it could very easily be the third one.

So I don't think there are lockers at Macabuca/Sundivers - at least I haven't seen them there. I would check at the Turtle Centre.

I am on island right now and can confirm that Coral Beach is pretty much your only option for an all-in-one place. As others have said, there aren't really enough cruise visitors yet to make another beach club an economic reality, but everyone hopes that changes. But Public Beach may work with a little more effort. Either stop at Kirk's Supermarket on your way from the port to the beach and pick up drinks and sandwiches or whatever takes your fancy, then head up to Public Beach where there are chair rentals available. That at least gives you some options. The beach there is good, and there are public washrooms. Sometimes there is a food truck or two there as well. If you want a bar, you can walk north up the beach a short way to the Kimpton beach bar, called "Coccoloba" - https://www.seafireresortandspa.com/grand-cayman-restaurants/coccoloba/ that has good food and drinks and is right on the beach. It's far from ideal, but there again, a lot of islands fared even worse than Grand Cayman and it takes a while to recover.