GC Photos: Native,Mariott Courtyard,Sea Grape,Eden Rock Area

I was on the March 20 Valor sailing. In Grand Cayman (Mar 24), there were 8 ships in port that day - Think that may have been the first time since before Ivan. Also prime Spring Break time so lots of land based tourists, too.

Here are a few (FEW ?!?) pics from Nativeway, Marriott Courtyard (where Natvieway dropped me off after), Sea Grape (next door), Abanks Dive shop-Paradise-Eden Rock Dive shop area

zydecocruiser's Album:Valor - Grand Cayman

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Great pictures Zydeco!! Thank you so much for sharing.

Thanks for the great photos!!

Thanks for the lovely pictures - it helps me decide what I want to do.

Can I ask a stupid question??? What is Eden Rock - can you snorkel there?

Thanks,

Laura

Y'all are wlcome!

Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto is a snorkel area and yes, you can snorkel there. It's free and only a short walk from the tender docks. A couple of places to rent gear if you don't have your own. SMALL "beach" at Abanks Diving/Paradise Restaurant.

Eden Rock and other shore snorkeling areas:

http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/OffshoreSnorkeling.htm

zydecocruiser -

The picture that you took of the sign that was in a bus or van that showed pricing for a tour to the turtle farm, hell etc...was that on a taxi. We are thinking about taking such a tour and had hoped we could just walk off the ship and hire someone.

zydecocruiser -

 

The picture that you took of the sign that was in a bus or van that showed pricing for a tour to the turtle farm, hell etc...was that on a taxi. We are thinking about taking such a tour and had hoped we could just walk off the ship and hire someone.

That was in front of the bus/taxi that took us from Sea Grape Beach back to the docks. You can get off of the tender and get on one of these standard tours. They will wait for the vehicle (whatever its size) to fill up and off you go. A private tour would cost more, unless you happen to fill the vehicle.

Some sites (like the turtle farm) may charge admission fees, but nobody says you have to go in.

Fantastic photos Bill!! I am sooooo jealous!

Loved your pictures. What type of camera did you use, expecially for the underwater shots? What other ports did you visit?

Thanks,

Kath

Thanks Isabel - your turn is coming.

The camera I use is new for me, so I'm very much still learning. A Canon S1 IS and I have the waterproof housing for it. Let Adobe Photoshop auto fix the colors.

Also went to Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. Haven't posted Belize yet, and have a bit more to post from Cozumel.

Here are from Roatan and Cozumel (part 1):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=160970

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=158000

Excellent photo's...thanks. I'm still trying to find the stingray! :D I'm using it as my screensaver, you know, like "Find Waldo"!

You guys are too much. Thanks again for the wonderful info. I have a Kodak Digital and I think I'm going to get a waterproof case to use. Where did you purchase yours. I think I'm gonna go with an aquapac. There not very expensive and I won't be using it very often.

Thanks,

Kath

I have a vintage Kodak digital or two. Really liked them. I use to use a Ewa Marine bag thing. Think is was D-AM model. Never used aquapac, but they seem popular. Only good to about 15 ft it seems, so if you are going to free dive down farther, leave camera on top. The Ewa was godd to about 30 but more expensive.

My case is good to 130 ft, but was about $170.

I bought mine from etronics - cheapest place I could find on the Internet at the time with it in stock. I have bought stop fron jr.com and they seem to have aquapac - not sure how the price compares.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing! :)

Love the pictures! I think we'll try Sea Grape Beach!

Love the pictures! I think we'll try Sea Grape Beach!

you won't be disappointed.

zydeco - great pictures. Thanks.

Thank you so much for sharing your pictures. They are absolutely wonderful!

Thank you so much for the pictures. Now I know we made the right choice inusing Nativeway.

As for Underwater cameras...I found a Polaroid underwater camera at Wal-mart:eek: for about $39.00. We will use it once or twice a year so it's good enough, but cheaper than 3 underwater disposables.

zydecocruiser

Beautiful pictures. Thank you for sharing. WOW.

Thanks so much for sharing your pics. We spent the day at Rum Point in April, loved it so much we are booking a villa for a week next year. We want to be able to explore even more of the island, so these gave us some great ideas of where else to go.

Thanks again.

Michelle

Great pics! Thanks for sharing! We will be there in December along with 6 other ships. How long did it take to get off the ship with the tender? Getting back on looked like a nightmare fromy our pics. Did the line move quickly? As long as you're in line on time will they not leave you stranded?

Thanks!

Susan

Great pics! Thanks for sharing! We will be there in December along with 6 other ships. How long did it take to get off the ship with the tender? Getting back on looked like a nightmare fromy our pics. Did the line move quickly? As long as you're in line on time will they not leave you stranded?

 

Thanks!

Susan

Getting off the ship was a lot easier than getting back on, but lines for other ships were nothing compared to Valor. Some of it depends on if everyone decides they want to wait until the last tender.

I had a tender ticket for getting off the ship but did not wait for the number to be called - just adopted a group that was heading for the tender. I would still get a tender ticket - just in case. Otherwise it might take a couple of hours to get off of the ship.

For this sailing, there was one large tender (about 250 pax) and one or two small tenders running for Valor, so the line would sometimes move and sometimes not.

As long as you are in line, they will NOT leave you. And if the line is long, you can walk around and shop or have a cocktail or whatever, but keep an eye on the line! Lots of people were doing that.

I was a little worn out from snorkeling and other activities, so just sat in the shade in the pavilion and waited for the line to get down to a manageable size. Seems to me this took about an hour for this to happen.

Hopefully they have things running smoother these days, but if not, just go with the flow.

Thank you SO much for sharing your pictures - I'm even MORE excited about my first visit to Grand Cayman in Sept! Sea Grape Beach DOES look crowded...I've seen posts for Rum Point. Opinions out there about distance vs experience around those two beach choices?