Best Beach Day Pass on Grand Cayman

Will be making port in Grand Cayman in March and looking for a nice place to spend a day at the beach. Looking for all-inclusive with nice buffet, adequate lounges in sun and shade, nice clean beach/water and not too far from the cruise ship port. Water park a plus but motorized water sports not a priority. Thanks in advance for any recommendations :D

Alas, all Inclusive beach clubs really are not a thing in Cayman.

You may find much of what you are looking for at Tiki Beach or to a certain extent Royal Palms. Neither is all inclusive.

You can rent loungers/umbrellas all along 7 Mile Beach. The Sea Grape/Public beach area also has restrooms, food/drink on the beach, and watersport rentals. Unless you need a pool (and the ship has pools!!), this might fit the bill! An easy $2.50 pp bus fare will get you there!

My recommendation would be to take a taxi to either Royal Palms or the Calico Jacks/Public Beach area of Seven Mile Beach. (The Seagrape Beach section is now a hotel that does not allow day visitors to use any of the facilities, even for a fee.)

Seven Mile Beach is the main tourist section of the island. It's pretty well-developed. The quietest sections you're going to find there will be places like Cemetary Beach (farthest section from the port area) where there are no facilities. (Facilities = people) All of the sections of SMB are easily accessible by taxi or public bus from the port area.

Outside of George Town there are numerous nice beaches that may (or may not) have fewer people. The quietest ones will again be those that have no facilities such as restrooms, food, drink, etc. Those beaches will all require either a rental car, or in the case of some of the closer ones, a taxi with a prearranged return time.

Cayman doesn't have the type of private and/or all-inclusive beach resorts that some other islands do.

In general, along Seven Mile Beach, there's three types of beach access spots.

Hotels:

- very, very rarely sell day passes or allow cruise ship visitors to use their facilities, as they are often fully booked with stayover visitors and it's just not worth the hassle for them

Beach Clubs (for lack of a better term):

- these are really just bars/restaurants along the beach, with nice facilities they allow people (cruise ship visitors, locals, stayover visitors, whoever) to use in hopes that those people will spend money on food and drinks...and they don't allow outside food/drinks to be brought in, so they've got a pretty good chance

- popular spots include Royal Palms, Calico Jacks and Tiki Beach

Public Beaches:

- these are sections of beach that may or may not have any facilities, and are generally reached by a path from the road marked "beach access"

- popular spots include Public Beach (next to Calico Jacks), Governor's Beach and Cemetery Beach (both named after the landmark beside it)

Technically, all beaches are public (and therefore free) up to the high water mark. Nothing is fenced in, and you can walk the length of the beach along the water without being charged any admission fees.

In order to put your towel down on the sand above that high water mark, you either need to be at one of the public beach sections or at one of the beach clubs that has specifically encouraged people to visit.

You can't (legally, anyway) put your towel down in front of a condo building or hotel complex, or use their facilities, without permission of the owners/management.

There's really not that much difference between the various 7MB locations when it comes down to it. It's really personal preference. Most spots are free/cheap. All have restrooms and outdoor showers, and will have lounge chairs and umbrellas for rent. Most have a watersports operator there or nearby for rentals. None are the type of huge AI beach clubs you'll find in other ports like Cozumel. The biggest differences I've noticed are distance from the port area and the restaurant menu, plus the couple of notes below.

In order of distance (closest first) from the port area:

Royal Palms - http://royalpalmscayman.com/

- has an adults-only pool and rental beach cabanas

- doesn't do cruise ship excursions, has a $2pp entry fee

Public Beach/Calico Jacks - https://www.facebook.com/CalicoJacksGrandCayman

- not really a commercial beach club like the others, it's the actual public beach area with a restaurant next door

- has a playground nearby, and has public picnic shelters (free, first come first served)

- sometimes has excursions, no entry fee

Tiki Beach - http://www.tikibeachcayman.net/

- beach is a little narrow compared to the other spots (at least the last time I was there)

- most popular location for cruise excursions

- some have reported a high entry fee (incl chair & drink) but that isn't consistent

- may be closed in the off-season except for excursions (check with them first regarding your date)

Thanks, everyone.

Bookbabe thanks so much for your info, very helpful

Thanks

Laura

Bookbabe thanks so much for your info, very helpful

 

Thanks

Laura

Ditto that! Bookbabe's answer should be made into a "stickie" :)

Thanks. While I'm not a resident like Drew Sailbum, we do own a house at Rum Point (where I'm currently typing this from) and thus spend a lot of time there.

Thanks. While I'm not a resident like Drew Sailbum, we do own a house at Rum Point (where I'm currently typing this from) and thus spend a lot of time there.

quick question for you w your info

DW and I have been to GC several times before..(7 mile etc.)

DW wants to do the Stingrays ONE more time...sigh..

but only excursion we are offered through Carnival that does this, and ends up on a beach, goes to Rum pt. We have never been to this particular beach.. should we try it?

I was just going to do the "rays".. get back to the port, then catch a cab, to 7 mile..

all about time :')

trust your comments tks

chris

quick question for you w your info

 

DW and I have been to GC several times before..(7 mile etc.)

 

DW wants to do the Stingrays ONE more time...sigh..

 

but only excursion we are offered through Carnival that does this, and ends up on a beach, goes to Rum pt. We have never been to this particular beach.. should we try it?

 

I was just going to do the "rays".. get back to the port, then catch a cab, to 7 mile..

 

all about time :')

 

trust your comments tks

 

chris

Rum Point is nice...but I'm a bit biased, as I'm sitting a couple minutes from there now. :-)

Here's a blurb I did up a while back when a similar question was asked:

Seven Mile Beach vs. Rum Point

Whether you will enjoy Seven Mile Beach more or less than Rum Point depends on what you are looking for in a beach experience.

SMB:

- very long stretch of perfectly flat white sand and gorgeous blue water

- very little natural shade, lots of sun

- very close to the port area, so cheap and easy to get to/from (taxi or public bus)

- close to attractions like the Turtle Farm, Hell, dolphin experiences, rum cake factory

- more developed (major tourist area)

- includes a number of named sections with varying levels of facilities (sections with good free or cheap facilities are Royal Palms, Public Beach/Calico Jacks and Tiki Beach)

- multiple choices for restaurants and shopping nearby

- access to watersports via multiple operators at the different sections

- couple of sections with okay snorkelling, but most of the beach has no real snorkelling to speak of

- can be crowded in the sections with the better facilities due to proximity to port area

- for more info on SMB, see post #2 in this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2486022

Rum Point:

- smaller beach, more "secluded tropical island" in feeling

- lots of natural shade, less sun

- 45 minute drive from port area, can only be reached via excursion or rental car

- not a major tourist area; surrounded by large vacation homes

- attractions more-or-less on the way there include Pedro St. James castle, botanical gardens, blowholes, cheesy pirate caves

- single company runs the beach and provides excellent free facilities such restrooms, showers, chairs, hammocks, etc.

- only one restaurant (beach bar) and one small gift shop

- one watersports operator (Red Sail)

- easy access to okay (and slightly better than okay) snorkelling

- crowd levels vary dramatically depending on day and number of excursions present, but usually less crowded than SMB (except on weekends/holidays)

outstanding info.. thank you so much.. this site through the years has been so helpful!

after talking w DW.. looks like we will head to 7 mile...:)

Rum Point is nice...but I'm a bit biased, as I'm sitting a couple minutes from there now. :-)

 

Here's a blurb I did up a while back when a similar question was asked:

 

Seven Mile Beach vs. Rum Point

 

Whether you will enjoy Seven Mile Beach more or less than Rum Point depends on what you are looking for in a beach experience.

 

SMB:

- very long stretch of perfectly flat white sand and gorgeous blue water

- very little natural shade, lots of sun

- very close to the port area, so cheap and easy to get to/from (taxi or public bus)

- close to attractions like the Turtle Farm, Hell, dolphin experiences, rum cake factory

- more developed (major tourist area)

- includes a number of named sections with varying levels of facilities (sections with good free or cheap facilities are Royal Palms, Public Beach/Calico Jacks and Tiki Beach)

- multiple choices for restaurants and shopping nearby

- access to watersports via multiple operators at the different sections

- couple of sections with okay snorkelling, but most of the beach has no real snorkelling to speak of

- can be crowded in the sections with the better facilities due to proximity to port area

- for more info on SMB, see post #2 in this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2486022

 

 

Rum Point:

- smaller beach, more "secluded tropical island" in feeling

- lots of natural shade, less sun

- 45 minute drive from port area, can only be reached via excursion or rental car

- not a major tourist area; surrounded by large vacation homes

- attractions more-or-less on the way there include Pedro St. James castle, botanical gardens, blowholes, cheesy pirate caves

- single company runs the beach and provides excellent free facilities such restrooms, showers, chairs, hammocks, etc.

- only one restaurant (beach bar) and one small gift shop

- one watersports operator (Red Sail)

- easy access to okay (and slightly better than okay) snorkelling

- crowd levels vary dramatically depending on day and number of excursions present, but usually less crowded than SMB (except on weekends/holidays)

Thank You for the information

Do you recommend a car rental from Falmouth Port?

Thank You for the information

 

Do you recommend a car rental from Falmouth Port?

No idea. Where's that?

No idea. Where's that?

:eek:sorry i didnt mean to write Falmouth i was doing 2 things at the same time. I meant to ask do you recommend a car rental near the port? Thank you

:eek:sorry i didnt mean to write Falmouth i was doing 2 things at the same time. I meant to ask do you recommend a car rental near the port? Thank you

Not if you're just going to Seven Mile Beach. Taxi or public bus is much easier.