Rum Point Beach - Good Idea? or Bad Idea?

[Seth48]

Hi everyone,

 

I am a first-time cruiser and do not know much about the carribbean in general.

 

Our ship will be in Grand Cayman on April 8 (thursday) and we wanted to know if going to Rum Point Beach would be a good idea. I have heard good things about this beach but also know that it is a small beach which can get crowded on certain days.

 

I have booked my excursion but am worried that if the beach is really crowded it is not going to be much fun. We are a party of 4 travelling with a 5 year old and 2 infants.

 

Apart from this beach we will be at the Stingray city for about an hour and will be snorkelling for about 20-30 minutes on another spot (which i do not even know name of)

 

Does anyone here know more about this beach? Any recomendations or advice?

 

Thanks

Seth48

[marci22]

According to the cruiseport calendar I looked at, FOS is the only ship in port on April 8. I am not sure how accurate that is.

 

We did the Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour with Nativeway and we really liked it. They call ahead so your lunch is ready and waiting. The beach area is very calm and shallow and good for small children.

[Gradelady]

Rum Point is wonderful...our favorite spot in GC! Enjoy your day there!

[Seth48]

We did the Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour with Nativeway and we really liked it. They call ahead so your lunch is ready and waiting. The beach area is very calm and shallow and good for small children.

 

Thanks for your quick response. Thats whom we are booked with as well.

 

 

Do they pick you up from the pier in a bus or something? I cerntainly want to be sure that i will be back at the pier in time. :-)

[marci22]

They actually have you meet them at the pier and then they bring you in a group to a bus in the parking lot. Then, they transport you to where they dock their boat. I have used them twice and there were no problems. I don't think I have ever read a report of them missing the ship.

[mdrobtx]

Maybe some of my videos from there will give you an idea of how Rum Point is.

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Oh Wow! Rum Point is an absolute favorite. We don't bother with excursions. We just go there on our own. We rent a car and drive out there. It's a great place and we wouldn't go anywhere else on GC as a previous poster said.

Here is Rum Point:

[mdrobtx]

Excellent pic Max'sMom!

[dancindukes]

Oh Wow! Rum Point is an absolute favorite. We don't bother with excursions. We just go there on our own. We rent a car and drive out there. It's a great place and we wouldn't go anywhere else on GC as a previous poster said.

Here is Rum Point:

 

Who did you rent from? We have a large group going in July but not everyone will want to do the same stuff - this looks like our idea of a great day.

[PrincesScuba]

Seth: Here's another "thumb up" for Rum Point.

[debshomespun]

Our first trip to Rum Point was with Nativeways. They are great. We have been back several times since. We rented a car once from Andy's rental: http://www.andys.ky/ Also, once, we just got off the ship, and asked at the dock about a car rental, and got one. Can't remember what company it was with.

 

You will not be disappointed in Rum Point. Our favorite place in Grand Cayman! :D

[maxs mom]

We rent a car from Avis in GC. They pick you up at the Blue Iguana.....a short walk from where the tender lets you off. They take you to the car rental place at the airport and you are on your way. It's about a 40 minute drive out there......very easy. We like being on our own and not having a time constraint.

[j4farm]

We also rented a car from Avis. It was very easy, as the previous poster said. The drive up to Rum Point is beautiful. Be sure and stop along the coast and watch/see the "blow holes". That was really neat! Rum Point was probably to most beautiful beach I have ever been on. So many shades of turquoise. Fabulous!!! If you do rent a car, remember that in Grand Cayman they drive on the left side of the road. It is such a strange feeling! Be careful.

[ama-sam]

We did the Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour with Nativeway and we really liked it. They call ahead so your lunch is ready and waiting. The beach area is very calm and shallow and good for small children.

 

We took this tour last summer. The sting rays and the snorkeling were great. Rum Point was lovely and the lunch was very good. But, it was crowded. I would certainly recommend the tour if you have not done it (specifically seen the sting rays) before.

[klingoncruiser]

I will have to try this place the next time we are there. Thanks for all the info, pictures and vids guys.

[Seth48]

Thank you all, for you responses. I have confirmed my excursion with Nativeways. Since our ship is the only ship in GC that day, I am hoping that Rum Point Beach will not be that crowded. Also, I read somewhere on the boards that Nativeways regular snorkelling spot is not all that. Is that true?

 

Any reccomendations regarding food and drinks at this place?

 

Seth48

[Seth48]

Hi all,

 

I just got back from a 7 night Caribbean cruise on Freedom of the Seas.

April 4-11

 

I really wanted to see Rum point Beach and booked the "“Rays, Reef, and Rum Point” excursion with Native Way Watersports. I got off the cruise ship on the first tender, I guess i could waited another 30 minutes

 

I saw someone holding a Nativeways board and walked up to her. She told me to wait in a certain area and that the tour will depart at 9:15 (as stated in the email conversations)

 

We were taken to their boat in a School bus (yes.. School Bus) but do not let that discourage you. i will try to post a picture of the bus as well.

 

We were then taken to a boat. There were about a total of 9 Adults on the boat and 5-6 kids.

 

First stop was Stingray City which waswas a lot of fun. The tour guides gave us detailed info about how to behave around Stigrays which was definitely needed. We got a chance to feed the stingrays. Locals says kissing the Stingrays bring 7 years of goodluck. ha! The tour guide took 7-8 pictures with the stingrays and was selling it on a CD for 60-70 dollars. Bargaining does work here.

 

Next stop was Snorkelling at the Coral Reefs which i did not like that much. There were not many fishes. I was not expecting much anyways from the 30 minute snorkelling stop. I had seen few posts on these boards about it already.

 

Lunch is included on this excursion. The tour guide took our lunch order on the boat before snorkelling.

 

Final stop was Rum Point beach, and when we got there our delicious lunch was ready. We really like the blackened Mahi Mahi sandwich served with fries and Mango mayonaise. They also served iced Tea with Lunch. I ordered a Blue Iguana from the Bar and the drink was awesome. Remember - The change you get back is Cayman dollars.

 

Rum Point beach was not crowded at all. It was a thursday and only one ship was tendered. We stayed at this beach for about 2 to 2.5 hours.

If your Cruise ship is in Grand Cayman on a weekend and/or there are other cruiseships in grand cayman the same day, this might not be the best tour.

 

I will try to post some pictures of Rum Point beach soon.

 

Cheers!

Seth48

[Seth48]

Here is a picture of the Nativeways School bus :) and some other pictures from this excursion

 

 

 

 

 

[Seth48]

some more

 

 

 

 

 

[Seth48]

This is nativeways boat.

 

 

Thanks

Seth48

[mehitabel]

Thank you so much for sharing those lovely pictures! We'll be heading there in a few days for the same tour and are so excited!