The bus is great deal

[normalman]

Walked a couple blocks off the terminal to the bus depot. Essentially buses here are minivans. We pretty much had a private driver to Seven Mile beach (she picked one person up and dropped him off along the way). She dropped us off at the public beach. When we were ready to go, we crossed the street, picked up another bus right away, waited a few minutes for another group and went back to the beach.

 

Price was $2.50 a person, about half a cab. Good way to go.

[Haoie]

Was that payment in USD or Caymen $?

[cjrs]

$2.50usd per person

 

used this service last week. you need to walk inland 1 block and look for the library

[cjrs]

the Bus is not at any of the tender piers so the van drivers there try to charge $12 for the same service and try to sell you on a special $20 round trip per person 'deal' since as soon as you leave the pier you will see all the busses. saw lots of people waiting for their return van at the turtle farm but there were 2 busses available when we finished up. great service.

 

cash only and i gave a tip above the $2.50.usd

[dixie54]

Can you please give more directions? This is a wonderful tip! thanks

[Prankster]

You have to turn left and walk to the light just past the rum cake place and cross the street and walk away from the water. The next block is a park with a fountain. You can cut over anywhere along the dock area and go 1 block inland and look for a park with a fountain in front of an official looking building. Across from the park you will see the van/busses facing the park. It is a bus depot of sorts. They will gladly answer any questions but 7 mile beach bus has a WB on the front. We went to Cemetery Beach and had a great time hangin' and snorkeling. Very good for both. The people on the bus are extremely nice. Every time we stopped everyone said good morning to the person climbing in and they all were thank you and how are you and just so polite. $2.50 per person USD, best deal on the island.

[SRBx2]

You have to turn left and walk to the light just past the rum cake place and cross the street and walk away from the water. The next block is a park with a fountain. You can cut over anywhere along the dock area and go 1 block inland and look for a park with a fountain in front of an official looking building. Across from the park you will see the van/busses facing the park. It is a bus depot of sorts. They will gladly answer any questions but 7 mile beach bus has a WB on the front. We went to Cemetery Beach and had a great time hangin' and snorkeling. Very good for both. The people on the bus are extremely nice. Every time we stopped everyone said good morning to the person climbing in and they all were thank you and how are you and just so polite. $2.50 per person USD, best deal on the island.

 

This is very good information, but I noticed your name and thought... hmmm. This isn't a joke is it? :D

[natkrage]

We were in GC last week and used the local buses to go from downtown to Hell, Seven Mile Beach and back to downtown. It was $2.50 USD per person for each leg of the trip, so we spent a total of $7.50 USD per person for our excursion.

 

The buses are super easy to use. The bus depot is a couple of blocks from the pier. The buses look like large minivans and have numbers on the front. You can google a route map if you want to know what lines go where. You don't have to worry about finding a bus stop - as long as you are walking along a main road, EVERY bus driver that passes you will honk and ask if you need a ride. All three of the buses that we took were clean and air conditioned.

 

We stopped for a drink at Calico Jacks on Seven Mile Beach before heading back (it happens to be across the street from a bus stop). There were several people there trying to recruit passengers for their shuttles back to the pier. They were charging $5 USD per person, and making people wait until the shuttle was full before they left. We even overheard one couple say they would take the bus because it was cheaper. The lady with the shuttle said she would take them for the same price as the bus as long as they didn't tell anybody else.

 

After we finished our drinks/snacks and made our way across the street to catch the bus, we noticed that they were still sitting on her shuttle waiting to leave!

[407dm]

save for info

[kittyness]

I agree with everything that has been said so far from the ease of finding one (they find you!), price, and better than the shuttle.

[Snorkel2Much]

GC Bus route info is here:

http://www.grandcayman4u.com/transport/buses.htm

 

Best deal on the island. As a courtesy to the locals who use the bus to commute or shop, please dry off or have a dry towel to sit on before getting in the minivans.

 

Thanks,

S2M

[TurtleTagger]

GC Bus route info is here:

http://www.grandcayman4u.com/transport/buses.htm

 

Best deal on the island. As a courtesy to the locals who use the bus to commute or shop, please dry off or have a dry towel to sit on before getting in the minivans.

 

Thanks,

S2M

 

Another place that has map routes along with some of the streets they service is here:

 

http://caymanislandsyp.com/Island/Getting-Around/index-2.php

[marshhawk]

Another place that has map routes along with some of the streets they service is here:

 

http://caymanislandsyp.com/Island/Getting-Around/index-2.php

 

 

Thanks for posting this, its a great site.

[navybaby1113]

Thank you for posting this. We are thinking about going to the turtle farm and it looks like we can just take a bus there.

[blorkiemom]

What a terrific tip! Thank you so much for posting it. We're headed to Grand Cayman in a few weeks and if I hadn't seen this thread, no doubt I would have taken a cab and paid 3x as much.

[McDebbie]

We were thinking about renting a car or jeep but this might be a better idea and no chance of getting lost.

[ibcnusoon]

Thanks for the info! My teen daughter, who I'm cruising with, is not interested in swimming with stingrays so I was going to rent a car and ride around. She wants to go to Hell, send a postcard and take pictures so instead of renting a car, we're going to take the bus to Hell, then stop back at a beach for lunch and swimming.

 

We were going to stop at Royal Palms, will the bus drop us off there or should we stop at the beach at Calico Jacks since it's a designated bus stop?

[drew sailbum]

Buses drop off and pick up passengers most anywhere. You do not have to be at a designated bus stop... in fact there are very few such stops around the island. Just wave at a passing bus to flag it down when going back to the ship.

[Puffinater]

Took the bus to Sea Grape. Easy and cost effective.

[sp29488]

Buses drop off and pick up passengers most anywhere. You do not have to be at a designated bus stop... in fact there are very few such stops around the island. Just wave at a passing bus to flag it down when going back to the ship.

 

How do you know which bus is going back to where you board the ship (tender dock)? Do they have it listed on the bus somewhere or do you just look for a bus that's headed back in the direction that you came from? Sorry, just a little confused.

 

One more question, do they have a certain tag color or number (or something) so you can recognize them?

 

Thanks

[jaga04]

The buses have a large circle, maybe a foot diameter, with the route number on it under the front window. If you're going to/coming from Seven Mile Beach/Turtle Farm direction, it will say WB (for West Bay) and 1 or 2.

 

Before I knew my way around, I would just ask the driver to stop as close to the cruise ships as possible, but the end of the route is about 2 blocks away. The buses don't stop right at the tender area.

[phantomII]

After hours of searching this is exactly the info I was looking for. Thank you everyone that posted the good bus info.

[Friscorays]

These are the directions to the depot that I wrote in the Compiled Info Sticky thread:

 

I found the public bus to be an exceedingly easy and affordable way to get to and from 7 mile beach but did want to let everyone know the location of the depot has changed.

 

Once you get off the tender and walk out of the tender complex, you will find yourself on a small road which runs along the shoreline. Cross to the far side of the street and turn left. Walk up the street keeping the shoreline to your left for a few minutes and you will come upon a few picnic tables. The bus depot is the parking lot to the right of these benches, beyond a sliding chain link gate which I assume is used to secure the buses (really vans) at night.

 

A four story blue building is a landmark you can use to guide you: the bus depot is on the same side of the street as the blue building. The building is just slightly further up the street than the bus depot (so if you reach the building you have gone too far and walked past the depot). The Casanova restaurant sign is another landmark you can use. You will see the Casanova restaurant on the side of the street closest to the shoreline and farther up the street than the blue building.

 

The local buses will honk at people standing on the sidewalk as they pass. If you wave back, they will stop and pick you up. You are looking for vans with a circle on the front reading "WB" for West Bay. Cost was $2.50 per person each way. They ran very frequently.

 

It took fifteen minutes from the time I boarded the bus at the depot to the time I was dropped off at my destination (Public Beach / Sea Grape Beach). There was a typical bus stop across the road at the dropoff point for the return trip.

[mrspaper]

These are the directions to the depot that I wrote in the Compiled Info Sticky thread:

 

I found the public bus to be an exceedingly easy and affordable way to get to and from 7 mile beach but did want to let everyone know the location of the depot has changed.

.

Nice concrete directions, thanks

[Redsfan]

how was the beach at Sea Grape? I have read no Palm Trees, and pretty wide open...this still true? Pics?