Seven Mile Beach questions

[kathew]

How far away is the beach from the port? How do you know where to go on the beach? Are there good and bad parts on the beach? Also, could anyone tell me about the snorkeling off of the beach. Are there places to rent equipment (& how much)? Are there better areas for snorkeling, and how do you find them?

 

Sorry I have a lot of questions, I have no clue what to expect because I've never been here before!

[RMH]

Seven-mile beach is about 4 miles away from the port. You will want to take a taxi (@ $5pp) or a bus (@ $2pp) from the port and back again. The entire beach is 'good' in terms of safety and beauty. There are places next to beach resorts that have more amenities and also more people. The entire stretch of beach is public up to the high-water mark, but some areas are private after that and you may be asked to leave or pay a fee if you set up shop in those areas.

 

There is not much snorkling along the beach since it is sandy. The one spot that does have some snorking is called Cemetary Beach and it is about 7 miles from the port. It is named after the cemetary close by, not because it is dangerous or anything ! It does not have a big resort by it, so not a lot of people, but decent snorkling. If you want the real good stuff, you will have to take a boat out to the reef - about 1/2 mile into the water.

 

There are also snorkling tours that you can take to the reefs on the other side of the island that run $40 - $100 pp depending on where you go. 7-mile beach is really just for soaking in the sun, playing in the warm water, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

[mbarker10]

How far away is the beach from the port? How do you know where to go on the beach? Are there good and bad parts on the beach? Also, could anyone tell me about the snorkeling off of the beach. Are there places to rent equipment (& how much)? Are there better areas for snorkeling, and how do you find them?

 

Sorry I have a lot of questions, I have no clue what to expect because I've never been here before!

 

 

Ditto pp on the distance away and the cost to get there. You can get dropped off at pretty much any point on 7 mile beach; it's all about the same. The snorkeling is not that great. It's mostly rocks and sand :) Still pretty water, but not a lot going on! We got dropped off near one of the hotels, but I'm not sure exactly where. You could rent beach chairs and snorkeling equipment for $5 each. The only bad thing about getting off at a random place is we didn't see anywhere to eat or use the bathroom.

[caribsun]

The beach is more like 1.5 mile from the tender pier.

[cb at sea]

The bus is just outside the dock area...easy-peezy. There are chair/umbrella/watersport rentals along the beach, and restrooms and restaurants/bars, too. This is absolutely one of the easiest beach days in any port!

[needabreakcanada]

We are first time cruisers. I see that there is a excursion for seven mile beach with carnival - no food but a little pricey just the same.

 

I have crohns - so a bathroom nearby would be beneficial if it is a bad day.

 

I have no clue about tenders/ports etc.

 

I would like to know how to get to the beach, (do you have to pay to go on it? ie the high excursion charge with carnival?)

 

Also, how easy is it to get a cab back to the pier? (can't do the run at the end).

 

All help welcome!

[RMH]

There are several options for going to 7-mile beach outside of the cruise ship. The cheapest is to take a bus right outside the pier where the tender will drop you off. That will cost about US $2 per person. Just make sure you get on the right bus (actually more like a large van or mini-bus) there are two routes that go to 7-mile beach.

 

Or you can take a taxi. The beach is public and free, however there are several resorts and resturants that have spots right in front of their establishment reserved for their guests. The public free area goes to the high-water mark. You can generally rent chairs and eat food at these places. Bathroom facilities would also be included.

 

Finally you can buy a 'day pass' to some of the resorts that include access to their pool, chairs on the beach, and other stuff.

 

Cabs and buses back to the pier are plentiful, but do be aware that traffic can be heavy in the afternoon so give youself about twice as long to return as it took you to get to the beach. There are not too many official bus stops, but if you see one, just wave and it will stop.

[AjaxCruiser]

We took a bus to the part of the beach that is near Calico Jack's, a nice little beachside restaurant. There were washrooms there and a hut nearby where you could rent chairs and umbrellas. You do have to watch out for coral/rocks on the bottom. My son got knocked over by the waves and got a gash on his knee from the coral rocks. The men working at the umbrella hut were super nice about it and ran over to check on him and give us neosporin and band aids, even though we hadn't rented anything from them

The beach is beautiful!!

[needabreakcanada]

In your opinion, being that we are first time cruisers, are we better off booking through the cruise line for this excursion?

 

My husband made an observation that if we do a rental on our own we may have to leave the beach an hour earlier to make sure we are back on time; as opposed to going with cruise line which may allow us more time at the beach?

 

Opinions? Thanks,

[RMH]

For me, I would not go with the cruise line. I like having the freedom to do my own thing and enjoy the savings. However, I fully understand that sitting on the beach worrying the whole day that you are not going to get back in time would not be fun either.

 

So, if you think that might be the case, go with the cruise ship. With the very few cruise excursions I have been on, it seems that they have you back quite early before the ship leaves, so you may not get that extra hour either way.

 

If you do it on your own, the key will be to note the ship time before you leave the ship, then keep you watch set to that time. Don't rely on local time since it is usually different.

[needabreakcanada]

Ok so we are considering 7 mile beach and have some questions:

 

How much for cab for 2 people there and back? ($20?)

 

How much for Chair and umbrella rental (please quote seperately in case we only decide on chairs)?

 

Which part of the beach is the most swimmable (ie smoothest in the water)? Hubby loves to swim but we don't want him dealing with rocks or sea urchins.

 

Does the above part come near a place to eat and washrooms?

 

 

Thanks so much....

[kathew]

Does anyone have pictures of the beach? I've read that it's really pretty!

[natdalton]

Is there parasailing on 7 mile beach and if so, anyone have any idea how much it cost & for how long?

[acceber32]

Ok so we are considering 7 mile beach and have some questions:

 

How much for cab for 2 people there and back? ($20?)

 

How much for Chair and umbrella rental (please quote seperately in case we only decide on chairs)?

 

Which part of the beach is the most swimmable (ie smoothest in the water)? Hubby loves to swim but we don't want him dealing with rocks or sea urchins.

 

Does the above part come near a place to eat and washrooms?

 

 

Thanks so much....

 

 

I am also interested in these answers, does anyone know??

[travelbuddies]

Ok so we are considering 7 mile beach and have some questions:

 

How much for cab for 2 people there and back? ($20?)

 

How much for Chair and umbrella rental (please quote seperately in case we only decide on chairs)?

 

Which part of the beach is the most swimmable (ie smoothest in the water)? Hubby loves to swim but we don't want him dealing with rocks or sea urchins.

 

Does the above part come near a place to eat and washrooms?

 

 

Thanks so much....

 

Subscribe to thread I would also like to know.

[bookbabe]

All of Seven Mile Beach is about the same beach-wise.

 

Taxi is $4-8 US pp each way, depending on where you go.

 

Chairs $10, umbrellas $15 in most spots.

 

Everything else you need to know is in post #2 of this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2299895

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MrsPete]

We are first time cruisers. I see that there is a excursion for seven mile beach with carnival - no food but a little pricey just the same.

 

I have crohns - so a bathroom nearby would be beneficial if it is a bad day.

 

I have no clue about tenders/ports etc.

 

I would like to know how to get to the beach, (do you have to pay to go on it? ie the high excursion charge with carnival?)

 

Also, how easy is it to get a cab back to the pier? (can't do the run at the end).

 

All help welcome!

If your goal is just to go to the beach, absolutely don't do an excursion. It'd be a massive waste of money, and you'd have to adhere to someone else's schedule.

 

Tenders are the boats that bring you to shore. Once you're off the tender, you're free to do as you please. But do pay attention to the time you need to return to the ship -- and plan to be back two hours early. You'll be hot and tired anyway. If you plan two hours, even if something goes wrong, you'll still be back in plenty of time.

 

Grand Cayman is a good island for someone who's new to cruising because it's completely "civilized". Sidewalks and stores, familiar sights. Taxis are everywhere -- be sure you have small bills because the drivers "won't have change".I have no memory of bathrooms, but with so many stores and restaurants crowded by the pier, I'm sure they're easy to find.

 

Once you reach the spot of beach you want, no, no payment. Just walk right in. It's a public beach. Obviously you're not going to wander into a hotel's resort without paying, but the beach itself shouldn't cost you a dime.

 

As for Carnival's high excursion price, that's about profit.