Great day at 7 Mile Beach - March 2019

[bandjwayne]

 

We were on the Carnival Paradise & in Grand Cayman we had priority tendering because we were FTTF. A letter was in our room the night before saying what time to arrive at a lounge for priority boarding. This worked great we were off the ship in no time.

 

We walked to the bus station and took a bus (large van) for $2.50/person to 7 mile beach (by the public beach/Calico Jacks area). The driver was very friendly & stopped whenever requested. Once we got to the beach (~9:30 am) we were greeted by a guy who got us 2 lounge chairs & an umbrella right in front of the water for $20. We played in the gorgeous water & the kids tried the water trampoline (but that really was too hard to get onto, even for my active kids). My younger son enjoyed snorkeling for rocks...tip, get a full faced snorkel mask - SO much easier for the kids! We walked over to Calico Jacks for a few drinks and chicken strips. There were some food trucks set up in the public beach area, I was just a little nervous to get food from them for sanitary reasons. Once we had enough we took the bus back to the cruise terminal. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time as the traffic was kind of bad w/lots of ships in town.

 

Public Beach area on 7 Mile Beach (just down from Calico Jacks)

 

 

. Plenty of space to throw the football right away - it did get much busier midday

 

. 9 year old loved the full face snorkel mask -~$60 on Amazon

 

. Lots of pretty rocks to pick up (& then throw back into the sea)

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tinkerbellsparkle]

Looks lovely. Are there any other public beach areas along there or are they all private?

 

Where is the bus station?

 

How did you get the bus back? Are there lots just milling around?

 

Thank you

Edited April 13, 2019 by Tinkerbellsparkle

[runner15km]

18 hours ago, Tinkerbellsparkle said:

Looks lovely. Are there any other public beach areas along there or are they all private?

 

Where is the bus station?

 

How did you get the bus back? Are there lots just milling around?

 

Thank you

The area the OP and kids went to is called Public Beach, it can be confusing. All of 7 Mile beach is public, you just can't go to a facility like Calico Jacks, Royal Palms or a Hotel and not pay for use of the facilities. The beach is free to use just bring a towel if you like. The city bus is a few blocks away from the pier, or just grab a cab or beach shuttle at the pier. There will be plenty of cabs and shuttles at all of the beach clubs and hotels. 

Edited April 14, 2019 by runner15km

[cb at sea]

ALL of the beaches are public.....to the high tide line or a bit further.  You won't be allowed to use the loungers that belong to hotels, but there are rentals everywhere...

[TravellingBritNY]

Thank you for the report - love the pictures, too!  And FYI, a lot of those "rocks" were actually coral.  🙂

 

I have heard some safety concerns about the full face snorkel masks, though, but those I know who have used them have said that they are great.

 

And to echo - there are no private beaches on the Cayman Islands.  Beaches, even well about the high water mark and all for public use, even if they are privately owned.  Of course, that doesn't mean you can use people's stuff on the beaches like chairs, tables, etc., without patronizing their business.

[shanet60]

How many ships were there that day? There will be a pretty good bit there when I go and wanna make sure this is still and option!! Or if I should book and excursion!!

[nimiq]

On 4/10/2019 at 7:49 PM, bandjwayne said:

 

 

We were on the Carnival Paradise & in Grand Cayman we had priority tendering because we were FTTF. A letter was in our room the night before saying what time to arrive at a lounge for priority boarding. This worked great we were off the ship in no time.

 

We walked to the bus station and took a bus (large van) for $2.50/person to 7 mile beach (by the public beach/Calico Jacks area). The driver was very friendly & stopped whenever requested. Once we got to the beach (~9:30 am) we were greeted by a guy who got us 2 lounge chairs & an umbrella right in front of the water for $20. We played in the gorgeous water & the kids tried the water trampoline (but that really was too hard to get onto, even for my active kids). My younger son enjoyed snorkeling for rocks...tip, get a full faced snorkel mask - SO much easier for the kids! We walked over to Calico Jacks for a few drinks and chicken strips. There were some food trucks set up in the public beach area, I was just a little nervous to get food from them for sanitary reasons. Once we had enough we took the bus back to the cruise terminal. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time as the traffic was kind of bad w/lots of ships in town.

 

Public Beach area on 7 Mile Beach (just down from Calico Jacks)

 

 

. Plenty of space to throw the football right away - it did get much busier midday

 

. 9 year old loved the full face snorkel mask -~$60 on Amazon

 

. Lots of pretty rocks to pick up (& then throw back into the sea)

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

So the actual place you went is called (Public Beach ) ? How different is it to Calico Jacks ?

 

Not sure I got it. 

Thanks

Sea Ya

Eric

[bookbabe]

18 hours ago, nimiq said:

So the actual place you went is called (Public Beach ) ? How different is it to Calico Jacks ?

 

Not sure I got it. 

Thanks

Sea Ya

Eric

It’s essentially the same area.  Calico Jack’s is right next to Public Beach, on the other side of the parking lot.  You can see both easily on a google map.

[bandjwayne]

On 10/25/2019 at 7:18 AM, bookbabe said:

It’s essentially the same area.  Calico Jack’s is right next to Public Beach, on the other side of the parking lot.  You can see both easily on a google map.

Yep!

 

[shark&minnow]

Thank you! This is exactly what we are planning to do.

 

[nimiq]

9 hours ago, shark&minnow said:

Thank you! This is exactly what we are planning to do.

 

Same here will bring all the familly including my 87 years mom to the public beach beside the Calico Jacks

[chong67]

We took a bus across from the library and rode all the way the end of 7th mile beach and walk all the way back down to the port. Its only 5 miles one way.  In between I walk into some of the resort and take photos.  Some of them they dont allow you in.

 

I love it.