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LetsTryThisPlace

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If anyone is visiting Grand Cayman and wants to know, where to eat, what to do, the better beaches. I am here for you as I #livewhereyouvisit lol. I can recommend some places for the best bang for your buck. So if you're not sure what to do yet or just plan to try something local I should be able to recommend a few things :).

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9 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

We are doing the royal excursion with the dolphins and then stingray city.  Question for you...with a gazillion ships in port, can you still enjoy the sting rays or are tgere just way too many people? Jane

Jane,

We did sting ray city years ago, but not in Grand Cayman. There were a lot of people there but that didn't matter to the rays. The rays stayed very close to the locals, who work for the excursion, that have the food buckets! If you're adventurous ask them if you can feed a sting ray, quite exciting. The big rays (females) are pretty reckless swimming around and they will run into you, push you out of the way, etc. (gently though) to get to the food guys. Enjoy!:27_sunglasses:

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11 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

We are doing the royal excursion with the dolphins and then stingray city.  Question for you...with a gazillion ships in port, can you still enjoy the sting rays or are tgere just way too many people? Jane

Do you know who the stingray tour is with (some companies are much better than others.) I have been on a busy day (my favourite company had every boat out and full) and still have had a great time. The only time it is a problem is if its full with rough water as normally they need to park a little further away and walk in when its busy and this can be a pain when its rough. No matter how busy it is a good company will guarantee a kiss and to hold one as that's typically their main selling point. If you want to drink on board they normally don't mind (they do appreciate if you give them one too as a tip lol) but might be hard if on a tour bus. I actually think the stingray will be much better than dolphins on a busy day as we only have so many dolphins (I think 3 or 4 at one and 3 at the other last time I was there and we have plenty of stingrays.) They will push up on you and you might get "hugged" by a few at a time on a slower day. Great experience.

15 hours ago, Hutcherl said:

Thanks! Might have to take you up on your offer.  Considering a week in Grand Cayman in August.  It’s the most beautiful island in the Carribean that I have visited so far.  

I'm always around to answer anything you'd like. If I can get off might be able to meet up for a lunch and say hi (always enjoy meeting new people :))

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On 1/27/2018 at 9:58 AM, LetsTryThisTech said:

Do you know who the stingray tour is with (some companies are much better than others.) I have been on a busy day (my favourite company had every boat out and full) and still have had a great time. The only time it is a problem is if its full with rough water as normally they need to park a little further away and walk in when its busy and this can be a pain when its rough. No matter how busy it is a good company will guarantee a kiss and to hold one as that's typically their main selling point. If you want to drink on board they normally don't mind (they do appreciate if you give them one too as a tip lol) but might be hard if on a tour bus. I actually think the stingray will be much better than dolphins on a busy day as we only have so many dolphins (I think 3 or 4 at one and 3 at the other last time I was there and we have plenty of stingrays.) They will push up on you and you might get "hugged" by a few at a time on a slower day.

I went back and looked and all i know is that it is called dolphin swim and stingray city, but royal doesn't list who is operating it.  We do dolphins and then take a boat to the stingrays.  The whole trip is 800am to 1230am.  You have reassured me on the stingrays.  My daughter and I did a great dolphin swim in cozumel, so we are going so my husband can get up close to a dolphin.    If we don't do a lot there, thats ok.  I had wanted to see sea turtles, but the dolphins won!     Jane

 

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On 1/27/2018 at 8:10 AM, rjac said:

Jane,

We did sting ray city years ago, but not in Grand Cayman. There were a lot of people there but that didn't matter to the rays. The rays stayed very close to the locals, who work for the excursion, that have the food buckets! If you're adventurous ask them if you can feed a sting ray, quite exciting. The big rays (females) are pretty reckless swimming around and they will run into you, push you out of the way, etc. (gently though) to get to the food guys. Enjoy!:27_sunglasses:

THIS SOUNDS SO COOL!   Jane

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29 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

I went back and looked and all i know is that it is called dolphin swim and stingray city, but royal doesn't list who is operating it.  We do dolphins and then take a boat to the stingrays.  The whole trip is 800am to 1230am.  You have reassured me on the stingrays.  My daughter and I did a great dolphin swim in cozumel, so we are going so my husband can get up close to a dolphin.    If we don't do a lot there, thats ok.  I had wanted to see sea turtles, but the dolphins won!     Jane

 

I'm not sure who Royal uses off the top of my head but if I remember correctly one of the dolphin places (its been awhile since I've been to either of the dolphin places) at least on of them has a boat for stingray city so may be that. Let me know your experience so I know to recommend it or not :).

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2 hours ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

I'm not sure who Royal uses off the top of my head but if I remember correctly one of the dolphin places (its been awhile since I've been to either of the dolphin places) at least on of them has a boat for stingray city so may be that. Let me know your experience so I know to recommend it or not :).

I absolutely will...we go the end of March.   Is there anything we really should hit in the afternoon for a couple hours?   Any convenient great little cafes or shops?  I wanted to go out to "hell" but couldn't get the family to agree!  Jane

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8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

I absolutely will...we go the end of March.   Is there anything we really should hit in the afternoon for a couple hours?   Any convenient great little cafes or shops?  I wanted to go out to "hell" but couldn't get the family to agree!  Jane

 

Hell is nice for about 10 minutes. There isn't much to do other than taking pictures. Some tours do stop there for a few minutes anyways so you might get lucky. When you are back in town Margaritaville is only good for its slide (sad to say its expensive and slow) There is a nice little place overlooking the water called Paradise (you will see the water trampoline if you look at the sea.) My old "watering hole" is called Guy Harvey's (upstairs and  Bar Crudo downstairs) it has changed a lot since I went there but its still a nicer location and tends not to be as busy (tourists tend to stick with names they know.) If you are looking for a good Caribbean flavour then you have Rackams on the waterfront just up the road towards Seven Mile Beach (maybe a 10-minute walk.) From where I work most things in town are about a 10-15 minute walk so it should give you an idea of how small our town area is. We also have a newer area called Camana Bay which is pretty nice but is geared more towards the locals but offers very nice atmosphere but may be out of the way depending on your time restrictions. 

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10 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

We usually walk to Paradise to go snorkeling.  You're basically getting the same snorkeling spots as many of the paid snorkeling excursions and the charge is very reasonable.  You get a place to sit all day and you can order food if you get hungry !

If you snorkel a little to the left (Dive shop named Eden Rock) has really nice views. We used to dive around there all the time (I haven't dived in like 8 years :51_scream: think I'll need a refresher lol)

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12 hours ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

 

Hell is nice for about 10 minutes. There isn't much to do other than taking pictures. Some tours do stop there for a few minutes anyways so you might get lucky. When you are back in town Margaritaville is only good for its slide (sad to say its expensive and slow) There is a nice little place overlooking the water called Paradise (you will see the water trampoline if you look at the sea.) My old "watering hole" is called Guy Harvey's (upstairs and  Bar Crudo downstairs) it has changed a lot since I went there but its still a nicer location and tends not to be as busy (tourists tend to stick with names they know.) If you are looking for a good Caribbean flavour then you have Rackams on the waterfront just up the road towards Seven Mile Beach (maybe a 10-minute walk.) From where I work most things in town are about a 10-15 minute walk so it should give you an idea of how small our town area is. We also have a newer area called Camana Bay which is pretty nice but is geared more towards the locals but offers very nice atmosphere but may be out of the way depending on your time restrictions. 

Thanks! Im all over trying somethimg not chainish (though i gotta say senor frogs in cozumel was overpriced but very fun!).  Jane

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Hi Tech! I was referred to you by a member of Cruise Critic. We are making our first visit to Grand Cayman on RC Liberty of the Seas Wed Feb 21.  We are going DIY vs an organized excursion.  Our objective?  Relax on 7 Mile Beach with a good book and drink in our hand, take a swim and enjoy a casual munch on something like fish tacos.  Thinking Calico Jacks and/or the public beach next door. I've heard that service at Jacks suffers when there are a lot of ships in port and that you can wait indefinitely for a drink.  There are 4 ships in port the day of the visit.  We are okay to wait for food, but don' want to go dry waiting for a cocktail.  My question is can we buy a six pack at the store and take it to the beach? Not wanting to take away sales from Jack's, but rather enjoy a beer between cocktails.  Can we do BYOB at the public beach and can we carry drinks from Jack's to the beach?  If BYOB is okay, is there a store within walking distance of Jacks?  We just want to enjoy a bev.  No shotgunning beers or anything crazy.

 

Thanks for any advice!

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Hi @TrixieBOI welcome. Just did a check for the schedule on the 21st and there will be 5 ships in that day. With a total of about 17,000 total passengers. The major beach will be very busy and Calico Jacks can be slow even on a normal day. Any of the public beaches allow you to drink BYOB but Calico's would not be too fond of you drinking right by them. On a busy day the beaches you would want to avoid are the beach at royal palms and the main public beach. If you can get a bus to take you to governors beach (next to the governors house) it is normally a little nicer and there are 2 liquor stores almost right across. Another lesser know place that is not bad is the west bay public beach although the liquor store is a few minutes away. I hope this helps a bit. I also post daily updates on periscope (although I still haven't left the house for today's yet :56_anguished: ) you can find me at @LetsTryThisPlace there. I give little overview of the day and sometimes mention some secret spots. If you do go to public beach I forgot to mention there are multiple restaurants around there, my favorite is Dukes. Its across the road so is rarely busy. (Sorry for the long post lol but let me know if you need more help) also thanks @twangster for the ping.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

@LetsTryThisTech is there a beach like Nachi Cocom on Cozumel? Private all inclusive? Or maybe a resort for a day? Will be coming to Grand Cayman in July on Liberty OTS, have not be to since 2012. Typically like a laid back atmosphere with some snorkeling etc..

We don't really have any real all-inclusive's here, there are a few resort for a day but I don't really feel it's worth it unless you are wanting a place to nap mid day. There are a few options to create your own kind of quiet day but nothing all-inclusive. The best option for snorkelling would be somewhere like sunset house or paradise (both have reasonable prices and amazing sights) Sunset house is normally quieter as not many tourists know about it. There is another beach a little past that called Smith Cove. Its also less busy as most people want to enjoy Seven Mile but honestly Seven Mile is not that great for snorkelling. You could walk to these places but shouldn't be too much of a taxi ride and maybe they could stop at a liquor store before heading to the beach ;). Another pretty private beach is Star Fish point.

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