Car rental to Rum point beach

I've read a few threads on the subjet but mostly information here and there... I did send a request for a quote with Andy's + I found that 10% coupon rebate on cayman activity guide & Avis.

I've noticed that we have to drive on the opposite side! :( Hopefully that won't be too hard... We are hoping to leave for the beach around 9am and be back for 3 since our boat lives at 4pm.

We will be there on a tuesday. Is traffic mad crazy during the week. Will it take more than 1 hour to get there? Even with the map did you have trouble finding it? what are major landmarks to look for while driving there? (just to make sure we don't get lost) What is there to visit on the way up there without having to devert from the beach? What's the price of gas like? Once on the beach, what are the prices of food and drinks like?

Thanks to all the experienced Grand Cayman cruisers that will take the time to answer this one - maybe yet again... :p

Hi!

We just did this on Christmas Eve. It was very simple. There is only one road out to Rum Point and it was very easy to follow the map. There is only one turn and easy to find. We turned the wrong way out of the airport and got a little mixed up.....took us a while to get turned around.....so.....be sure and turn LEFT when leaving the airport....away from seven mile beach. :o We had the same hours in GC as you and it is very doable.

We've driven on the left in several other places so that was not a big deal. There are some very pretty houses out in the Rum Point area. Gas stations are clearly marked on the map and I think it was about $8.00 to fill up when we returned. There is a gas station on the right just before you get back to the airport, so no worries there.

We had no problem with traffic.....it was Christmas Eve. The traffic in town was crazy, but you don't go that way.

The prices are a little on the high side for food and drink, but everything is very good.

This was one of the best days we have spent in the Caribbean in over 22 years of cruising.....so......I highly recommend it.

It's been awhile since I've written out directions, so here we go.

Most car rental agencies are at the airport, and I am assuming the reader is leaving from that area.

Turn right from the parking lot of the rental agency. This should put you on Owen Roberts Drive heading back the way you came to the rental agency. Keep going until you come to a stop sign at a T intersection and must stop.

Turn left onto Dorcy Drive. The road curves around to your right and you pass Foster's Food Fair grocery on your right (Easy access for grocery and adjacent liquor store, if needed.) and you should see the end of the airport runway on your left. Keep going until you reach the mini-roundabout.

Stay left at the mini-roundabout and that puts you on Crewe Road which leads you around the end of the airport runway.

Turn left and merge into traffic continuing around the end of the airport runway. You should see an Esso gas station on your right. (Note that for any refueling you need later.) You are still on Crewe Road. Continue straight ahead (more than a mile) until you reach a large roundabout.

Continue straight through the roundabout and you are still on Crewe Road. You should see a Texaco gas station on your left and a large Baptist Church on the right. Continue (about a half of a mile) to the next roundabout.

Continue straight through the roundabout (at the roundabout is a shopping center with a Hurley's Supermarket) and the road changes names. You are now on Shamrock Road. Continue straight ahead, passing an On the Run gas station and the Red Bay Primary School on your left.

Get in the right lane (left lane becomes turn only into a residential area) and continue straight. The road curves to the right and quickly you come to a roundabout.

Continue straight through the roundabout (it's the second left out of the roundabout) and you are still on Shamrock Road. In the next half mile you will see two large condo complexes on your right. Continue straight about 3 miles or so until you come into Savannah. You should see a Wendy's on the right and a Texaco just past it.

(OOPS. Think you're lost? Are you on a road with one lane in each direction and a large center median? If so, you took a wrong turn at that last roundabout. Don't worry. Go to the next roundabout and turn right. Go until you have to turn, and turn left. You're now back on track.)

Continue straight. This seems like a weird intersection - it's almost a roundabout. Just past the intersection should pass a Domino's Pizza on your right and a long line of tall palm trees on your left. You are still on Shamrock Road. Go straight several miles!!!

Continue straight and you pass through Lower Valley and eventually arrive in Bodden Town. The road changes names as you enter Bodden Town and you are now on Bodden Town Road.

Continue straight through Bodden Town and keep going. The speed limit increases to 50 miles per hour and eventually drops back to 30 mph as you enter Breakers a few miles later. In Breaker's you will see the Lighthouse restaurant at the end of the short straightaway of road right by the sea.

One mile past the Lighthouse Restaurant turn left onto Frank Sound Road. This is a major intersection. You are now crossing the island from south to north. Pass the fire station on your left. A few miles later the speed limit drops to 25 and the road takes some sharper curves as you enter Old Man Bay.

Stay on the road as it curves around to the left as you pass the Esso gas station. The road changes names to North Side Road. Go straight, and you will occasionally see the ocean on your right. Pass the Over the Edge Restaurant on your right.

Rum Point is about 6.5 miles ahead on your right. The road will change names one more time and become Rum Point Drive before you get there.

Edit to directions! Roadworks just announced today involves a slight change.

As you come out of the airport area on Owen Roberts Drive, the intersection is being reworked into a mini-roundabout. There will be no stop sign, but you still bear left. If you don't soon pass the Foster's Food Fair grocery, then something went wrong!

Roadworks are expected to be complete by March 21, 2008.

Drew, do those directions include the new roundabout out just past where Durty Reid's used to be? Is that the one where you say "Oops...think you're lost?" and give directions how to fix the problem? It messed up my FIL the last time he was there...he ended up (or so he claims) in the middle of nowhere, and had to get directions for how to get back to the main road...

If it wasn't for the fact that all the roundabouts have signs at each exit, letting you know what's there, I'd be going around in circles forever. I know some people (like my DH) really love them, but I personally consider roundabouts to be the bane of my existence... ;)

Sure. It includes the new roundabout.

Actually, for now, if you keep going straight through all of the roundabouts on the new road, eventually you must turn. Turn right and it takes you back to the main road just past the Texaco in Savannah.

Long term plan is for this new road to continue to be built further east. Eventually that will be the way to go to Rum Point.

Sure. It includes the new roundabout.

Thanks...

Think I'll save these directions for when we have friends visiting...It's very handy not to have to try to figure them out for ourselves. We always seem to miss telling them about some turn or landmark along the way, and people end up getting lost (or they miss the Frank Sound Road turn, and end up going all the way around the island). Thanks again...