Rum Point-Don't Miss it!

[boatbunny]

Boatbunny,

 

Just checking back in on the Cayman threads and see that you have returned. I am so glad that Rum Point worked out for you! It's always been a favorite of mine since I was about 6 or 7!

 

Hi Anne,

 

Thanks, it was one of the best and most memorable days of the whole trip! We want to go back for a whole week now, and looks like we are gathering some friends and family to go along! Thank you for helping me out so much, I'm passing the favor onto others so they can enjoy it too!

[Lynndpi]

Boatbunny you may have just made our trip! We leave in a little less than two weeks and didn't have anything really planned for GC. I can't wait for the kids to see this beautiful paradise!

[awfw]

Hello Boatbunny and all-

I am very pleased to report back after visiting Rum Point last Wed. (was it really almost a week ago!). The adventure went great thanks to the detailed instructions we received on CC. We rented our Jeep from Cico Avis. I do think you should have a reservation in advance. We exited the ship a little early so we had little time to kill and wandered up and down the street arriving at the Blue Iguana at 8:00 am. A few minutes after 8:00 a woman opened the store and she called for our shuttle. It came within 5 to 10 minutes and we were taken to the Cico Avis at the airport. A very pleasant gentlemen took care of us right away and we spent a few minutes chatting about the hurricane, etc. He gave us very good directions and we were off.

We had no problem driving out to Rum Point. What a fabulous place. Quiet, shady, clean, good drinks and lunch. It is really a tropical paradise. My daughter and her husband were on the Nativeway tour which makes a stop here for lunch so we had family stop by! My daughter knew that we might still be there but her husband did not. What a surprise!

We had lunch and shopped-T-shirts for everyone. We left to return at 1:00 pm as our last tender was at 3:30 and we thought we would take the long way back to see all of the island. I proceeded to missread the map and we wound up taking a left at the wrong place and going backwards around the long way, away from our destination. I finally figured out the ocean was on the wrong side and we turned around. Fairly typical for this family, but we found our way back to the airport without further incident.

Our shuttle driver drove us back directly to the pier (he asked which we wanted to go to the pier or Blue Iguana). We decided to return directly to the ship and were back on board by 2:30.

A great day and I think I have found how to spend my days in Grand Cayman from now on. The total bill for the jeep was $79.50 including everything including gas!

Thanks again for all your great information!

[boatbunny]

AWFW,

 

Thanks so much for coming back to post and let me know how you enjoyed it! I am so glad everything worked out so well. Your adventure sounds like a mirror image of ours, so I am confident many others will feel and experience the same way we did!

 

I thought of you last week, we were having a 2 day Nor'Easter up here, high winds, heavy rain, cool temps, it was just plain miserable. And we didn't have sun for the days before and after the storm, so it was a very grey week. But, I looked at my pics, and remembered you were there, and hopefully you received my telepathic message and had a froo froo drink for me!

 

Again, glad I was able to share so that you (and hopefully many more) can experience this paradise!

 

Michelle

[cathyoo]

Wonderful information. We were to Grand Cayman last year and were a bit disappointed. Would love to hit Rum beach on our Feb cruise. How many passengers does the jeep hold? We will be a party of 6, maybe 8. Thanks

[boatbunny]

Wonderful information. We were to Grand Cayman last year and were a bit disappointed. Would love to hit Rum beach on our Feb cruise. How many passengers does the jeep hold? We will be a party of 6, maybe 8. Thanks

 

 

Hi, the jeep will hold 5 max. The 2 front seats are bucket seats. But Cico Avis had lots of other options, including vans that could fit your group.

 

Also, by Feb. the ferry may be up and running again from the Hyatt, so you may only need to take a taxi to the ferry. The drive out to Rum Point is very nice, so if you'd like to see more of the island, the car rental is the way to go.

[awsmrn]

Wow!! I have found some excellant info on this thread!! We just returned from our Victory cruise last week. We took a tour with Native Way and stopped at Rum Point for about 2hrs. It truely is paradise. We are booked on the Imagination 9/05 so we can visit Grand Cayman again. I think we are going to rent a jeep and have a great full day at Rum Point. Thanks for all the great info. Can't wait to see those starfish, crystal clear water and white sand beach.

[jenniferhouston3]

Thanks to boatbunny and all of you for sharing your experiences. We are using a local rental agency recommended by others on these boards, with the benefit being it is only 1/8 a mile from the docks.

 

My question for all of the americans who have done this is how hard was it to adjust to driving on the "wrong side" (just kidding) of the street?

 

I think I am going to do some practice on some deserted streets here before I go. Any other suggestions?

[cruisin newbie]

Thank you for all of the information. We don't get to paradise until November, but will definitely add Rum Point to the top of our list of things to do in GC. I received brochures from Red Sail Sports yesterday, I believe that it listed the ferry as $15/pp roundtrip. Hope I'm not wrong!

[jenniferhouston3]

Cruisin Newbie,

 

Just keep in mind that the ferry is still not working and MAY not be working in November. I bet the brochures you are reviewing were pre- Hurricane Ivan.

[cruisin newbie]

Thank you, I will keep that in mind and call ahead to check if this is what we decide to do.

[Artemis]

I'm just bumping this with many thanks to boatbunny for turning us on to Rum Point! We went last Tuesday, June 14th, on our Miracle cruise--it was the first of our four port stops, and boy, was it a spoiler! We have seen some beautiful beaches in many places, but Rum Point is our new favorite in the entire Caribbean.

 

For those of you in doubt, just print out boatbunny's great instructions and follow them to paradise! You will come back raving like the rest of us. :)

[boatbunny]

I'm just bumping this with many thanks to boatbunny for turning us on to Rum Point! We went last Tuesday, June 14th, on our Miracle cruise--it was the first of our four port stops, and boy, was it a spoiler! We have seen some beautiful beaches in many places, but Rum Point is our new favorite in the entire Caribbean.

 

For those of you in doubt, just print out boatbunny's great instructions and follow them to paradise! You will come back raving like the rest of us. :)

 

Thank you so much, I am so glad that you had such a great time! I totally agree, this is by far the most beautiful beach I have been to, including beaches in Maui. Which is why I wanted to share it with others.

 

I am counting the days when we can get back there, hopefully next spring for a full week!

 

I am happy to forward pictures to anyone, so please feel free to email me.

 

Enjoy!

Michelle

[cathyoo]

 

I am happy to forward pictures to anyone, so please feel free to email me.

 

Enjoy!

Michelle

 

Michelle, we will be in Grand Cayman in Feb. I would be forever grateful if you could forward me some pictures. CathyOO@aol.com. The OO's are alpha characters. Thanks again and I really appreciate you sharing all this information.

[boatbunny]

Hey all,

 

Just wanted to drop a quick line to let everyone know that I am going away for a couple of weeks (no, not GC unfortunately, but going to Cape Cod which is still nice) so if I don't respond to your email right away, I am not ignoring you! I will have limited access to internet (only a couple of days).

 

I am so glad that this thread has been so helpful to so many people! My DH told me the other day that I should stop responding to emails because everyone will fall in love with Rum Point, drive real estate prices up, and we won't be able to afford our retirement home! LOL Not that the prices are that low right now anyway!

 

For all of those heading to GC and Rum Point soon, have an awesome time, although my body will be on the beach in Cape Cod, my mind and my heart will be wandering back to Rum Point!

 

Michelle

[Laurie715]

We are doinng the same thing- renting a Jeep from Avis and heading to RUm Point !!!!! Cant wait- Question -- where did you get directions to Rum Point and was it hard to find ?????????? We dont seem to have a long day in Cayman.. so we want to make the most of it!

 

thanks for the info Laurie

[DODoc2008]

Michelle,

 

The link to CiCo Avis is down, but if I can get a hold of them, how far from the pier/docks is the rental agency and how do we get there? Also, we are signed up for an 8:30 am Stingray City tour (through RCCL)...would I be able to drive to that location by myself then when we are done drive to Rum Point? In other words, would we have time to pick up the car/Jeep and get to the excursion?

 

I was in Cayman in Dec. 2003 and only got to walk around near the docks. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed w ith Cayman and wasn't thrilled about returning...until I read your posts! Thank you so much!

 

Scott

[boatbunny]

We are doinng the same thing- renting a Jeep from Avis and heading to RUm Point !!!!! Cant wait- Question -- where did you get directions to Rum Point and was it hard to find ?????????? We dont seem to have a long day in Cayman.. so we want to make the most of it!

 

thanks for the info Laurie

 

Hi Laurie,

 

Sorry for the late reply, I was on vacation on the Cape and had no internet access, it drove me nuts!!!!

 

Anyway, getting to Rum Point is very easy. Avis will give you a map, just tell them where you are going. There is basically only 2 roads to get there if you take the "short cut" through the middle of the island, which I highly recommend. The long way takes you all along the coastline, which I am sure is beautiful, and I would do if I had more time. But, you'll want all the time in Rum Point you can get. The roads are pretty well marked, and once you get out of Georgetown, there is very little traffic which helps make the ride even more relaxing.

 

I just got back tonight, so I will try to find the website that had a "rough" map on it tomorrow and send you off another post.

 

Thanks

Michelle

[boatbunny]

We are doinng the same thing- renting a Jeep from Avis and heading to RUm Point !!!!! Cant wait- Question -- where did you get directions to Rum Point and was it hard to find ?????????? We dont seem to have a long day in Cayman.. so we want to make the most of it!

 

thanks for the info Laurie

 

Hi Laurie,

 

Here is a website address that has a great map of Grand Cayman. You can see the roads that I am talking about to get to Rum Point. You will see a road going through the center of the Island, it is called Frank Sound Road. This is the road that is the short cut rather than going the coastal route.

The drive from Avis location to Rum Point was about 40-45 mins. The map makes it look like it is quite a distance from Georgetown, but it's not. You'll be surprised how quickly the ride is.

 

http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/cy/gcmap.shtml

 

Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Michelle

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

All this talk about Rum Point. We were there in June and had such a terrible storm that caused us to stay on the boat. We had reserved a Jeep to drive to Rum Point, but that never happened. It was the one thing that I was looking forward to on my vacation. So depressing :-(

 

Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that next year we are belessed with beautiful weather while in the Caymans :-)

[boatbunny]

Michelle,

 

The link to CiCo Avis is down, but if I can get a hold of them, how far from the pier/docks is the rental agency and how do we get there? Also, we are signed up for an 8:30 am Stingray City tour (through RCCL)...would I be able to drive to that location by myself then when we are done drive to Rum Point? In other words, would we have time to pick up the car/Jeep and get to the excursion?

 

I was in Cayman in Dec. 2003 and only got to walk around near the docks. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed w ith Cayman and wasn't thrilled about returning...until I read your posts! Thank you so much!

 

Scott

 

Hi Scott,

 

Okay this is my third attempt to respond to your question. For some reason, everytime I try to respond, CC kicks me out!

 

I honestly don't know if you will have enough time to do Rum Point after the stingray snorkeling. To pick up your car from Avis, you will walk up to the Blue Iguana gift shop which is about a 5 min walk from the pier. Once you reach there, one of the salespeople will call Avis to send a courtesy car to pick you up. The drive to the Avis office is 5-10 mins (near the airport). As long as you have made reservations ahead of time, you should be in and out of there very quickly to actually get the car. From Avis, it is about a 45 min drive to Rum Point. I don't know how much time you wanted to spend at Rum Point, but it really is someplace you'll want to stay more than an hour. Coming back, I would give myself an hour to an hour and a half to get back to Avis, and back to the pier. There was a little bit of traffic around the airport in the afternoon .

 

Here is a website with a map of GC so you can see where Rum Point is located compared to Georgetown (where the ship will be)

 

http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/cy/gcmap.shtml

 

You may want to consider booking a combination stingray/rum point excursion. I think Capt Bryans offers this and from most of the postings I have seen, they sound like they do a good job. It would allow you to visit both things. We have taken 4 cruises, and this last one was the first time we ventured off on our own by booking excursions outside of RCCL. We found them to be significantly less expensive than RCCL, and most of the tour operators are excellent. They rely on cruise ship passengers for a large portion of their business, so it is important to them to make sure everyone has a great time and gets back to the ship on time. They know how quickly a bad experience can spread.

 

If you are interested, I think you will find info about Capt Bryan's in the GC threads and plenty of opinions as well.

 

I'd just hate for you to be rushing through your day and worrying about getting back on time unless you just want to spend a short time at Rum Point.

 

What other ports are you going to? We snorkeled with stingrays in Belize with Coral Breezes (snorkel/stingray/Caye Caulker) which was great. If you are hitting that port as well, you may want to change plans and snorkel with stingrays there. Just a suggestion.

 

Please feel free to email any questions as well.

Michelle

[hogwildcruzers]

Michelle, sounds like Rum Point needs to be paying you a commission, with all the people that are going there, and now you have us going in Oct., we have a jeep rented from Avis and your map to Rum Point. I have been to Grand Cayman 3 times before and have never been to that side of the island and we are really looking forward to that, I will be taking alot of pictures and hope some will be that special shot ( this is my business), so thank you for the great review and don't stop, you make the place sound like paradise.Hope you can get back soon!!

[DODoc2008]

Michelle,

 

Thank you for the information! We will try to amend our schedule for the early (8:30am-10:30am) short excursion through Capt. Marvin. We are planning to do the dolphin thing in Cozumel and our only other port is Key West, so I don't think we have any other options for stingrays. We have secured a Jeep reservation and, based on your recommendation, if we have to choose between stingrays and Rum Point, the little satin critters will lose this time!

 

Thanks again!!!

 

Scott

[boatbunny]

Michelle, sounds like Rum Point needs to be paying you a commission, with all the people that are going there, and now you have us going in Oct., we have a jeep rented from Avis and your map to Rum Point. I have been to Grand Cayman 3 times before and have never been to that side of the island and we are really looking forward to that, I will be taking alot of pictures and hope some will be that special shot ( this is my business), so thank you for the great review and don't stop, you make the place sound like paradise.Hope you can get back soon!!

 

Thanks so much for your comments! My husband keeps telling me I shouldn't keep giving out info because everyone will find out about it and it will get crowded! LOL We are, hopefully, trying to get back next April, we are considering renting a home in Rum Point and exploring the island more as well.

 

Feel free to let Cico and Rum Point know that you are getting info from CC (and me! maybe they'll give me a discount on my next car rental!!)

 

Thanks again, have an awesome trip! I am reliving my time at Rum Point through all of you!

 

Michelle (Belskis if you want to drop my name with Cico!!)

[boatbunny]

Michelle,

 

Thank you for the information! We will try to amend our schedule for the early (8:30am-10:30am) short excursion through Capt. Marvin. We are planning to do the dolphin thing in Cozumel and our only other port is Key West, so I don't think we have any other options for stingrays. We have secured a Jeep reservation and, based on your recommendation, if we have to choose between stingrays and Rum Point, the little satin critters will lose this time!

 

Thanks again!!!

 

Scott

 

Scott,

You are very welcome! I hope everything works out well for you, I mean, you can always see stingrays at an aquarium right?? LOL.

 

Please be sure to post back here and let me know how you enjoyed your time on Rum Point!

 

Have a great trip!

Michelle