Cayman Islands Help

[injunjoe]

Need Help Deciding on Beach For Disabled Wife - Please Help

 

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Hello all....my disabled wife, her caretaker/friend and I will be in Grand Cayman in January and I am beginning to research the best spot for us. We are all in our mid-40's and my wife has MS. She loves the sun but the sun does not love her. As long as she can stay in the shade, the water or the A/C, she will be fine. She has some mobility but it is limited. I am trying to find the best beach for us. Ideally, I would also like to be able to do a little snorkeling from shore but that is not a must.

 

Any suggestions on where to start looking/researching? Is there a pretty comprehensive website or websites that have abundant information/pictures of the island and its beaches? What beaches offer clear, calm waters that would be ideal for my wife? Will we be OK with the tender if I can assist in getting my wife on and off the ship? Would we be better off going with a day pass at the Hyatt or Westin? Are there other properties that offer day passes? Will we have trouble finding a taxi that can take her wheelchair? I am sure there are more questions but for now, that is all I can think of. Any and all constructive advice would really be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Injun Joe

St. Louis

221 days until the Inspiration

[Splinter]

Have not been to Grand Caymen in many years, so can't help you with specific beaches, but here is a site I found with photos of some popular snorkeling locations. http://caymanislandsdiscounts.com/OffshoreSnorkeling.htm You can see that some (but not many) have shade trees or structure that you could use to keep your wife out of the sun. Remember that it can still be hot though. Take some iced drinks from the ship, and consider a Misty Mate or at least a combo spray and fan device to help her keep cool.

 

The ship's crew will not allow you to help with the tender transfer. If the seas are rough, they will not allow her to go on the tender at all. Be prepared for this. She may need to stay aboard while you go ashore. My mother also has MS, and we always have this as a back-up plan for tender ports. There are still things to do aboard ship other than sit in the cabin. I just plan to be back aboard in time to help her with the bathroom and lunch, when this applies.

 

If it is not too rough, the crew will pick up the chair and your wife and lift her into the tender (unless you are on a ship with a wheelchair tender lift). Be sure she has on a safety belt and you carefully instruct them where to lift (not from removable pieces like arm or foot rests, for example). They will do the same shore-side. There will be an officer in charge of this...this is the person you should talk to when preparing to leave the ship.

 

Does her manual wheelchair have quick release wheels? This makes it much easier to get into either the backseat (with you) in a cab, or into a small trunk. Don't plan to take a power chair or scooter ashore on a tender port.

[CaptData]

Hi, I have MS too. When I went to the Cayman,s as above very few beaches have shade and the ones that do are hot. You stated you wife can take a few steps. She can stand up just at the bottom of the step and be helped into the tender to sit up top. Use a light weight wheelchair for ports. The day pass at one of the hotels would be best on the beach so she can go inside and cool off. Also as above have a back up plan for on board for her. The sea was a little rough and they would not allow any DA to take a tender once (everyone else could, one person o the return dislocated his shoulder).

 

 

I snokle alot and that included GC.

[katisdale]

I understand that a lot has changed in Grand Cayman since last year's horrible hurricane damage. They lost a lot of trees and vegetation due to the storm which could make finding shade more difficult. I would e-mail the resorts to find out which ones offer day passes and which have had success in rebuilding. I like to snorkel off of seven mile beach. It is not far to swim to reach coral area where there are fish. I do not know if access to the beach has changed after the storm.