Sunshine suites

[Jey01]

Hi all! Me and DH are staying a week in GCM at the sunshine suites. Is anyone familiar with this hotel? I'm trying to figure out the exact beach location. I know it's across from the beach at the Westin. Is this considered governors beach? Is the snorkeling good? Anyone know what's within walking distance? I know this isn't a "cruise question" but I'm a bit overwhelmed for a starting point! Thanks so much!

[drew sailbum]

Welcome to our little island.

 

Sunshine Suites sits between West Bay Road and the Esterley Tibbetts Highway, across West Bay Road from the Westin. Governor's Beach is immediately adjacent to the Westin, just to the north (to the right as you look out at the water). Governor's Beach is a part of Seven Mile Beach.

 

The Sunshine Grill, the onsite bar and grill at Sunshine Suites, gets high marks for good and affordable light casual dining. It is a secret favourite of island residents!

 

For nearby fine ($$$$) dining the Ritz Carlton restaurants such as Blue by Eric Ripert is nearby, an easy walk. Perfect for a very special celebration. A little further is Luca at the Caribbean Club, also excellent fine dining.

 

A little further south but still in walking distance are Edoardo's Italian Restaurant as well as Copper Falls Steakhouse which shares kitchen space with Gateway of India, all quite nice and a certainly more affordable than fine dining options.

 

There is a strip mall of sorts between Sunshine Suites and West Bay Rad called The Falls. It is home to three linked restaurants, all quite good, Yoshi Sushi, Legends Sports Bar, and Eats Cafe. Eats is a favourite of mine for breakfast at a decent price.

 

You can rent a car to explore the island but a rental is not required. The West Bay Road corridor is frequently served by public buses. Just step to the curb and wave a bus down anywhere! CI$2 (US$2.50) per person, each way to go to George Town or up to West Bay (Turtle Farm, Dolphins, Hell)

[Jey01]

We totally plan on riding the bus! And affordable dining. This is an "extra" vacation for us so we are trying to keep costs down even though I know that tourists costs are higher in GCM so we are aiming toward the more affordable. Thanks so much for the info! Any idea if this beach is shaded?

[candhmama]

I am at Sunshine Suites right now. The weather has been a little cool and windy the last couple of days so today is our first day of warmer weather. We haven't done too much yet and we are here because my husband is having a knee procedure done so not our typical vacation. The restaurant here is really good, we had dinner here the first night and breakfast here yesterday. Very good. They also have a free grab and go breakfast, there is a cabana like building that has fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, pastries, coffee and juice that you can have for free in the morning so that is always an option. We have gone over there and had coffee before going to breakfast. The little strip mall that was previously mentioned does have a few places, eats cafe is cheaper for drinks but we haven't eaten there yet, just looked at the menu. Westin is just across the street, the beach is very nice, but we just walked over to see it didn't stay because it was chilly. (I know sounds funny since it is warmer than home but one person told us it was the coldest day they could remember for the last year here) There are quite a few restaurants along the main road back towards Georgetown and you can walk to them, it just depends how far you want to walk. We took the bus to one last night and then walked back. The bus is very easy to use and they will pick you up and drop you off anywhere along the route.

If you have any other questions about the resort I would be happy to answer what I can. We have only been here 2 nights and haven't gotten chance to do too much yet but by the time we leave I should have a little more to share. :-)

[Jey01]

Thanks for the info!! I'm mainly "researching" good snorkeling beaches. And cheap food/drinks (I know that's a relative term!!) I was plannin on taking the bus everywhere but I've read a few routes aren't actually running. So I'm a lil nervous lol. Sorry y'all are having such cold weather! It's even cold here in Arkansas! Do u know if there is a shaded area at the beach? Or the pool? Can u rent umbrellas? Glad to know the place is nice and hope y'all have a good trip. Hope all goes well for your husband!

[candhmama]

The weather has warmed up, only 2 cooler days :) So far the bus has been super easy, we have gone to and toward Georgetown, back to the hotel, and last night up to west bay. The bus driver even took us to the restaurant that was not on the bus route and only charged us $1 extra each, cost us CI$6 instead of CI$4. A taxi would have cost us $24 and he gave us his card and said to call him and he would come back and get us. When he dropped us off told us if we wanted any driving tours or anything to give him a call. We were impressed.

We went to the beach at Westin yesterday, there are trees and umbrellas however I am not sure if they let you rent from them or if you are just not supposed to use them at all. Sunshine Suites has chairs you can carry over (folding beach chairs) and the sign by the chairs said that the beaches are public but ocean front property owned by hotel so sit within 20 feet of the water and don't use the hotels chairs. I know Westin had Cabanas to rent and they may let other people rent those, seems like they would rather make money than leave them empty.

We have tried Eats Cafe/Legends and it is good and probably the most reasonably priced place close by the cheapest drinks we have seen anywhere. They are in the strip mall just in front of Sunshine Suites along the main road. We walked down the road to Overtime on the recommendation of a local for breakfast. The service wasn't the best but the food was good and they had lots of options. I think it is fairly new. It is less than a mile away, they don't seem to have a website but they do have a facebook page and you can see the menu there. We walked back one night for dessert too and it was really really good and the service was great that night. We tried Lonestar on a recommendation, they had really good BBQ but the service was bad, bad enough that I wouldn't go back. There is an area here called Camana Bay, lots of stores and restaurants, newer higher end area, really pretty. We went over there for breakfast yesterday to the Waterfront Urban Diner, the cinnamon bun french toast was absolutely amazing and we sat outside right by the water. I think the breakfast prices were pretty comparable to most of the places we have been to. Last night was our splurge dinner at a nicer place and we went to Calypso Grill in West Bay, it was spendy so if you are looking for reasonable prices this is not the place to go, but the food was really really good and felt it was worth the extra cost. Not something we would do every day but decided to have one night of finer dining on our trip. We were glad that the bus driver drove us all the way to the restaurant, if he had dropped us off on the bus route we would have had quite a walk and not much of a shoulder on the road. In the future we would probably take a taxi because I don't think the bus drivers are usually that accommodating.

Hope this info helps some, let me know if you have any questions.

[Jey01]

Thanks so much for the information. I was worried about actual beach access bc I have read the Westin ppl don't let you in their "area." I have read that if you walk down to the access past the Westin (to the right if you are facing the beach) the area by the governors house is more of a public beach. I just need some shade. I'm super white lol. We may walk down to calico jacks and get chairs/umbrella there. Do you have any clue how far that is? Thanks for the bus info. We plan to do lots of walking to offset at least some of our vacation eating [emoji16] do you know if the bus actually runs to east end? I've read some routes aren't used. We would like to snorkel some on the east and north areas but I'm betting the bus service isn't so reliable in those less popular areas. We wanted to go to smiths cove but read that bus never runs. Meh. I'm sure it'll be great regardless. Glad y'all are having a good time

[Jey01]

How crowded has the Sunshine restaurant been?

[candhmama]

I don't know for sure if the bus is running to the East End, one of the booklets we were given about the island has the bus info in it and the only route they said was unreliable was the South Sound route. So according to that everything else was reliable. Calico Jacks looks like it is a little more than 1.5 miles away. I have read on here a lot of people like to go to Royal Palms to rent chairs/umbrellas/ cabanas. We were walking near there yesterday so went in to have a look, seemed like a nice spot and open to people renting stuff from them. We have only eaten at Sunshine Grill twice but will probably be there more now that my husband can't walk as much the next few days. It has been fairly full but we have been able to get a seat at the bar both times without waiting. They also serve at the tables by the pool.

[Jey01]

That sounds great thanks! 1.5 miles in the heat is about my limit. [emoji27] tripadvisor says CJ is 0.8 miles but I was suspicious lol. We are looking at a snorkel trip with ocean frontiers in east end. May have to "splurge" on a cab that day! It's difficult to judge since this is our first trip. Y'all enjoy that weather it's sleeting here in arkansas!

[drew sailbum]

East End by bus...

 

There are four bus routes that serve the Eastern Districts (East End and North Side) beyond Bodden Town.

 

Route #3 EE follows the south shore to the village of East End. The drivers typically turn around once the last passenger disembarks or once the bus reaches the Gun Bay area near Miss Vivines Restaurant. Then the bus makes its way back along the south shore. This would get you to Ocean Frontiers, but a return ride on the same route might be doubtful as the bus might have already turned around once emptied.

 

Route #8 NS turns up Frank Sound Road and then bears west along the north shore, generally heading toward Rum Point. Again the drivers typically turn around once the last passenger disembarks or once the bus reaches Hutland Road. This is several miles short of reaching Rum Point! Then the bus makes it way back along the same route.

 

 

Routes #5 & #9 NS/EE Combined Loop These buses head out similar to the #3 and #8 lines above, but rather than turn around to backtrack, each makes a loop around the east tip of the island. These are the only routes that serve the Queen's Highway area around to the Gun Bay region. One heads to North Side first, the other goes to East End first.

 

 

The #3 and #8 routes operate more frequently (every 20-30 minutes or so) than the #5 and #9 combined loop routes (every 40-60 minutes?).

[Jey01]

Thank you SO much for the info. If we decide to do it we may bus it out there and cab it back to Georgetown and bus it back to SS later. I just asked my husband how he feels about left side driving and he said "I don't know about that!" I tried it once in the UK. Driving is very more instinctual than you think!!

[Jey01]

Is cayman calling country code the same as US? We may call the bus guys and see if they are coming back that way. We will be on vacation time anyways.

[Jey01]

Y'all have been so helpful! Thanks so much.

[jaga04]

Some snorkeling things: Governor's Beach has some snorkeling---at the level of, since you're there, you should try snorkeling there, but it wouldn't be worth going there mainly to snorkel.

 

You can take the bus north to Cemetery Beach, which has pretty good snorkeling.

 

Also, Eden Rock right in Georgetown. You can go into the water either from Eden Rock Dive Shop or Paradise Restaurant.

 

Another option for snorkeling by boat is to go to the barrier reef, but it's hard to get a trip that doesn't also go to Stingray City.

 

If I remember correctly, there is a small area at Governor's Beach, near the parking lot, with a few trees where you can get some shade if the spots aren't taken. Haven't been there in a few years, but we're going back in 11 days and counting, given that it is a lovely 0 degrees right now in western NY.

[Jey01]

I think we are going to take a tour with...six sense Eco tours maybe that's what it's called and go to Stingray sand bar, lunch at rum point and one other snorkel stop. All the above places are on my list too!! So excited! Governors beach is next to the Westin, across for sunshine suites, right? (I don't trust these online maps!) we may skip the east end just bc of travel issues, but it looks wonderful [emoji22] thanks for the info!

[jaga04]

Yes, Governor's Beach is just north of the Westin, across from Sunshine Suites.

[Jey01]

Awesome thanks. I just got an email from ocean frontier and they said they "strongly recommend a rental car." Looks like that ones a no go.

[Jey01]

We may take the bus to Georgetown and then cab it to smiths cove and then walk to sunset house and cab it back to sunshine. THAT sounds more "doable." Thanks so much for all yalls help! I just wish it were may 30 already lol

[drew sailbum]

Route #3 EE follows the south shore to the village of East End. The drivers typically turn around once the last passenger disembarks or once the bus reaches the Gun Bay area near Miss Vivines Restaurant. Then the bus makes its way back along the south shore. This would get you to Ocean Frontiers, but a return ride on the same route might be doubtful as the bus might have already turned around once emptied.

...

The #3 and #8 routes operate more frequently (every 20-30 minutes or so) than the #5 and #9 combined loop routes (every 40-60 minutes?).

 

Aargh. I knew something didn't look right when I wrote this. It's #4 to East End, not #3.

 

#5 & #9 are the combined loop routes.

 

 

 

Yes, the Cayman country dialing code is just like in the USA or Canada. 1+ area code + phone number. Cayman's area code is 345. Within Cayman all numbers are local and 7 digit dialing prevails.

[Jey01]

You have been such a big help thanks! Any suggestions on where to take the bus in east end? I'm scared to do a scheduled tour at a certain time. We may just go check it out on our own. One day there will be 12K cruisers there. Any suggestions for THAT day?!? Thanks so much

[candhmama]

We just discovered another reasonable place to eat as long as you get the special. In Georgetown facing the water is Guy Harvey's restaurant and they have a daily special for 9.99, you can check them out online so you know ahead of time. Tuesday's were crab cakes and dh had them last night and said they were great. The rest of the menu is more expensive though and you can only get the special upstairs. They also do half price drinks from 5-7 but you have to be in one of the bar areas (either upstairs or downstairs) and not out on the deck in order to get the half price drinks. So if you want the special and the happy hour you have to be upstairs and inside but it makes for a tasty reasonable evening

[jaga04]

One day there will be 12K cruisers there. Any suggestions for THAT day?!? Thanks so much

 

The pool at Sunshine Suites? Really, I think you will be fine as long as you don't go into Georgetown or the beach club places along SMB, like Royal Palms.

[SeaBands]

and stopped there a week ago while on our cruise. The place is very nice and has several buildings. Not close to the beach and no elevators but the price is quite good. The restaurant was very good and the portions were so large they could be shared and the drinks were well made. They seem to get a lot of bookings from people going to the island for medical reasons. We liked to room that they showed us but did not have a 1 bedroom as the place was booked solid. I think we will rent a car as cab fares can add up a lot. we have stayed on GC twice before and love being able to get there from tampa without a stop over or flight change.

[Jey01]

Getting there from south arkansas could be better lol!! I think that busy day we will either go to cemetery beach or to "my bar" and snorkel at the reef there. Guy Harvey's sounds great!! Thanks! We r planning on taking the bus a lot. It's a great bargain even tho SS isn't on the beach