Can I do Stingray City AND the beach?

[Beachiekeen]

I want to do Stingray City and then spend the rest of the day at 7-mile beach (Royal Palms). I don't want to snorkel, shop or go to He*l or the turtle farm, I just want to see the stingrays. We are in GC from 7-4 in February 2016 and there are 4 ships total in port.

 

I've started looking at tours but they all include snorkeling or some other activity. I've looked at the RC ship excursion, Native Way and Captain Marvin's. It's a little confusing because I don't know what ship time vs. local time is. I see a Native Way tour that ends at 12:30 and a tour with Captain Marvin that doesn't start until 1:45--so I was thinking we could go to the beach maybe before or after (Captain Marvin has an 8:30am tour but I don't think it runs in February). But I don't know how to get back and forth and how much time to allow.

 

Has anyone done this or could help with logistics? If I do the Native Way tour that ends at 12:30, would I have enough time to make it to Royal Palms and then back to the ship by 3:30? There is also a Native Way tour that takes you to Rum Point Beach (?) but I'm not sure how much beach time you get.

Edited June 22, 2015 by Beachiekeen

[LiveToCruise99]

We have been to Grand Cayman a few times and you do have lots of options. Many of the tours (ship tours or shore purchased tours) will drop you off at Seven Mile Beach after if requested. One such tour took us out for a 3 hour tour of snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays. We were dropped off around noon on seven mile beach, spent a couple of hours on the beach and brought the local bus back to the port. Another time we used a ships tour that was just stingray city and that tour brought us back to the port. They did not go past seven mile beach so the drop off wasn't offered, but we would have had plenty of time to get a taxi to the beach if we desired.

 

What ever you do have a great time. I love Grand Cayman.

[cb at sea]

If you're booking a ship's excursion, you do NOT have to worry about the time AT ALL...they go by "ship's time"..and so should you, even on a private tour! Ship's time is ALL that matters!

 

You can go to Stingray City on your own...$45 per adult....but it does appear to be a 3 hour minimum with the snorkel time. The local bus service is cheap and easy to use!

 

Afte 3 hours in the strong Cayman sun, are you ready for more sun at the beach? If so, you'll have ample time!

Edited June 22, 2015 by cb at sea

[Beachiekeen]

Well I feel like I just HAVE to see 7-mile beach. But I would love to see the stingrays too. RC has an excursion that will take us to Tiki Beach after the stingrays but it's expensive and still includes snorkeling. Plus it never seems like the ship excursions have that great of reviews.

[drew sailbum]

The VAST majority of trips to the Stingrays also include a stop at a nearby site for further snorkeling. The snorkeling stop typically adds 30 to 45 minutes in total to the time of the trip. I know time is limited, but I'd just take a tour that does the rays plus one more snorkeling stop and then returns.

 

Most of those tours depart from marinas located north of Royal Palms. They will be happy to drop you at the beach on the way back to the port since they are driving right past anyway. It would then be your responsibility to take a taxi or bus back to the port.

 

In February the time on island will be the same as Miami time, Eastern Standard Time. So assuming your ship departs from south Florida then ship time should be the same as island time.

 

Finally, even if it was a different time of the year, Cayman is set to start using Daylight Savings Time as of 2016, probably in March. Details to come, but hopefully they will implement it on the same dates as the States.

 

Still to be finalized. Soon come.

[Beachiekeen]

Thank you--we are actually sailing out of Galveston but that is still helpful.