Transportation for the day

[Ekelley8804]

Hey all, 

We will be in Grand Cayman in December from 10-6PM on a Tuesday. There are 5 of us, two adults and three young adults, one of whom is turning 21 the day we arrive in Grand Cayman. We are trying to find the best way to get around the island for the day. I’m concerned with tendering, and how long that will realistically take. The BF is interested in going to the caves, the rest of us may go to appease him but I’m not convinced since a few reviews I’ve read have mentioned bats. We are also hoping to go to one of the beaches and maybe the blowholes? I found a super cheap rate for a rental car from the airport. Is there enough time to pick this up, get back to the boat to pick everyone up and go around the island a bit, drop it off and get back to the ship? It feels too tight but never having been there before I’m not sure of the alternatives… or should we just give it up and snorkel with the cruise line for a couple hours?

[bookbabe]

It’s doable, but you won’t have a ton of time at any stops.  
 

Assuming you get onto one of the first tenders, allow an hour to get off the ship and get to the airport and get the car.  Another hour will get you out to the caves.  Say an hour at the caves, that brings you to 1pm.  

 

If you take the long route back around East End (turn left in Old Man Bay instead of following the road as it curves right to take you back the way you came) that will take you past a few beaches and the blowholes on your way back to town.  

 

If your ship leaves at 6pm, you’d want to be dropping off the car at 4-4:30pm depending on your comfort level with the timings and assuming the last tender is 5:30pm.  The actual driving part of going around East End from the caves back to town would take a conservative 1.5 hours, allowing for slower driving based on unfamiliar territory and lower comfort level driving on the opposite side of the road.  So that plan would give you a couple of hours of visit time at a beach.  The blowholes take 10 min tops, just for some photo ops, and they’re on the way so it’s an easy stop.

 

So it’s doable, as long as you get off the ship right away and you watch the time to allow lots of time to drop the car back off and get back to the port.  Any delays would shorten the beach time, but personally I find that drive around the East End loop really interesting as a tour of its own, so I’m always happy to drive it just to sightsee without stopping anywhere other than that few minutes at the blowholes.  (We have a house at Rum Point, so I always try to convince DH to “take the long way” at least once a trip when we are headed to town for groceries and such.)

 

However, if you haven’t done Stingray City that’s an easy excursion either through the ship or a private company, and it’s on my list as the number one thing to do in Cayman.

 

[Ekelley8804]

Thank you so much for all the information! It is greatly appreciated. That definitely feels too rushed I think. How long would it take to get to the 7 mile beach location instead of the airport for a vehicle? Would it be better to all go there together or send one person to pick up the car and come back for the others? Or is there public access to the beach nearby so maybe the rest of us can hang out there while someone picks up the car? I have no idea what the taxis are like or might cost. We’ve also never been to a port where we’ve had to tender so this will be a new experience for us, I have no idea how long that might take or how early we’ll be able to get onshore. I do believe there are supposed to be quite a few ships in port that day unfortunately. Do you have any other suggestions for a beach besides 7 mile or a spot there that might not be crazy crowded? 
I thought Stingray City might be interesting but the BF is not into it. I tried to explain that it’s pretty safe but he’s not convinced after the Steve Irwin incident.

[bookbabe]

A lot depends on how fast you can get onto the tender, either with priority access of some kind or by lining up, maybe ask in your cruise line forum to see what their tenders process is like, whether you need tickets or line up or what.  
 

A rental car won’t be that much quicker to get at any location, you’ll need a taxi if the rental company doesn’t offer a shuttle.  Then there’s all the paperwork and such.   You won’t save much time by having only one person go, since they’d then have to fight downtown traffic to pick the rest of you up.

 

Stingray City is very safe.  Totally different breed of rays, and very used to human interaction.  We’ve taken toddlers out to swim with them without any issues.  But if he can’t be convinced, it is what it is.  If you search for Stingray City posts by me in this forum, I did post a good “is Stingray City safe” explanation a few years back which could give you some more detailed info to share with him. ***edit…posts that old don’t seem to show up, I’ll try to dig up the blurb in my files and repost it
 

Beaches are easy, there’s lots of spots you could just grab a cab to, but the crowd levels will be higher with lots of ships in port, especially for the beaches that are easiest to get to.  There’s lots of info in the other beach-related threads here.  You wouldn’t need a rental car for that.

 

There’s also the option of booking a private excursion to see the sights, which could even include stuff like the caves.  Try Cayman Safari - https://www.caymansafari.com - they have lots of options and I believe they will do custom tours for private groups too.  I’ve never tried them, we have a car there, but I’ve seen their vehicles out and about on cruise ship days.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by bookbabe

[bookbabe]

Found it on an archived thread, thanks to the power of Google…. 😉

 

Dangerous Stingrays? (Bookbabe's standard answer to questions about stingray safety 😄 )

 

Stingrays are generally non-aggressive. When threatened, their first reaction is to swim away. This is easy for them to do at Stingray City, since it's just a section of open ocean and the stingrays aren't penned up in any way. They don't just attack you and sting you (although they can be fairly enthusiastic and/or boisterous in their quest for squid chunks). They may sting you by reflex/accident if you step on one. That's why you are not permitted to wear water shoes at Stingray City, and why you are told to shuffle your feet rather than lift them, so that you will not accidententally step on one.

 

There are many, many types of rays. Steve Irwin was stung by a bull ray, a totally different type than the southern rays at Stingray City. It is also suggested that what killed him wasn't the sting itself, but the fact that he was stung in the chest and then pulled out the barb. There is also the issue that the bull ray was a wild ray and unused to people, while the Stingray City southern rays have spent years and years learning that people are not the enemy, they're a ready source of squid snacks. 

 

For most stings, which are extremely rare, Wikipedia says that the remedy is usually hot water to dilute the venom plus antibiotics. I don't personally know anyone who has ever been stung, so I just have to trust my research on that part of the issue.

 

From my experience at Stingray City, which is fairly extensive, the usual "injuries" from stingrays involve "hickeys" from the suction of their mouths during a search for squid (say when your DH has stuffed a chunk of squid down your bathing suit for fun) or accidental scrapes from their tails when they swim by you too fast looking for squid and the tail kind of whips against you. These injuries are very minor, though, and are far from life-threatening.

 

You'll notice the common element here is squid. Stingrays at Stingray City are only interested in one thing...the snacks that they know you've brought with you. No squid = no stingray attention at all. They're worse than cats that way. If you aren't giving them treats, they've got very little interest in you. They may swim by, just to double-check for squid, but as soon as they realize you haven't got any, they'll swim away again fairly quickly. If you are at all nervous about them, stay away from the squid and the stingrays will stay away from you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingrays

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Irwin#Death

 

I've been to Stingray City dozens of times, and never had a problem with the stingrays. (With my DH, sure, but never the rays. 😄 ) It's very safe as long as you behave with respect and common sense.