What can you tell me about 7 Mile Beach in Grand Cayman?

[Karshrimp]

I did a "search" but it was bringing up other beaches, so I will just ask straight out. Do they have a website? Where is it located from where you come ashore at Georgetown? The best way to get there? Cost? What all does the cost include? Just the general questions...:) Anything else you want to throw in will be welcomed!

Thanks!! Happy July 4th to all!

[Karshrimp]

I apologize...I meant to post this in the "Ports of Call" section! No more Margarita's for me today!! ;)

[TanIslandGirl]

Hi Karen,

I have cruised the Triumph to Grand Cayman and fell in love with 7 mile beach. We are repeating the same exact cruise again this January. I will try to answer a few of your questions. When you arrive at Georgetown you do have to tender by water taxi. This was a very well run tender. We did have our stingray encounter booked direct thru Carnival so we were one of the first to get off the ship. On that cruise they started letting us off the ship at 7:30am and we were off and with our tour operater by 8:00. If you do not have your excursion booked thru Carnival I would expect if everything went well & tendering was not delayed you would probably be able to make it to your private booked excursion by 8:00. These tour operators deal with this all the time so I would email them and tell them you will do your best to meet them by 8:00 but you might be a few minutes late if tendering is delayed.

When in Georgetown 7 mile beach is pretty close to the center of town where the tender boats drop off the passengers. I think a taxi ride to the beach area we went to was $3.00 a person (March 2005). The area of 7 mile beach that we went to was where The Royal Palms Beach Resort is located. The beach is free to enter. This area had lockers, showers, bathrooms, etc There were no water sport items but to me that was a good thing. Chairs were provided on the beach. The water was the most beautiful shade of blue and off in a distance we could see our ship. Ahhhhhh, I cant wait to go back. We ate lunch at the Royal Palms lunch stand, we had burgers that were $10. each, we didnt care, we are on vacation and are used to that. I think the cab ride was less than 5 minutes from the tender drop off to this beach.

If there is anything else I can answer for you I will try my best.

Susan:)

[Brute Bandit]

Is the beach close enough to walk from the ship?

[Coolcruise02]

I'm not good at mileage, but I would say at least a mile from the start of seven mile beach to the pier. You can not walk the beach the whole way. Closer to town you have to get on the sidewalk. Hope that helps. :)

[Excited about Cruising]

I too Loved 7 Mile Beach. We went to Stingray first then walked about three blocks to the beach. We walked back to our ship. Alot of the way was on the beach....it took us about 45 minutes to walk with 3 kids.

[cliosmom]

So I don't get it...why does Carnival charge $23.00 to go to this beach? (and you still have to take your own taxi.) What are you getting for the 23.00?

 

Thanks!

 

Jeannene

[twinkletoes4445]

So I don't get it...why does Carnival charge $23.00 to go to this beach? (and you still have to take your own taxi.) What are you getting for the 23.00?

 

Thanks!

 

Jeannene

 

You probably get a chair and a drink...or something like that. If it were me, I'd just grab a cab and get there on my own. I wouldn't book this excursion through the ship. You can do this tour cheaper on your own (as with all the other tours you book). Grand Cayman is a safe place. It's a place you can just grab your own cab and go where you want. Probably the only way I do this beach excursion through the ship is if there are a lot of ships in port...which might make it tougher to get a cab. We were there this past January, and on two days, there were nine ships in port. George Town was a madhouse.

 

You might also think about Sea Grape. It's a place like Royal Palms, but REd Sail operates out of there so you could rent waverunner, and things like that (if you're interested). The cab drivers don't like going there since it's a bit farther down on 7MB.

[finoky]

We always go to Sea Grape beach. It's at the far end of Seven Mile beach and very easy to get to by cab on your own.

[katie286]

How long is the taxi ride from the Pier to Sea Grapes? What should we expect to pay to get there? We will be a party of probably 6 people.

[twinkletoes4445]

How long is the taxi ride from the Pier to Sea Grapes? What should we expect to pay to get there? We will be a party of probably 6 people.

 

It depends on the traffic...but I'd say it's a 10-15 minute drive to get to Sea Grape. Just allow extra time to get back to the port area when leaving. We drove past there many times, while we were there, and always saw cabs lined up waiting to take passengers back to the port. The week we were there, the Ritz had just opened and traffic seemed to always be stalled in front of the place. Don't know if it's because it just opened or what...but traffic was a mess. But don't let that worry you...just allow time to get back. One night we were eating dinner at Breezes, and the couple behind us was sitting there drinking as they kept an eye on their tender line. When it shortened, they made a beeline over there and got on the tender. Not sure I'd be that brave...but it worked for them. :)

 

As for charges...I've not been there, just driven by it many times...but from what I have read, there are no charges. If you want to rent a chair, you can do that. But you could just toss your towel on the sand for free. There's also food, restrooms and Red Sail is there with their water toy rentals.

 

If we were to visit Grand Cayman on a cruise ship again, we'd probably make a beeline for this place. It really looked nice and I've read so many positive things about it. The only problem I've read is that the cabs don't like to go that far, and some, have dropped passengers off at other locations. The cabs charge per person, each way, so their goal is to drop off and get back to the port quickly for more passengers (and I would imagine especially on a day when there are a lot of ships in port).

 

Sea Grape is past the Hyatt, and past the new Ritz. It's across the street from the Courtyard Marriott (the Marriott isn't on the beach, but across the street facing the ocean), so make sure if you get a cab, that they take you there. :)

[finoky]

The cab fare on the return trip was $4 per person. We were dropped off there by Nativeway after swimming with the stinigrays.

[cruislovin]

Does anyone know if there is snorkeling at Sea Grape? If so, how is it?

 

Last trip we went to Cemetery Beach for snorkeling. It was ok but we didn't see much. The beach is goregeous but there are no services there. We would like a beach with better snorkeling.