Land Vacation questions... car, buying drinks/cooler, more!

[sharp_cruiser]

This site is so helpful for planning even non-cruise based vacations, so I am hoping someone can help!

We are thinking of doing a land only vacation to GC. I have Marriott points so we will stay at the Marriott beach resort on 7 mile beach.

 

After reading this site, I am thinking of renting a car either for the whole week or part of. Seems I will save some money to get to all the different snorkeling beaches and other attractions. They drive on the left, correct? How long is a drive around the island?

 

Since we will be in a hotel and not a condo, we will have to find all of our own meals, and I want to keep have some money for my mortgage when I go home.

 

Is there a grocery store near by that we can get a few simple breakfast or lunch items? I don't think there is a fridge in the hotel (does anyone know the answer to that?), so I might like to get a cooler. Is there a close place to buy a cheap cooler to keep our items in? As far as eating in restaurants, we have read lots of tips on here and tripadvisor to find some restaurants with lower prices.

 

Last random question... stingray city. I see pictures of people standing on a sandbar and also floating with the stingrays. Does one tour drop you at the sand bar where others have you snorkel out in the open water with them?

 

Thanks for all of your help!

[twinkletoes4445]

We've stayed at the condos next door to the Marriott (Regal Beach Club). The Marriott is a nice facility. Red Sail operates out of there, so if you want to do any water sports, they're right there on location.

 

We always rent from Andy's. We pick up and drop off the car at their airport location. We always get a car that has the steering on the left (like at home). We figured we'd be familiar with where everything inside the car is located, and only have to worry about staying on the opposite side of the road. This works well for us.

 

As far as driving, we were surprised at how easy it was to do. The traffic does not move that quickly, and the Cayman drivers are very friendly. Just don't plan on getting anywhere quickly...no one is in a rush there. :)

 

http://www.andys.ky/

 

We usually shop at Foster's grocery (the one at The Strand). It's not too far from the Marriott, but you'd need a car. In fact, if you can swing it, I'd get a car for all of the time, or at least most of the time. You can probably get a cooler there to store your food. I don't know if the Marriott has refrigerators or not.

 

We also shopped at Kirk's (I think that was the the name of the grocery store), but we've only been there once so I can't give you the exact location. It's along the 7MB stretch though. We've also shopped at Hurley's...it's on the way to Rum Point.

 

I can't really tell you exactly how long it takes to drive around the island because when we go out, we seem to make a lot of stops. It is about 45-minutes non-stop each way from the port area to Rum Point. The great thing about Grand Cayman is you can feel safe going anywhere on the island. Just use the same safety precautions you'd use at home.

 

I always make a list of ships that will be in port on a given day, and we plan our activities around that. If there's a lot of ships, we generally take off and head for the other side of the island. Many nights, we go into town and have dinner at Breezes and watch the last of the ship passengers load up to leave.

 

The first time we went to Grand Cayman, we visited while we were on a cruise. That day, stingray sandbar was packed, and we happened to be in an area that was around 5 feet deep. All the other times we've been there, we were in water that was knee or thigh high.

 

When you see the people snorkeling above stingrays, they're probably at Stingray City. We've not been there. Most places, even though they say stingray city, are taking you to the sandbar. At the sandbar, you don't wear fins, only masks. The last time we were there, we were in very shallow water and didn't use the mask.

 

At Captain Marvin's we've done the short snorkel and the half day excursion. The shorter one you go to the Barrier Reef or the Coral Gardens, and the longer one goes to both.

 

http://www.captainmarvins.com/

 

I also contacted a video outfit to make sure they'd be on our excursion. They delivered the DVD to our condo a couple of days after the excursion. It's amazing.

 

e-mail address: vip@candw.ky

 

tel. 1 345 945 1561

VIP Productions

P.O.Box 31179 SMB

[twinkletoes4445]

You might also check out Cayman Activity Guide (www dot cayman activity guide dot com). I think you may have to register to view the forum. There's tons of info there, and tons of photos.

 

However, they only recommend establishments or products that pay for advertising, so keep that in mind when looking there. You'll get a more balanced view of all of these types of things here at CC, but CAG is worth a look at just for what they do have posted.

 

You can also pick up a CAG booklet at the airport. There's a booth just before you get to the luggage conveyor belt, so I'd grab one.

[sharp_cruiser]

Thank you for that very detailed post! I appreciate your patience in answering questions that you have probably heard many times.

 

I will investigate all you have recommended but I think we are sold on the car. I think we'll be able to buy a cheap cooler and load up on a few things at the grocery store too, that will help out a bit.

 

And great tip for the cruise ship schedule. I checked that when we recenlty went to Alaska (although had no control over it). We did luck out and were in port with one ship at a time or even all alone. It did make a difference in the city. We will save the "touristy" trips for non-ship days!

[twinkletoes4445]

Here's a shop that we love. It's about a mile out of town (the opposite direction from 7MB).

 

http://www.pureart.ky/

 

Here's the port authority site. For the most part, we find this to be correct. The good news is that they are limiting the number of ships that they allow to visit the island. One time where we were there, there were 11 ships on two different days. Crazy.

 

http://www.caymanport.com/schedule.htm

 

I'm sure you'll find what you need in the way of a cooler. I think you'll enjoy having a car the whole week. We toodle all over the island exploring on our own. And I am a big CHICKEN when it comes to getting out and about on our own in a foreign country, but I have no problems doing this on GC.

 

We love Coconut Joe's restaurant. It's just across the street and up a teeny bit from the Marriott. We ate there several times. I think the Marriott has a wonderful brunch, although we never did make it over to try.

 

And I think the Marriott offers a Friday night shindig next to the water. I believe this is held at the Courtyard Marriott, and you need to make reservations. It looks like fun and I think we're going to do this next time.

 

Here's a restaurant guide. I don't think every restaurant is listed, but this will give you a good idea of what they have there. There's also a company that delivers from some of these restaurants, or at least they did. I'll look around and see if I can find the brochure. You can just give them a call and they'll be at your door with the food.

 

http://www.caymanrestaurants.com/

[twinkletoes4445]

If you go to Fosters at The Strand (through the main door)...keep walking past the cash registers, and you'll enter another part of the store (it seems like it's a different store). There's a section that has all sorts of local foods. We found these really good cookies that are Jamaican. They were quite tasty.

 

Have a fun trip! :)

[bookbabe]

Here's another restaurant site that I find particularly helpful...

http://www.caymangoodtaste.com/

[twinkletoes4445]

Here's another restaurant site that I find particularly helpful...

http://www.caymangoodtaste.com/

 

That is a good one. Thanks for posting that, bookbabe. :)