Has anyone rented a car for the day?

[coconutmonkey]

I'm thinking of renting a car for the day to tour the island and go to Rum Point. Has anyone done this? Do you know how much the rental car costs and how close to the pier the car rental office is? How long does it take to circumnavigate the island? Are there key points of interest I should not miss? Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[09butterflygirl]

I rented a van, in 07 I think the price was around $110.00 for the day, booked it online before sailing , the rental car place picked us up at the Hard Rock and then took us to the office, we did go to rum point and that side of the island, the blow holes were neat for the kids, got some really nice pics of my kids along the beach, stopped when we wanted to and had lunch at rum point, nice ride, but they do drive on the opposite side of the road. I kept hitting the windshield wipers for the turning signal (stering wheel is also on the opposite side) and driving very close to packed cars and on coming traffic everyone kept their eyes closed including me, when I returned the van all my passengers fell out of the van and kissed the ground and ran for the docks. ( my daughter video tapes the whole ride, they still get a kick out of mom driving on the wrong side of the rode.

[coconutmonkey]

09butterflygirl, thanks for the info. Can you tell me how long it took to drive to Rum Point? Did you circumnavigate the island going to east end and west end and how long a drive was that? I'm trying to plan my time for the day. Regards

[bookbabe]

Taking the shorter route to Rum Point (via Frank Sound Road, which cuts across the middle of the island) takes about 45 minutes or so from Georgetown.

 

To see the blowholes and East End, you have to take the long way around, and that would likely double the trip time, so say an hour and a half or so? That's without any time factored in for stops, so add on however long you want for actual sightseeing. :D And keep in mind that's only the travel time TO Rum Point. Don't forget to leave yourself time for the drive back and the rental car return.

 

If you want to visit West Bay as well (where the turtle farm and Hell are) then you're probably going to double your drive time again. West Bay's in the opposite direction, and that's where most of the heavier traffic is.

 

Overall, both routes to Rum Point (via Frank Sound Road and via East End) are quite easy. It's very hard to get lost, and there's lots to see along the way.

[09butterflygirl]

coconut monkey we took the long route to Rum point stopping along the way and had lunch at the point, the short way ( across the Island) on the way back, did not go to the west end of island. if my memory is correct we rented the car at about 10:00am and returned it at about 1:30, this was enough time for us to stop at a few places and the kids even went for a swim at Rum point. Nice drive the east end of the island has less traffic and a very nice drive. Was even able to do a little shopping in George town before returning to the ship I would suggest the east end if you want to stay away from all the tourist. I live in an tourist area and always looking for area's out of the way when I travel.

[sunseeker09]

If you do rent a car to go to Rum Point, a nice place to stop for lunch is a restauarant called Over The Edge. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, lol, but it actually is over the water with a nice view. It's a quaint low key spot and had good food. Much better than the over priced burgers and stuff by the picnic tables at Rum Point.

[rjscott]

Sunseeker, thanks for the restaurant tip! We're planning to rent a car when we're on GC in Mar '10 and your advice is just what I've been looking for. :)