Grand Cayman beach options

[aliciamakino]

Hi! Mom of 3 yr old and 8 yr old looking for best beach option in grand cayman. We are on limited options for excursions due to ages. There appears to be 3 options:
Rum Point, the most expensive and furthest to get to.
Coral beach- negative reviews, no beach just stairs entry
White house getway- mixed reviews, also requires stairs to enter.

Anybody have recommendations? I can't decide and reading too many negative reviews has me hesitant to book anything. Please help!

 

[5Texans]

I booked a private charter on Grand Cayman w/ my 5, 3 and 15 month olds last time we were in Cayman. The Captain enabled us to to all of the best things w/ no crowds and in a way appropriate for the baby. We went to starfish beach, which is great because it is very calm and the water is shallow, Rum Point and one more beach. He even brought some fish and helped us feed stingrays, just the 5 of us! We used the facilities at Rum point and had lunch there too. It was more, but not that much more that a Disney shore excursion.

 

[greensombrero]

We went to 7 mile beach on our own recently with my 4 kids (ages 7-15) and it was a nice beach we thought. Good sand and nice water. We didn’t plan to stay super long but really enjoyed the time we spent there and were glad we went.

Not a ton of amenities ie it is a public beach. There were people renting chairs, selling drinks etc but it isn’t a formal “beach club” and the restrooms were more like state park restrooms is how I’d describe them. They had outdoor showers to wash sand off too.

We just took the public bus from the depot a short walk from the port. The driver was super helpful and we had fun visiting with the other passengers, it was a very international group with passengers from other ships in port. Coming back the bus even turned around to get us when they saw us walking out of the beach parking lot rather than making us wait for the next one (they run every 15 minutes or so). You could also get a cab from the port.

Just another option if you don’t like any of the excursion options.

 

[Keyser]

[Looks like Greensombrero posted something similar while I was writing this!]
You could consider (seriously) just skipping the excursions and going to 7-mile beach on your own. Admittedly we did so with kids that were older, but it was really easy. It's a really long (probably 7 miles...) beach that's not very far from the ship, and there are buses (I guess you'd call them) that basically drive up and down the road parallel to the beach. There are places all up and down the beach where you can just go and hang out for however long you want. There are people around who will (for a small fee - cash needed) set up umbrellas and/or chairs. And, there were places that would sell food/drinks. There were also lots of people with inflatable playsets in the water (you'd have to pay to use one), etc. But, if your goal is to spend good beach time, you really don't need to do the excursions to do it. I still think that was the best beach I've ever been to, anywhere, and for once we didn't plan the details ahead. FYI, you can actually look at the beach on Google Maps!

Excursions will have the benefit of bringing you to places that they consider good spots, and will probably also include food, and maybe have some other activities, all with a planned schedule and guaranteed transportation. But, you'll be paying a lot for it, and it may be more limiting in terms of what you can do than if you just go to the beach on your own.

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

Like mentioned we also just took the bus to public beach section of seven mile, super easy and took around 10/15 mins, was $2.50 each, decided to do this as where we’d previously gone on seven mile beach and loved had shut down and had heard Coral beach club wasn’t great with it not being easy to just access the sea, it’s sad to see the difference in the beach from our first visit in 2018 and recent visit back in November due to damage from hurricane but the section at public beach was nice, plenty of sand area, no issues walking into and enjoying the sea, you can just pop your towels down on the sand or rent chairs

 

[brentm77]

Hi! Mom of 3 yr old and 8 yr old looking for best beach option in grand cayman. We are on limited options for excursions due to ages. There appears to be 3 options:
Rum Point, the most expensive and furthest to get to.
Coral beach- negative reviews, no beach just stairs entry
White house getway- mixed reviews, also requires stairs to enter.

Anybody have recommendations? I can't decide and reading too many negative reviews has me hesitant to book anything. Please help!

We really liked the Rum Point excursion. It started by gathering on the ship like usual, then being led to a bus, the bus doing a short drive through the city to a marina. We boarded a catamaran, which sailed to Rum point (I think about 45 minutes, but I don't recall). They had drinks and a bathroom available. It was hot and there was limited shade. The beach at Rum Point wasn't the prettiest we have been too, but it was still scenic and had pretty good swimming. It felt pretty isolated and not too crowded. It had a decent bar and a shop. The lunch provided didn't look great and we ended up skipping it because we weren't hungry. I don't remember how long the beach stay was, but it was probably only 2-3 hours. On the way back they raised the sail to try and take us sailing a bit, but the wind wasn't good enough.

Family traveling with us just made there way to Seven Mile Beach and said they had a blast. They had beach time and loved picking a place for lunch and shopping. We will likely try that next time instead.

If the young kids would enjoy the boat, I think Rum Point would be fun. But it may come down to whether they enjoy that type of thing. 3 seems a little young for that long of a ride and I would personally probably opt for a self-guided day at Seven Mile and going out to lunch. Grand Cayman is very upscale and felt safe and clean.

 

[aliceinvunderland]

FWIW, all beaches on Grand Cayman are public up to the high water mark, including the beaches in front of the resorts. So if you aren’t concerned about getting a lounger, you can head to any hotel beach and park yourself there. The Westin has a great beach and a poolside restaurant/bar that is open to the public. (There’s a trail to the beach just to the left side of the hotel so you don’t have to go through the hotel. Just look for the “public beach access” sign.) Don’t waste your time going to Rum Point unless you are more interested in the sailing part. It is super “produced” and manufactured for tourists/cruise passengers and not all that nice.

Our favorite way to see the best spots is to charter a private boat for the day. It’s not too expensive, esp when you compare it to the cost of a DCL excursion, and they will take you to all the best places and be able to time it so that you dodge the biggest tour groups!

 

[DisneyJade]

I booked a private charter on Grand Cayman w/ my 5, 3 and 15 month olds last time we were in Cayman. The Captain enabled us to to all of the best things w/ no crowds and in a way appropriate for the baby. We went to starfish beach, which is great because it is very calm and the water is shallow, Rum Point and one more beach. He even brought some fish and helped us feed stingrays, just the 5 of us! We used the facilities at Rum point and had lunch there too. It was more, but not that much more that a Disney shore excursion.

Do you mind sharing who you booked with and whether you would book again?
Also, were you able to determine the hours and customize the itinerary? If we book private, we want to make sure we get off the ship in time (after concierge & Disney bookings) and also get back in plenty of time before departure. We want to do exactly what you did: starfish, stingrays, Rum Point and a more beachy beach.

 

[ldo]

We just got back. Beaches eroded a lot from Ian. We knew we wanted Public Beach, as research said best post-Ian option. We Took the 16 person taxi cab (ask port agents where to go-just to the right of the main walkway) $6pp to Public Beach. Very crowded. Many chairs/umbrellas set up in rows $25 for 2 loungers/umbrella. Lots of cruise families.
Facing ocean to the far left is less crowded and near Bathrooms (concrete floors, basic, but fine), outside showers and food trucks with food. I’d Bring your own sand toys and a cheap blow up float for kids to play. Great sandy breach. Beautiful clear water.
A very polite vendor or two wander might by, but will not hassle you. And you’ll feel very safe. Then just walk to where taxi buses let off to go back. An excellent day-and we are fairly picky. I’d do this again if I wanted a beach day.

 

[aliceinvunderland]

Do you mind sharing who you booked with and whether you would book again?
Also, were you able to determine the hours and customize the itinerary? If we book private, we want to make sure we get off the ship in time (after concierge & Disney bookings) and also get back in plenty of time before departure. We want to do exactly what you did: starfish, stingrays, Rum Point and a more beachy beach.

We have used Cobalt Custom Charters and would highly recommend. They were very accommodating and super easy to communicate with. They were flexible with hours and which stops we wanted to do, even on the day of the charter. And it’s fully refundable if the ship skips the port or there are weather issues. If you have young kids, you might want to stop at Kaibo Grill for lunch. There’s a dock you can pull up to and a great beach with lots of toys and very calm water to play in while you wait for your food. It’s just around the point from Rum Point, but it’s never been crowded when we’ve been there. It’s also our favorite restaurant in Cayman!

 

[DisneyJade]

We have used Cobalt Custom Charters and would highly recommend. They were very accommodating and super easy to communicate with. They were flexible with hours and which stops we wanted to do, even on the day of the charter. And it’s fully refundable if the ship skips the port or there are weather issues. If you have young kids, you might want to stop at Kaibo Grill for lunch. There’s a dock you can pull up to and a great beach with lots of toys and very calm water to play in while you wait for your food. It’s just around the point from Rum Point, but it’s never been crowded when we’ve been there. It’s also our favorite restaurant in Cayman!

Thank you!

 

[5Texans]

Do you mind sharing who you booked with and whether you would book again?
Also, were you able to determine the hours and customize the itinerary? If we book private, we want to make sure we get off the ship in time (after concierge & Disney bookings) and also get back in plenty of time before departure. We want to do exactly what you did: starfish, stingrays, Rum Point and a more beachy beach.

It was through Outrage tours w/ Caps John Michael. I can't find him post pandemic unfortunately. He was great! This was my favorite day maybe of any vacation we've taken.

 

[DisneyJade]

It was through Outrage tours w/ Caps John Michael. I can't find him post pandemic unfortunately. He was great! This was my favorite day maybe of any vacation we've taken.

Thanks! I’ll search for him to see if he makes comeback.

 

[aliciamakino]

We just got back. Beaches eroded a lot from Ian. We knew we wanted Public Beach, as research said best post-Ian option. We Took the 16 person taxi cab (ask port agents where to go-just to the right of the main walkway) $6pp to Public Beach. Very crowded. Many chairs/umbrellas set up in rows $25 for 2 loungers/umbrella. Lots of cruise families.
Facing ocean to the far left is less crowded and near Bathrooms (concrete floors, basic, but fine), outside showers and food trucks with food. I’d Bring your own sand toys and a cheap blow up float for kids to play. Great sandy breach. Beautiful clear water.
A very polite vendor or two wander might by, but will not hassle you. And you’ll feel very safe. Then just walk to where taxi buses let off to go back. An excellent day-and we are fairly picky. I’d do this again if I wanted a beach day.

Did the taxi just drop u off at 7 mile beach public access?

 

[ldo]

They are taxi buses-minivans that hold from 12-16 persons. Yes. Drop off is at the parking lot with other taxicabs there. It’s a short walk to the sand—it’s obvious and lots of people doing the same thing. Easy, safe.