Grand Cayman Island - Thoughts Please

[AlmostRetired]

I Booked the hotel using Bonvoy. Some of those points came from Marriott timeshare use, so kind of remotely related to Marriott timeshare.
My ad hoc vacation plans are always tied to my dog sitter getting a cancellation. Last week she became available in December. I have a little expiring rental points so between that and having someone rents a couple of days for me using expiring points, I have a unit at the GO for a non holiday week in December. Done deal, can't be undone. Having too much time on my hands, a wife still recovering from her second knee replacement and not having had a vacation with just the two of us in a bit, I started playing the "where can we go with my Jetblue points" game. Turns out the round trip to Savannah is a little less than a roundtrip to Grand Cayman. The Westin and Ritz or more than double of the Marriott points I have, the Marriott is booked using points as is the airlines. This can be undone.

From what I read, the beach at the Marriott is gone thanks to hurricanes and beach erosion. They offer a shuttle service to two nearby beaches, one being Public Beach (not a public beach which it may actually be one). I can rent a car using my Hertz IBM discount for less than 400 for the week but I read taxi service is reasonable so a car is not needed unless I want to rent for a day or 2 to explore.

So Thoughts on
- The Grand Cayman for vacationing
- Staying at the Marriott
- It seems that the Island has a fair amount of good restaurants. Is this the case and do you have recommendations.
- Is it worth exploring the island for a day or 2 by renting a car? What is there to see.
- The Marriott is on the 7 mile beach stretch. There are others beaches on that stretch, can you recommend any?

Thanks

 

[vacation dreaming]

I have only stayed at the Westin for a long weekend and visited the Ritz for lunch on a cruise visit, but I had a very favorable impression of the island and loved the big wide 7 mile beach for walking, swimming, lounging. I tend to value beachfront locations so to me, the extra points for Westin or Ritz are worth the location difference.

 

[easyrider]

So Thoughts on
- The Grand Cayman for vacationing
- Staying at the Marriott
- It seems that the Island has a fair amount of good restaurants. Is this the case and do you have recommendations.
- Is it worth exploring the island for a day or 2 by renting a car? What is there to see.
- The Marriott is on the 7 mile beach stretch. There are others beaches on that stretch, can you recommend any?

If you are staying on Seven Mile Beach there are all kinds of restaurants and tourist activities. Yes, it's worth exploring the Island on your own. They drive the left lane like England and there are many roundabouts. The rental car we had was set up for right lane driving like in the USA so driving was easy enough. From Hell to Rum Point there are many places to visit. Hell is popular because you can send postcards from the Hell post office. Rum Point is on the other side of the Island and is a laid back bay area. Sting ray city is one of the tours we liked.

Bill

 

[Skyyblueplaya]

My friend sent me a postcard from Hell LMAO
I am always looking for a good excuse to visit the Islands. In my work I see places available through our employee booking site for Grand Cayman at very reasonable prices.
I'd love to hear more about the things you find!

 

[b2bailey]

My one and only trip to Grand Cayman was one of my all time favorite beach vacations -- and I've traveled to Hawaii and Mexico
at least 10 times each. I was able to stay on 7 Mile Beach. Didn't rent a car. Took two tours.

 

[tamu_bu]

Went a number of years ago. For transport after check in, we rented mopeds and found them to be all we needed. Went everywhere we wanted on the Western side of the island. I second the vote for staying in Seven Mile Beach, if possible.

 

[easyrider]

I'd love to hear more about the things you find!

We were at a bar and decided to hire a private boat to take us snorkeling at sting ray city , the lobster grounds and the fern grotto. Back then it was about $600 for a half day. We talked to people drinking at the bar and found three additional couples for a total of ten people. We left early enough to beat the tour boats and had stingray city and other places to ourselves. It was nice as there were no safety rules enforced such as life jackets so we could dive below the surface and goof around. They did have life jackets if you wanted one.

If it wasn't for the very long flights we would go back. For us its easier to go to Hawaii or Mexico.

Bill

 

[mjm1]

We vacationed on the island several years ago, but were on the other side of the island so needed a car. We visited the Marriott and Westin on 7 Mile Beach and could easily see staying at either one of the resorts. We wouldn’t rent a car except for a day or so to explore.

The one tour that we did was out to Sting Ray City and we enjoyed th experience.

 

[b2bailey]

We were at a bar and decided to hire a private boat to take us snorkeling at sting ray city , the lobster grounds and the fern grotto. Back then it was about $600 for a half day. We talked to people drinking at the bar and found three additional couples for a total of ten people. We left early enough to beat the tour boats and had stingray city and other places to ourselves. It was nice as there were no safety rules enforced such as life jackets so we could dive below the surface and goof around. They did have life jackets if you wanted one.

If it wasn't for the very long flights we would go back. For us its easier to go to Hawaii or Mexico.

Bill

Agree -- the long flight from California is a major reason I haven't returned. We were living in Atlanta when I went.

 

[Skyyblueplaya]

Agree -- the long flight from California is a major reason I haven't returned. We were living in Atlanta when I went.

Im in SWFL I could almost swim there if I could swim (Not). So for me that's more feasable than Hawaii.
It's pretty cool to check out the places that arent talked about much, I want to go to Sint Maartin, Anguilla, Trinidad and Tobago, etc. So thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

[Skyyblueplaya]

Also, Snorkelling, that's just when you stick your head under right? Scuba is the one that requires all the classes and strength training or whatever... What im asking is, is snorkeling something one with moderate health could pick up and do?

 

[easyrider]

Also, Snorkelling, that's just when you stick your head under right? Scuba is the one that requires all the classes and strength training or whatever... What im asking is, is snorkeling something one with moderate health could pick up and do?

If you haven't tried snorkeling this late in life you might not want to now. It's an easy activity and if you decide to try it you might want to try it at home in Florida first. Sting Ray city isn't really a snorkel tour. It's a sand bar out in the ocean where sting rays gather. You stand in waist deep water and with our private tour our boat owner wedged the boat onto the sand bar. We were able to hold the smaller sting rays which when given a squeeze are like squirt guns. Our guide put squid juice on us to attract the sting rays. I'm not sure what the licensed tour guides do. Maybe they are snorkeling to the sand bar because of the size of the boat.

Bill

 

[b2bailey]

Also, Snorkelling, that's just when you stick your head under right? Scuba is the one that requires all the classes and strength training or whatever... What im asking is, is snorkeling something one with moderate health could pick up and do?

Yes, regarding snorkeling. I've done it many times.
One time they were offering a free intro SCUBA class in a hotel pool.
After 10 minutes I gave up -- too difficult.
I admire those who can do it.

 

[AlmostRetired]

The number of points for the Marriott is 265,000. The points for the Westin is 510,000. The Ritz points are even more. I do not have the points difference in my account and even it I did, it is not worth it to me. Using some combination of points and $ is also not worth it. We are staying at the Marriott and I renting a hertz car at a good rate using my IBM retire discount. I found a place that sells beach chairs and beach umbrellas and a place that rents it for the week allowing me to take them. Will decide based on the quality/cost of each choice. They will be kept in the car during the week and left at the hotel front desk or at hertz if I purchase it . Like St Thomas, my wife and I will explore the island and different beaches. I love the idea of visiting Hell and getting postcards. A subset will go to people who I will write you should go to hell. What is the saying "many a true thing is said in jest". I am not sure of how the roads are on the island but in St Thomas we took taxi's at night. I am okay doing this again. Thanks for the input.

 

[JIMinNC]

Grand Cayman is a food lover's paradise. So many great restaurants. They call it the culinary capital of the Caribbean. We were last there in January 2023 and stayed at the Westin on Steve Mile Beach. The Caribbean Lobster on Grand Cayman is amazingly good. I think we had some twist on lobster either as an appetizer or entree almost every night. Here are some recommendations:

Grand Old House
Lobster Pot
The Wharf
Calypso Grill
Casanova
Ristorante Pappagallo

We only touched the surface.

If the Caymans had a Marriott or Hilton timeshare, we would go every year, just for the food.

 

[AlmostRetired]

We decided to move from the Marriott to the Westin. The Marriott was 258K points and the Westin is now 480K. We used all the points in our account and took advantage of Marriott running a special in buying points (Points + 45%) bringing the point purchase down to .086 cents a point which is less than when it would have been by using cash + points if one doesn't have enough points.

I am sure we would have enjoyed the Marriott but I as much as I thought that being on the beach without having access was not a big deal, I am having a hard time convincing myself of this as we move closer to going. Will still be renting a car for the week to explore even if it not needed for the week. We might be going to other beaches. but it will be by choice and not because we have to.

One more question. The cost of a car for a week is $270 using my IBM retirement ID at Hertz. For anyone saying they didn't rent out a car, would you have done it if it was cheap enough?

Thanks to all for input.

 

[Red elephant]

We decided to move from the Marriott to the Westin. The Marriott was 258K points and the Westin is now 480K. We used all the points in our account and took advantage of Marriott running a special in buying points (Points + 45%) bringing the point purchase down to .086 cents a point which is less than when it would have been by using cash + points if one doesn't have enough points.

I am sure we would have enjoyed the Marriott but I as much as I thought that being on the beach without having access was not a big deal, I am having a hard time convincing myself of this as we move closer to going. Will still be renting a car for the week to explore even if it not needed for the week. We might be going to other beaches. but it will be by choice and not because we have to.

One more question. The cost of a car for a week is $270 using my IBM retirement ID at Hertz. For anyone saying they didn't rent out a car, would you have done it if it was cheap enough?

Thanks to all for input.

For that price yes. We took a taxi every night to a restaurant and it’s not cheap. In my case I was with 3 friends so we divided it by 3. There are so many good restaurants on the island but you need to get to them with a car. The rest of the time was spent on 7 mile beach. We went to rum point once and downtown once. I also believe parking at the Westin is complimentary. If you had to pay for parking then I might say not it’s worth it.
I was upgraded to a one bedroom suite which was awesome.
I traveled February of the year Marriott devalued the points so not to spend all those points.
As someone said if Marriott had a timeshare there I would go every year.

 

[TolmiePeak]

For that price yes. We took a taxi every night to a restaurant and it’s not cheap. In my case I was with 3 friends so we divided it by 3.

When we were there right prior to Covid they had this "public bus" which was basically someone's personal van that worked fine for us to get around. It was only a few bucks a person.

 

[TolmiePeak]

If it wasn't for the very long flights we would go back. For us its easier to go to Hawaii or Mexico.

Bill

Ditto. We were there in January 2020 on a cruise and loved Grand Cayman. Seemed super safe and not sketchy like Nassau. However it is just way easier to get to Hawaii from Seattle.

 

[goodbadugly]

We decided to move from the Marriott to the Westin. The Marriott was 258K points and the Westin is now 480K. We used all the points in our account and took advantage of Marriott running a special in buying points (Points + 45%) bringing the point purchase down to .086 cents a point which is less than when it would have been by using cash + points if one doesn't have enough points.

I am sure we would have enjoyed the Marriott but I as much as I thought that being on the beach without having access was not a big deal, I am having a hard time convincing myself of this as we move closer to going. Will still be renting a car for the week to explore even if it not needed for the week. We might be going to other beaches. but it will be by choice and not because we have to.

One more question. The cost of a car for a week is $270 using my IBM retirement ID at Hertz. For anyone saying they didn't rent out a car, would you have done it if it was cheap enough?

Thanks to all for input.

Sounds great! Enjoy!!!

 

[Tcbmcb5]

I went for the first time last month and stayed at a friend’s condo in West Bay. We could walk to a restaurant called Ristorante Pappagallo that had excellent Italian food and drinks. Another fun dinner we had was the Monday night BBQ buffet at Macabuca Tiki Bar (next to the Cracked Conch). The best $22 (KYD) you can spend for delicious food and fun atmosphere to watch the sunset. We did stingray city with beach time at Rum Point and also had an amazing time doing a Luminescent nighttime snorkel tour.

 

[easyrider]

Luminescent nighttime snorkel tour

This sounds like fun.

Bill

 

[DRIless]

For that price yes. We took a taxi every night to a restaurant and it’s not cheap. In my case I was with 3 friends so we divided it by 3. There are so many good restaurants on the island but you need to get to them with a car. The rest of the time was spent on 7 mile beach. We went to rum point once and downtown once. I also believe parking at the Westin is complimentary. If you had to pay for parking then I might say not it’s worth it.
I was upgraded to a one bedroom suite which was awesome.
I traveled February of the year Marriott devalued the points so not to spend all those points.
As someone said if Marriott had a timeshare there I would go every year.

hmmm, someone pulled a fast one
Morritt's has a timeshare there, I can fix you up for a week or "forever."