[ 2023 ] Morritt's Tortuga advice needed

[dmbrand]

Sent as a direct message. Cheers!

 

[heckp]

Sent as a direct message. Cheers!

Many thanks

 

[gnorth16]

I'm looking at renting a unit at Morritt's for January 2026. We stayed at Wyndham Reef two years ago, absolutely loved it and spent some time walking around Morritt's thinking we would like to stay there at some point. Is Morritt's Tortuga Seaside an old name for the Grand building, or maybe part of Tortuga Club but the oceanfront building? There is nothing on the map which indicates a "Seaside" building that was posted on this thread and the Morritt's website doesn't indicate anything. Redweek rental and sales ads says it's a five-story oceanfront building, with one 1BR and 2BR's.

 

[GrayFal]

I'm looking at renting a unit at Morritt's for January 2026. We stayed at Wyndham Reef two years ago, absolutely loved it and spent some time walking around Morritt's thinking we would like to stay there at some point. Is Morritt's Tortuga Seaside an old name for the Grand building, or maybe part of Tortuga Club but the oceanfront building? There is nothing on the map which indicates a "Seaside" building that was posted on this thread and the Morritt's website doesn't indicate anything. Redweek rental and sales ads says it's a five-story oceanfront building, with one 1BR and 2BR's.

The Seaside Building is officially known as Wembley and it is a 5 story elevator building to the left of the check in building.

Redweek has listings for Grand (Oceanfront) Tortuga (Poolside, no elevators & Wealdstone aka Wooden Oceanfront) Londoner (Oceanfront) Seaside (Wembley Oceanfront)

Ownerships are Grand, Londoner, Wembley, Wealdstone (Wooden Oceanfront) and Tortuga Poolside.




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[gnorth16]

Thank you GrayFal!!!

The exact answer I was looking for!

Nice signature too!

 

[GrayFal]

Thank you GrayFal!!!

The exact answer I was looking for!

Nice signature too!

Hoping you enjoy your time at Morritts We go every year for 6-7 weeks
Paradise

 

[Jwerking]

Hey All,

Great discussion - we are confirmed for a 3 week stay into 2 BR units at Morritt's for Jan 2026 thru RCI exchanges. Excited to hear that there have been renovations at the resort in recent years as it has been about 20+ years since the one visit we made to the Caymans. Do the 2 BR units have washer and dryers? Also, does the resort have loungers and umbrellas on the beach for guest use? If so, lots of them or limited? Does resort have beach chairs and umbrellas for guess to borrow or rent?

Hmm, may pack a suitcase of food given the high prices and we get 2 free bags each with AA with Plat. status. Is food there more expensive than in Hawaii? We have been going to HI each winter for the last 10 years - so decided to give the Caymans and West Palm Beach a try this coming winter.

Also, any tips on getting a great price on a car rental? Been checking daily and have an SUV reserved for $1450 for 3 weeks - ouch - through Expedia! A smaller car is cheaper. Should I wait until closer to the Jan 2026 trip to book the car rental - will prices drop?

Unfortunately, there will be four adults - so need a large SUV to handle luggage to and from. Is there anyway to rent a large vehicle for the first and last day to get us to and from the airport? Is there a car rental close to Morritt? How long to drive from the AP to Morritt? May be worth renting a large vehicle the first and last day and then driving back to the AP to switch out for a smaller car.

We love snorkeling - so hope Dawn is online and will send me her places to snorkel list.

Is there any hiking on the Caymans? Stringray City was fun last time - so is this still allowed or is it environmentally not correct now?

Thanks for any comments .

Joyce

 

[GrayFal]

Hey All,

Great discussion - we are confirmed for a 3 week stay into 2 BR units at Morritt's for Jan 2026 thru RCI exchanges. Excited to hear that there have been renovations at the resort in recent years as it has been about 20+ years since the one visit we made to the Caymans. Do the 2 BR units have washer and dryers? Also, does the resort have loungers and umbrellas on the beach for guest use? If so, lots of them or limited? Does resort have beach chairs and umbrellas for guess to borrow or rent?

Hmm, may pack a suitcase of food given the high prices and we get 2 free bags each with AA with Plat. status. Is food there more expensive than in Hawaii? We have been going to HI each winter for the last 10 years - so decided to give the Caymans and West Palm Beach a try this coming winter.

Also, any tips on getting a great price on a car rental? Been checking daily and have an SUV reserved for $1450 for 3 weeks - ouch - through Expedia! A smaller car is cheaper. Should I wait until closer to the Jan 2026 trip to book the car rental - will prices drop?

Unfortunately, there will be four adults - so need a large SUV to handle luggage to and from. Is there anyway to rent a large vehicle for the first and last day to get us to and from the airport? Is there a car rental close to Morritt? How long to drive from the AP to Morritt? May be worth renting a large vehicle the first and last day and then driving back to the AP to switch out for a smaller car.

We love snorkeling - so hope Dawn is online and will send me her places to snorkel list.

Is there any hiking on the Caymans? Stringray City was fun last time - so is this still allowed or is it environmentally not correct now?

Thanks for any comments .

Joyce

Building 6,7,9 I know have washer dryer in two bedroom, 3bath townhouse units as I have stayed in those buildings, they are also updated. There are also 2BR 2Bath penthouse units 3rd floor but I don’t recall/know if they have w/d. Building 15 updated but don’t know about w/d. Contact CRM the Monday before check in to request those buildings.

Yes, loungers and fixed palapas at beach. January really no issue for palapas if you go by 8 or 9. Mid February a different story. No to borrowed chairs and umbrellas for off property use.

Food costs, similar or less compared to Hawaii. We shop at Fosters in Savannah and Fosters express by resort. Hurleys nearer airport is nicer but more expensive. We do bring some things in suitcase we buy at the dollar store at home. Salt/pepper zip lock bags tin foil condiments. Hand soap, disinfectant wipes for counter, that sort of stuff.

We book our car one year out - medium - and track it on AutoSlash. It always comes down. This year we were under $230/week.
You could use Leon Taxi to take you back and forth to the resort at an approximate cost of $120-140 each way ;but then you would have to get back to the airport to rent or use Andy’s car rental across the street from Morritts.

Drive time from airport to Morritts is 45/50 minutes. There is a definite rush hour so be aware.

Snorkeling, casual relaxing right at the resort. Get in at Morritts Dock and the current carries you to Wyndham dock. This year we saw a small turtle, several rays and lobster. You can stay along the shore line but better to venture further out.

Spotts Beach - better in the morning to see your turtle friends. Tricky current.
Cemetery Beach - far swim out from the beach
Smiths Cove - lots of coral and fish close to shore
Macabuca - have lunch and snorkel - access is by ladder and is free, but we like to eat there as well. Probably 1 hour 10 minutes, you can’t get any further away on the island.

Really fabulous is going out with the Tortuga dive boat from the resort when they do the cert dives. They take you basically off shore near Tukka and you have a full hour of wonderful snorkeling with beautiful coral and many fish.

And my favorite is the drift snorkel getting in at the public beach at Cayman Cai and drifting down to Rum Point. I no longer have the stamina to do it but it is fabulous. Have your driver drop you off and then drive down to rum point to wait for you. If everyone is snorkeling, don’t forget to bring waterproof shoes with you for the walk back and a waterproof bag to put the car keys in.

Stingray City is alive and well. We went with a group of 15 ranging in age from 7 to 70 and had a blast. Suggest afternoon trip for much less crowds. Only 3 smaller boats there when we went.A former resort employee David runs a great trip, I will get the info and post it here later.

Yes, there is hiking but it’s too darn hot even in January

Edit, see map post 19, when requesting with CRM use building names, no one refers to them by number.

David now bartends at the Reef. Had a “disagreement” with David Morritt and a 15 + year employee fired.

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[Jwerking]

Wow Grayfal - thank you so much for all the information - you're the best!

I was excited to hear when you said that the units had been upgraded during Covid, but just read a bunch of Tripadvisor reviews that state that RCI exchangers sometimes get assigned very old unit in need of updating. Since we are there in January - prior to the super high Feb timeframe - and we are staying for 3 weeks, I am crossing my fingers that we will get a nice unit assigned.

I also joined the Facebook page for Morritt's - clearly, the website is relatively new for the resort, but had some good info for a newbie to the resort. I learned that Andy's has a rental office both at the airport and across the street from the resort - so the other couple can always rent a car for the day each way for getting themselves and luggage to and from the resort from the airport and online prices were about $70 for the day - so cheaper than Leon's Taxi.

Great idea about entering the car rental on Autoslash for tracking - good to know that your rental dropped to $230 weekly for a medium size car. What company do you typically use for your car rental.

Have saved the information for David for the Stingray City trip - good suggestions that afternoons are much less crowded.

I assume that beach chairs and umbrellas are a bit pricey to buy. What would be the cheapest store to purchase them??

Any suggestions on restaurants to sample some local food? Is there a good bakery close to the resort? Or a bakery on the island that we MUST try?

Thanks again - Joyce

 

[GrayFal]

The reason I gave you the name of the buildings is do you could request those specific ones. If you don't ask, you don't get. And normally multi week stays will be in the same unit as long as it is the same unit size. The front desk arranges that.

There are 5 oceanfront and 9 poolside buildings. Probably 2.5 to 3 have not been updated. They were working on building 13 when I was there in February this year. Avoid building 14at all costs. A friend was put in a sub standard unit there with brown rusty water and she had to get II involved to be moved after 4 days. I had another friend come on an II exchange and they were out in an ocean front unit. You just never know.

Very good idea to get Andy one way rental or take Leon Taxi 2people $85 each way. Reminder when you pick up your car especially at Andy's they are on island time. Bring your patience. Smile

I feel like we usually end up with Budget or thrifty.

Here are the Facebook groups I use. The top one and the grand group are the best.

I will comment later about restaurants. There are lots of great choices on the east end and nearby. My favorite Monday lunch spot is South Coast Grill when they serve Stewed Conch. Go early as it sells out.
And you can't miss the Czech Inn Grill. George is a trip and the pork belly is amazing!

 

[Jwerking]

Thanks for the additional information.

For sure I will make an unit request about a week or two prior to checkin. While oceanfront would be awesome, unlikely as an RCI exchanger, so it will me last priority. Thus, if I want an updated 2 BR unit with a washer/dryer, please confirm that I should request to be placed in Guiford, Brentwood, or Oxford with either 2 twins or King bed. BTW, is a king or 2 twins a possibility - I would have a hard time sharing a queen with hubby for 3 weeks - LOL!

Are there staff onsite that will carry luggage, groceries, etc upstairs to the units? It is difficult to do so now that we are approcaching of mid-70s. I do always prefer top floor to avoid noise given that I am a light sleeper, but ground level would certainly be easier. Do the ground units all face the pool and the patio opens up to the pool area? Is the Premier Pool with all the activities really noisy or not bad and certainly quiet in the evenings?

Thanks again for answering all my questions - very much appreciated.