Our Cruise guide for the exploration of the entire island - John Swanson had sooooo much knowledge... read more
Our Cruise guide for the exploration of the entire island - John Swanson had sooooo much knowledge... read more
This was our second time on a cruise ship that had a stop at Grand Cayman Island. We visited the... read more
We had originally scheduled a trip to Stingray City and the barrier reef. However, strong NE winds cancelled that. If fact the only place calm for snorkeling was Georgetown Harbor and 7 mile beach. I don't care how beautiful or where in the Caribbean, the harbor is never the best place to snorkel because the use just creates too much silt from run and use. However, the Caimans is different an amazing.
We snorkeled 2 sites between the cruise ship and the tender landing pier. This also meant walking and time were not a problem and we could do other things with free time.
The first site was a ship wreck just off shore of the place we ate lunch. It was about 15 feet of water. It was neat to see the parts of the ship left but there were few fish and very little natural coral.
When then went a little ways north just off the bow of our cruise ship to Cheeseburger Reef. The water here on the rocks with coral was 5-7' but in areas with no rocks it drop 20' to a sand bottom. Great coral both in health and diversity as well as tons of fish with great diversity as well. I saw parrotfish of all sizes and colors, schools of all types of reef fish and a great 7' tarpon. Simply amazing and a great excursion all within site of the ship. One of the best snorkels I have ever done.
Captain John Michael was an absolute God send for our trip to Grand Cayman. My family and I went to Grand Cayman to spread my Dad's ashes, as it was his favorite place on Earth - he was a diver. Captain John Michael was aware of this & accommodated accordingly. Our scheduled day was very windy with chances of thunderstorms, but John Michael understood our need to get out to sea to spread my Dad's ashes so we took our chances. He picked us up bright and early from our condo we were staying at, grabbed some fresh bait to feed to the stingrays and we were off to his dock. We got loaded on the boat, he let us fill his cooler with our food and water, then we were off. He pointed out some famous movie locations and informed us about the island and the culture on our way to see the stingrays. We were the first boat to arrive to the sandbar and it was absolutely perfect. Captain John Michael got us anchored and we had the time of our lives with the stingrays, he brought them to us and got us comfortable. When we saw the hoards of tourists finally arrive on the large tours, we we're SUPER thankful to be with John Michael and have such an intimate experience. Next we left for Rum Point, but first John Michael found the perfect spot for us to drop my Dad's ashes (they were in a sealed urn). He was so sweet and let us have our time and it was absolutely beautiful. He even offered to handle our go pro and take pics and videos of our "ceremony." The rest of the day was just beautiful, stopping at Starfish Beach and he took us through the mangroves and got out and pulled sea urchins up for us to see. Our time with Captain John Michael was an absolute dream, and we will hold those memories forever.
Don't think about it, schedule a trip with Captain John Michael, you will be SO GLAD you did!!!!
We went on the catamaran Allura, the crew was awesome! Got in with us & helped us touch, pet and kiss the stingrays! Took photos answered all our questions and basically made our trip one to remember!!!
This tour was the highlight of our trip. The bus picked us up at the pier and took us to the dock where the glass bottomed boat was moored. The boat captain introduced his crew and told us where we were going and what we should expect to see. We say tow underwater shipwrecks and a coral reef, all populated by many colorful tropical fish and even one stingray. Back on the bus we then began an island tour conducted by our driver/guide. He was very informative about the development of Grand Cayman and even took us to Hell. On the way back to the ship we had an informative description of downtown George Town, Grand Cayman. I can't rate this tour more highly.
For $20 we got a tour of the area where celebrity homes are ( Mark Cuban). Checked out the Aquarium, dolphin tank, Hell post office, and got dropped off at 7mile beach.
Not bad deal
Have to pay extra for encounter with dolphins.
Hell’s post office turned out to be a touristy spot for souvenirs. You can take pics of each other standing behind a board painted up figure with your head fitting in the hole insert.
We enjoyed the beach at the end of the tour.
Of course, we had to pay extra for lounge chairs & umbrella at the beach
We took a shore excursion on Grand Caymen on a hot little bus that took us to the “town” of Hell (just a pile of dead black coral and a post office) for 15 minutes, a Turtle sanctuary for 30 minutes and a 15 minute stop at a rum “factory” - actually just a liquor store on the side of the road. It was all very underwhelming. We spent more time in our sweaty vehicle listening to our “tour guide” tell us about all the hotels we passed by - and which company used to own them, before a hurricane wiped most stuff out - 10 years ago. The island is mostly owned by foreign investors, who have all but wiped out the culture and driven away theî people. Apparently not one native to the island owns beach front property any more.
I feel bad for the people who have lived there their whole lives - only to see it changed into a very commercial stop for tourists. Every fast food chain is there as well.
Not somewhere I’d choose to visit again.