Castaway Cay Tips
 

This was our first trip, but we learned a few things about Castaway Cay right away.

We were on the Disney Dream with 4000 of our best friends and we all wanted to hit the beach.

• Walking is almost as fast as the tram.
• Wear some kind of footwear. Caribbean sand is crushed up shells and coral. There are significant chunks of sharp coral on the beach and in the water. Would certainly recommend protecting those piggies.
• Bring sunblock and water (obvious beach stuff)
• If you want to be by the water you need to drag your beach chair right to the edge. We realized this a little late and there was literally a wall of people and it was hard to get in and out of the water.
• Bring your own sandcastle molds. Kids had a great time building sand castles. We bought a sandcastle building kit (shovels, pails, sifters) in Port Canaveral at Ron Jon's and paid half of what the same was going for on the island.
• Keep an eye on your sand toys. Many people assume there are included with their cruise and will take off with them to build their own castle.
• Build a sandcastle to protect your turf. Now that you have strategically placed your beach chair and have your sandcastle you will need to build a good sandcastle to keep people from stepping on you (literally). Most people seemed to respect the castle.
• The waterslide out in the water is fun and there is a height requirement. Get your kid a life vest even if you don't think they need it. The water is very deep (I'm 6'2' and I didn't find bottom) and it is a pretty good swim to the slide. I had to tow my 6 year old who is a decent swimmer.
• Close your mouth before hitting the water coming off the slide. I got a big gulp of seawater and it wasn't fun.
• After the slide there is a big tub of Chlorinated water then a rinse bin. I dunked my whole head into both and felt much better afterwards.
• We did Castaway Cay in two legs. First we got there early and enjoyed the beach. Then after a few hours the kids were slowing down so we had our BBQ and then went back to the boat, got dressed, then went back out and hit the shops. We also brought our digital camera for the 2nd leg and got pictures.
• Bring your goggles/masks. There were fish to look at, shells, and Hermit Crabs. I caught about 20 of the crabs for my kids who made them sandcastle homes and they were the envy of all the other sand castles.
• Bring an underwater camera. Much cheaper at Walgreen's than it is at Castaway Cay. Best to take your under water pics before it gets crowded. The bathers kick up a lot of sand and it messes up your clear water.
• Don't bring the hermit crabs home, customs won't let you (we didn't try).
• They give you towels as you get off the boat.
• The BBQ lunch was pretty good. I'm from Texas and we know these things.
• There are 4 potential lines for the BBQ, watch for new ones opening and for empty ones. Don't be a lemming and just hop into a long line.
• Don't dump sand out of your shoes in the picnic pavilion, I don't want to eat your sand. You know who you are.
• Bring a beach bag. We have a pink mesh bag so people can tell there is nothing valuable inside. It's not so nice that we'd be crushed if it didn't come home with us.
• Do the 5K.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your Castaway Cay tips, especially the bits of humor. :) Thanks so much for posting!

Thank you for all the info! It will definitely help.

Thank you for all the great advice!!! I can't wait!!! :banana:

Thanks for the tips, we will be leaving for our first trip in 10 dys, good info! ...The waterslide part was particularly informative ; I had no idea it was that deep, maybe I'll wear a life vest myself, since I'm not the best swimmer, lol!:laughing:

Another tip I recived last year when I was on the island-

Women buy swim/board shorts your legs will thank you (they have these everywhere for women now)

I say this for all women because a women with thin legs told me to do it. Because the humidty is so much down there your legs will stick togther. She told me she tries not to wear them in the water but she bought board shorts because if they get wet no big deal.

I caution though that afterwards I bought board shorts (cheap ones) and wore them to Kings Domion water park and the seam inside rubbed my legs raw so be careful. Now I wear nice ones that have a small seam inside and they are much looser on my legs.

Subbing. Good stuff! :thumbsup2

Thanks; we are going in May and honestly your post seriously helped me with Castaway Cay - my DH and I were there on our honeymoon (12 yrs ago) but went to the adult only beach for a few hours and then back to the ship so going with kids is a whole new adventure for us.

A couple more questions for you:
[LIST][*]Did you leave your play toys on the beach or did you carry them back to the ship?
[*]Were you able to get chairs even if you aren't the first one's off the ship. we are taking our in laws and i'm concerned it's going to be about an hour to get us all together and off the ship.
[*]is it like a sea of people everywhere or were there at least some pockets even farther back that were less occupied... i am a people person and work with people all the time but i want a little peace to just play with my son on the beach and not have everyone on top of us (i know then why are we going on a Disney cruise lol....) but i was just curious.

Thanks for the help!

Great tips
Going to get water shoes for everyone!

Which family beach did you guys go to?

I understand that there is two different areas
The first family stop, and another further down

Any thoughts?

Thanks so much
Annabug

Don't save hammocks for later use. Most people won't be in them for too long. It's rude to use them to store your towels. This happened on the adult beach on our last cruise. There were literally 5 people on the beach when we got there and all three hammocks were neatly holding towels and no people got in them for hours. I like to use a hammock about 15 - 30 minutes and I'm done, but I didn't want to fight someone (who wasn't using it except to hold a towel) so no hammock time for me. :sad1:

Great list- thanks:thumbsup2