Well, I had read lots of message boards to prepare for our third time in Grand Cayman. On our first
Disney cruise, we did the Island Tour with Hell, the Turtle Farm (not as nice as it is now), and Stingray City. On our second time, we turned right at the port and walked down to Eden Rock to snorkel all day. So, this time I tried to come up with something more "creative."
We had a nice breakfast and got to the tender area around 10:30. We were on shore by 11:00 and ready to go. I wanted to take a cab to Cemetary Beach(the very far end of 7 Mile Beach) and walk the beach back to the ship snorkelling at multiple reefs (Cemetary, Cheeseburger, the Cali wreck, etc).
We did see these guys while dining on the aft deck of Topsiders...
When we got off the tender, we had a really hard time finding a taxi that would take us there. We finally found one that crammed us into a big van full of people with a price of $6 each. The other passengers were heading to Sea Grape Beach (the public beach) for $4 each. On set asked to go to a specific place and she said she would take them there. Well...the not-so-nice taxi lady pulled up at the public beach and told everyone except us to basically get off!
The other people kept asking her to take them where they requested and she totally refused saying it wasn't open to "cruise people." (They had some paper with the information...something about Treasure Island resort...) I felt really bad for them as they were German with limited English skills and she was VERY rude.
BTW She also increased all of their prices to $5 each when getting off.
Well, before pulling out of that parking area, she demanded that we pay her $7 each. I had already planned to give her $15 (when the price was $12), but this made me so mad that she got her stupid $15 and that was it. I wish I had single bills because I wouldn't have tipped her at all... We felt totally ripped off and she knew exactly what she was doing.
We did arrive at Cemetary Beach and set out to snorkel this "amazing" area. NOT! We swam for 90 minutes way out and really didn't see anything worthwhile. We got bored here and started our trek towards the ship. We snorkelled several areas marked from the beach, despite rough currents. We really didn't see much of anything at all the areas and found the beach VERY rocky at various points.
Little barracuda dude.... I think...
Little yellow fish under a cement "object." (Oh... I forgot....reef...)
Ultimately we walked a mile or two to the public beach where we visited several Dis buddies. We were BEAT! (The sand was deep, so it was like walking in quicksand up to our mid-shin areas.) At the public beach, we paid $8 for 2 small bottles of water!
Another "reef..."
The desolate 7 Mile Beach. (There were lots of areas without anyone on the beach...)
Adam and I at the beach with my "rooster head" as Adam calls it...
We then hopped on a taxi to come back to the Magic. Overall, we won't do that day again. After 3 trips in Grand Cayman, I'd say the best things to do are the city tour with the stingrays OR snorkel at Eden Rock (right out of the terminal) or the other place (can't remember the name to the left of the terminal). The snorkelling at those areas is AMAZING and essentially free if your have your own gear and don't require a locker.
We got onto the ship, showered, and got ready for Pirate Night. It was fun as usual and the fireworks were amazing, though my experience the next morning led me to never want to consume a turkey leg ever again... More to come on that note!