7 mile beach on your own

[GoofyFamily3]

Has anyone done 7 mile on thier own? How far from tender drop off? Is there snorkeling equip available and are there public areas or do you use space in front of hotels? Also are there any restrooms along the beach? Just booked a last minute cruise for next week and many of the Grand Cayman excursions are unavailable. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

[kcashner]

7 Mile Beach on your own is easy. For transportation, you choice is taxi/van, or the public bus. The bus runs every 20-30 minutes. There are places that rent beach chairs, umbrellas, motorized equipment, etc. Didn't see any snorkel equipment, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You can buy food and use restrooms. ALL beaches in Grand Cayman are public. The nicest beaches are not the ones right by the ship, but there are decent beaches within walking distance.

If you want an excursion...we've done both the island tour (includes turtle farm, rum factory, 7 mile beach, hell) and the 1/2 day snorkel thru Captain Marvin's. Google captain marvin's grand cayman. The island tour is a bargain. We paid $30 per person, which is the cost of admission to the turtle farm if you do it on your own. At the end of either excursion, YOU specify whether you want to be dropped at a beach (7 Mile or Sea Grape) or taken back to the tender port.) It can save you one way transportation if you do a 1/2 day excursion and the other half day at the beach.

 

[phred84044]

We arranged an island tour with a taxi at the Tender drop off. Can't remember the price, but it was very reasonable and substantially cheaper than booking it through DCL. It included a drive past the Governor's Mansion, the turtle farm, Hell, and he dropped us off at 7-Mile Beach. After a few hours at the beach we picked up another taxi to take us back to the tenders, which was only like one dollar per person.

For a good laugh, send a postcard from Hell to your Mother-in-Law stating, "Wish you were here..."

 

[gourt]

We did 7 Mile Beach on our own last week while in GC. We got off the tender and found taxis waiting for us. We took a group van (filled with Disney cruisers) and paid $4 per person to get to Royal Palms. They took people further out as well, for $5 or $6, depending on the location. Royal Palms offered chair rentals, umbrellas, floats, wave runners, a restaurant, and a bathroom/changing room. It was OK but might try a different spot next time just to see what else is there.

I read in my AAA book that there are no metered taxis in GC because taxi fares are set by the government. There is no haggling there. All the taxi drivers wear blue uniforms so you know that you're OK. We felt very safe in GC and had no worries being out on our own.

We really liked GC and would go back again!

 

[TheWog]

We got a cab from the dock and did a small tour. We went to Hell and he dropped us at Seven Mile Beach - Courtyard beach section. This beach is about 10 mins or so from the pier and has all the facilities you are looking for, restrooms, food, drinks, chairs, etc. No real snorkeling to speak of, but the rest is great. It is adjacent to Sea Grape beach and was a great day. Hell is only a 15-20 minute stop for post cards and the like.

 

[inkkognito]

I suspect the taxi drivers get a 'commission' for steering people towards Royal Palms as that is what they are doing when we did this. It was a decent place and we had a good time (although someone tried to steal our rental chair) but we had to wait a while to go back to the ship until the cab filled.

 

[indigodisney]

Great question, I was wondering the same thing.

We did rent a car in Grand Cayman and drive to Rum Point but it was kind of an ordeal to do that and the car rental place was not convenient. I did like Rum Point though.

 

[debmomof2]

My husband and I spent a week on Grand Cayman last year. It was the most fabulous beach vacation ever! Where you go depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for a relatively secluded spot with fabulous snorkeling, go to Cemetary beach. When I said secluded, I mean not many people, but also no facilities, restaurants... It's gorgeous, though, and if you are into snorkeling and bringing a picnic lunch, I think you'd have a fabulous time. Just bring your own everything. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Has anyone done 7 mile on thier own? How far from tender drop off? Is there snorkeling equip available and are there public areas or do you use space in front of hotels? Also are there any restrooms along the beach? Just booked a last minute cruise for next week and many of the Grand Cayman excursions are unavailable. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Seven Mile Beach can easily be done on your own.

Transportation
Only taxis and buses which are licensed as tour operators can pick up directly at the tender docks in George Town. Expect to pay about US$5-$6 per person, depending upon how far you go. Expect to wait until the taxi/tour bus fills up before the driver will leave.

Just a block or so away from the tender docks you might see the occasional taxi. These taxis are not licensed at "tour operators" and the drivers may not be wearing the blue uniform shirt. Fares may be about US$1 cheaper per person than ride directly from the tender docks.

The public bus depot is next to the yellow Waterfront Centre building, which is in very easy walking distance from any of the three tender docks. Any West Bay (WB) bus will be able to drop you off along Seven Mile Beach. Fare shoul be US$2.50 per person.

Money
US dollars are happily accepted at a fixed rate of exchange. The Cayman Islands dollar (CI$ or KYD) is one of the few currencies that is stronger than the US$. US$1=CI$0.80 ... US$5=CI$4 ... US$10=CI$8 ... US$20=CI$16 (She might look 20, but that is only 16 in Cayman!)

Expect that change will always be given in CI$.

Most local ATMs dispense your choice of CI$ or US$.

Visa, MC, and AMEX are very widely accepted. Discover card is a litte hit or miss.

Seven Mile Beach
All beaches in Cayman are public from the water line to the mean high water mark. This is really only a strip a few feet wide adjacent to the water... that area that gets wet from tidal variation on an average day. Property owners do not have to allow access across their property to reach the beach. Hotels do not have to permit you to use their facilities or remain on their portion of the beach.

SMB is the most popular beach in Grand Cayman. The southern end of SMB starts about a mile and a half from the tender docks. SMB then stretches as an unbroken ribbon of soft sand for about 5.5 miles to the north. It is convenient to talk about amenities at specific locations along that beach, so various place names are used. Several places offer accomodation to tourists visiting for the day.

There are only a few hotels directly on the beach - The Marriott Beach Resort, The Grand Cayman Beach Suites (formerly Hyatt), The Westin Hotel, and The Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman. That's all. The rest of the beach is lined with condos and a few businesses. Availability of day rooms or passes varies by hotel and seems to change frequently.

Other places of public accomodation on SMB include Royal Palms, Sea Grape, Courtyard by Marriott and the soon-to-open Tiki Bar. Taxi drivers prefer to drop guests at Royal Palms as it is much closer. All of these spots offer restrooms, dining, and watersports rentals.

Pagent Beach, Governor's Beach and Cemetery Beach are spots which have no restrooms or other amenities. These spots have the best snorkeling along SMB.

Other Beaches
Smith Cove and Rum Point are other beaches in completely different parts of the island. Smith Cove has onyl restrooms. Rum Point has full services.

 

[jaurban]

Thinking about doing Seven Mile Beach on our own. We have two young girls, ages 8 and 2 when we cruise. How are the taxis about taking the baby stuff - stroller, etc...

I didn't want to plan too much time there, an hour or two will be plenty. Wanted to look at some shops. Are there any in walking distance of the beach or should we do that closer to port. Had also thought about Boatswain's - want to be able to go when we want though depending on the temperment of the little one at the time.

Thoughts?

 

[TheWog]

Thinking about doing Seven Mile Beach on our own. We have two young girls, ages 8 and 2 when we cruise. How are the taxis about taking the baby stuff - stroller, etc...

I didn't want to plan too much time there, an hour or two will be plenty. Wanted to look at some shops. Are there any in walking distance of the beach or should we do that closer to port. Had also thought about Boatswain's - want to be able to go when we want though depending on the temperment of the little one at the time.

Thoughts?

The shops are all closer to the dock. That is the main shopping area. There is no shopping within walking distance of the beaches. Sorry, didn't have a stroller with us when we went, but they are bus type vehicles. I am sure you can get it on there.

 

[Friscorays]

I found the public bus to be an exceedingly easy and affordable way to get to and from 7 mile beach but did want to let everyone know the location of the depot has changed.

Once you get off the tender and walk out of the tender complex, you will find yourself on a small road which runs along the shoreline. Cross to the far side of the street and turn left. Walk up the street keeping the shoreline to your left for a few minutes and you will come upon a few picnic tables. The bus depot is the parking lot to the right of these benches, beyond a sliding chain link gate which I assume is used to secure the buses (really vans) at night.

A four story blue building is a landmark you can use to guide you: the bus depot is on the same side of the street as the blue building. The building is just slightly further up the street than the bus depot (so if you reach the building you have gone too far and walked past the depot). The Casanova restaurant sign is another landmark you can use. You will see the Casanova restaurant on the side of the street closest to the shoreline and farther up the street than the blue building.

The local buses will honk at people standing on the sidewalk as they pass. If you wave back, they will stop and pick you up. You are looking for vans with a circle on the front reading "WB" for West Bay. Cost was $2.50 per person each way. They ran very frequently.

It took fifteen minutes from the time I boarded the bus at the depot to the time I was dropped off at my destination (Public Beach / Sea Grape Beach). There was a typical bus stop across the road at the dropoff point for the return trip.

 

[jaurban]

Can you bring toddler gear on the bus or are we better off with a taxi? (Stroller and toys)

 

[Friscorays]

There would be plenty of room for a stroller and toys (within reason) on the public buses. They are really just large passenger vans with three or four rows of seats. I had a large bag of scuba gear with me and it was no problem.