Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay Activities

[mammacaryn]

Mr. Sancho's in Cozumel. So fun!

We did this as well. All inclusive deal. We didn't do any water toys or banana boat or anything like that, just the beach, beverages and food.

We have always booked our own excursions, not through Disney.

In Grand Cayman we went to the Sea Turtle Farm which was interesting. It is NOT an aquarium though, just remember that. It is a breeding farm so they are in big tanks. They have a little swimming area there as well. We also did the little side stop in HELL, just to mail out a couple post cards and get a couple souvenirs that said we had been to hell and back.

This cruise will be the first time to book anything official at Castaway. We are going to see the stingrays and possibly sign up for the 5K.

 

[ChicosWife]

We also did the little side stop in HELL, just to mail out a couple post cards and get a couple souvenirs that said we had been to hell and back.

Is there an actual place in GC, called Hell?

 

[mammacaryn]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Grand_Cayman

Yep. its a little post office/gift shop with rock formations of some type behind it.

 

[ChicosWife]

Anyone do that Sea Trek helmet dive?

 

[phinz]

Cozumel - We went to Internacional Cervezaria, Mega and then found a little place for tacos, then back to the boat.
Grand Cayman - We didn't bother getting off the boat as we had no desire to tender.
Jamaica - Beef patties and Ting at the little patty stand, which were fantastic, followed by a miserable time at Margaritaville, then Duty Free and back on the boat.

Not much help, but there you go. I found out in Alaska that I don't like excursions, so I just freestyle things.

 

[SunDevilFanAZ]

We are doing the western Caribbean this summer. I got my bookings already in for our three excursions.

Cozumel -Cozumel beach break. Went with Disney here as have had family members book outside of their boat at this stop and it turned into a nightmare.

Grand cayman-dolphin swim and stingray city. Our contractors both loved their for about a decade and highly recommended the stingrays. Wasn't going to miss out on them even before their advice.

Jamaica-was the most skittish on what to do here. My youngest probably will complain about Dunns River Falls but oh well. No way was I going to pass up the sharks though so got the sharks and Dunn's river falls trip.

I will have a write up later this summer.

 

[crystalgenette]

We did this line up a few years ago, it was myself, 2 kids (11 and 8) and my mother.

Jamaica - We did Green Grotto Caves. My son is very into geology, so this was really for him. It was interesting, but I don't know that I'd do it again or recommend it. The tour guide was great, very entertaining and knowledgeable.

Grand Cayman - Shipwreck snorkel. The kids had more fun swimming in the open ocean than at the "shipwreck" which was about 15 feet from shore. After the few hours in the water, we were able to wander the little boardwalk, and did an authentic local lunch down the way (food was good, but turned out to be expensive after the exchange rate)

Cozumel - Sting Ray swim. I've done this twice now, once with Disney and before that on another cruise line, both times were a great time! It is only about a 5 minute cab ride which makes for more time to spend in town. After the few hours in the water, we had time to go back to town, do lunch at Margaritaville where the kids and grandma spent more time playing in the water, then strolled the markets.

CC - we did the 5k, then rented an aquatrike and paddle boat for an hour and just spent the rest of the time on the beach.

 

[Nala 84]

I've got a question concerning our Western Caribbean Cruise in Nov/Dec this year.

Once DCL offered the Cayman Turtle Farm as a port adventure, but I reckoned they don't offer this any longer. Has anyone been to the Turtle Farm on his own?
We're searching for a bus or something to get there, we'll have a 5 and a 1 year old with us. I've seen on maps that it's just 20 miles or so away.

I hope someone can help us

 

[TestingH2O]

I've got a question concerning our Western Caribbean Cruise in Nov/Dec this year.

Once DCL offered the Cayman Turtle Farm as a port adventure, but I reckoned they don't offer this any longer. Has anyone been to the Turtle Farm on his own?
We're searching for a bus or something to get there, we'll have a 5 and a 1 year old with us. I've seen on maps that it's just 20 miles or so away.

I hope someone can help us

The turtle farm website has directions on how to use the bus or take a taxi. We opted not to do it because DD was having so much fun swimming and sliding on the ship, but it looked very easy.

 

[Nala 84]

Thank you very much Now I've seen the bus directions in the FAQ-sections, it seems to cost just 2$ to take the bus there. We'll order tickets online and once there we'll take the bus.

 

[mammacaryn]

I've got a question concerning our Western Caribbean Cruise in Nov/Dec this year.

Once DCL offered the Cayman Turtle Farm as a port adventure, but I reckoned they don't offer this any longer. Has anyone been to the Turtle Farm on his own?
We're searching for a bus or something to get there, we'll have a 5 and a 1 year old with us. I've seen on maps that it's just 20 miles or so away.

I hope someone can help us

We did it on our own. They have a bus there. Our lady was super nice because we had some kind of mix up so we were transported by ourselves. (I actually think they overlooked our reservation and the bus left without us)She took us by Hell as well to mail a couple post cards. Just remember especially since your kids are little, the turtles are just in big swimming pool type tanks. (not pretty aquarium type set up). They eat sea turtle in the Caymen islands, and sell their shells, so this is a farm. They don't go over that entire process-at least with us they didn't. It was pretty much self guided. There is a small recreation area there as well to swim at (can't remember if that has an additional charge or not). We enjoyed it, I think our kids were 4 and6 when we went there.

 

[ChicosWife]

They eat sea turtle in the laymen islands, and sell their shells, so this is a farm.

 

[phinz]

Turtle's good eating. At least they're not taking them out of the wild. They've been farming them for a long, long, long time. Think of them as chicken of the sea.

 

[DayOhDisMom]

If you're shopping in Cozumel, don't miss the Mexican vanilla at Los Cincos Soles.

Vanilla extract right? I heard Mexican vanilla is the best. Is Los Cinco so Soles hard to find. Thanks

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

Is there an actual place in GC, called Hell?

Come to Michigan. We have one too. People have been known to mail tax returns from there. Oh and it's not too far from Paradise, so you can go from Hell to Paradise in a few hours.

 

[DisneyGirlMI]

For those that have done both in GC, which is better, Stingray City or Stingray Sandbar?

 

[AngelDisney]

Thank you very much Now I've seen the bus directions in the FAQ-sections, it seems to cost just 2$ to take the bus there. We'll order tickets online and once there we'll take the bus.

Another more expensive option is the Turtle Farm Admission plus Shuttle Ride Tour. We are trying this out since I am worried about timing of the local bus.

https://www.discountexcursions.com/grandcayman/turtle-centre-tour-grand-cayman-excursion

 

[tlprice]

https://www.discountexcursions.com/grandcayman/turtle-centre-tour-snorkel-excursion

We did the excursion above because we wanted to snorkel with the turtles and use the swimming pool (which was amazing). We were going to take the public bus, but this was actually cheaper. Admission into the turtle farm for full access is $45 (kids $25). This excursion includes admission and transportation for $48 (kids $28) (There is no TOUR with this, they just drive you there, give you your wrist band, and drive you back. We were fine with this because we wanted to experience everything on our own without someone yakking at us. There are enough other tours going on there that you can just listen in if you really want to.) Discount Excursions was super easy to find at the port, there were only 4 of us in the van, and it was an easy pick up and return afterward. We also wanted to get our passports stamped when we returned to the port and our driver walked us to the building so we could do this.

 

[ChicosWife]

Turtle's good eating. At least they're not taking them out of the wild. They've been farming them for a long, long, long time. Think of them as chicken of the sea.

No thanks. I will stick to the chicken of the land... chicken!

Come to Michigan. We have one too. People have been known to mail tax returns from there. Oh and it's not too far from Paradise, so you can go from Hell to Paradise in a few hours.

People mail their tax returns from Hell! HAHAHAHAHA Great idea!!!

 

[shucapeve]

https://www.discountexcursions.com/grandcayman/turtle-centre-tour-snorkel-excursion

We did the excursion above because we wanted to snorkel with the turtles and use the swimming pool (which was amazing). We were going to take the public bus, but this was actually cheaper. Admission into the turtle farm for full access is $45 (kids $25). This excursion includes admission and transportation for $48 (kids $28) (There is no TOUR with this, they just drive you there, give you your wrist band, and drive you back. We were fine with this because we wanted to experience everything on our own without someone yakking at us. There are enough other tours going on there that you can just listen in if you really want to.) Discount Excursions was super easy to find at the port, there were only 4 of us in the van, and it was an easy pick up and return afterward. We also wanted to get our passports stamped when we returned to the port and our driver walked us to the building so we could do this.

I have a quick question for you- it says the duration is 3 hours- were you able to stay at the turtle center longer if you want?