Grand Cayman advice???

[AP77]

We are stopping in Grand Cayman in December on our cruise. We have never cruised so I am not even sure what to expect at the ports. We are a family of 5 and don't want to do expensive excursions through the cruise line. I have heard that you can take a cab to the turtle farm yourself. Has anyone done this? Is it far from the port? Expensive to get there/admission? Do the cab drivers try to rip you off?

How long can we expect to spend at the turtle farm? Is it an all day thing?

Seven Mile Beach is the other place that looked appealing. Would it be possible to do the turtle farm right away in the morning then take a cab to 7 mile beach for the afternoon then take a cab back to the port?

I am just trying to plan our visit but want to be realistic with our expectations. Our kids are7, 6, & 4.

Thanks.

 

[anricat]

I'm not able to answer about doing turtle farm on your own. I'm sure you could. However, we did the turtle farm as part of an excursion via DCL and we spent an little under an hour there and it was plenty. We were pretty much done with the place and ready to move on between 45-50 minutes. I wouldn't anticipate spending the day there.

We actually really enjoyed our half day excursion which included the turtle farm and Stingray City. It wasn't super expensive (but then again, I don't know what your budget is). The stingrays were amazing - once in a lifetime experience.

 

[LizGirl]

We did not visit the turtle farm but we took at taxi to Seven Mile Beach and it was very easy. They told us the fare before we got in the van. We did not have issues with them trying to rip us off or anything. Grand Cayman was very different from Cozumel where they were trying to squeeze every penny out of us.

 

[jenmiller114]

We are a family of 5 as well and we rarely book the excursions on the ship. When you arrive in Grand Cayman, there are numerous taxi drivers waiting outside of the port who will give private and small group tours. My husband negotiated a price and we took a small group tour that stopped at the turtle farm where the driver gave us a personal tour. The dolphins were across the street if someone wanted to go there instead but it would not be for a swim, mostly just to view them. When we finished there, we went to "Hell" to take a few photos and came back by the rum shop for souvenirs. There was a nice area to take photos, as well. They finished by dropping us off at 7 Mile beach and told us that there were vans that came by a certain spot regularly so we could stay at the beach as long as we wanted and we could meet them to be returned back to the ship. I don't recall what we paid but it was significantly less than what DCL was charging. We were at every stop just long enough to get to some photos and souvenirs and to see the highlights. Grand Cayman is very small so I think the island tour took less than 2 hours including the turtle farm. The sun is very intense so we stayed at the beach for about 90 minutes and we were ready to head back. Incidentally, we loved the turtle farm.

 

[wanderlust7]

We did a tour with Captain Marvin's that included a short stop at Hell, then the turtle farm. It was $30/person which included admission to the turtle farm. The tour was about 1 hour 45 minutes. We didn't do this, but they'll drop you off at Seven Mile Beach instead of the port at the end if you want. You'll have to find your own way back. The turtle farm takes less than an hour to walk around and see everything. They have a water park area too (not included with the tour) that would be a longer visit.