geolovestravel

Hi.. Husband & I will travel to Morritt's Tortuga Club in Cayman Islands next year. Anyone stay there recently? Good/Bad? Is there a bus system we can take to Georgetown or to Seven Mile Area? Do they offer any shuttle service? We snorkel but don't dive. Thanks for any information.

TurtleTagger

Never stayed there, but it is located on the quiet and more isolated East End section of the island. The beach is nice, pretty wide and soft sand (not as nice as Seven Mile, a bit of rock and coral on the sea floor, reef shoes are a good idea). It can be VERY windy there December to early March, with choppy water as well. Usually fine, thought a bit breezy, other periods. Snorkeling right from the beach is quite good and there is a barrier reef for advanced snorkelers to explore a few hundred yards off the beach. It is also located a few minutes from some of the best shore snorkel sites on the island. A nice snorkel boat trip is offered by the dive company just down the road.

Next door is the Reef Resort for some dinning and entertainment options (Barefoot Man, a Jimmy Buffet type, plays there) You WILL need a rental car. There is no easy to use bus or shuttle service. Public buses will pass by, but they are infrequent and should not be relied on to go sightseeing or shopping. A small strip center across the street has a "large" mini-grocery store, liquor store and Dunkin Donuts. A few off-site restaurants (Portofino's, Miss Vivines, Arlaine's) within 5 minutes drive, wider options within 15-20 minute drives (Lighthouse, Over the Edge, South Coast, Driftwoods, Rum Point Restaurant & Wreck Bar & Grill, Kaibo Yacht Club. Thee are two sections of the resort, the older Tortuga Section and the newer Grand Section, can't tell you the pluses and minuses.

doug_stallings

If you really don't want to drive, then you should not stay on the East End. It's very far (over a half-hour) drive from George Town, and you can really only rely on buses in the immediate George Town/Seven Mile Beach area, especially at night. Dining options down there are really limited, especially if you don't have a car.

tejana

We stayed there several years ago - the units are fine, but it is a fairly isolated area. You will definitely need a car, and be prepared to drive quite a ways to get anywhere. If you are divers, the best diving is on the east end, so you are much closer to good dives than anyone down at SMB (not as many dive operators in the area, but the boat trips are much shorter!). As far as snorkeling goes, the snorkeling right off of the beach at the hotel is okay - even saw an octopus in the seagrass in daylight. What time of year are you going? Because of its location, the hotel gets the worst of the Christmas Winds. We were there in December and some days the winds were blowing so bad that you couldn't even walk toward the beach, and all outdoor activities had to be cancelled.

geolovestravel

Thanks to all with your good info. We are going in October. We are not divers, but will just love the solitude of the area. I guess we will have to rent a car for a few days to experience Georgetown and Seven Mile. Secured this Resort because it was offered by RCI timeshare and if you deal with timeshare exchanges you know how difficult getting anything in Carribean is! Hope the winds are not going to blow us away! We experienced that before in Canary Islands. Again Thanks to all. Every trip is a new experience!

abk3

You have picked an excellent resort for comfort, beauty and solitude. I have been an owner there over 10 years and visit one or more times yearly. It is isolated from the tourist area - Seven Mile Beach - but there is a bus (slow and irregular) and taxis (expensive). Renting a car is a good idea, but remember to drive on the left.

David's restaurant is in the resort, but a bit overpriced and the quality varies. The staff have several "functions" for guests, so avail yourselves of those because they are usually pretty good.

The resort next door also has a good restaurant (check with them for the night of the Barefoot Man's performance), and if you do have a car, there are some of the best restaurants anywhere, located nearby or in Georgetown.

The beach is beautiful (you'll burn quickly). The snorkeling under the pier is reputed to be the BEST on the island. You can see virtually all small marine fauna right there. Other activities can be arranged at the resort and some discount tickets are available - eating on board a boat at sunset, the botanical gardens, Sting Ray City, and a day long shopping excursion into town.

Call the resort at 1-345-947-7449 and speak to one of the guest representatives to plan some things ahead of time.

One thing to note - the older buildings have stairs, no elevators, so if you have any trouble walking up stairs, you might want to request a first floor unit. All the newer buildings have elevators.

Good luck. It is the end of hurricane season. Pirate Week may be celebrated during your stay, also ask the resort representative about that.

Jennifer_WasickRoper

If you like solitude ,this is the place. You can be around people or not, it is your choise on the East end. We have been going to Cayman for 10 years. We love it there. We rent a car it isnt hard to drive once you get the hang of driving on the opposite side of the road. Georgetown is nice for shopping but gets very crowded when cruise ships come in. The weather is wonderful. We have been in Jan., early june and late june. Stingray city is really fun. The restraunts on the East end are great and have delious food. Rum point is a nice place to visit, some shops and bars and food and a beautiful place to watch the sunset, with a rum punch . have fun and enjoy the beauty.

gafia

Part of the fun on Grand Cayman is renting a car and driving around the island. We also loved the Botanic Gardens and watching the blue iguanas, which you will only find on Grand Cayman.
We had very good luck with Andy's car rental.
We hope to get back to GC one day...love the water and the snorkeling.
Ocean Frontiers does an East End snorkel excursion one day a week...normally they only take divers out. I highly recommend this excursion...lots to see.

Lisa_Baker

My husband and I were able to honeymoon at the Morritt's Tortuga through our vacation club points. We loved it so much that we bought a unit there. The resort has all of the amenities you'd need, including a small grocery/convenience store across the street. The only thing I might be concerned about is that October is prime hurricane season. My husband and I went in early November and got caught in Hurricane Paloma (category 4) and had to spend the night in a shelter.

The east end of the island is very tranquil. As commented by most everyone else, it's a drive, but that's part of the fun. The island is small enough to explore in a day. Each time we go, we rent from Andy's Rental Cars. You can get a compact car for about $300 for the week.

Rum Point is a short drive away. It's a fantastic place to relax, swim, get some sun or enjoy a tropical drink in the two-person hammocks strung throughout the property. I highly recommend the Rum Punch!

Over the Edge restaurant is our very favorate local haunt. The food is authentic and tasty. It's a very short drive from the resort.

The water is amazingly warm and crystal clear, especially at Rum Point. It's so clear and calm here that standing on the dock, we've seen baby stingrays and barricuda.

Barefoot Man at the Reef Resort next door is a MUST! He's one local celebrity who shouldn't be missed. His tongue-in-cheek lyrics will stay with you for years.

Snorkling with stingrays at Stingray City is truly amazing.

The Botanical Gardens are lovely, but avoid going there at dusk, you'll get eaten alive by mosquitos.

I'm itching to get back there now that I've written all of this. We haven't been since our son arrived in 2009. Can't wait to take him there!

Have a great time and post back to let us know what you thought.