rlgobbel

This is my first message on this board, but I read often!
We're planning a trip at the end of July for our Honeymoon!!!! We'll be there Monday through Sunday- we land around 12:30 pm on Monday. I'm trying to roughly plan out our days and was hoping for some input. I think we may rent a car for two days- maybe Thursday and Friday. The two MUST dos are StingRay City and golfing.

SO do we do StingRay City while we have a car? Or should we do that on like Tuesday or Wednesday? And do I need to make golf reservations before arriving at the island? Where can we rent clubs? Favorite course? What else should we do? Maybe a day we have the car we should drive to Rum Point just for a different atmosphere? I wondered if we should do a Sting Ray tour that depards from there. What else should we do? And what restaurants are a MUST if we can only drive two evenings?
Oh, we're staying at the Wyndham. This needed to be an economical trip because we're paying for it ourself and we still have little spending money saved!
Thanks everyone, I appreciate your help!
Any of GC tips would be awesome.

deenl

Congratulations on the impending nuptials!!!! If you don't want to do a stingray trip when you have the car, the tour operators will pick you up and return you to your hotel. Try to get someone who takes a smaller number of people - you are assured more individual attention that way. When you say Wyndham, do you mean Sunshine Suites? If so - nice place, I've stayed there several times. Places to eat - my opinion - are Papagallos which is out in West Bay (follow the signs) and you'll need a car for that. Reef Grill which is near Royal Palms beach bar is great. Club Med is a great Italian/seafood restaurant. And last but certainly not least is Mezza which is closer to town. All are outstanding in both food and service. For more economical food that is good (with good service), try Eats restaurant which is in front of Sunshine Suites. As to which day to go on a snorkel trip, check caymanport.com and this will give you the cruise ship schedule. It would be best to go on a day without ships or with fewer ships. If that doesn't happen, an afternoon trip would be the best to avoid large crowds - people have most often done their tours in the am. If you don't want a car for the whole time, try taking the bus - it costs a few dollars and they usually run frequently. I'm not a big fan of Rum Point but many people are. It seems like a long drive to go to a nice beach when I'm already at a nice beach. But that's a "to each their own" type of thing. Enjoy.

Kristen1206

Hi! We got married in GC in December and loved it.

Definitely drive around the island..you can find all sorts of neat little spots. Do this on your way to Rum Point. Stingray City is a must.
Also take a resort scuba course if you're not certified. Incredible undersea life there. I recommend Danny with Off The Wall DIvers.

As far as dining...do not miss Reef Grill or Smuggler's Cove. If you like sushi, Bamboo is awesome. For a fun casual place, go to Coconut Joe's. Also good...The Treehouse, Deckers and Bed.

Feel free to email me with with more questions...

Congrats!!

mauitammy

Congratulations and Best Wishes on your marriage. We just returned from Grand Cayman this morning. We arrived 6/12 and stayed until 6/20. We stayed at the Westin Casuarina. This was our first trip to the Caymans and we had a wonderful time although we did not love it there and have no desire to return. We loved Stingray City and went with Captain Marvin's. It is very close to where you are staying and I would recommend going with them. There were only 10 people on the boat with us so we each got to hold, pet, etc. a stingray. The boat driver also coaxed a moray eel out of his spot on the barrier reef.
The snorkeling was wonderful! We went on a Tuesday when there were not as many cruise ships in port and it was not crowded at Stingray City. We were afraid to wait until later in the week where there were NO cruise ships in port due to weather concerns. You won't need a car to do Stingray City. As far as golfing goes my husband and I both commented that we could not imagine golfing on Grand Cayman. It is seriously the hottest place we have ever vacationed and my husband grew up in Africa! The humidity and heat are oppressive. The pool water temperature actually felt hot and it was too hot to even lay on a raft in the pool. It literally felt like a sauna when we stepped out of the hotel to go to the beach/pool. You might want to re-evaluate golfing once you get there. We ate at Papagallos also and it was our best meal we had there. The setting is nice and the food was delicious. Cimboco is also a place we would recommend for a less expensive meal. Everyone loved their food at both of these places. Believe all the posts here warning of the high prices on Grand Cayman. I was skeptical that it could really be THAT expensive as we vacation often in Hawaii, but Grand Cayman really wins the prize for high prices. We also really enjoyed a sunset cruise with Red Sail Sports. If you have any other questions I would be happy to help. I really appreciated all the advice I got here to help plan our trip.

Filter14

http://www.safehaven.ky/links.htm

Hi. We've been to GC in Jan., April, June and Dec. Each time my husband and son have golfed at Safehaven and loved it. They try to get the earliest tee times available to try and beat the heat(but it is an island . They will only let you book 24hr prior(I think). They've always taken clubs with them but my son-inlaw rented them with no problem. Also, if there's any chance you want to golf 5 times(perhaps not this time as it's your honeymoon), buy the package plan as it saves some money. But after re-reading your message, I see that you may be staying at Sunshine Suites...if so, check with them about any discounts for golf and if they can book your tee times. I think they have a 'deal' with Safehaven.

Enjoy your trip and congratulations!

Samsaf

We just returned from our first trip to Grand Cayman last night. We loved it. We stayed on the East End (the windward side) and felt that the breezes really helped, because it was very hot there! It took about an hour to get to Seven Mile Beach, but we only did that 3 times during the week. The most fun we had was when we chartered a boat for the five of us and went to the Stingray City sand bar, the coral gardens, the barrier reef and a place where a lot of lobsters were. At the barrier reef there was a nurse shark swimming around with us! We like to snorkel and have snorkeled at lots of places, but Grand Cayman had the best snorkeling of any place we've been! We also snorkeled at Cemetery Reef and Smith's Cove. There are maps at the hotels which will show you lots of different snorkel sites. We didn't golf, but I imagine it would be very hot to golf in the afternoon. Because we stayed on the East End, we had a car for the whole week. We caught the boat on the North side of the island, near Rum Point. And yes, everything is very expensive there -- we've also been to Hawaii and felt that prices on Grand Cayman were lots more expensive than Hawaii.

anonxx

Samsaf- How do you compare the snorkeling in Grand Cayman to Hawaii? We have been to the Cayman Islands several times and love it, especially the snorkeling and diving. Which of the Hawaii islands have the closest experience to Grand Cayman, in terms of beaches and shore snorkeling? Also, are there beach front condo's similar to the condo's in Grand Cayman? We have stayed both on the east side and 7 Mile Beach and enjoyed both. Thanks!

mauitammy

The best snorkeling we have ever done was on the Big Island of Hawaii at a marine park at the Captain Cook Monument. It was incredible. The water is warmer though in Grand Cayman and maybe a little clearer.

Samsaf

Anonxx, We enjoyed the snorkeling on Hawaii, but the water, in my opinion, does not compare to Grand Cayman. However, we love Hawaii, too. Hawaii's land is more beautiful than Grand Cayman, and Grand Cayman's water is more beautiful (and clearer and calmer) than Hawaii. We have snorkeled on Maui and Kauai, and each time we snorkeled there the water was a little rougher than the water at Grand Cayman, but it was still very good. I think Kauai is the most beautiful of the islands, but there is more to do, more restaurants, etc., on Maui.

There are condos on the beach in Hawaii. Which island are you visiting? The "Revealed" guidebooks are very good at showing aerial photos of each resort, so you can tell how big the pools are and if it is truly an oceanfront resort.

We like both Grand Cayman and Hawaii, for different reasons. If I was going strictly for snorkeling/diving, I would choose Grand Cayman.

Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]

Sherry