Grand Cayman, away from the crowds
 

Quick check of the cruise schedule and it looks like GC will be a busy port during our stay.
We are looking for quiet snorkeling and dining spots away from the cruise crowds.
We will be renting a car, out exploring the island, no destination too far.
Thanks in advance, island_breeze.

island breeze,

Pretty easy to avoid he cruise ship crowds, especially if you have the schedule. Stay away from Georgetown on the heavy days. The northern end of 7MB will be your best bet.

As far as snorkeling spots go, Eden Rock in our opinion, is by far the best shore snorkeling on GC. Unfortunately, it's close to where the ships come in, and you'll have to go early in the AM or late afternoons to avoid the crowds. We used the cruise ship schedule everyday to avoid the crowds as well. Cemetary reef should also be a good choice for a less crowded area. Make sure you swim out far enough to get to the reef. You may want to check out the reef out in front of Treasure Island. You need to swim out at least 75-100 yards beyond the rock jetties, but we hardly ever found it crowded out there due to the lengthy swim out. The reef is teaming with fish of all shapes & sizes. We saw something different there every day.

If you are planning on doing Sting Ray sandbar, I'd recommend a smaller charter, that goes on Sundays if you can find it. Sundays were usually void of ships. If not, just pick a day that has the least amount of ships in port. I'm guessing the afternoon trips may be better as the cruise crowds will have to be headed back by that time of day.

Our favorite restaurants:
The Reef Grill a "Must Do" The Sea-Bass is beyond words.
Pappagallos (hard to find, but worth it)
Calypso Grill (not sure of hurricane status of last year)
Smugglers Cove (again, not sure of status, but by far one of the best on the island)

Just checked a cayman restaurant guide, and it appears that all are open except Smugglers. Unless it opened under a new name...

Tom?

Good to know, that the cruise ships crowds diminish late in the day and evening.
We have never stayed on a Carib island that had a ship port and want to avoid that scene as much as possible. We've rubbed elbows with them in Jamacia and STT as we quickly went the other way.
i_b.

Hey ScottB - we've stayed at Treasure Island too, and once when we tried to snorkel out to the reef, had a speed boat roar by between us and the beach. Kinda freaked me out - ever have that happen to you? I didn't think that was a huge traffic area, but if snorkeling there again, might want to tow a dive flag.

Forget Stingray city when ships are in. We always go on Sunday mornings. Last 2 times on Sunday we had the place 2 ourselves. Never any cruise people on the norht end of 7mb.

island breeze,
Make sure you check out the north side of the island, the Rum Point area. There's some great snorkeling there, and on the east end of the island. At Rum Point there's a nice beach bar and out door restaurant and hammocks to laze away the afternoon. This area is far away from the crowds and very tropical and tranquil. For a really nice dinner, check out The Lighthouse in Breakers. It's maybe a 20 min. drive from 7MB, but awesome food and setting!! It's one of our favorite restaurants on the island!
Sandy

Smugglers Cove was in the building that has been demolished to make way for the new cruise ship terminal, which should open in Spring 2006... in other words, the writing was on the wall before the Hurricane in 2004 !

crusin tigger,

Nope, can't say I've ever had a boat come that close while snorkeling TI. We've snorkeled that area at least 20 times w/o any probs. My guess is that the boat that came through there was sadly mis-informed. From my understanding boats are supposed to stay way out from 7MB swim areas. I hope you reported the incident.

What are the cruise ships days? Are they set or do they flucuate?

You can check www.caymanport.com.

Plug in your vacation dates and see how many ships (and how many passengers) will be in port on those days.

CaymanSue: This is sooooo helpful (www.caymanport.com). Thanks for that. Lots of cruise ships during our upcoming stay. Yikes!