Quick trip report - Grand Cayman. What a wonderful place!
Mar 3rd, 2009, 12:20 PM
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Quick trip report - Grand Cayman. What a wonderful place!
Thanks so much to everyone who helped me choose this as a travel destination. Grand Cayman ended up being an excellent destination for us and our toddler son. I was so relieved to find that it was very different from Jamaica, a place I would never choose to go again.
We stayed at Comfort Suites on 7MB, which is right next to the Marriott resort. Although I am typically used to more luxurious accomodations, this hotel was perfect for our needs with a young child, and having a "suite" room that had a separate bedroom off the living room/kitchenette area was perfect. The included breakfast was really nice, the pool (although on the small side) was very nice as was the poolside restaurant, Stingers. The path directly to the beach takes not even a minute to walk, and we spent most of our time on the beach. The hotel is very clean, there and the staff were super-friendly. All in all a great stay. I will say that right now, there is a tall condo building going up directly behind the pool area (slated to be done in June 09 according to the sign). The Marriott next door is also renovating their balconies so the construction noise at the pool was pretty bad. It didn't seem to affect us at all at the beach though, thankfully. Other than that, no complaints.
Grand Cayman's beaches are incredible! I am not typically an ocean swimmer but how can you not swim in water of this perfection? I could still see clear to the bottom up to my neck. Next time I will definitely buy some snorkel gear, I regret not doing that. The water there is amazing and the weather was perfection.
We did rent a car one day (Andy's rental car is directly across the street - very convenient) and visited the Boatswain's Turtle Farm and just did the shorter tour. I still found that to be a little pricey, but it's not often you get to see/handle sea turtles so we enjoyed the experience a lot. We explored the island a bit on the west side and then visited Georgetown, which i didn't care for at all since it is your typical cruise ship-tourist town.
As for restaurants, we pretty much stuck to the casual outdoor places because of our 2-year old. Coconut Joe's has a great jerk chicken sandwich, and Aqua Beach has a great grouper topped with pecan/crab dressing.
We've never vacationed before in the middle of winter, but I think we may need to make this a yearly habit! Absolutely loved it there and had a wonderful time.
We stayed at Comfort Suites on 7MB, which is right next to the Marriott resort. Although I am typically used to more luxurious accomodations, this hotel was perfect for our needs with a young child, and having a "suite" room that had a separate bedroom off the living room/kitchenette area was perfect. The included breakfast was really nice, the pool (although on the small side) was very nice as was the poolside restaurant, Stingers. The path directly to the beach takes not even a minute to walk, and we spent most of our time on the beach. The hotel is very clean, there and the staff were super-friendly. All in all a great stay. I will say that right now, there is a tall condo building going up directly behind the pool area (slated to be done in June 09 according to the sign). The Marriott next door is also renovating their balconies so the construction noise at the pool was pretty bad. It didn't seem to affect us at all at the beach though, thankfully. Other than that, no complaints.
Grand Cayman's beaches are incredible! I am not typically an ocean swimmer but how can you not swim in water of this perfection? I could still see clear to the bottom up to my neck. Next time I will definitely buy some snorkel gear, I regret not doing that. The water there is amazing and the weather was perfection.
We did rent a car one day (Andy's rental car is directly across the street - very convenient) and visited the Boatswain's Turtle Farm and just did the shorter tour. I still found that to be a little pricey, but it's not often you get to see/handle sea turtles so we enjoyed the experience a lot. We explored the island a bit on the west side and then visited Georgetown, which i didn't care for at all since it is your typical cruise ship-tourist town.
As for restaurants, we pretty much stuck to the casual outdoor places because of our 2-year old. Coconut Joe's has a great jerk chicken sandwich, and Aqua Beach has a great grouper topped with pecan/crab dressing.
We've never vacationed before in the middle of winter, but I think we may need to make this a yearly habit! Absolutely loved it there and had a wonderful time.
Mar 4th, 2009, 09:08 AM
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No, basically I didn't see the need - 7MB is fantastic and I didn't move for 6 days LOL. I did take a peek at the different coastal areas when we had the rental car that day. At the tip of the western side I was surprised to see murky surf & significant waves, and much more rocky shores in other areas.
Mar 5th, 2009, 04:56 AM
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My sons are 27 and we have traveled there with them since they were age 10. I wish we would have found that island when they were infants. Safe, clean, and a chunk of heaven. Last year we bought a home there and will call it home the moment of retirement. The people are the kindest and warmest I've ever met. There are many other places for you to see. Please drop me a note and I'd love to share them with you. We have a time share at present next to the comfort suites. We found that a good place to start our life with the island. They too are friendly and it's nice to have a regular place to stay. CHeck it out next time you go. Its called seven mile beach resort.
Apr 3rd, 2009, 05:47 PM
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I am planning a honeymoon aug 2009.. Thinking of Grand Cayman.. there are some good deals and I am alot about saving $$$$ these days. I see that the comfort suites offers free breakfast.. is food expensive there? We were really wanting all inclusive... any recommendations for a honeymoon there ?
Apr 4th, 2009, 11:16 AM
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For all inclusive, you have two options in Cayman.. Beach Club Colony and The Reef Resort.
I can't say more other than having pointed you to research those two.. as I run The Reef, but suffice to say we have a LOT of honeymooners stay with us
Congrats, btw !
I can't say more other than having pointed you to research those two.. as I run The Reef, but suffice to say we have a LOT of honeymooners stay with us
Congrats, btw !
