Cruise Into Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands was a last-minute port added to our Carnival Cruise itinerary. As we were traveling in September (the height of the hurricane season) there were a number of storms the ship was trying to avoid. The island ended up being more beautiful than I first pictured, we had the most amazing day, so it was an awesome change to cruise into Grand Caymen.

During this holiday I was traveling with 5 others, we all agreed cruises are a great idea for a group trip. Also, we thought being in a large group we’ll be able to book some local shore tours at a cheaper rate. While we were on the cruise we’d taken a look at the Grand Cayman shaw tours that were for sale through Carnival. This was just to get an idea of prices & things to do. As soon as I saw swimming with Stingrays I was so excited. Carnival was charging $84 + plus taxes for this tour, and I hoped to get a cheaper price from a local.

When you first disembark the ship, within the cruise terminal there are a number of tour operators selling the same tours, (here they were charging $42 for the Stingrays). Everyone was super nice & happy to answer questions. 

Then exiting the terminal there were even more tour operators selling day trips along the main street.

We ended up purchasing tickets from a lovely lady on the street, for $35USD per person & this included; 

A bus to the boat (15-minute drive), 

25-minute boat ride to the sandbank, 

45 minutes swimming at Stingray City,  

20-minute snorkel at a spot called Coral Gardens, 

And, then the bus dropped us off at a beach afterward. 

Grand Cayman Stingray City

The water here was ridiculously amazing, as perfect as any picture suggested. The most beautiful turquoise-colored water and it was so crystal clear and warm. I was blown away, I didn’t expect it to be this good. As soon as we pulled up it was obvious this was a very popular spot. There would have easily been 100 people in the water. In some areas, you could stand up and some areas were just above my head but it was calm and easy enough for anyone to swim around. There were so many Rays though that it was easy enough to find a quiet area to swim alone with them.

Part of the tour was getting to feed, cuddle & kiss a ray. The feeding part was fun, you’d hold the food between your thumb and forefinger and soon enough they’d swim up and suck it out like a vacuum cleaner. I didn’t really like the kiss and cuddle part though, the guides would somehow get a hold of them and hold the rays out of the water. I just found them to be a bit rough.

The rays on their own would happily come up to you, probably looking for food, but they never seemed scared. They’d swim between our legs & over our backs. It was so funny that although we were so excited to get in the water with them, we’d still squeal every time they touch us.

It was such a fun experience and definitely something I want to do again. 

Coral Gardens Snorkeling Area

This was a nice little extra to the trip. The reef here was really big and we had great visibility. Although, there wasn’t a whole lot of fish around. I was hanging to see a turtle but it wasn’t until we got back in the boat we saw one swimming by!

7 Mile Beach

Before the cruise had arrived at Grand Cayman, I had googled what’s the best beach, and the top result was 7 Mile Beach. So with a few hours left before we had to be back on the ship we figured we could spend the afternoon there. 

The beach was lined with hotels, and large sections were roped off for hotel guests or you could pay $2 to sit there. Unfortunately the day we were there the beach was covered in seaweed and the water was really murky. I would assume this was due to the recent hurricanes. 

There were a couple of food trucks on the beach. For $10 you could get a plate of meat, beans, rice, and BBQ corn cob and it was delicious. After lunch, we decided to head back to town, which was right near the cruise port. 

We were heading towards the bus stop from the beach and we were approached by a driver who said he’d take us for $3 each (only .50c more than the bus) and that he’d be leaving soon. We were more than happy with that because it was going to be quicker and less walking. 

Shopping in Grand Cayman

I didn’t realize how good the shopping was going to be here. There were some big-name stores and heaps of jewelry shops. Onboard they were actually selling shopping tours and I could now see why. Plus, it’s all tax-free! 

The Cayman Islands are somewhere I’d love to go back to, without a cruise ship, it was so beautiful and everyone was super nice. 

Have you been to The Cayman Islands? I’d love to hear any of your tips or stories in the comments below.

Two of the other cruise ports we visited were Roatan in Honduras and Ochos Rios in Jamaica. Click on the title if you’d like to check out those guides. 

Thanks for reading, 

Happy Travels.