Beaches??

Newbie Joined: 14 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

We are arriving by cruise ship on the 24th. We have heard the beaches in general and those with snorkeling are very crowded. Is this true? If so, can you recommend a local snorkle outfit.

Thx!

Native Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 1023 Location: Illinois

I've never seen a beach really crowded....and since it is off season you should not have any problems. We were there in May and did not see busy snorkel sites.......including the weekends.
If you want really good snorkeling, book an excursion to Stingray City, coral gardens and the reef. It is really beautiful.
Check the topics for recommended operators under the watersports section here. Have a great trip.

Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 6:50 am Post subject:

Welcome to the forum johnmhasse Smile

,

Since you are visiting Cayman in a couple of weeks, I wouldn't worry about any beaches being too crowded at all, since this is the low season for tourism.

Basically, it's the beaches that welcome cruise ship passengers that ever become crowded anyway, but it's not because there's snorkeling there. In fact, those beaches don't have snorkeling that's anything special......it's just that those beaches offer food, drink, beach chairs, umbrellas, all sorts of water toys for rent, and bathroom facilities, so it's perfect for a day at the beach when you're only coming in for a day. If you walk along the beach, you'll see plenty of uncrowded beaches, and you're welcome to lay a towel down on the sand and enjoy.......but if the beach is in front of a condo or resort, you just can't use their chairs.

Now, it sounds like you really do want to do some snorkeling, so I have a couple of suggestions......you can snorkel right at Eden's Rock, which is just a short walk away from where the tender from the ship will bring you into Georgetown. There's no beach there, but there's a nice reef with some pretty good snorkeling (especially if there aren't a lot of other ships in that day) .....or you can rent your snorkel gear there and then walk down the road a little further to Smith Cove. Also great snorkeling there, and there is a little beach, but no amenities but a bathroom.

With that being said, I totally agree with knees' advice that you should not miss the chance to go to Stingray City, which you can't do anywhere else! We highly recommend Soto's Cruises, who you can read about here -

.They offer a stop at the Stingray City sandbar as well as another snorkel stop. Not sure when your ship will arrive in Cayman, but Soto's has two trips.....one at 9:30 and one at 1:30........they will pick you up right at the cruise ship terminal, and then after the trip is over, they can either bring you back to the harbor (and you can do some more snorkeling at Eden Rock and/or Smith Cove), or they can drop you off at the Royal Palms beach, which is one of the beaches that has all the amenities that you could possibly want for a day in the sun.

Char

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