Grand Cayman beginning of Dec

[Bamaman]

We've been to virtually every island in the Caribbean--except for Martinique. Grand Cayman is a high class place--not to be confused with the banana republics and t shirt shops that are on so many of the islands. The weather's as good as it comes in the world--throughout the Southern Caribbean.

It is a place for divers--with incredibly clear water and cliff diving off the beaches.
Otherwise, The Caymans are a very quiet place.

My wife and I are not beach people, although I have scuba dived all over the world. And we don't like to sit around hotels as we're moving type of people. Our problem is cabin fever in the winter as we don't start traveling until April.

Those that are physically able would do best to get their scuba ratings prior to visiting The Caymans because diving there is about as good as it gets.

 

[Topflex]

You have the right Dexter. I would have him pick you up. His boat is in the yacht basin. His site tells you what he provides and does not provide. I would book only a few days in advance. Try to book on a day when no cruise ships are in port when Sand bar will be less crowded. Book early in the stay in case of bad weather. If good weather boat will be calm, you are in the North Sound (large bay). If wind is blowing (15+) it could be a little rough. He will not go out if the weather is too bad. He wants customers to be happy with the trip. Nice shorts are fine for the restaurants. Can't help with dolphins across from turtle farm. I have never had a desire to do that. Another thing I would do since you have a car is go to starfish point located near rum point. You will see dozens of starfish in wadeable water. Very nice, afterwards go to rum point for a drink and lunch. I think you will enjoy it. You still need a no foreign transaction fee credit card. The fact that the charges are in US$ make no difference. I charge almost everything on credit cards to get points. All mine are no foreign transaction fee except the Hilton honors American Express. I do not take it to Cayman.

 

[45th Birthday]

Reading Topflex's note about the starfish point jogged my memory about another excellent activity or two from this company https://sixsensescaymanadventures.com/. We did the eco tour and enjoyed it very much. Very informative, you see tons you would never otherwise see, and it is very relaxing. It includes a stop at stingray city. If you have the time (six hours), I would definitely do this one instead of a traditional stingray city/snorkel tour.

 

[Earl E Retyre]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just found another thing to do - Snuba. Has anyone ever tried to Snuba?

 

[Earl E Retyre]

OP report

OP here ... returned from our trip ... just wanted to say thanks for all the wonderful suggestions.

Topflex, thanks for suggesting Dexter Ebanks for sting ray city. They were an excellent outfit and fairly inexpensive ($35/person). Sting Ray city was fantastic. We also drove to starfish point and rum point per your suggestion.

Also, thanks 45th Birthday, we did a lot on your list. Stayed at the Westin, which was an amazingly beautiful hotel recently renovated. The water and beach there were incredible. Booked a car at $9/day and loved being able to drive myself wherever we wanted to go. On your list, we did stingray city, turtle farm, the botanic park, Camana Bay, ate at Edoardos, Ragazzi, Rackham's (and fed the Tarpon). All excellent suggestions.

The water was relatively warm, although we purchased some lightweight thermal rasher shirts beforehand - which I am very happy we did. We had A LOT of northerly winds and rain about half the time. So that prevented many activities on several days. The weather was actually cool for half the time which was a positive for walking around the botanic gardens and George Town. Having said that, the weather cooperated enough where we got to do just about everything we wanted to do.

All in all, an excellent trip that I would do again. Maybe I will be like Topflex and go every year for the next 25 years. I am wondering what other Caribbean islands would be equally as pretty, safe with lots of fun things to see and do.

 

[CoolRich59]

Topflex, thanks for suggesting Dexter Ebanks for sting ray city. They were an excellent outfit and fairly inexpensive ($35/person). Sting Ray city was fantastic. We also drove to starfish point and rum point per your suggestion.

Sorry I did not see this thread earlier. Stingray City is one of the few tourist attractions that is worth both the initial and subsequent visits.

This was our third trip out there.