Grand Cayman - rental car and few questions

We are headed for Grand Cayman in July - 9 of us - for a week. I am considering renting a minivan for transportation and groceries, looks like I could get one for about $460. I am trying to figure if it's worth renting. I know they drive on the left (I did it in Turks, it was very funny).

Are there any mandatory insurance charges in Grand Cayman I should be aware of, like in Mexico? Is it worth having a car for the week for grocery trips and driving around the island? Any day trips that would be highly recommended?

This is our first trip and I would love any tips. Thank you.

We like exploring every nook and cranny of a new place, so we almost always rent a car (unless it's an urban area with great public transportation). Driving around Grand Cayman is easy - if you avoid the cruise ship traffic jams. George Town is literally swamped with cruise ship passengers on some days, and traffic stands still. Check the port schedule for days you'll want to avoid town. http://m.cruisett.com/p/Cayman_Islands/234-George_Town_Grand_Cayman/July_2014/

Some of our favorite non-dive sites are the Queen Elizabeth Gardens, and Pedro St James. Rum Point is a lovely beach to relax for an afternoon (non cruise sip weekday), and the drive around the East End is very pretty and has some noteworthy sights. A car will let you explore the many good beach/snorkel spots around the island. Just don't leave valuables in a parked car.

Thank you very much - I would have never thought about the cruise ship issue! Great to know. Any tips for groceries on the island? We will prepare all meals in the villa since there are 9 of us, and we are staying at the ritz residences - I heard prices at the ritz are quite high so we need to mostly prepare meals at home.

Your choices are (from largest to smallest) Fosters, Hurleys, and Kirks for groceries. Note that grocery stores are closed on Sundays. Fosters is out by the airport, so it's easy to pick up groceries on your way to the resort. The island is not so big that it would be terribly inconvenient to go out shopping after you check in, though. We weren't really surprised by the grocery prices, but were stunned that a case of beer was over $50KYD! (1US=.82KYD or 1KYD=1.22US)

Being the experienced world traveler that you are, you won't be shocked by GC prices, but nine people going out to dinner ANYWHERE will be expensive. (I remember our first time in Hawaii without kids - DH and I couldn't believe how "cheap" our restaurant bills were!) I'd recommend taking advantage of Happy Hour specials for entertainment, atmosphere, and drinks/meals around the island. Check out www.caymanactivityguide.com/Pdf/Layout.pdf for what's going on.

Thanks! We do arrive on a Sunday so I am really glad you mentioned the grocery stores are closed. The ritz offers a fee-free grocery delivery ready at arrival so we will pre-order some things to cover us for the first 24 hours!

Here's a link for some photos from my last trip: http://s113.photobucket.com/user/me...ayman winter vacation 2011 2012?sort=3&page=1

Didn't go out to the Stingray Sandbar (sometimes called city) last trip -- but it's a wonderful experience. I've just gone with the Grand Caymanian operator so can't suggest other people for that trip -- try to go early before the cruise tours.

I don't have the Customs and cruise ship schedule links handy -- but you can find them pretty easily by Googling. The TripAdvisor Grand Cayman forum is very helpful, and the Cayman Activity Guide site also. I think your adults can take in a liter or two of alcohol if I remember correctly -- it's very expensive there. I take along some cereal, box milk, and snacks -- then I have empty space to bring stuff back. Have even taken frozen meats for fussy grandchild, but we have an easy hop down from Charlotte.

I always get a rental car because we like to visit around several sites and beach areas around the island. It is a first world country (part of Great Britain) so generally very safe, altho there have been a few reported car break-ins the past few years (at beaches primarily I think).

No mandatory car insurance as of 2012. Look for the instructions for how they drive around the roundabouts, and learn where your signal is in your vehicle (not the windshield wipers). Rental cars have a different color license plate so islanders look out for them. You may hear a lot of honking, but it's rarely at you -- downtown and on main drag it's the busses seeing if anyone wants to be picked up.

Any recommendations for rental car companies?

We always use Andy's Car rental for a large van. They are at the airport and also 7 mile beach so if you found you didn't need the car for the whole time you are there, you could always return it sooner and cab it back to airport. You can use the "Cag20" discount code, it might help.

There is also a Cost U Less in Governor's Square on West Bay Road (7 mile beach area). It's like a Costco. Might be worth it if you have 9 people to feed.

We stayed at the Ritz hotel for the Cayman Cookout a couple years ago. We had a mini fridge put in our room to store drinks, sandwiches etc. There was a nice grocery store that was pretty easy to walk to through parking lots, unpaved parh. The had a nice deli counter and I still remember their Cuban sandwich was my favorite. Their Seven restaurant had a dry aged steak that was the best I've ever had. Anthony Bourdain was seated behind us and my husband wanted to say "hi" but it was before the start of the Cayman Cookout so I suggested we let him enjoy his privacy until the event where we ran into him frequently anyway. They had a great breakfast buffet at Seven too. People raved about Eric Ripert's Blue but we never made it there because we had so much amazing food through the Cookout. If he's on the island, you'll see him at the resort quite a bit. This sure has brought back a lot of great memories!
We did tour one of the residences but they made it clear they had no interest in being part of the the Ritz fractional ownership program. Beautiful island, great fun, nice people! You will have a great time

riverdees05 said:

Any recommendations for rental car companies?

Click to expand...

Refer you back to:

' http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=204661 '

Andy's or McCurley's.

Thanks folks for all the advice - we ended up not renting a car, the grocery store was very close to the resort, the cab from the airport was $30 one way, and the tours we did came and picked us up. The girls also took the bus to town and had no issues with that. I can hardly wait to go back, seven mile beach was so beautiful. The water clarity was out of this world.