Family Guide to Grand Cayman with kids – Fun things to do

While sitting on a sandy beach, sipping rum punch and gazing out at the Caribbean sea; it is hard to believe that you are actually on a mountain top. Yes, a mountain top. Interestingly, the three masses of land that make up the Cayman Islands are actually the peaks of a large underwater mountain range with the largest being Grand Cayman.

Once nicknamed Las Tortugas, by Christopher Columbus, the islands were crawling with sea turtles. Now a popular cruise ship port, Grand Cayman is also crawling with visitors. In fact, that is how we came to be on Grand Cayman ourselves, while sailing the Disney Fantasy.

Although there is so much you can do and see on the island, we are going to show you how to spend a day in Grand Cayman with kids.

West Bay

Although there are interesting points of interest on the East, North and South sides of the island, West Bay has the most popular attractions. If you want to maximize your time in Grand Cayman, I would suggest staying on this side of the island. Here are some interesting things to see and do on West Bay.

Seven Mile Beach

Recently named Caribbean’s best beach, these crystal clear waters are perfect for swimming, snorkeling or just relaxing. After days of nonstop activities, all I wanted to do when we arrived in Grand Cayman was plop my butt on a beach and drink rum. So, that is exactly what we did.

Tiki Beach

A section of Seven Mile Beach, we opted for a day on Tiki Beach. Only a ten minute drive from George Town we spent the day sipping rum punch and enjoying this little piece of paradise. Of course if you are looking for a more active day there is wide variety of water sport equipment for rent.

However, we were not looking for activity. Rather we took the opportunity to fully relax. The only time we got out of the water was to grab another drink, have lunch and get FireCracker’s hair braided.

Let me tell you, it was glorious; every relaxing minute of it. So, if you only have one day in Grand Cayman and all you want to do is lay comatose on coral sand then do it.

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My sister on the other hand opted for a more adventurous day and got to go on the following excursions…

Stingray City

This is not a city, rather a shallow sand bar that is home to around 50 giant stingrays. These are wild stingrays and this is not a pool. The boat takes you out to sand bar, so you can freely swim with stingrays. My niece was super nervous as the stingrays get excited and actually jump up on you. Nevertheless, my little nephew, Wild Thing, loved interacting with the sting rays and was completely fearless. So, if are jumpy this may not be your activity.

Cayman Turtle Farm

Just like the days of Christopher Columbus, sea turtles are still aplenty on Grand Cayman and available for viewing at the Cayman Turtle Farm. Here, visitors not only get to learn about their ancient history, but they also get to interact with these majestic and gentle creatures of the sea. There are tons of exhibits to enjoy from breeding pools to turtle lagoons. There are even opportunities for other animal interactions, like Smiley the hybrid crocodile. As you can see my sister and her family really loved the touch tanks, but who wouldn’t? Aren’t sea turtles the cutest?

Hell

Anyone ever told you that you were going to Hell? Well, now you can actually go there and why not send your well wishers a postcard while you are there. Really though, Hell is just a collection of black limestone pinnacles. You can’t actually walk on this natural wonder, but there are platforms for viewing and photo ops.

George Town

Is not the center for offshore banking, but it also the capital of the Cayman Islands. This charming Caribbean town is loaded with restaurants and shops. It is here that one can learn the take in some history at the Cayman Islands National Museum or at Fort George. Just a bit east from George Town is Pedro St. James Historic Site, which was once called Pedro Castle.

After our beach day we didn’t have much time to explore George Town, because we didn’t want to miss the tender back to the ship. We did, however, have enough time to grab some bottles of rum and to get our passports stamped. My sister on the other hand made sure to stop at Margaritaville for a drink while my nephews enjoyed the water slide. Yes, there is a water slide at the bar. Who says, you can’t have babies in a bar?

That’s A Wrap!

As you can see, how you want to spend you day in Grand Cayman with kids is completely up to you. Do you want to swim with stingrays and meet a sea turtle friend, like my sister and her family did? Or would you rather soak up your time in paradise and just hangout out on Tiki Beach, like we did? There is no wrong answer here, because no matter how you choose to spend you day in Grand Cayman, you are sure to leave happy. We all agreed that Grand Cayman is an island we would love to spend more time on and next time, I will take my chances with those crazy stingrays. If you would like to learn more about our entire trip and what it is like to cruise the Disney Fantasy, check out my post, HERE.

Have you ever been to Grand Cayman?

How would spend your day?

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