Discovering the Cayman Islands by Land and Sea

During our Carnival Cruise last month, we visited three port of calls, one of them being Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. While I was still in planning mode and researching our excursions for each port of call, I knew I wanted to choose an option that would allow us to see more than just the beautiful beaches. The excursion I finally decided on allowed us to see Grand Cayman by land and sea.

My family was given a complimentary cruise. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Since we only had a day to explore, the excursion we booked featured three different stops. During our first stop, we boarded a boat with glass sides and explored a few ship wrecks, watched fish and sharks as they swam by, and learned about the different types of coral in the ocean. The boat ride was about 30 minutes. I thought it was a fun experience, but I doubt we would do it again.

Our next stop on the itinerary was a turtle farm. The children had the opportunity to pick up the turtles out of the water for a short period of time. There was a small area filled with water you could enter if you wanted a more up close encounter with the turtles. There are probably 100’s of turtles on premises, but you can only touch the smaller turtles. There is also a learning center on site, as well as a gift shop if you want to pick up any souvenirs. My children really enjoyed the turtles, however, I’m not sure if we would visit again. I think it’s one of those places where you’ve seen it and done it so there isn’t much need to go back again because it really doesn’t change much.

The last stop on the tour was a rum shop, but since we don’t consume alcoholic beverages, we just stayed in the bus and I used the wifi to catch up on some emails while we waited for all the others to finish.

Overall we really enjoyed our day in Grand Cayman. After our excursion was finished, we saw a coconut vendor while walking back to board the ship and I HAD to try fresh, straight from the coconut water. My family had some strong opinions about the water, but I didn’t think it was all that bad. I felt cook drinking straight from the coconut. If I ever get cast for Survivor, I’ve got the whole coconut water thing down.

I’ve been doing more video lately because sometimes I feel like my pictures don’t tell the whole story. And since I’m trying to tell a story, I thought video was the perfect compliment to the written words. So,  I made a short 3 minute movie of our time in Grand Cayman.

Grand Cayman is definitely a port we want to visit again. Although it’s very small, I feel like there was so much we didn’t get to see. I don’t think we will be headed there on our next Carnival cruise since I already have other ports in mind, but we will be going back.

If you are interested in cruising, you can read my other articles on cruising with your family.

• 15 Tips for First-Time Cruisers
• A Look Inside a Carnival Ocean View Stateroom
• Dining Options on a Carnival Cruise
• 5 Reasons Why a Carnival Vacation is Perfect for Families

Have you ever been a cruise? If so, what is your favorite part of cruising?