Excursions in Isla Roatan and Grand CAyman

Hi. This was a question asked months ago but I didn't get much response. Have thre children 5,9, and 12 . Looking for things to do in Isla Roatan and Grand CAyman. We have already done Stingray City. Any recommendations would be appreciated

[LisaK]

Stacy - since you have already done the StingRays how about a trip out to the turtle farm? its very interesting. It doesn't take all day you can go to the farm and then head back into town and maybe spend some time on 7 mile beach. If you want to snorkel there are a couple of great places right off the tender pier, Eden's Rock and Devils Grotto.

We have done a tour with nativeways that included a stop at stingraycity, turtle farm, hell, and the rum cake factory it was our 2nd trip to stingray city and fun. In Roatan we did a hosebackriding tour with some time at the beach after, there were two children on the tour and the guide was very good with them, e-mail me if you would like the web site.

[Magnolia Blossom]

For Roatan try a trip to Tabyana Beach

Good suggestion, Magnolia Blossom, Tabyana Beach is awesome....beautiful, clean sand, crystal clear water with good snorkeling right off the beach, plenty of lounge chairs that they will position for you wherever you want to sit, palm trees to provide lots of shade for young children, clean restrooms, a bar, massages on the beach, food available for purchase and buses running constantly back to the ship (Roatan is very hilly, so be prepared for an adventurous bus ride, ha!). It was the very best excursion on our western Caribbean cruise.

In Grand Cayman, we booked an excursion thru the ship to the Beach Club on Seven Mile Beach, it was horrible, they had everyone packed in like sardines with the lounge chairs touching each other on a very small section of 7 Mile Beach. We left immediately and was glad the excursion wasn't expensive. We talked to one of the locals and she said next time we travel to Grand Cayman, just take a taxi to a free beach access area on Seven Mile Beach, the only cost would be a few dollars for the taxi.

[ArkJudy]

I second 7-mile Beach in Grand Caymen, since you've already done the Stingrays.

Here's what we did in Roatan, a clip from our review:

Wednesday was our Roatan port day, where the left the ship right onto Roatan’s port – no tenders. It was also a short day, arriving in Roatan at 7 a.m., back on board by 2 p.m. We had purchased a ship excursion to the Parrot Bay Resort Beach Party. Leaving the ship, we saw some Roatan dancers performing on the pier, and, just beyond that, was a parking lot full of vans and busses. Beyond that was an 8 or 10-foot fence that went low down below the water as well. That was kind of scary – what were they trying to protect us from? On the other side of the fence, many Roatan citizens and cabbies were pressed against the fence hoping, I think, to offer their services to passengers who were brave enough to pass through the fence.

Most of the vans and busses had a sign in their front windshield where they were going. We couldn’t find ours, so we located a Carnival agent, who located an MC tour operator to get us in our van. Turned out our van driver had placed his sign on the side door which we couldn’t see from the front of the vehicle. It was a long drive to the Parrot Bay Resort Beach, which turned out to be a manmade beach with outlets to the ocean on both ends. As we drove, we asked the driver about the best beaches, and he recommended the beaches on the west end of the island, which others who went there confirmed were wonderful.

Parrot Bay Resort is a work in progress. There’s a small hotel and café a short walk from the beach. The beach has bathrooms and six beach shower heads in the open air to wash the sand off. There is a small open-air hut, where they served drinks only. There were a couple of hammocks behind the hut. They had a local band playing music near the hut – pretty funny hearing songs we hear on our American radios sang with an island accent! The sandy beach wrapped all the way around the man-made beach with plenty of chairs, didn’t see any umbrellas. But, you could place your chair in the sun or in the shade which was plentiful. This beach felt safe for a family with children, and they did have a piñata, which the children got to break open.

But, we didn’t have a beach party as advertised, so if you want a party, this isn’t for you. It was a very relaxing, lay in the sun on a chair and swim in the lagoon day. They had some small kayaks for two that you could rent and use. It was a great, relaxing day.

The Roatan excursions most talked about back on the ship was the Roatan West Side Island Tour (that’s where the better beaches were) and the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel.