Road trip! That’s not the first activity that comes to mind when visiting a Caribbean island. However, Grand Cayman, the largest of the three islands that make up the Cayman Islands, is a pleasant exception.
Known for soft sandy beaches surrounded by crystalline water, it’s a popular island for travelers arriving by plane and cruise ship from around the world. However, most visitors rarely venture beyond the island’s capital, George Town, and its famous Seven Mile Beach. Renting a vehicle opens up the entire island.
Approximately 22 miles long and 8 miles wide at its widest point, Grand Cayman can easily be driven in a day, but where’s the fun in that? Breaking up the drive into sections allows more time for exploring the island’s less-visited beaches and villages.
The Five Regions
The island has five regions: George Town, West Bay, Bodden Town, North Side, and East End. The last two take up the most land but are the least populated, which means those with a vehicle have the best chance of finding a secluded patch of paradise when they venture out.
Another reason for driving? Unlike most Caribbean islands, which are hilly with narrow, twisting roads, Grand Cayman is mostly flat, with the island’s highest point only 60 feet above sea level. All that flat land means straighter, easier-to-drive roads. Let’s hit the road…
West Bay
West Bay is a knob-shaped, mostly residential area on the island’s northwest side. We stayed at West Bay’s Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort, a small seaside hotel with 21 rooms and three 1-bedroom cottages. Except for some crowing roosters, it’s at the end of a quiet street.
Cobalt Coast is popular with snorkelers and divers because there are coral reefs right offshore and a dive spot called a mini-wall, a short swim away. Equipment and lessons are available from the resort’s on-site dive shop Divetech.
While the resort has a small sandy beach area, you cannot enter the water from shore because the coastline consists of jagged volcanic rocks. Instead, there is a long pier for guests to enter the sea in a safe, shallow location.
When snorkeling off the pier, I didn’t have to swim far to see an amazing underwater world filled with colorful fish like blue tang, sergeant major, and rainbow parrotfish. I also spotted an orange-brown octopus, six small silver squids swimming in sync, and a cute pearly-colored puffer fish who gave me the side-eye.
Nova, the resort’s restaurant, serves Japanese-Mediterranean fusion cuisine next to the pool overlooking the sea. Servers are friendly and attentive with excellent sushi recommendations.
We took advantage of the restaurant’s Happy Hour from 5-7 PM Monday through Friday (except on holidays).
Bar snacks like teriyaki chicken wings were only $5 Cayman dollars, select beers were $4, and my personal favorite were 2-for-1 Aperol spritz cocktails served in clear plastic glasses so we could take them to the beach to view the sunset.
A Brief Stop in Hell
One of the strangest places to visit in West Bay is Hell. Yes, Hell – a geological area of razor-sharp black rocks about 10 minutes’ drive from the resort. Centuries ago, settlers thought the desolate rock outcroppings resembled hell and named it such.
Now, it’s more of a novelty destination, where you can tell your friends you went to hell and back.
The park has a kitschy, but fun gift shop selling t-shirts that say “I survived Hell.” The salespeople even dress in red capes with red horns on their heads.
When we entered, they shouted, “How the hell are you?” When we said good, they shouted back, “Hell yeah!” The gift shop also has a post office so visitors can send postcards from Hell to people back home.
Exploring Beyond the Resort
Fifteen minutes east of the resort is Barker’s National Park, a nature preserve of mangroves, marshes, birds, and tree-lined shore. The park’s brisk winds make it popular with kite surfers on weekends, however, we had the bay to ourselves on a weekday.
When we didn’t eat at the resort, we drove to Macabuca Tiki Bar, part of the Cracked Conch Restaurant.
While the Cracked Conch was more upscale with a dining room, Macabuca was completely outdoors with a long thatched-roof bar surrounded by a patio stretching out over the rocky shore providing spectacular sunset views.
Since conch was their specialty, we enjoyed the Conch Platter, which feeds two people. The platter includes crispy conch fritters, conch ceviche, strips of breaded cracked conch, and hushpuppies. On other visits, we enjoyed blackened mahi mahi tacos and juicy island burgers.
Grand Cayman Tours & Excursions
George Town
West Bay’s location meant we had to drive through George Town to get anywhere else on this semi-circle island. Named for England’s King George III, George Town is Grand Cayman’s largest urban area and home to half the island’s population.
It is also where visitors arrive either by air at Owen Roberts International Airport or by sea at the George Town Cruise Port. Like any city, it has morning and evening rush hours, so we planned our drives to avoid George Town during those times.
Seven Mile Beach: Paradise with a Crowd
Most visitors stay in George Town along Seven Mile Beach, an aptly-named wide stretch of sand covering most of George Town’s western edge.
With high-end, high-rise hotels running from one end to the other – plus an additional 5,000-10,000 cruise ship passengers offloading each day – this area gets incredibly crowded.
Hidden Beach Gems
However, tranquil beaches can still be found. Drive 2.5 km south of the cruise terminal to find Smith’s Barcadere. Smith’s Barcadere’s beach is tucked into a small bay, bookended by rock outcroppings that protect it from high waves and wind, making it perfect for families with small children.
Older kids (and kids at heart) will enjoy jumping from the rocks into the crystal-clear water.
On the north end of Seven Mile is Cemetery Beach, named for the large cemetery alongside it. Wider and flatter than Smith’s, it also has food and water sports vendors. Both beaches fill up on weekends. However, the vibe is more neighborhood block party than ritzy resort.
North Side, Kaibo, and Rum Point
To get to the beaches of North Side, Kaibo, and Rum Point, we used Frank Sound Road, the “cut through” road that dissects the island’s middle to the village of North Side. The road forks here – left goes to Rum Point and right to East End.
We stopped at North Side Public Beach where we found a large parking lot with big, clean restrooms, covered picnic tables, a boat ramp and dock, and a sandy beach with shallow entry. Perhaps because it was Tuesday, there were no people, only a flock of royal terns roosting on the pier.
Kaibo: A Royal Connection
Driving North Side Road to its end took us to Kaibo. Flanked by vacation condos on a thin strip of sand, Kaibo has several restaurants, a coffee bar, rentable beach cabanas, and a boat dock. On the calm waters of Water Cay, Kaibo also has a large public beach. However, it was closed for maintenance.
We lunched at Kaibo Beach Restaurant where we sat at the bar facing the water. According to the menu’s anecdote, there weren’t any buildings in Kaibo until a 1983 visit by Queen Elizabeth II.
Caymanians built a tiny dock and beach hut where they served her “fruity refreshments.” The visit was so successful that some residents decided to build a permanent restaurant. Now the area is fully developed, but fewer visitors venture here.
Starfish Point: A Conservation Story
After lunch, we went to the aptly named Starfish Point. This public beach area has a small parking lot and restrooms. The beach wraps around the point with plenty of room to spread out, so even though it was busy, people weren’t on top of each other.
Instead of a food truck, there was a food boat serving burgers or hot dogs, along with frozen drinks (adults could add rum).
We counted a few dozen starfish in the clear water, however, a sign at the entrance said not long ago, there were thousands of starfish in the area. According to the sign, visitors taking starfish with them caused their decline. Starfish are protected today with steep fines for removing them.
Rum Point: Turtles and Cocktails
We then backtracked to Rum Point Beach Club, another popular public beach, however, it’s surrounded by an outdoor restaurant and lounge, gift shop, and dive shop. The beach has lounge chairs and umbrellas (first come, first serve), and a roped-off swimming area.
We spent the rest of the afternoon sipping a fruity cocktail while watching dozens of turtles surfacing by the boat dock.
East End and Bodden Town
The next day, we planned a drive to East End, but we stopped for lunch first at the Czech Inn Grill in Bodden Town. We had passed it the previous day and were intrigued by the colorful roadside bar covered with flags, license plates, and hockey paraphernalia.
“What speaks to you today?” the bartender asked as we took two bar stools. We asked her what was good on the menu, and she said they served the best cheeseburgers on the island. Topped with melted, gooey cheese, caramelized onions, and a juicy red tomato slice, she was not wrong.
East End’s Rugged Beauty
Back on the road, we turned once again onto Frank Sound Road, however, at North Side we took the right fork, which is the Queen’s Highway.
This side of the island doesn’t have the protection of a coral reef, so the water is a bit rougher and the beaches narrower, but every kilometer or so, there were the familiar brown and white Beach Access signs.
We parked the Jeep in the grass next to one of those signs and walked down a short path to the water passing a parked car under the trees. On the beach was a family with two small children looking surprised to see us.
On each side of the small beach were rocky cliffs where waves crashed into giant, foamy pieces. It was both stunning and intimidating.
Back on the highway, the road curved south along the eastern shoreline until we reached the village of East End. The highway name then changed to Sea View Road, which was appropriate as we drove with the windows down and music loud along the island’s scenic southern beaches.
Local Flavors: From Cigars to Craft Beer
Before returning to the resort, we stopped at Grand Cayman Cigars in Bodden Town. Located in a small strip mall between an ice cream shop and a clothing store, we saw two people at desks rolling cigars as we entered.
“You roll them here?” we asked a woman. She said they not only rolled the cigars here, but they also grew their own tobacco on the island. She added, however, that the farm was small, so they imported additional leaves from Dominica. She said they also donate profits to local charities.
Exiting the shop, we realized we would hit George Town during afternoon rush hour, so we called an audible and set the GPS for the nearby Cayman Islands Brewery.
Known locally as CayBrew, their flagship beers – CayBrew Pilsner and White Tip Lager – were on tap at our hotel, so this was a chance to sample their other styles. The taproom’s air conditioning was a welcome bonus.
I leisurely sipped the Hurried Goat red ale and used the taproom’s free wi-fi to upload the day’s beach photos to my Instagram while my husband sipped the low-ABV Prospect pale ale.
Once the traffic outside the taproom window subsided, we headed back to the resort, making it in time to watch another beautiful Cayman sunset.
Driving Tips
Want to drive without the guilt of carbon emissions? Rent an electric vehicle (EV). Note that rental companies have a limited number of EVs, so visitors need to reserve far in advance. Some vacation rentals may provide their guests with EVs.
Grand Cayman has 23 public charging stations and three are free. Since the average EV runs 200 miles on one charge, charging during a weeklong vacation shouldn’t be an issue.
Most gas-powered rental cars feature the latest low-emission/fuel-efficient technology. After driving for a week in a new 4-door Jeep Wrangler, we used only ONE gallon of gas. Gas is typically more expensive than in the US but less than in Europe, between $6-7 per gallon ($5.41 CI).
Visitors can drive using their home country’s driver’s license and valid insurance for up to 30 days. Vehicles drive on the left side in Grand Cayman. However, most rental cars are American.
If You Go:
- Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort
- Cracked Conch/Macabuca Tiki Bar
- Kaibo Beach
- Rum Point Beach Club
- Czech Inn Grill
- Cayman Cigar Company
- Cayman Islands Brewery
Author Bio: Carrie Dow is a Senior Writer for Artisan Spirit magazine and an award-winning freelance journalist based in Charlotte, NC, whose work has appeared in North American regional and national publications.
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