My son and I did a Carnival cruise at the end of April '07
Grand Cayman was our first port-of-call. It was a spectacular day, and we were VERY lucky to have the BEST tour guide on the island (Mike). He was a Guide "Extraordinaire!!!!!"
Our first stop was the Tortuga Rum Factory where we had liquid refreshment samples, as well as an endless supply of rum cake samples. This was followed by MORE liquid libation samples!!!!!
Our sightseeing tour took us all over the gorgeous island ~ truly a Tropical Paradise ~ inclusive of a stop at the breathtaking Seven Mile Beach, a delighful stop in Hell (so now when we're told to go to Hell, we can boast that we've already been there!!!), and of course, a MUST do when in the Cayman's........a visit to the Turtle Farm. Our wonderful leader allowed us to stay almost as long as we wanted to, at each of these AMAZING places.
A camera is a MUST!!!! From the clear blue sky, to the crystal aqua water, Grand Cayman is a TREASURE!!! Even Hell was out-of this world. The Black Coral one sees is actually limestone and dolomite that has undergone extreme erosion. It's very dry and as "hot as hell" there. I sent postcards home from the Devil's Hangout Gift Shop, and all arrived safely to their destinations.
The Turtle Farm was interesting, and a nice photo opt. There's shopping galore, and trust me, the pina colada's are the best you'll ever taste!!!
For those people who are die-hard Hard Rock fans, there's even a Hard Rock Cafe there.
Grand Cayman has it all!!! I would strongly recommend a visit to this lovely island!!!!!

Grand Cayman was the epitome of relaxation. A week excursion to this little island is a required bit of respit for any working person.
The staff everywhere was charming. The food delicious and the water - dear heavens crystal, clear, blue, warm and stocked with all marine life imagineable. Treat yourself to Grand Cayman soon!

Grand Cayman is a little bit of everything - it is both upscale (Georgetown) and laid back (Bodden Town, East End, Rum Point) - it is charming and lovely, beautiful and natural, with a modern, congested, touristy, cruise ship, shopping district in Georgetown that comprises 20% of the island - the other 80% is either small locally flavored villages/towns or uninhabited interior areas - the island itself is pretty big - at least 60 miles of shoreline - to drive to the midpoint of the island (Bodden Town) is about 30 minutes from the far ends of the island (East End or West Bay). Before the tourist trade kicked off in the late 1950's with the opening of the airport there was no tourist activity and a tiny population - but, now you can see the high rise hotels and heavy tourist attractions have taken over the west side of the island (seven mile beach/Georgetown area) with lots more "touristy" construction underway - whereas the rest of the island has a laid back, unplanned, unkept, sprawling, native population look to it - in short, 50 years ago there was no tourist/hotel/attraction stuff and 50 years from now there may be nothing but tourist stuff ringing the entire coastline with the native population living in the inland, center of the island. Million + dollar homes are being constructed all over the non Georgetown parts of the island and the real estate industry is booming. Georgetown / Seven Mile Beach (actually only 5 miles long) is popular because it has a beautiful sandy white beach - the rest of the island's beaches (except Rum Point) tend to be littered with dead coral rock - not sharp but bumpy. I live in a beach community area (Wilmington, NC) and i can see that Cayman is being discovered and developed much the same way that Wilmington has been - i can see that Georgetown may eventually be like Myrtle Beach, SC but i think the rest of the island's perimeter may take on more of a coastal community look vs. strickly high rise development.

Snorkeling - if you're not a diver or experienced world traveled snorkeler, you'll be amazed - it's like being in a huge tropical aquarium. Every coral formation is teeming with fish. Brilliant, pint sized varieties that are more beautiful than any you've ever seen in an aquarium store, to large (40 lb +) parrot / trigger fish - i saw a 10 + pound angel fish that was just strikingly gorgeous. Damsels and Tangs everywhere. Make sure to put on sunscreen - you can snorkel inside the breakers - there's a shallow (less than 10 feet deep) ledge that extends out from shore about 1/4th of a mile around much of the non Georgetown areas of the island.

Where to Stay - i'd rent a car and stay in Bodden town - touring the island is half of the fun -

Cruise Ships - on the days that cruise ships come to dock, Georgetown is inundated with tourists. The shopping seems to be typical jewelry and watches and fashion stores.

Traffic - from 7am to 9am on work days the traffic into Georgetown is heavy although we're told there's little road rage.

Restaurants - Over the Edge is a laid back, unpretentious, reasonably priced (under $100 for a family of five with 2 appetizers), casual, open air restaurant with a bar with food as tasty as anywhere on the island and a view that can't be beat located on the road to Rum Point. A mix of locals and tourist - and it was packed the night we went.

Hotels - we're staying at On the Bay Condos through the Turtle Nest Inn. On the Bay is a nice 3 bedroom 3 bath condo in a 12 unit complex with it's own fresh water pool - it also has a unique, man made, ocean pool - they blasted out the coral to form a 60 foot by 30 foot "tidal pool" (it's 7 feet deep in the middle) that's ideal for little ones. The "tidal pool" is right at the edge of the ocean - you can NOT swim out into the ocean where our condo's located because of the coral bottom - so, without this "ocean pool" you'd have no ocean swimming access -

To Do - Stingray City seems to be the hit attraction, hard to do/find this anywhere else in the world. Hell = fun to send a postcard from Hell. Drive the island = a definite. I would highly recommend . Water sports = world class, in short - world class fishing, snorkeling, diving. Hard to go wrong here.

The beaches - the beaches are either coral (most of the island) or sand (7 mile beach, Rum Point)

Service Personnel - most everyone, from the condo manager to the grocery cashier has a smile on their face - they're nice people and they know the tourist are their livelihood. The waiter at the Lighthouse Restaurant was just tremendous - i'm sure they get tired of all the tourists (just like the locals do back in my hometown).

Liquor - can not buy in grocery stores, must go to liquor store.

We just returned from our first trip to Grand Cayman and had a spectacular time! What a gorgeous island! We stayed at the Plantation Village in a timeshare exchange. It was wonderful. Mostly everything on the island, as well as the timeshare, is new due to the need for rebuilding from extensive damage wreaked by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The beaches, water, etc. are clear, clean and beautiful. We had no problem being on Seven Mile Beach. It was, however, low season (sort of). You have all restaurants, bars and beaches at your doorstep w/ Georgetown close by. I think being on other sides of the island might lack too much action. Every restaurant was top notch. The islands standard of living is good, therefore you are w/o alot of the poverty and/or substandard conditions that you find on most other islands. People everywhere, including the airport (imagine that!) were so friendly and helpful!
The only drawback is that the island is very expensive. US $1 buys you only CI$.80 right off the bat. (20% less) You can spend US currency but you will get CIs back in change. It will not deter me from returning but probably not as soon as I would like. Can't afford it! :-(
Also, in Georgetown be aware (at least this time of year) that they cater to the cruise ships. When there are no ships in port, many shops & restaurants and the local marketplace do not open. Who wants to go when the ships are in and there is chaotic crowds?
Restaurants we recommend- Deckers, Solana @ the Marriott were favorites but all you cannot miss with.
Rum Point was well worth the trip especially if you get the hammocks on the beach which are situated just over the water!! What a delight. We skipped the Turtle Farm/ Botswains Basin. At $75 per person we didn't feel it was worth it. A fishing trip on Oh Boy, (Capt. Alvin is a very gracious host) caught a tuna providing dinner for all those on board! Enjoy!!!