Grand Cayman on your own

[alfred]

I was in Grand Cayman on February 15th 2009 and found it really easy to get around on my own. At the advise of Sonny (thank you Sonny)I got into a taxi and negotiated the following with the diver. For $12 per person (we were four) the driver would take us to the turtle farm and wait for one hour. Then he would drive us to hell and wait 30 minutes. Then drop us off at 7 mile beach. Not bad for a $48 cab ride.
Alfred

[alfred]

I was in Grand Cayman on February 15th 2009 and found it really easy to get around on my own. At the advise of Sonny (thank you Sonny)I got into a taxi and negotiated the following with the diver. For $12 per person (we were four) the driver would take us to the turtle farm and wait for one hour. Then he would drive us to hell and wait 30 minutes. Then drop us off at 7 mile beach. Not bad for a $48 cab ride.
Alfred

[Sonny V]

Do you have an idea what you would have paid for an excursion to the same places?

Sonny

[alfred]

I am thinking it would have been a minimum of $100 per person. Aside from being more expensive we would have had much less time on the beach. We sat and relaxed on the beach while everyone else had to board the shuttle buses back to the ship that wasn't leaving for several hours. When we wanted to leave the beach we jumped in a taxi back to the ship. The trip back to the ship cost $14. The original Taxi driver we started with had coupons for $5 entry into the turtle farm and one free drink each at the beach bar. We were dropped off at the Marriott portion of the seven mile beach. Great bar with great music and food. Now granted there are some places I would not attempt to travel alone but I was very comfortable in Grand Cayman. Next year we are Back on the Westerdam again and I am thinking I can do my own excursion in Aruba. What are your feelings on such an attempt in Aruba?

[penny3333]

Aruba is a very safe island, too. We grabbed a cab (not as easy as in Grand Cayman) and went to Palm Beach. It was a nice beach, with some water toys, a bar, restrooms, a place to grab a bite to eat, we rented chairs. I can't remember what the cab driver charged us. I want to say $20 or $30. There was no entrance fee to Palm Beach. There are tons of beaches on Aruba, there's a Carlos 'n Charlies close to the dock, you can walk to shopping area. There was a bus terminal close to the pier, but we didn't have a local schedule, so we grabbed a cab. They weren't queued up like in Grand Cayman, in fact, we had to hail one. Coming back wasn't a problem, we were dropped off inbetween a couple of hotels. We just walked up to the hotel and grabbed one to get back to the ship. It's a great island to do on your own.