How to Do Grand Cayman on a Budget

The Cayman Islands are known for their tropical weather and beautiful beaches. What they are not known for is being affordable. In fact, we’ve traveled to many Caribbean islands and this is the most expensive one yet. But just because it’s known for it’s high prices doesn’t mean you can’t do Grand Cayman on a budget.

Or at least somewhat of a budget. If you want to visit Grand Cayman, there are some things that you’ll definitely have to splurge on. But it’s also nice to save some money any and everywhere you can to combat some of the higher costs of accommodation and flights. So here are some tips for cutting some of those costs:

Getting There

We’re lucky to live in South Florida where we have a lot of direct flights into different Caribbean islands. Usually when we have some time off, we’ll search ‘everywhere’ on Skyscanner to see which island has a cheap flight and choose the island off of that list. We ended up booking flights to Grand Cayman for $300/person when it finally popped up on that list.

Flights are typically higher during peak season and on the weekends, so if you have some flexibility, flying during the week will likely bring your costs down. But as to whether you visit in the off season is another decision to make.

When to Travel

• Peak Season – December through March. This is the busiest time to visit. You’ll get the best weather but higher prices and more people.
• Hurricane/Off Season – May through November. The least busiest time to visit. It will be more likely to rain, hot temperatures, but the cheapest prices.
• Shoulder Season – Falls around April and May. The crowds start to thin out, the prices start to drop and you might see a little more rain.

*Batabano, Cayman’s carnival, is the first week of May–you may see an increase of prices and/or lower availability.

Getting Around

Renting a Car

The easiest way to get around is by renting a car. Surprisingly, our car rental wasn’t very expensive…initially. We spent about $146 for 5 days which is about $29 per day. But we ended up choosing some add-ons that raised the cost.

One of our credit cards covers basic rental insurance but it didn’t cover liability insurance. It’s an optional add-on but if you hit someone, you’re responsible for all the fees. Liability insurance was an extra $70 and we got it as a precaution.

If you want a Jeep or a bigger car, a way to save money on the upgrade is to NOT book it ahead of time. When we looked at Jeeps online, they were about $400-500 for five days. When we got there in person, my husband asked if there were any upgrade offers and they gave us a Jeep for an additional $125. That brought our total to $270 (without the insurance)–much cheaper than booking it online, but you do risk a type of car not being available.

Another expense to consider when renting a car is gas. It’s very expensive in the Cayman Islands and cost a whopping $7.05 a gallon when we were there.

Taking the Bus

The cheapest way to get around is to take the bus. The bus system connects all the districts of Grand Cayman and costs roughly CI$2-5 ($2.40-$6) depending on where you’re heading. Most of the bus routes are on a 15 minute schedule, while others are on a 30 minute schedule.

• Monday through Thursday: 6am–11pm
• Friday and Saturday: 6am–1am

The buses look like little vans with a colored circle and the route number in it. The downside to taking the bus is waiting in the heat. If you haven’t timed it right, you may be waiting awhile.

Where to Stay

This is the bulk of your expense and there aren’t too many options for an inexpensive place to stay. If you’re doing Grand Cayman on a budget, you’ll likely be looking at prices first then location. As you might have guessed, the hotels along Seven Mile Beach can get pretty pricey. There were only a handful of hotels on the whole island that were under $2k for 5 nights when we looked and they went up from there.

One of the cheapest options when we looked was an AirBNB or private condo. If you don’t mind shared spaces, those options will be even cheaper.

We paid $1150 for our AirBNB for 5 nights in May. In August, that same place was 1,095 for 5 days and about $1,425 during January (peak season). It was a cute one bedroom condo with a kitchen, living room and screened in patio. We might have saved money by booking on the north coast instead of Seven Mile Beach, but we did end up driving a lot.

Grand Cayman on a Budget

Luckily, there are a lot of things to do around the island that are either cheap or free to do.

Free Things to Do in Grand Cayman

• Starfish Point – You can look for starfish at this secluded beach or swim in the shallow water.
• Hit the Beach – The beaches are all free and open to the public here. Head to Governor’s Beach or Cemetery Beach on the famous Seven Mile Beach, or check out the rocky cove at Smith Barcadere.
• Snorkel – If you bring your own snorkel, you can do a fun beach activity for free and potentially see some great wildlife. We saw a stingray while snorkeling at Spotts Beach.
• Hang out at Rum Point – Though Rum Point can get expensive, you can still go and hang out in the water without spending a large amount of money. We loved walking here from our AirBNB to catch the sunset over the water.
• Visit Hell Grand Cayman – A platform overlooking some sinister, black, limestone rocks.
• Fort George Ruins – Fortification ruins from the 1700s that were used as a defense lookout.

Nearly all the things you’ll find on the East End of Grand Cayman are free to do:

• Lovers Wall – A long stone wall along the coast marked with two red heart signs on either end.
• Blow Holes – The rocky coastline where water is pushed through gaps and shot up into the air.
• Wreck of the Ten Sails – A monument marking where the worst shipwreck of the Cayman Islands took place.
• Good Mood Swing – A cute swing overlooking the water along the north coast.

Saving Money on Excursions

This one can be tricky because some of the best things to do on Grand Cayman are part of an excursion. But most of the time, there are different tour options out there and all you need to do is find an affordable one.

Stingray City Tour

The tour to Stingray City is one of the most popular tours in Grand Cayman and for good reason. It was pretty awesome. There are a lot of tour options that include additional snorkeling stops and even lunch during the day. But those will be more expensive.

We ended up finding a $49 Stingray City tour that was about $20-25 less than what other tours were going for. It was a great tour that gave us plenty of time with the stingrays and took us to one other snorkeling spot that was great also.

Scuba Diving

Diving tours in Grand Cayman cost about $125-145 per person for a two-tank dive. To save money, opt for renting your own equipment and doing a shore dive at Devil’s Grotto and Eden Rock. Renting all the dive equipment you’ll need for a two-tank dive will be about $80/person. The diving was fantastic and it’s a great, chill spot to get in the water.

Had we have been smarter, we would have planned our days out better. We ended up doing one dive on our first day just to check it out. But we had such a great time that we decided to go back on our last day to dive the other side of the reef.

So essentially, we split a two-tank dive over two days and had to rent the equipment on both days. It ended up being about $120 per person in total but we could have saved $40 a person if we did it all in one day.

Bioluminescent Bay

Another tour that can add on to your spending is kayaking or swimming in Grand Cayman’s bioluminescent bay. The bay is located on the north side of the island and is pretty out of the way to get to. Essentially, the bioluminescence is light created by millions of living organisms in the water that makes the water look like it’s glowing. For the tour, you’ll get to snorkel in the water to see the glowing organisms, but tickets will be about $80 per person.

We ended up getting to do this tour for free because our AirBNB was located right on the bay. Our rental included a two-person kayak and we were able to go out several times at night to see the bioluminescence. We did, however, have to drive quite a bit more to explore the island since we weren’t located in the main area.

What to Eat

Eating out is unfortunately very expensive in the Cayman Islands. We were shocked the first time we went out for a casual lunch and our bill was $70 for a sandwich and wrap + two drinks. Prices are typically listed in Cayman Islands Dollars, so it will always be more in dollars and they also add in a service charge automatically. But it was pretty painful to pay that much for a sandwich.

We thought that eating away from Seven Mile Beach would mean cheaper prices, but that was a wrong assumption. There are a couple of fast food places and we did find a cheaper breakfast cafe across from the Westin, but for the most part it’s not cheap to eat out.

If you have a kitchenette in your condo or AirBNB, a good way to save money is going to the grocery story for some essentials. We ended up making our own sandwiches for lunch and making breakfast at home. Another option is to get a hot meal at the grocery counter which was about $10/lb and you could choose from meat, vegetable and rice dishes.

Budget Tips

• Pack sunscreen + bug spray – Sunscreen is notoriously marked up when you visit a tourist spot but it’s a necessity. So make sure you bring plenty with you (this one is reef safe). Also, the mosquitos were out in certain areas, make sure to throw in big spray as well!
• Bring your own waterproof camera/iPhone case – If you want photos in the water or underwater, but don’t want to pay the high fee for the professional tour photos, make sure to bring a waterproof iPhone case or your own underwater camera (I have a GoPro but here is a similar, budget option that goes up to 98ft).
• Pack your own snorkel – If you have room in your luggage, throw in a mask and snorkel, otherwise you’ll need to rent one each time you want to go!
• Bring your own beach towel – A lightweight, quick-dry towel is great to bring so you can always lay on the beach and don’t have to rent a chair.

What We Actually Spent

To further break it down, here’s exactly what we spent while we were there:

We obviously added on some optional things. Without the diving, photo package, cave tour (stingrays were awesome and highly recommend doing this tour), and rental upgrades, you’re looking at around $2,690 ($1,345/person) during the month of May.

And that’s with renting one of the cheapest places to stay (during the month we went), eating (mostly) on a budget and finding some cheaper flights. It’s really easy to go way over this budget, especially if you travel during peak months. But if you plan ahead and make a few smart moves, it’s possible to do Grand Cayman on a smaller budget.

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