So many beaches, so little time. That may be what you're thinking as you consider the 15 beach access points I will describe in this post. But, honestly, all the beaches are easily accessed across 2 days in Grand Cayman.
The 7-Mile beaches are the most accessible and typically frequented by tourists visiting Grand Cayman. You can hit these up in a day with ease. But I encourage you to branch out. There are 4 additional parts of Grand Cayman to explore (West Bay, South Shore, Gun Bay, and North Side), all possible to see in a day's drive.
Every beach is unique from the other. Spoiler alert—all of them cost nothing to enjoy!
7 Mile Beach
All 7-Mile beaches are open to the public in Grand Cayman. You can walk the length of them up to the high water line and swim anywhere.
Stroll right up, sit on the sand, and hang out at your leisure. Just don't use the resorts chairs as they are typically reserved for paying guests only.
Some property owners also section off areas and place "no trespassing" signs so you have to search for beach access points. There are road signs pointing the way down most beach access pathways.
Here are a few of the nicer beach access points I was able find:
1. Pageant Beach Access
The pathway to beautiful Pageant Beach runs between The Wharf restaurant and a construction site. The Wharf’s on-the-beach dining setup and decorative lighting makes up for the eyesore that is the construction site behind this beach.
The beach is large and forms a mound or slight hill that faces Southeast. This is great for sunset views and watching cruise ships pull in and out of the bay.
2. Wreck of the Cali Access
Swim North of Pageant beach and you will see a structure that looks like jagged rocks sticking out of the water. These are not rocks but the Wreck of the Gamma sitting in shallow water.
The Wreck of the Gamma is a perfect snorkel site especially for beginners. But I'm advanced and I loved it. It's so easy to swim around and there is lots to see. Most of the ship is still intact and there's tons of biodiversity here.
Bring your underwater camera for some great, high visibility photos in the sunny, shallow waters.
There is another access point alongside the Poinsettia Condos North of the wreck. Just beware the "iron shore"—the sharp coral rocks that surround the area making it very difficult to enter/exit the water.
This is why Pageant beach or the slightly sandier inlet in front of the Grape Tree Villas may be your best bet.
3. Access Beside Seascape Luxury Villas
The shoreline is less harsh the further North you go along the 7-mile beach. It loses its iron shore and gains those lovely, sandy stretches that you see in all the Caribbean envy photos.
We found easy access on the path alongside the Seascape Luxury Villas. This is a great point from which to walk the beach or plop down for the day.
The water is clear and aqua blue and the sand is a slightly golden tinted white.
There's plenty of space to spread out. We even managed to use one of the forbidden beach chaises with nobody telling us off!
4. The Public Beach at Calico Jack's
There is a huge public beach adjacent to Calico Jack's Bar and Grill. I only accessed the beach right in front of Calico Jack's at night on New Years Eve. But it was lovely!
The beach next door is huge and popular. Apparently, most locals prefer this spot for nightlife and day time beach fun.
It's sandy. The water is clear. And, at night, you can see the entire Western shoreline lit up. Gorgeous!
West Bay
One day, we took a road trip all over Grand Cayman and explored less explored areas, such as West Bay.
The rocky shoreline of southern 7-mile beach picks up again in the West Bay part of the island. There aren't many places to safely access the water up there except for a couple along the North shore of West Bay.
5. Next To Infinite Horizon Villas
There is public beach access on the north shore next to Infinite Horizon Villas. A wide dirt path between a tree line and wall of the villas leads to it. Be careful not to enter the beach for the Villas, as I am unsure whether this would be a form of trespassing in this area.
But the beach extends to the East from here and it's large and inviting.
6. & 7. Barkers National Park Beaches
I kept driving Conch Point Rd to the East and eventually entered Barkers National Park. Following the road through the park, I hugged the Northern shoreline looking for access points.
There are many! But my favorite was at about 1/3 mile from the park entrance.
To the left, I could see a structure build up on the beach. Exploring out of the car for a while, I discovered a ladder in the trees and lots of other little gems. The structure made it feel like I was stranded on Gilligan's Island or something! And so, I call this beach Gilligan's Beach.
Horseback riding tours came through while we were there and there are ATV tours in the area, too. Otherwise, it felt like we were completely alone here. We had privacy and a nice retreat from the bustling touristy beaches of 7-mile beach.
The water here was a nice blue hue, but the area has a lot of seaweed and little bottom dwelling jellyfish. So you need shoes/fins to comfortable touch the sea floor. There were some nice snorkel moment, though. A little mound of coral rock actually had a bunch of lobsters inside. Very fun to spot in this otherwise unremarkable area for snorkeling!
A beach further down the road from this one had a bunch of empty, white conch shells on it. So I'll call this one Conch Beach. We think there was a wedding at Conch Beach. They used the shells to decorate and it was so pretty!
Between both of these beaches, Barkers National Park was easily my favorite area in Grand Cayman.
South Shore
On our drive out to the East end of Grand Cayman, we made sure to stop at a few key south shore locations.
8. Spotts beach
This public beach is well known for its great snorkeling and turtle sightings. We didn't stick around too long, but long enough to appreciate the low number of tourists.
A bit removed from the 7-mile beach area, I imagine Spott Beach has more locals than tourists.
It's a full, white sand beach surrounded by condos. There are public restrooms, picnic tables, BBQs, and cabanas to make a full day out of your time there.
9. Frank Sound Boat Ramp
There is a public boat ramp behind the fruit stand on Bodden Town Road.
While it isn't the nicest, sandiest beach, the water is accessible and enticing. A pier for the boats makes it easy enough to jump into the water here.
10. Blow holes
This is not really a beach or swimming spot but I wanted to include the Blow Holes since it is on the south shore. It's a great spot to bring a camera and enjoy the view.
The waves crash onto an iron shore, spouting up through pockets in the jagged rocks. It was a great way to cool off from the hot drive.
This makes a brilliant scene for photography. I imagine this would be the perfect spot to be at sunrise or sunset.
Gun Bay
There are lots of private homes and businesses along the Eastern shore of Grand Cayman. This made it difficult to easily spot access points from the car. I am sure they were there even though we did not see them.
11. Colliers Public Beach
However, Colliers Public Beach was where we focused our attention. This turned out to be a huge beach with beautiful sand, covered picnic tables, public restrooms, and a large pier.
I loved this beach! Apparently it is a popular spot for kite surfers as they take to the winds coming on from the Atlantic Ocean.
North Side
Huge beach front homes dot the Northern coastline of Grand Cayman. A mostly natural, thick vegetation blocks views of the beaches from the road. The island is a bit raised on this side, creating some nice views southward.
Otherwise, there wasn't much to note until we reached the piece of land that makes up what is called "North Side." There are many points of interest here all concentrated in a small 0.5-square mile radius.
12. Rum Point
Rum Point is one of the major attractions in this area. There's a big beach bar and restaurant here with regular beach barbeques.
Several tours run from the area—snorkeling, diving, kayaking and more. We came for the kayaking at night into nearby bioluminescent bay. Bio Bay is an experience not to miss.
Time your trip around a new moon to ensure you get to go on this tour. You need minimal moonlight to best see the tiny life forms (little shrimp and plankton) that light up in the bay. They sparkled around my hands and arms and paddles—it was amazing and one of my best travel experiences to date!
13. Starfish Point
Before we went to rum point for our kayak tour, we checked out Starfish Point. The name describes exactly what the attraction is there.
Huge orange starfish hang out in the shallow waters at this beach. Boats pull up and tourists hang out here to get their best selfie with a starfish.
But don't worry, the conservation officers are around. They make sure nobody pulls starfish out of the water (which quickly suffocates them).
The water was a bit too cloudy when I was there. Perhaps early in the morning, before lots of boats and tourists show up, the water is clearer.
14. Water Kay Public Beach
Nearby is a public beach and parking area called Water Kay. I loved this spot for an absolutely stunning spot to view the sunset. Ivana and I sipped beers here and took turns swinging from a simple wood plank swing.
The still water and boats coming and going made for some beautiful photographs.
Total serenity!
15. Kaibo Beach
We could walk from our parking spot at Water Kay along the beach to Kaibo. This bar and restaurant was a great spot to chill, drink, and eat as we waited for our late-night kayak tour to start. We opted for the seats that were right out on the sand.
There's nothing like good food and good drinks with sand between your toes!
In Conclusion
You will definitely not run out of amazing public beach options all over Grand Cayman. We never once were charged for accessing any of the beaches. They were freely at our access from one side of the island to the other.
Some had great snorkeling opportunities while others were better for watching the water and sunsets. The 7-mile beaches are beautiful as well as touristy. But I still prefer the peace and solitude of beaches like the ones in Barker's National Park.
Which Grand Cayman beach will be your favorite?
