Our Family Vacation to Grand Cayman / Part Two: Rum Point

My neighbor sent me a message recently asking me who helped us research for and book our recent trip to Grand Cayman, and it made me smile because I planned this trip 100% by myself. While Jamie helped me pick the trip location and timing, all of the logistics fell into my arena, and I love that kind of control with traveling. 😉

Though I’ve learned that trip-planning is way more complicated and time-consuming than I ever imagined, I think it’s so much fun! Planning your trip far enough in advance gives you time to virtually learn the area, envision exactly what type of getaway you want, and read every single thing you can get your hands on to help you make sure your money is spent on an incredible experience.

After hours and hours of research about Grand Cayman, I learned that the location of our lodging was everything. The island is full of “neighborhoods” that all have different personalities regarding beach experience, amount of tourists, shells/rocks, murky vs. clear water, driving and walking distance to various places, etc. There was so much to take into consideration, but ultimately we decided on two nights in Seven Mile Beach before packing up, checking out, and heading one hour away to the top of the northwest corner of Grand Cayman to Rum Point for four glorious nights.

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday! To read part one of our trip all about our travel day and time spent on Seven Mile Beach, click here.

We checked out at noon from Sunshine Suites on day #3 (Friday) and headed to Smith’s Cove (about a 20 minute drive away in West Bay). It’s a cute little public beach area perfect for snorkeling, picnicking, and exploring.

We had packed lunch and enjoyed eating in between turns snorkeling and lounging with the girls on the beach. Per their usual, Hadley loved being in the water with us swimming and snorkeling, and Sadie couldn’t get enough of playing with her beach toys right on the shore. There were also tons of crabs crawling around those rocky areas, which the girls could not get enough of!

We even got to watch a sweet couple have a private little wedding ceremony! I know their pictures will be dreamy because this area was an Instagrammer’s DREAM. Ha!

Around 2 p.m., we put on dry clothes and headed 40 minutes north to Rum Point for our 3 p.m. check-in at The Retreat at Rum Point. We stopped to grab groceries at a tiny hole in the wall place on the way, and then found our way to our home for the next few days.

Our drive to Rum Point was sooooo quiet, remote, and simply gorgeous as we rode along the coastline. We were just in awe and finally have our “pinch us” moments regarding where we were and what we were actually doing! We were having so much fun!

I found our lodging on HomeAway.com (just like Airbnb), and it was wonderful. We wanted to stay right on the water, and were only able to afford this because of the construction of a building next door. We weren’t able to peacefully use this lanai area for morning coffee like I envisioned (thanks to the noise), but honestly we didn’t want to be out there much anyway. We wanted to be out on that beautiful beach right smack in front of us!

I loooooved that the porch was screened in. So great for my anxious mama heart! Our kids were able to enjoy the third-story view without me freaking out about them horsing around and going overboard. 😉

We settled in quickly but could feel ourselves getting hungry, so we put on shoes and decided to explore on foot to find dinner. I’d remembered from the reviews that previous guests loved eating next door to the resort, so we set out to find where they were referring to.

And then we smiled so freaking big when we discovered what was actually next door – a public beach complete with complimentary chairs, crystal clear water, an excursion center, beautiful boat dock, a couple of bars, and two restaurants. I was just in love with these colorful picnic tables that belonged to The Wreck Bar and Grill. So great!

Unfortunately the outdoor place was closing down for the day (5 p.m.) and the fancy restaurant was about to open, but we weren’t quite dressed for a nice dinner, so we headed to the car and drove a few miles to find a dinner spot.

We stumbled upon a tiny little place called Over the Edge and decided to check it out. It ended up being one of our favorite meals! Decent prices, a gorgeous sunset, live band (Hadley’s favorite!), and a table right on the water. We were in Heaven!

Day #4 (Saturday) started off on the wrong foot. Jamie left early to go work out, and I was hell on wheels when he came back in around 7 a.m. Sadie woke up in a bad mood, needed (but refused) to go #2, and was tantruming about seemingly nothing. I was so irritated that our first full day at Rum Point was starting this way because this kind of behavior from her has been rare lately, and I couldn’t snap her out of her mood, no matter how hard I tried. We decided to get in the car and explore a coffee shop that I’d read about online that was only a mile away, and oh my goodness – it was wonderful. We hoped that this would turn the morning around!

It was located at an area called Kaibo, and I just can’t explain in written words how quaint and perfect this area is. The girls hammocked and waded in the water while we drank coffee, which turned into an every-morning event. Sadie ended up throwing a huge fit while we finished our coffee, and we threatened her with going back to take a nap (it was only 9 a.m.) She said that she actually did want to nap, which made us realize that maybe she was just truly overtired.

We hauled it back to the condo, laid down with her to get her to sleep, and prayed that by noon we could start this somewhat bad day over again. I knew I still had a chance to snap out of the bad mood she put me in and to enjoy the rest of the day with our family. I knew in my core that she needed grace and patience (she’s two years old in a foreign country for crying out loud), but that’s easier said than done sometimes as a parent and you’ve paid a lot of stinkin’ money for a nice vacation (and you don’t want to waste any time on toddler tantrums).

Around 11:30, Hadley and I decided to hit the beach next door.

Heaven on Earth! Music was playing, kids were everywhere, and there were two beach chairs calling my name.

Hadley and I made friends with a nearby mom and son after the mom asked if her kid could play with Hadley and her toys, and we ended up hanging with their family the rest of the day. So fun! Jamie and Sadie joined us an hour later, and she was in a fabulous mood after resting.

The funny part was that the family we befriended also had a two year old daughter named Sadie, and we talked about how flexible you need to be when taking a little one on a trip, and being careful not to ask too much of them. Their daughter was pretty overtired too, which was a much-needed reminder to just take a chill pill and let Sadie do her thing. Seeing the two Sadies sit on the beach together and play was adorable and made all of us parents so happy.

We ate lunch on this beach, played in the water (it’s all so shallow!), snorkeled pretty far off (sooooo fun!), and just enjoyed the most wonderful day. We were on cloud nine in the picture below, even if Hadley’s face says otherwise.

Our condo is off to the left in the picture below, and the area we hung out in was just to the right of the dock in this picture. This pier is where a lot of the excursions leave from, which was so convenient for Sunday’s stingray trip.

We ate a frozen pizza for dinner that night at 7:30 after all showering off since we’d eaten a late lunch out at the beach’s bar and grill. The girls were out cold by 8, so Jamie and I decided to put on the first episode of the new Netflix documentary about Madeleine McCann. We barely got through an episode before calling it a night ourselves.

I can’t wait to share more about the last three days of our trip (they were probably the two best days!), but I need to get a few more things done today, and I don’t want to rush rush rush through typing up a few sweet details. <3

Let’s chat!

Is your version of vacation visiting a place where you are on the go site seeing and exploring, or do you prefer to relax, “be bored”, and retreat somewhere quiet?