Editor’s note: after a triumphant recap of the 2024 Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend, Kate is back with another guest race recap! She’ll be walking us through something I have never done: the Castaway Cay 5K. Take it away, Kate!
As a guest blogger for Fairest Run of All, I am here to give you a recap my recent Castaway Cay 5K. I just completed my fifth 5K on Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line’s first private island.
We took a spring break Disney Fantasy cruise out of Port Canaveral, on a 5-night Caribbean cruise with stops at Nassau, Bahamas, Castaway Cay, and the new Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. This was an extended family trip to include my family of four, my parents, and my sister and her family. All in all, there were 10 of us on the trip. One big happy family!
A BIT OF CASTAWAY CAY 5K HISTORY
As a 5-time Castaway Cay 5K participant, I will say the history of Castaway Cay, as well as the 5K itself, has changed a bit over the years. For a bit of interesting history of Castaway Cay, see this link.
It was once used by bootleggers in the past, and they also used it to film part of Splash, the mermaid movie with Tom Hanks and Darryl Hannah.
On my first cruise in 2017 aboard the Disney Fantasy, the Castaway Cay 5K was an organized race that you ran with other participants. There were official timekeepers, cast members stationed throughout the course, and an adorable medal given out at the finish line.
Then COVID. Side note: have you noticed that nearly every story in the last 5 years somehow invokes the phrase “then COVID”? Because it was so impactful, in so many ways, and will forever be a part of our storytelling.
Anyway, then COVID, and I returned to Castaway Cay in 2022 on the new Disney Wish. Alas, the 5K looked and felt very different: no organized run, no medal, and run it on your own… if you care to.
In 2023, I returned on the Disney Dream, and some of the 5K perks came back, including the medal.
You have to ask for the medal, and it’s on the honor system. The CMs aren’t looking for any proof that you ran it.
In 2024, we returned again on the Disney Wish, and still the same run.
This brings us to 2025, and the most recently completed 5K. This time I ran with my sister, who is 4 years older than me. She had just completed a 10-miler successfully under 2 hours. I feared she would run faster than me, but it was more of a casual run, and we paced 90 seconds running/90 seconds walking so we could chat.
CASTAWAY CAY 5K COURSE DETAILS
The course starts at the bike rental shack, loops down the old runway, through a lush mangrove twice, swings down toward Serenity Bay (adults-only beach), and then loops back down the runway.
There are two water stations on the course, but no CMs. You need to look at the map ahead of time and know that the 5K loops twice in the mangrove section. One time in the past, I accidentally skipped running the rest of runway down to Serenity Bay and ended up short on my run. I think I repeated the beginning of the run over again to make up my missing half mile, but again, no one is checking.
The course itself is flat, partially shaded in the mangrove area, but full sun on the runway. Also, the WiFi connectivity on the island is spotty. I have found that any music that isn’t previously downloaded from my Apple music library or Spotify is inaccessible in certain areas of the island.
BONUS TIPS
Pro tip: run early. Once docked, you are allowed to disembark as early as 8:15, and it’s worth it for several reasons. As previously stated, there are sections of the course that are in direct sunlight with little to no shade, and it gets hot in the Caribbean. The other
advantage of getting off the ship early is that you get first dibs on loungers in the shade.
Bring your beach bag, swimsuit, change of clothes, flip flops, sunscreen, giant hat, towels (they hand them to you as you exit the ship), and anything else you want to lay on a lounger to save seats for your family, within reason.
If you run early, you will finish before anyone is trying to scope out your preferred seating. I mean, of course be courteous. Don’t save more than you need and don’t hog all the shade. The shaded loungers are a hot commodity around 10am, when late risers are arriving on the island, and all the good seats are gone. We have a secret spot that we have claimed for the last 5 years… and I am not sharing that, for obvious reasons! [Editor’s note: But you’ll tell me, right, Kate? Kate???]
There is one negative to getting off the ship early on Castaway Cay day: potentially missing the Mickey Churro waffles in Cabanas. Another pro tip: bring your popcorn bucket to Cabanas, and insert 2-3 waffles into said bucket (use your own discretion!) Carry the popcorn bucket onto the island, and tada, you have a delicious reward post-run… you earned it!
There is no coffee on the island that I have found. Carry coffee in your tumbler off the ship, if that is important to you. We carry refillable stainless steel water bottles for our Disney cruise, as it the most convenient and environmentally conscious method of drinking refreshments on board. Otherwise, you are using the 8 ounce Disney paper cups. The refreshment stand at Cookies BBQ is open most of the day, and they do have
water and Powerade. The Olaf smoothie stand also opens relatively early, before the
BBQ lunch is served, which started at 11:30am for our most recent cruise.
Also note there are no internal bathroom showers, only outside the bathrooms for rinsing sand and ocean water, but it will do the trick. If you really cannot fathom sitting down in a lounger for the next 6-7 hours without showering, you can always go back to the ship/your stateroom. Again, make it quick, because you worked hard to get those good seats in the shade.
Worthy of mentioning, there is a tram from the ship to the starting line of the 5k. But we always walk it regardless, and I believe it is ¾ mile, approximately.
There may be private showers in the private cabanas, which unfortunately we have not yet been lucky enough to score. However, being that this was my 5th cruise, I am now officially a Gold Castaway Club Member. That means earlier booking, earlier access to amenities, such as those coveted private cabanas on Castaway.
In my opinion, Disney’s newest private spot on the southeastern tip of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point, is not as nice as Castaway Cay. There is no organized 5k run on the new island. However, there is a 1-mile nature trail loop to a lighthouse, worthy of mentioning. You could also run the distance from the dock, which is about ½ mile, and then avoid taking the shuttle to the beach area from the dock, which would be an additional 1.5 miles, approximately. If you did that round trip, it could be your own 5k. This island has less mature trees and foliage, so there is no shade at all.
On Lookout Cay, there are plenty of private cabanas for rent, and you have the advantage if everyone in your party is over 18 years of age. We were not eligible to rent, but might look into it someday.
To summarize, if you are able to run or walk the Castaway Cay 5K, you are part of a unique group of runDisney individuals. I say it’s 100% worth it, especially if you smuggle Mickey Churro waffles onto the island as your post-run reward.
Thank you, Kate! I’ve definitely got the Castaway Cay 5K on my bucket list now… or maybe they’ll start a Lookout Cay equivalent. Anyone up for a quick spin on the Disney Treasure…?
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