...Bonaire does nonetheless have at least one place that I would enjoy visiting at such times. In contrast, Grand Cayman does not have the types of entertainment that I would enjoy when I am not diving, primarily at night.
Is that an oblique reference to the casino on Bonaire? No, they don't have gambling in the Caymans but I don't miss it; when we are in a place that has gambling we usually go to the casino only one night and that's more than enough for me - and I really don't care much for Las Vegas, but to each their own.
There's not much to do topside on Little Cayman and Brac besides relax and enjoy nature, although Brac is quite interesting topographically; but the diving is lovely and the atmosphere is peaceful and restorative - we love the sister islands and enjoy combining a trip to Little or Brac with a trip to Grand Cayman.
I not a big fan of the more developed and touristy aspects of Grand Cayman but I appreciate the fact that they are available when I want them - and that I can easily avoid them when I don't want the distractions. The island offers both fine dining and flavorful local cuisines. You can enjoy music, dancing, art, and performance entertainments when you want them (except on Sunday!) There is excellent shopping if that is of interest, spa experiences, and a world class white sand beach with astonishingly beautiful clear blue water. There are plenty of entertainment options which is nice for divers traveling with non-divers. And you can also spend time in quiet, rural seaside areas that are totally different from George Town and Seven Mile Beach, if that is your preference.
And yes, Cayman is expensive, but we have learned that there are many good options that help to mitigate the expense - and sometimes you get what you pay for!
...For repeat visitors to the Cayman Islands: why do you return there instead of trying other places? What would you say are the chief selling points that distinguish it from other popular Caribbean destinations?...
Why do you assume that repeat visitors return to Cayman instead of trying other places? I know of a lot of Cayman regulars, including me and others on SB, that have traveled and dived extensively in many places, but still enjoy returning to Cayman.
Let me counter the question, why are you so quick to dismiss a place when you haven't really had much chance to experience it?
And it's surprising to me that you've concluded that there is little or nothing of interest topside, especially at night, when you hardly had an opportunity to be topside.
You ran into some bad weather during your trip and that is unfortunate, we have had that experience on Cayman and elsewhere and it is disappointing - but that doesn't necessarily mean that the place is sub-standard.
You like wrecks but didn't dive Brac at all and missed the Russian frigate, which is the best Cayman wreck IMO. You did a handful of dives off LC but not in the best weather. Then you did most of your dives on the west side of GC because of weather, and most divers agree that is not the best Cayman diving. The North Wall and the East End generally have the best GC diving - but not in bad weather.
We were lucky and had absolutely perfect weather the week that we were on the Cayman Aggressor. We dived great sites off of all 3 islands and spent most of the week at LC and the diving was fabulous. After we got off the Aggressor, we spent the following week on Grand Cayman and the weather turned bad, and the diving was disappointing. I remember driving around GC and seeing the Aggressor moored off shore at some west side sites and thinking "I'm really glad that I am not on that boat this week!"
We buy travel insurance but the weather is always a risk, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose - it's like gambling! And the reefs are always prettier IMO when the sun is shining, and the less visited and more pristine sites are more likely to be available in good weather.
How many times have you been to Bonaire and Cozumel? Were all your trips to those destinations fabulous? I think we've been to Bonaire 7 or 8 times and Cozumel 4 times - and they were usually 14 day trips so we have spent some time on both of those islands. We enjoyed all our vacations there but some trips were better than others, it's just the way it is.
Actually, we disliked Grand Cayman the first time we visited because it was "too developed, too touristy, and too expensive" although we liked the diving. We didn't come back for a decade and then only because my husband had won free diving with Bob Soto's dive op - no longer in business. We again enjoyed the Cayman diving and during that trip we learned that good shore diving was available - but we still weren't too crazy about the more developed aspects of GC, and so we stayed away for another long time.
Then we got a great deal on the Cayman Aggressor and discovered the fantastic diving available around the sister islands. Also during that trip we came to recognize that there is a lot more to Cayman besides George Town and the 7MB, if you look for it. After that trip we decided that "Cayman might not be so bad after all" and we have come to love it more and more with each visit, so that's why we return.
We also like Cayman because we have met so many nice people there, you probably didn't have much chance to meet many locals because you were doing a LOB trip.
I've met loads of lovely people on Bonaire, but some of them will rob you blind if you give them half a chance. It was that way when we first visited Bonaire long ago, and it has only gotten worse.
I've met lots of friendly people in Cozumel, too - but I actually was robbed the last time we were there. No place is completely safe, but genuinely nice people combined with a friendly, safe environment is an attractive feature for a vacation destination IMO.
It's also nice to be able to drink the water and eat the food without worry, so those are also good things about Cayman, but that didn't stop us from visiting other places. But unlike destinations such as the Bay Islands of Honduras, we don't have to get immunized against tropical diseases before traveling, take malaria medications, or drench ourselves in chemicals to avoid disease-bearing mosquitos on Cayman, and I like that, too. We've visited Roatan twice and we took the precautions and enjoyed the trips - but I'd rather not deal with that if I don't have to - and it adds expense to the trip.
In comparing Cayman to Bonaire, we've had wonderful dives around Bonaire, with beautiful reefs and lots of sea life, but not much big stuff. Some tarpons, the occasional small turtle, and some large blue parrot fish is usually the biggest stuff we've seen.
In the Caymans we regularly see nurse sharks and reef sharks (but not a lot) but we also see loads of turtles, tarpons, groupers - including some giant groupers - eels, rays, lobsters, crabs, and more - and usually lots of reef fish. I have enjoyed reefs that were loaded with life as well as some that were rather sparse, both around Cayman and Bonaire and elsewhere. We've had both good vis and bad, lots of life or only a little life - on the same sites on different days - it varies. We've seen large animals and good reef life pretty consistently in Cozumel, but we didn't always have much time to enjoy it as we zipped by in the current!
I agree with
@drrich2 that the Florida Keys are a great place to go if you want to see a lot of fish life, and there are some popular wrecks off South Florida, but the Florida waters will be colder and the vis may not be as good. The reefs are usually less impressive and you may have longer boat rides. There are positives and negatives about most places, but that is all part of the experience.
I think that you should continue researching and trying different locations and hopefully you will eventually find your "scuba home" but never-say-never because you may change your mind some day, we did! Thanks for sharing!
