Cozumel diver heading to Grand Cayman

[violinfather]

My daughter and I are switching things up and heading for Grand Cayman instead of our usual Cozumel trip. We have 10 days available. My buddy from Coz said we should go to Cayman Brac. Is there enough to do there for 10 days? Will we see sharks there or is that unlikely? We love sharks. Any suggestions for an intinerary would be appreciated.

 

[Damselfish]

By "enough to do" do you mean diving or other things?

For the diving I would generally suggest Little Cayman over Cayman Brac. Or with 10 days possibly it would be worth splitting your trip between 2 of the 3 islands.

You have a decent chance of seeing a few sharks on any of the islands, but not huge numbers.

 

[AggieDiver]

If you need things to do above water besides hanging out by a pool or maybe riding bikes around the island, you probably would be happier with GC. Otherwise, I would recommend LC over CB, but both are very good. The diving is different than Cozumel...it is all moored location diving on LC and CB, so you are free to dive wherever you want at your own pace and don't have to follow along with a group or the DM unless you want to. If you are the type that wants to get in 3 dives a day, then is fine laying by the pool or in a beach chair, you will love CB or LC.

As for sharks, I haven't dove CB recently, but have read other's reports that seem to be seeing them somewhat regularly. On LC, if conditions allow you to dive the sites near the northern end of Jackson Bight (Jackson's Wall, Nancy's Cup of Tea, Mike's Mountain, etc.), there are a couple of Caribbean reef sharks (one is tagged) that are pretty reliable visitors and don't mind hanging around a bit at a reasonable distance just to see if you are going to spear a lionfish for them.

 

[tkaelin]

If sharks are want you really want to see go to Provo instead of GC. I agree with others on the GC islands, I think the diving is probably the best on LC. Have not been to Brac. On GC I think the best diving is on the East End/North Wall.

 

[t4e]

We really enjoyed GC in all aspects, we rented a condo away from 7 Mile Beach, had a car, lots to do around the island. Can go to Hell for one and get your passport stamped at the post office.
Oro Verde and Great House Wall has a esident nurshe shark, called Fin, that joins the divers every single time. She is very friendly, will pretty much rub against you.
Was amazing watching her trying to get to a lion fish that craweled in a hole.

 

[Bubbles below]

We just got back from the Cayman Islands, May 31-June 17. We stayed at Morritt's East End and dove w Tortuga Divers on the afternoon dive, $50 special. I dove w them on Sun and Mon. Tuesday thru Sat, I dove w Ocean Frontier (VIP services ) for my morning two tanks. I used Tortuga Divers caused it was a good for my girlfriend's,newly certified May28. So, I dove w her on those two days and she did another dive on her own w them. They took really good care of her.The diving in East End was great, wall starts at 60 ft and visibility was amazing. The boat is moored, follow the guide or you're on your own. The guide will take you to 100ft(OF) than turn around at half tank or after 30 mins. He will than go back to the boat. You are allowed to used your air to explore once he takes you near the boat,but back on the boat by 500psi. In the afternoon after my dives, we went to Rum Point to snorkel, paddle board,hang out to get fast free Wi-Fi ,and did Sting Ray City on Friday w Ocean Frontier. We also went to Kaibo, hiked the Mystic Trail,and see the blow hole. We did go to Georgetown one day to shop after we dove the Kittawake Wreck. We didn't go Georgetown any other days cause of rain and traffic.
The following week, we went to Little Cayman and stayed at Southern Cross. The wall starts at 20ft and visibility was amazing just like GC East End. Staying at Southern Cross was expensive and I didn't think it was a great value. Next time, I would try Conch Club, Little Cayman Beach Resort, or Pirate Point. I thought I would get full VIP services staying at Southern Cross and food was medicore, 11 to 1 guide ratio unless they have 12 divers than it's 6 to 1 and you clean your own gear w only one cleaning tub,yuck. Southern Cross didn't win me over!
The 3rd week, we dove w Divetech staying at Cobalt Coast. We dove the north wall one day. The rest of the week our dive sites was at West Bay. Usually the North wall is great, but heavy rain from the previous days made the dive site challenging. My favorite sites was 3Towers and Trinity Caves. My sharks sighting was in Grand Cayman East End and Northwest(Cobalt Coast w Divetech ). While staying at Cobalt Coast, we used the van service for $2each to Georgetown or Camana Bay to shop and hang out at 7miles beach couple days. Have a great time and I hope you'll have better weather than we did, cloudy and rainy days,but visibility was still good and water temperature 82-84F. I used 1mm and stayed in the waters between 60-70 mins between 60-100ft. Love the islands!

 

[KathyV]

We will be taking our 7th trip to the Caymans this fall for 2 weeks dividing our time between Grand Cayman (Turtle Nest Inn) and Little Cayman (Little Cayman Beach Resort) but last year we did a 2 week trip to GC and CB (Brac Reef Beach Resort).

In my opinion, LC has the best diving, CB next, and GC last; but there is very good diving to be found off of all 3 islands. When are you going? Little Cayman is more expensive than Cayman Brac and it books up fast so it might be hard to find accommodations at short notice unless there is a cancellation. Brac Reef Beach Resort is planning some remodeling in August through Oct/Nov so I don't know if they would have availability either.

I think you will really enjoy Cayman Brac (we love it!) but since you have 10 days I suggest spending 2 to 3 days on Grand Cayman and then going over to CB for a week and stay at the Brac Reef Beach Resort. But remember that when you are doing a 2-island trip you will have to factor the 18-24 hour "wait to fly" interval into your dive schedule.

There's lots of stuff to see and do topside on GC (not just the tourist attractions!) and there is excellent snorkeling and some good, inexpensive shore dives like turtle reef. Take a couple days to relax, look around on GC, check out your equipment at the Turtle Reef shore dive.

Cayman Brac has beautiful healthy reefs and walls and a sunken Russian Frigate that is an easy wreck dive. And if the weather is good and several divers are interested, for an extra $30 US dollars per person (or $35?), the BRBR dive op will take a trip over to Little Cayman one morning to do 2 dives on Bloody Bay Wall - so you can experience it and decide whether you would like to return to LC for a future trip. If you go to Little Cayman Beach Resort instead they will offer the reverse trip over to Cayman Brac to dive the frigate, if several divers are interested.

There are plenty of things to do on CB, but not really any tourist-type attractions. The BRBR provides free bicycles for the use of the guests, there is a nature/bird preserve, opportunities for hiking, climbing, visiting the caves, enjoying the pool or lying on the beach in a hammock. There is a free exercise room and a small spa/salon that is quite reasonably priced.

The resort offers other activities for guests, too. Like trivia games and movies and a great Friday night barbeque on the beach. Believe it or not, the Bingo game is a blast - everybody gets into it, including guests, staff and locals!

When we stay at BRBR we like to spend time enjoying the diving and the resort, but we also do some biking and walking and we rent a car for a day to explore the island. I would be perfectly happy spending all 10 days on CB if you are not interested in spending time on GC. Cayman Brac is a pretty, quiet little island with friendly people; I highly recommend it.

We've always seen some sharks in the Caymans, usually reef sharks and nurse sharks but they are not as common there as in the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. We see more turtles in the Caymans than in most other areas and usually lots of rays and morays and tarpons and colorful reef fish and corals and sponges.

The Caymans can be expensive (so are the T&C islands and the Bahamas!) so it is good to have a plan for your costs in advance. When we stay on GC we rent an apartment and a car and do a lot of our own cooking; but if you are only going to be there for a few days - that probably doesn't apply. Search this forum and ask for advice for places to stay and eat on GC.

I think that the BRBR is quite a bargain for the Caymans, their prices are in US dollars and they include accommodations, meals, valet diving, transfers, and hotel taxes/service charges. You just have to pay for your airfare, dive op tips, and bar or spa bill. So you will have paid most of the costs before you leave home. The food is buffet but it is excellent.

We also really like the Reef Divers dive op and their valet dive services (the same dive op serves both BRBR and LCBR). You won't have to handle your equipment all week (unless you want to) and they bring your gear to the back of the boat and help you into it - and back out of it later - so it is very easy diving. You can follow the divemaster in the water or go off on your own. There are lots of permanent moorings and most of the dives are wall dives with little current.

If you decide to stay on Grand Cayman, that's great there is plenty to do and see. And it may be more attractive to a young person than CB - depending on what you and your daughter like to do.

There are both good diving and poor diving options around GC and some great dive ops and others that are not as great, so do some research before you book. If you will be on GC for 10 days you should definitely rent an apartment or look for an all-inclusive IMO. You should also rent a car for at least part of the time. When you are pricing various packages and options make sure to clarify the currency. The $US is worth about .75 to .80 cents in the Caymans. Avoid the busier areas when cruise ships are in port. Here's a nice thread about free or inexpensive things to enjoy on GC:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cayman-islands/437891-topside.html#post6532430

The Cayman islands are clean, you can feel confident drinking the water and eating the food, the communications systems are good, they have fine health facilities, the people are nice, and the crime rate is low. Have fun!

 

[scubadada]

I have made 10 trips to Grand Cayman and 2 trips to Little Cayman with 220 dives since 1997. I've not been to Cayman Brac. Many of these trips were for two weeks, no problem for me to spend that duration of time but I spend most of my time diving and don't need much else. I would rent a car on Grand Cayman no matter where you stay so you can explore the island, eat out, etc.

Grand Cayman offers a lot of options. I have stayed in condos in the Seven Mile Beach/West Bay area and used several very good operators, my favorite is Wall to Wall. I have stayed at Cobalt Coast twice , dived with Divetech, and done shore dives at the resort, Lighthouse Point and Turtle Reef. Cobalt Coast is a nice resort, AI is excellent even if you decide to eat out a few times. Divetech is very good, the AM dives are solid hours with the option of using the DM or going off with your buddy. There are very good North Wall and West side dives to be had. They offer a couple of fun afternoon options including a DPV dive from Cobalt Coast to Lighthouse Point and a humbling rebreather experience. I have also stayed twice at Compass Point and dived with Ocean Frontiers on the East End. Very nice resort with full kitchens, a restaurant on site and several within a short drive. Ocean Frontiers may be the best operator I have dived with, full valet including washing and drying your wetsuit. Many, many good dive sites on the North, East, and South sides, something no matter what the weather and seas are like. Again, choice to go with the DM or with your buddy. Dive duration limited only by gas or NDL, not artificial time limits. In my opinion, most pristine dive sites are out of the East end.

For both my trips to Little Cayman, I stayed at LCBR. Very comfortable resort, really enjoyed the ocean front rooms. The AI is very good. Reef Drivers is a very good operator, I wish they offered 4 dives per day instead of 3, there are potential night dives a couple days a week. The walls and reefs are gorgeous, the fish life is good.

Sharks? The Caymans are not known for sharks. As has been said, Providenciales, T&C has many more sharks and is highly recommended. For a land-based operator, I can recommend Caicos Adventures. I very rarely glimpsed sharks off the West or North in Grand Cayman. We saw several Reef Sharks on each of our trips to the East End of Grand Cayman and to Little Cayman

Enjoy your trip, good diving, Craig

 

[wildbill9]

Everyones experiences are different so with that said LC is the best diving we havs ever had in the Carribean. Vis out of the world, reefs very healthy and growing, great small stuff but not much big. Our experience with Sothern Cross was exceptional. 1 dive master per 6 people...sometimes 1 to 4. Total valet diving, never touched our gear once we got there; each morning we were greeted by clean gear set uo and waiting for us. Food was the best we have ever had at an all inclusive and we have been at many. Chef contacted us prior to the trip for our likes/dislikes. It is a small resort and more personalized service...we never heard the word "no". More expensive? Yes- cost us about $400 more per person but was worth it. But that is just us. LCBR was more like a hotel. But back on track LC is fabulous and even though i hope it stays undiscovered it wont. Try it...you will love it. YMMV Bill. Edited to add....have you looked at Belieze? Lots of sharks and Blue Hole was over the top!