affordable pad Grand Cayman?

[Barry Goode]

I've only been to GCM on a cruise. I'd like to go & stay there for diving this April.
All the hotels on 7 mile beach look ultra expensive.
Any ideas for economy lodgings on Grand Cayman?

 

[caymancase]

You may want to check into Wyndham Sunshine Suites. Nice, newer place directly across the street from the Westin. And very affordable for Grand Cayman. Nice pool and restaurant area and all of the rooms have a kitchen... very important if you want to save $s on food. Eating out here can be pretty expensive. Try http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/GCMSS/main.wnt.
Glad to hear you're coming back here for a longer visit! The cruise ship thing doesn't give you enough time to get the real feel for the place

 

[TruckDiver]

If not you might want to check out Sunset House (www.sunsethouse.com), it's located on the south side of Georgetown. Has a decent shore dive, good gear storage and rinse tanks, but the rooms are kinda basic. Cheapest way to go is room only and then pay for the extras as you go. We didn't dive with Sunset, just stayed there and went diving all over!

Also, check out Turtle Nest Inn over in Bodddentown.(www.turtlenestinn.com) It's a neat little place, very quiet and peaceful. Boddentown is on the south shore of GC, probably 15-20 minutes east of Georgetown. You would need to rent a car if you stay there.

What we did on one of our last trips to GC , was to split our time between the two. 4 days at Sunset House, 3 days at Turtle Nest. It worked well for us, giving us a taste of both sides of the island.

You also might want to look at (www.jeffsresorts.com), a couple of houses located on the north side of 7mb in West Bay. I haven't stayed there, but I have looked at the places, seemed to be pretty nice for the money. Not near the water though..

 

[TedJ]

TruckDiver,
Imagine meeting you here as well as in Photos. If you stay out at the Turtle you can dive with Ocean Frontiers on the east End. I go every year for two weeks in February or March.

 

[worlddiver]

When we were in Cayman in November we scoped out the following places. Breadfruit House in West Bay(across the street from ocean), Cobalt Coast Resort new garden villas across the street from ocean and Harbour View villas (down town). We also saw Oceanfrontiers new building under construction on the east end. We are going to Cobalt Coast in June and try out their new garden villas. They had the best dive package of the four and we plan cooking for ourselves this trip.

 

[divebag]

We stayed at the Reef Resort on the East End. Pretty reasonable, fairly new and nice. Ocean Frontiers operates a satellite shop from the resort and will shuttle to to and from dive shop (5 minutes). Great diving on east end. 45 minutes away from 7 mile beach area. Used Expedia.com to purchase package.

 

[DiverDave76]

First of all "affordable" and "Grand Cayman" should never be used in the same sentence!

We went a couple of years ago and in order to keep it as inexpensive as possible, we rented a condo @ Villas of the Galleon. We were able to share it with the other couple with us. We bought many of our groceries and ate in the condo breakfast and lunch. You'll find that restuarants are very expensive in GC...no mater what type of place you go. That seemed to be the best way to keep costs down.

I've also heard Sunset House is fairly inexpensive...but it is a Dive hotel.

Dave

 

[waterbaby65]

We stayed at the Spanish Bay Reef Resort in Sept 2001. It was all inclusive, unlimited shore diving which was good, a dive shop on site, decent rental gear... we took our own, the food was decent and the rooms were clean and comfortable. It's a resort that caters to divers. They have a sister hotel the Colony Beach Resort that they run a free shuttle to. We did boat diving from there $75/person for a 2 tank dive. Would definitely go there again. Prices in the Caymans are too high not to stay at an all inclusive. 4 drinks at the hardrock cost $35. US

 

[nemo_ky]

Grand Cayman is a lot cheaper than it was a few years ago. Direct flights on Cayman Airways from Miami, Houston, Ft.Lauderdale, Tampa and now Chicago. I would recommend The Reef Resort or Turtle Nest Inn. If you are going later this year you should checkl out Ocean Frontiers' new condos. Keep away from 7 mile beach - the diving is much better on the East Side.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I've only been to GCM on a cruise. I'd like to go & stay there for diving this April.
All the hotels on 7 mile beach look ultra expensive.
Any ideas for economy lodgings on Grand Cayman?

Economy + Grand Cayman ??? = (insert joke here)

OK, it really is relative and there are ways to stretch your budget in Cayman. Here are a few strategies.

Timeshare owners cannot always use their units and sometimes you can rent a week from an owner at a good rate. Works best if your dates are flexible. If you can wait until the last minute, occasionally incredible deals can be had. Do an internet search on timeshare + cayman and you should find a few hits.

Getting around on Cayman doesn't exactly seem cheap. Taxi fares can cut into a budget, but there is a basic public bus system. Otherwise several car rental companies offer discounts for booking over the internet. You may not want or need a car for your entire stay, but cab fare to or from the airport may be almost as much as renting for the entire day. I'd rent at least one day when you arrive making it easier to scope things out and make a grocery stop. Check out local names for car rental (Andy's, Coconut, Marshall, McCurley's, etc...) in addition to the familiar franchise names from the States.

Package deals with accomodations plus rental car can be a good deal. Similarly you may find packages with accomodation plus diving. A few places offer unlimited shore diving with a boat diving package. While trying out several dive operators can be fun, you will usually get a better rate on boat diving by booking a package with a single operator. Some will provide ground transportation to their boats if you aren't staying on site.

Accomodations with at least some basic kitchen facilities (even if it's just a microwave and fridge) can make it easy to save some cash by eating in for breakfasts and some lunches. Grand Cayman has a lot of great restaurants so plan to eat out some, but a box of Corn Flakes and half gallon of milk can cover quite a few breakfasts cheap.