Best month of the year to dive GC and Little Cayman

[diverswifey]

ROUS- thank you. IMO everything in the Caymans is expensive. I am always trying to be able to afford our trips wherever we go !

 

[diverswifey]

aggie- thanks. David actually dove with Little Cayman Divers when we were there in 2022 staying at Paradise and he enjoyed it. LCBR told me today that August 2- Sept. 26 and the low season package they are offering for that time ends up being almost the same as regular season if you add lunch and a drink package.... they only deduct $250 for the week for a non-diver during low season. I think I will go back to the drawing board.

 

[AggieDiver]

aggiediver- first, congrats on your football victory on Saturday against my AU tigers. Thank goodness our "adopted" team, Ole Miss, did win a great victory- our daughter and our $ went there and we became huge fans years ago .

I have some questions and comments specifically for you- not related in number by your comments):

1. I get it about the hurricanes- Ivan was actually one of our worst ones here- we cancelled a BVI trip not because of what was happening there but the cleanup and aftermath here in Mobile. I agree that October is potentially the most dicey month in many places but I like your "late July/early August" thought- might as well be hot there as hot here.
2. We have been to Brac once- a week way back in like in April 2018 and stayed a week at CBBR- I actually had the pool area to myself (literally) for hours a day while the divers were out but I was still working a very fulltime and stressful (school counselor) job then so it was a badly needed break for me and I did not need to do anything. Husband enjoyed it very much but wished for smaller numbers on dive boats.
3. We were in LC for only 5 nights in late Nov. 2022 and while we did not stay at LCBR- rather at Paradise villas- I really liked the island much more than Brac. We went to lunch at LCBR and looked around.
4. So you will understand- we are each other's second marriage, been married since 2001 and have done a lot, a lot, of adventuring during those years and sometimes came home tired from a vacation- no more. Now we are older and feel no need to see every since square inch of an island. He loves to dive, I love to just chill and enjoy the beauty of the world in and above the water (snorkeler only but water lover).
So.....
IF we went at that time and stayed at LCBR- no need really for other restaurants as all inclusive, right? We are not foodies but we found the food to be perfectly fine at CV resort- I hear it is better at LC but no worries there if we stay there.
I could totally skip GC and be happy- we travel alot to very small, off the beaten path places and GC has seemed to me- just 2 times- to be too big, too busy, too many people, having to drive to get places, etc. I am now leaning more towards just LC with an overnight if completely necessary in GC if you think the diving is better on Little.
Any thoughts on better location or rooms to request or anything like that? I wish they did have some that were not just basic but that is what we had in Brac and it was ok....
Thank you for your help and replies!!

Thanks! Y'all put up a fight to the end. So I will take these one at a time...

1. The heat that time of year here is bad, and slightly less so down there. Having the pool to yourself while the divers are out is probably pretty pleasant.

2/4. What I love the most about LC is the tranquility, so I get you there. There are certainly a few things to go look at and do, especially if you are a birder, but nothing you need to leave the resort for if you are happy with the peace and quiet. We like to take loaner bikes and ride down to the other ponds or over to the north side of the island and just enjoy the quiet. You will encounter far more iguanas than cars.

3. Paradise was one of the places I was thinking if you want to dive with Little Cayman Divers for the smaller crowds. But to reiterate, with the larger boats, the crowds are not as big of a deal as they can be somewhere like Coz where you are drift diving and everybody is expected to follow the DM in a group.

To answer the questions, yes, no reason to leave the resort. The food has always been excellent through the various chefs they have had over the years. Plenty of choices, and if you have special needs, talk to the chef, I have never heard somebody with an issue they couldn't solve (other than the lady who complained to one of the chefs that he had too many choices at each meal). He thought she was joking and laughed at her. She was not joking... big drama.

As far as better rooms or not, they do have "beachfront" rooms that are slightly nicer and have a bit more room to spread out. They have a couch and a table in addition to the bed(s) unlike the smaller table and chairs in the pool view rooms. We do underwater photography, so having some room to spread out the extra gear helps, but they usually sell out quick on the fall discounted packages and the price difference from a standard room has gotten a bit steeper. They have either a balcony or patio facing the beach, but none of the rooms are more than a few steps from the beach. There used to be issues with the bar noise for the pool view rooms, but since they moved Karaoke night to friday night, it isn't as bad and during low season with the other resorts closed, the bar quiets down pretty quickly most nights.

I do think the diving is better on LC as long as you go during the time of year when you can get to the north side of the island reliably. The diving on the south side is slightly deeper and more similar to Brac. It is good diving, just not as good as what is on the north side of the island. The specific time of year I would avoid is 2nd half of October to about late February. During that time, the wind is more likely to come from the north or northeast and it makes the conditions on the north side of the island undiveable. There will be people that come along to tell you they did a trip during those months and got to the north side every day, but the winds during those months can blow out the north side diving for weeks at a time and losing several days of north side diving per week during those months is more the norm than the exception. The south side dives do get old real fast if you have to do a whole week there because there are just not that many sites to dive.

One last piece of advice. If you end up with a longer layover on your way back through GC, take the shuttle over to the Georgetown Yacht Club about a mile from the airport. The shuttle is free and there are signs at the airport about how to catch/summon the driver. Good food and great place to watch a football game at the bar while waiting out the layover.

 

[AggieDiver]

aggie- thanks. David actually dove with Little Cayman Divers when we were there in 2022 staying at Paradise and he enjoyed it. LCBR told me today that August 2- Sept. 26 and the low season package they are offering for that time ends up being almost the same as regular season if you add lunch and a drink package.... they only deduct $250 for the week for a non-diver during low season. I think I will go back to the drawing board.

That sucks about them not pricing it down much for non-divers. I would have expected it to be cheaper than that. Get on their mailing list, because they frequently offer short term booking deals for those packages that include all 3 meals or the drink package for free.

 

[diverswifey]

aggie- thanks. LOL, there is no such thing as a free lunch- I did all the math yesterday with their packages and pricing- think I am back to the drawing board on ideas but already have our next 2 trips planned so certainly no rush!