Bodden Town Development

[KathyV]

We really like the Bodden Town area because it is quiet, on the water, but away from Georgetown and the Seven Mile Beach - but not too far away. But that may be changing because there are plans to build a 10-story hotel in Bodden Town:

Beach Bay hotel development agreement signed :: Cayman Compass

---------- Post added September 27th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ----------

Here's some more information - there goes the neighborhood!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-16/melkonian-hedge-fund-gains-34-and-bets-on-cayman-land-

LTE Hedge Fund, Up 34% Last Year, Bets Big on Cayman Beachfront

Melkonian Capital's $100 million event-driven vehicle looks for investments in private equity, real estate, and stocks.

by Jon Asmundsson

from Bloomberg Markets Magazine

July 15, 2015 — 11:01 PM CDT

“…The fund’s largest real estate investment is a 63-acre (25-hectare) parcel it has assembled on Grand Cayman. “It’s a small island, there’s not a lot of beachfront property, and it’s almost all developed,” Melkonian says. In 2009, a developer who was having trouble raising financing sold LTE a 6-acre parcel of land with one of the few sandy beaches on the south side of the island. “We’ve made 30 acquisitions around the periphery,” Melkonian says. In December, the Cayman Islands government approved rezoning that would allow hotels of up to 10 stories to be built on the land…”

 

[Drew Sailbum]

The property in question is in the district of Bodden Town, but quite some distance from the town of Bodden Town (where the Pirate's Caves, Coe Wood Beach, and Turtle Nest Inn are located).

The new hotel is slated to be built in Beach Bay, an otherwise residential area. Most tourists have had no reason to visit this area, the few intrepid shore divers notwithstanding. From the water by boat it is a short distance east of the cliffs as Pedro St James..

 

[diver 85]

Wow-I think the only thing in Bodden Town when we 1st visited it in '86 was the Pirates Cave--------IF only we had bought some property there then....ha.........thanks for the info Kath.......

Also remember Smith's Cove from then(think it was fairly close to Bodden Town????)------we'd go as a family of 4(sometimes 5)there some afternoons to snorkel a bit------us & no one else was around.......

EDIT.: bet we would not recognize the little quiet cove these days.......

 

[KathyV]

The last few times we've gone to Grand Cayman we've stayed at the Turtle Nest Inn in Bodden Town. We learned of it when the booking agent for the Aggressor recommended it. It is a small, family owned inn and the family also manages the nearby Turtle Nest and Moon Bay Condo properties. EastEndDiver from SB owns one of the Turtle Nest Condos.

We like to stay in a one-bedroom apartment at TNI. The apartments are clean, well-maintained, fully air-conditioned, have a full-sized kitchen, come with daily maid service, and are situated right on the beach.

There is good (shallow) snorkeling right out front, not the best snorkeling on GC but quite nice and so very easy. We've seen tarpon, rays, turtles, morays, lobster, octopus, squid, lots of tropical fish, and the biggest jawfish ever! The beach entry is a little rocky because the reef is so close but it is not heavy ironshore.

The cost for the apartment for one week also includes a rental car and you have to be willing to drive if you stay in Bodden Town. But it's not bad. We are about 10 - 12 miles from Georgetown and the 7MB and we have an easy drive to Old Man Bay and the East End too.

It is not luxurious and it is not on the 7MB but it is quiet and much more economical than prime GC locations and we love it! We will be heading to GC in a month and staying in at TNI in an Ocean Front 1 Bedroom apartment with a king sized bed - and then we will transfer to LCBR for the second week - and I can hardly wait!

Cayman Hotels: Turtle Nest Inn, Grand Cayman - Intimate & Affordable Beachfront Alternative.

 

[diver 85]

Think that's where the wife & I stayed for 1 nite heading to LC a few years ago......If so, it was nice, I'll look that up.....

EDIT..:Only thing I took of there(our overnite in GC) was this------bad video & hard to really tell, but could this have been it???----sure remember it(the name of the place) sounding like that-------some nest anyway...lol

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/14046830110/in/album-72157630682888548/

 

[diversteve]

Smith's Cove is just south of Sunset House on the west coast. So not really near Bodden Town.

I suspect you're right about the quiet part now though since it's a cruise excursion. Although even they advertise it as having limited facilities...

 

[KathyV]

Think that's where the wife & I stayed for 1 nite heading to LC a few years ago......If so, it was nice, I'll look that up.....

EDIT..:Only thing I took of there(our overnite in GC) was this------bad video & hard to really tell, but could this have been it???----sure remember it(the name of the place) sounding like that-------some nest anyway...lol

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/14046830110/in/album-72157630682888548/

Yes, that's it. It looks like you were on the ground floor in an Ocean View apartment which means you have to walk out on the tiny patio to see the Sea from your room. That's fine but this year we opted for a larger Ocean Front apartment because we will only have a pool view room at LCBR.

Below is the link to a video (not mine, turn down the sound) showing the Ocean Front view from a TNI apartment. It's a very nice location (IMO) and the TNI condo complex is right next door and it is also on the beach and has a small pool. The Moon Bay condos are a newer property that are nearby on the beach.

We like to spend 2 weeks in the Caymans so we try to economize by traveling during the low season and staying in a quieter, less expensive area and cooking some simple meals while we are on GC. Then we go to an all-inclusive like BRBR or LCBR for a week in the sister islands.

https://youtu.be/h7ruJsRVkv4

 

[diver 85]

Smith's Cove is just south of Sunset House on the west coast. So not really near Bodden Town.

I suspect you're right about the quiet part now though since it's a cruise excursion. Although even they advertise it as having limited facilities...

Was thinking back almost 30 years---really only (actually) remembering it was that way from Georgetown from the (old) Seaview(& Sunset House) property.....Remember Seaview-----one damned 'nice' place(ie cheap---) with a GREAT location.....That's where stayed most of the time---vs Sunset House-& I was always paying for 4 divers(sometimes 5), so we had to watch our 'Ps & Qs...

 

[EastEndDiver]

Think that's where the wife & I stayed for 1 nite heading to LC a few years ago......If so, it was nice, I'll look that up.....

EDIT..:Only thing I took of there(our overnite in GC) was this------bad video & hard to really tell, but could this have been it???----sure remember it(the name of the place) sounding like that-------some nest anyway...lol

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80825593@N08/14046830110/in/album-72157630682888548/

Yes that was taken at Turtle Nest Inn.In the video you see the condos from the window/Balcony.

Kathy thank you for the compliments to Turtle Nest Inn.

 

[diversteve]

Remember Seaview

I do, it's condos now. Place was destroyed in the Hurricane sometime after 2003.