Cayman in mid june

[greta-inbaja]

Yes, the flights are on southwest. Just stumbled on it. .I think a bit of time in the first part of our trip will be on GC. We plan on doing some diving there . Always open to both shore and boat. .. trying to keep the lodging reasonable. Thnaks

 

[KathyV]

The East End and the North Wall are some of the best GC boat diving IMO; but some of the best shore diving is on the West Side but north of Seven Mile Beach; so keep that in mind when selecting a place to stay and dive.

Most of the dive ops are on the West Side and 7MB and they will dive the North Wall when the weather permits. If you stay anywhere in the 7MB area, the dive ops will pick you up in a van, or on the beach by boat.

There are many high-quality dive ops and even the larger companies are okay because they have big boats. You will want to make sure that you won't be put on a dive boat with cruise ship divers but that rarely happens. There are smaller ops available too - we like Cayman University Divers.

If you are mostly visiting GC to do a lot of boat diving then Compass Point and Ocean Friends divers on the East End would be a good choice because you can get 2 or 4 good boat dives per day, but you will be far away from the attractions of George Town and the Seven Mile Beach. You will also be far away from most of the shore dives.

When we are on GC we are there for snorkeling, shore diving, some boat diving, and to enjoy the restaurants and attractions of the island. We usually wait until the second week on one of the sister islands to do most of our diving. We like to stay away from the crowds and higher-priced properties and rent an apartment or condo so we can cook some of our own meals to reduce costs.

If you want to enjoy island's attractions and restaurants but also go diving, you may want to stay in the 7MB and West Bay area, but that is the most populous and expensive area. Sunshine Suites is a popular spot, you will have a kitchen and can prepare some meals and you will have access to the amenities and beach at the Westin across the street - but there will be a daily resort fee added.

Coconut Bay and Lighthouse Point are on the west side but north of 7MB on ironshore. They both offer condos and good house reefs - but I think that they only rent big condos (2 and 3 bedroom) and that won't work for us; we just need one bedroom.

Cobalt Coast is also a remote location, it is on the west side but far north of 7MB. (Up near Hell - don't go to Hell!) I have never stayed at CC but they offer 2 tank morning dives and unlimited shore dives on the house reef, but I understand that the reef is good but it is a bit of a swim. It can get winded out pretty easily up in that area but I don't think that it will be a problem in June, mostly in fall and winter.

The CC resort was recently acquired by ClearlyCayman, the family-owned company that also owns the Little Cayman Beach Resort and the Cayman Brac Beach Resort and Reef Divers is also the onsite dive op. They offer an all-inclusive package but there are so many places to eat on GC and good grocery stores that we have never tried it.

Sunset House is a popular dive resort. It is south of 7MB and south of George Town, but not far. It is on ironshore not beach and breakfast is included but there are no cooking facilities, just hotel rooms. They have onsite restaurants and you are close to George Town's restaurants. Cathy Church's photo studio and shop are on the property if you are interested in photography. You get 2 boat dives and unlimited shore dives but the house reef has gotten beaten up over the years. They may primarily dive the West side, I'm not sure. I don't know how often they go North or East to the best dive sites. @Trailboss123 could tell you more about diving with Sunset House.

We like to stay in Bodden Town, a residential area south and east of George Town. We stay at the Turtle Nest Inn which is a nice property at a good price and we have full kitchen facilities. They have a nice little beach but it is not the 7MB. The entry is a little rocky but not bad and there is turtle grass, but there is good snorkeling right in front of TNI. A rental car is included and you have to be willing to drive on the left if you stay in a more remote location.

As much as we love TNI it is probably not the best choice if you want to do a lot of diving on GC because you will have to drive to the dive boat; but if you do stay at TNI you could drive East to dive with Red Sail at Morritt's or Ocean Friends at Compass Point, it will be a bit of a drive but on good roads and not much traffic. Driving to George Town and 7MB/West Bay during rush hour is not fun!

So there are a lot of choices on Grand Cayman and it is a pricey destination. A lot depends on what you'd like to do and your budget.

There is an extra charge per tank for Nitrox in Cayman. The Clearly Cayman resorts were offering free Nitrox and free Nitrox certification over the holiday, see below. I don't know if they will be offering it again.

Free Diving, Nitrox, and Nitrox Certification*

 

[greta-inbaja]

Ok, dumb non diving question. I am flying southwest to GC. Then am buying another tic to CB. My choice is 2.5 hr layover or 5 hr layover.. no clue... I am flying on a Thursday. Thanks

 

[KathyV]

Ok, dumb non diving question. I am flying southwest to GC. Then am buying another tic to CB. My choice is 2.5 hr layover or 5 hr layover.. no clue... I am flying on a Thursday. Thanks

Not a dumb question at all! The GCM Airport is going through a major renovation right now, and the island is experiencing a record high number of visitors because of all the hurricane damage to many other Caribbean destinations. I have been reading horror stories about missed connections and taking 3 hours after landing just to get out of the airport!

But they were traveling during high season on the weekend and you will be traveling during low season on a weekday. I think that the 2.5 hours will be fine.

If you decide to go for the longer layover let me know, and I will tell you about an easy way to get away from the airport for awhile and relax and enjoy a break.

When you arrive at GCM and deplane you will be herded into the immigration line. The line can be short or long or truly horrendous depending on how many packed planes have landed around the same time - on weekends it can get really bad.

After you are cleared by Immigration you go to Baggage Claim, get your stuff and head to Customs. After you finish with Customs you walk outside, turn, and go back inside the Ticketing Hall. You check your bags with Cayman Air and then head through Security - sometimes the security line can be very slow, but again you are traveling during low season on a weekday so you should be okay. After security you will be in the cheerless departure lounge until they call your flight.

You only get to take a total of 55 lbs luggage to the sister islands because a lot of flights are on small twin otter planes that don't have much space - and bags that you normally consider as carry-ons may have to be checked and included in the calculation of the 55 lbs.

Cayman Brac has a larger airport than Little Cayman and it receives jets, turboprops, as well as the twin otters - so they are often a little more lenient about the 55 lb. rule, depending on the amount of space available, but you could be charged per pound for overweight. I saw a guy pay $93 for overweight on our trip home from Little Cayman recently - he had loads of camera equipment. Little Cayman's airport is small and unlighted, it only receives small planes like the twin otters and they can only land during daylight hours.

Missing luggage is not uncommon on the sister islands, the bags usually show up later that day or the next day. The dive ops will lend you equipment if your gear has been delayed. On our last trip to LC all of our gear made it on time, but the bag with our clothes and personal items didn't arrive until the next day.

I have learned the hard way to carry a large purse that I can stuff under the tiny seat in front of me or hold on my lap during the short flight. I pack it with medications, contact lenses, sunglasses, IDs, credit cards and C-Cards, swimsuits, clean undies, as well as any other essentials that I can jam inside. My secret stash sure came in handy while we were waiting for our missing bag on LC and the hotel kindly offered to launder the clothes we were wearing at no charge.

 

[Doctorfish]

KathyV continues to be an incredible font of useful information.
If I was doing 13 days in the Cayman Islands, I would personally spend a week on Little Cayman and then the other 6 days on Grand.

Staying in different areas on Grand provides very different experiences. Arguably, the walls are best north and east. Restaurant scene and night life best on 7 Mile Beach area. We tend to compromise by staying at a condo right at the north (quiet) end of 7MB and can easily get to great shore diving at Turtle Reef, Cobalt Coast or Lighthouse point and also have a 2 minute drive to the yacht club where the north wall dive boats leave from. Also only a 5 minute drive to the West Bay dock where many of the west side dive boats depart.

 

[KathyV]

r

KathyV continues to be an incredible font of useful information.
If I was doing 13 days in the Cayman Islands, I would personally spend a week on Little Cayman and then the other 6 days on Grand.

Staying in different areas on Grand provides very different experiences. Arguably, the walls are best north and east. Restaurant scene and night life best on 7 Mile Beach area. We tend to compromise by staying at a condo right at the north (quiet) end of 7MB and can easily get to great shore diving at Turtle Reef, Cobalt Coast or Lighthouse point and also have a 2 minute drive to the yacht club where the north wall dive boats leave from. Also only a 5 minute drive to the West Bay dock where many of the west side dive boats depart.

Great advice! But I differ on one issue. We have learned the hard way that it is better for us to plan the "easy" part of our vacation first, so I would spend the first 6 days on GC and the second week on CB or LC. For the OP, probably CB because he wants to rent a property and do some shore diving on the sister islands - and I think that is a little more available on CB; but maybe not, I believe that @Ricardo V. recently did a dive trip to LC that included shore diving.

Many times when we arrived at our vacation destination we were sleep-deprived and exhausted from long hours at work just trying to get away - and burned out from the stress of travel - but we would still rush right out to catch the afternoon dive boat or board the liveaboard to immediately begin our dive trip. Too often one of us would catch a cold or develop an ear infection and that would have an impact on the quality of our long-awaited and expensive dive vacation.

Maybe it is because we are older (and wiser?) but we now take a little time to relax, sleep, and get healthy before really getting into diving. We can do that on GC and still have opportunities to snorkel, shore dive, and enjoy some excellent boat dives as well as enjoy the topside activities.

Of course, you are always playing roulette with the weather; you can't know in advance which week with have the best weather - hopefully both weeks will be great! That's another nice thing about adding on extra time, even if you encounter bad weather it is pretty rare for it to last very long, so over 2 weeks you have a good chance of finding some good weather!

 

[Doctorfish]

That makes sense.

 

[greta-inbaja]

Thanks everyone for all your help. Tix all booked, renting a place, diving with Brad Scuba Shack. Actually since we get into GC at noon we will continue on th CB as remote is more my comfort zone. Get there, scout things out, probably shore dove the first day then some boat diving. We will then go to GC 4 hrs. Probably dive 2 days and a morning shoredive. I am really looking forward to diving there. Usually we r in the sea of cortez, fish soup... but i hav ever seen close to 100 ft viz. The diving sounds varied and very pretty. Might have to get back into some photography. YIPPEE and thanks again for all your help. .... and KathyV, the turtle nest inn does look like a good place to be.

 

[greta-inbaja]

Hi KathyV, we ended up booking TNI on Grand Cayman. We live in a tourist destination so we would rather stay someplace quiet and drive to our diving and sites. We haven't booked our boat dives yet on GC. On Brac , we booked 4 days 2 tank dives, plan to shore dive and do a trip to bloody bay wall in addition to the 4 days.we are in CB for 9 days. We booked " secluded sunsets" 1 bdrm place on the north west island . We are looking forward to our trip. Any info or recomendations anyone has will be appreciated. We live near Lake Tahoe in northern California so we dont make it to the Caribbean often as it is $$ and a PITA. But this is the " birthday trip of my choosing" Thanks for all you help

 

[KathyV]

Hi KathyV, we ended up booking TNI on Grand Cayman. We live in a tourist destination so we would rather stay someplace quiet and drive to our diving and sites. We haven't booked our boat dives yet on GC. On Brac , we booked 4 days 2 tank dives, plan to shore dive and do a trip to bloody bay wall in addition to the 4 days.we are in CB for 9 days. We booked " secluded sunsets" 1 bdrm place on the north west island . We are looking forward to our trip. Any info or recomendations anyone has will be appreciated. We live near Lake Tahoe in northern California so we dont make it to the Caribbean often as it is $$ and a PITA. But this is the " birthday trip of my choosing" Thanks for all you help

I hope that you like it, please let me know your opinion.

If you want to do some early morning boat diving and you are staying in Bodden Town, then you may want to go east to dive with Ocean Frontiers at Compass Point - they do 2 boat tanks in the morning and 2 boat tanks in the afternoon. (I see that I called them "Ocean Friends" in an earlier post but that is not correct, duh!)

The best walls on the island (IMO) are off the East End and the North Side.

It will be about a 20 or 25 minute drive but there shouldn't be much traffic going East and North from Bodden Town. Red Sail at Morritt's is another dive op on the East End, they are both fine dive operations.

If you head in the other direction south and west toward 7MB and West Bay in the morning you will hit the rush hour and the traffic can be bad.

Shore diving is available at several locations on the island, most of them south and west of Bodden Town and north of 7MB, but you can easily drive to those areas in mid-morning and return in mid-afternoon and you should not run into much traffic.

People are always telling me that you can't get lost on GC but I have gotten lost! The signage could be better and navigating the roundabouts can be confusing; and the narrow, angled streets of George Town are a challenge. Driving on the left also adds interest!

I recommend that you bring a GPS or download the interactive Google Maps before you arrive so that you don't have to pay for cellular data. We always bring a Garmin and a car charger and it is helpful, and we can turn it off if we don't need it. Driving on Brac is pretty easy and there is little traffic.

You will need to pay ($20 I think?) for a temporary Cayman drivers license - unless you have an international drivers license. They will sell it to you at the car rental agency. It is just a flimsy piece of paper but hang on to it because it is good on all 3 Cayman islands for a month.

Have a great trip!