grouda:
We are contemplating going there late February with a side trip to Little Cayman and wondered where would be the best place to stay....since we've never been to LC we would like to have some recomendations as well. We know there has been hurricane damage but are willing to deal with it.
Hurricane damage first.
In short, all of the Little Cayman operations are back up and running, although not necessarily back up to 100% of what they were at before. For example, while everyone had their docks taken out, the LCBR also had to rebuild one wall of their diveshop, and Southern Cross lost a couple of bungelow's.
(BTW, here's the status of LCBR's rebuilt dock from ~20 days ago):
http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2004/little_cayman/lcbr_dock(11-24-04).jpg
There was some other storm damage on Little Cayman, mostly limited to low-lying homes along the southside road (and the road too). Most of the dive sites are essentially untouched, meaning that if you didn't intimately know the divesite beforehand, you'd not notice the difference. I did get one trustworthy report saying that some of the shallow southside reefs got "blasted", but didn't get to see these firsthand to confirm. I have done a dive on the Soto Trader since Ivan and yes, the bridge is gone, but again, if you didn't see it "before", you'd probably not realize that its a very recent change.
FWIW, this general summary also applies to Cayman Brac too.
On resorts recommendations, it depends a lot on the client.
For example, as Little Cayman's local "big hotel", the LCBR is the obvious and "safe" choice, and so it naturally tends to attract that kind of client, as well as those who wants a daily afternoon dive, as well as those that seemingly spend every afternoon holding down the bar...YMMV.
The primary alternative are the dive "camps" (actually bungelow clusters) of Sothern Cross, Priate's Point and Sam McCoy's, which are more rustic, often more roomy, down-to-earth, and usually the better value (IMO, LCBR is high). But being smaller resorts, they can sometimes be clickish, particularly if half the guests are returning clients who already know each other, or if you have that one "jerk" (eg, if you're a jerk, please go to the bigger LCBR instead
, but don't let this dissuade you, especially if you're a seasoned traveller who can handle this kind of stuff. IMO, the staff is often more personable, too, and they often pull double-duty serving meals as well as working on the diveboat, etc, which lets you connect better.
The final choice are condo's and private homes, where you have to do your own cooking, and what you save in costs here, you'll probably spend in transporation costs. After all is said and done, a jeep rental from Perry McLaughlin costs around US$80/day.
Insofar as trying to say what's best for you, its hard to make a good recommendation without knowing you better and what your preferences are. My personal advice would be that if you prefer B&B's over hotels and don't need to drink to have fun, then I'd suggest learning more about SS, PP or Sam's before deciding.
-hh
PS: Make sure to pick up the
"So. you want to live on a Small Island..." book when you're on Little Cayman, or see URL
http://www.islandslife.com/
