Clearly Cayman Resorts

[KathyV]

We just came back from the Our World Underwater Dive Expo in Chicago - it was a great show - and I spoke with the Rep from Reef Fantaseas at the Clearly Cayman booth.

For their "show special" they are offering free afternoon dives at all 3 Clearly Cayman resorts (LCBR, CBBR, and CCGCR) if you book by March 5th - mention the OWU Chicago show special when making reservations.

I asked about the renovations at Cobalt Coast on Grand Cayman. She said that the resort is NOT closed between Feb through April, but they've stopped taking reservations because they are finishing some renovations. She did confirm that the CCGCR will begin offering daily afternoon dives starting in mid-April. So you could get a lot of dives at CCGCR at a good price. Three boat dives per day plus unlimited shore dives on the house reef (weather dependent) including night dives.

I directly asked her "do they have an indoor, air-conditioned dining room at Cobalt Coast?" and she said "No, only outdoor eating" which confirms my impression after visiting the resort.

She also confirmed something I'd heard about on the Trip Advisor forum. The Cayman Brac Beach Resort is now offering a fine dining venue. The separate, private dining room located near the main eating area has been converted into a new restaurant called "Island Prime". It is only open on Tues, Thurs, and Saturday and reservations are required. If you are staying at the resort on an all-inclusive package you can choose to dine at Island Prime for 25% discount off the price of the meal. Instead of buffet dining you can order steaks and other items of your choice off the menu.

 

[Fathom044]

Well, they actually will give you a 25% discount if you are on the meal plan. It is excellent, small and intimate. Reservations are required.

 

[KathyV]

Well, they actually will give you a 25% discount if you are on the meal plan. It is excellent, small and intimate. Reservations are required.

I will correct my post above, thanks!

 

[KathyV]

This review of Cobalt Coast was posted recently on Trip Advisor, I am copying it here because the writer talks about things that are changing and things that are staying the same:

"Trip Leader's Perspective
Our shop ran a trip here in Feb of 18. The experience was really good. The staff has stayed on and remains some of the best we have dealt with. They were willing to go out of their way for our group (including getting a birthday cake and other assorted items). I have been coming here for a number of years. The resort is showing its age a bit, but the good news is that they are actively working on improving the resort. We got a tour of what is happening and am very excited. People's primary complaint has been the air conditioning system, which when installed was supposed to be a more energy and environmentally friendly alternative, but I think it turned into a bit of a nightmare over the years (good intentions gone wrong). All of the system is being replaced with new energy efficient splits in each of the rooms. While this is happening, each room is getting a basic remodel to fix up the resort. Now that Reef Divers has had a chance to figure things out, they are making the right changes to the resort.

The diving is always fantastic there with lots of great stuff. We had shore diving only on one day of our trip due to winter storms (it is a bit of a risk during this season), but we got to go to the other side to pick up the boat. The dive staff is awesome (Julia, Bernie, Rowan, Oli, plus a few others) know their business and keep the diving safe and comfortable. It is a hard line to stay on, giving people the freedom to do their own dive profiles and make sure everyone is safe and the staff does one of the best jobs of it I have seen. Once again, the dive staff is changing the physical space up and improving their processes. The famous lockers will be gone, with a better system for storing gear. One of the best things is that the staff is accommodating - if you want to go to a dive spot, let them know. We went to the Grotto, just in case it is removed for the new cruise ship pier. Boats are big and roomy with good snacks provided (chips and fruit). The dive staff here is highly knowledgeable about the underwater ecosystem here, and pointed out some small stuff that I would not have seen.

The bottom line is that I would book any group into this resort (and I have already re-booked). The staff is some of the best I have worked with, they have planned and are thoughtfully upgrading the resort and overall, the value they provide I think is beyond the price you pay. The golden rule here: if you have a problem, let the staff know, it will get solved."

 

[KathyV]

The comment below was recently posted on the Cobalt Coast Resort page on the TripAdvisor web site. The OP liked the resort and the diving but was disappointed that there was no place to buy snacks. It is true that CCGCR is off the beaten path and you would need a car to get to a store.

Penny P. at CCGCR responded that all of the Clearly Cayman Resorts are planning to upgrade their snack offerings for guests.

Frankly, I always eat too much at CBBR and LCBR so I am not geneally looking for snacks (and there is usually some fresh fruit on the dive boats.) But we occasionally want to buy a can/bottle of a soft drink and we usually get that from the Dive Shop. On our last trip to LCBR we discovered that the bar adds a 15% gratuity if you buy a bottle of soda from them, so we stopped doing that.

The CBBR has that small boutique off the lobby that offers soft drinks and snack foods and other gift shop items - or at least they did when we were there 2 years ago. When we were at LCBR in November, they had closed the small store next to the resort and it was undergoing construction or remodeling. I remember hearing that they plan to turn it into the new hotel lobby and expand the indoor dining room into the old lobby area, but I don't know that for sure. But you can walk or bike to the grocery store in Blossom Village fairly easily if you wanted to buy something.

I haven't spent enough time at CCGCR to know what, if anything, is available - but there is a bar and also a dive shop on the property.)

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that the 3 CC resorts are making plans to offer snacks to divers before dinner. Now I'll really have trouble trying to avoid overeating on vacation! (And that is a perfect example of a "first world problem!"

dive package - Review of Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort, West Bay, Cayman Islands - TripAdvisor

Resort is clean and the dive staff is above excellent! The food is excellent and servers and all employees are helpful and friendly!!! The only thing missing was a shop to get snacks for after diving or just nibbling in the afternoon. Inconvenient to find a place to buy snacks

Stayed: March 2018, traveled as a couple

Dive_and_Resort_Team, Guest Relations Manager at Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort, responded to this review Responded yesterday

The Reef Divers shop usually has some snacks, but it is probably ice cream. Assuming you want something different, know that it's in our plans to upgrade snack offerings at all our resorts because we know divers come back and often need a little something to tide them over until dinner. We are in the process of finding suppliers who can provide what we need. Thanks for your review and suggestion, Penny P.