First time Cayman advice?

[DougK]

Look for some advice on Grand Cayman, I am only in my second year of diving and I have had a few expenses come up that prevented me from doing a lot of diving in the first year. I am up to only 18 dives. Is this island good diving for someone with less experience? Or is it deep AOW diving. We both only have OW.

We are interested in going to Grand Cayman staying a the Court Yard by Marriott on W. Bay Road.

The vacation package we are being offered is Euro. Plan, no food. What should you expect as far a price per day per adult to eat? We can eat wisly -- read cheaper -- if need me. It is my understanding this island can be expensive for food.

The hotel is listed as being across the road from Seven Mile Beach. In this area does the road front the beach or are there hotels on the beach side?

Is a car needed on this island? Or are other things accesable by bus system? If a car is needed what can we expect for car prices per day?

Looks like we have a dive operator -- Red Sail Sports -- at the hotel. Anyone know anything about this operator? If we wanted to use another operator, besides the one at the hotel, do the other operators come and pick you up at your hotel?

Let me also indicate this is not designed to be a "dive only trip." We in the past only dive about 1/2 the time we are on an island, and do other things the other days like land trips, lounge on the beach. Is Grand Cayman good for this? or is diving about the only thing to do?

Any other advice for a first time visitor is appreciated.

 

[sdwho]

I'm certain that some of the CI folk on the board can give you detailed answers to your specific questions. I'll just offer my observations based on a dozen visits to GC over the years (most recently last August).

I did my open water certification in GC -- there are plenty of nice dive sites for a relative newbie to dive. Typically, you'll do a first dive that could be as deep as 80 - 100 and a second dive that's more in the 40-60 foot range.Even if you're diving 80 -100 feet on your first dive, there is usually zero current and you should be fine. As a new diver, it may be that you will be consuming air faster than more experienced divers in your group. Just let you DM know and work things out in advance in terms of your surfacing when the time is appropriate.

Food can be pretty priceyl. Remember its $1.25 US to $1 Caymanian, so if you buy a hamburger for $8 CI, its really going to cost you $10 US. THere are some US fast food type places on the island, although it kinda goes against the grain for me to go to such places. There are a couple of ways to conserve $$ on food. One: order a couple of appetizers, but only one main course and split it. Another way is to go to one of the grocery stores (there are several good ones) and buy yourself some bread and cheese, etc. and make your own lunch, snacks etc. Bring granola bars, etc. with you if you like that kinda thing. Also, depending on w hat your drinking habits are, you may want to buy some beer or soda or juice. You might even think about buying a cheapo styrofoam cooer there. (We have a collapsable cooler that we take with us -- we can fill it with ice from the hotel and keep drinks, cheese, etc. cold) (I'm assuming your room wont have a refrig -- you should check. Don't even think about buying a bottle of rum for consumption while you're on the island -- the prices are astronomica. (On the other hand, the prices are fantastic at the duty free, so pick up a couple of bottles at the airport on the way home).

Not sure exactly where your hotel is but chances are there are hotels or condos across from it if its along 7 Mile Beach. Check with the hotel in advance about beach access. There is a public beach, but again, I'm not sure where it is in relation to your hotel

We always get a car. Not sure about public transportation. Frankly whether you need a car will depend on what you plan to do. You might just get one for a day or two to tour around the island. In any case, shop around online. You can usually get a pretty good price from Andy's (a local outfit) or Thrifty.

Don't know anything about Red Sail Sports other than that they've been around awhile. I'm sure someone here can provide a review. Some of the other operators will arrange a pick up, but be sure to check in advance.

We typically dive 3 or four times a day every day when we're in GC, so I'm not sure we're the best for advice on what else to do. We lounge by the pool (we stay "up north" at Cobalt Coast where there really isn't a beach but a great pool for relaxing) reading a lot. Some folks are into shopping. You'll want to check out the "Turtle Farm" and we always allot time to do a drive over to the East End just to see what's there. An afternoon at Rum POint is another option. I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out, but I don't think of GC as having lots of "sightseeing" attractions that aren't underwater.


For what its worth, the first time I visited GC was around 20 years ago and I wasn't a diver. Just snorkled. I had a great time just relaxing and soaking up the sun.

sdwho

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Chiming in, as one of the CI residents.

The Courtyard by Marriott was the site of the new Holiday Inn. The hotel was purchased and rebranded. It is across West Bay Road from an unobstructed section of Seven Mile Beach. There is a beach bar/grill and watersports rental outlet on the beach side, but no condo or hotel.

Since I work for Red Sail (mostly at their East End shop Tortuga Divers), I'll leave the comments on the dive operation to a minimum. Red Sail does have contracts to serve cruise ship divers, but Red Sail does NOT book on island guests on the cruise ship dedicated boats as a matter of course. Conflicts with meeting each individual cruise ship schedule would make that too difficult.

Staying along Seven Mile Beach, you don't necessarily have to rent a car. There are multiple omnibusses which can take you to Georgetown or West Bay (and the Turtle Farm) for a couple dollars per person. If you want to conserve funds you could skip a full week car rental and maybe just get one for two days to explore a little.

Most dive operations along the west side would offer to pick you up at the hotel.

There are various topside attractions, depending upon your interests. Some would need to be reserved for a day with a car, such as visiting the Botanic Park, hiking the Mastic Trail, and visiting the Pedro St James historic site.

And food... there are many restaurants, some with fabulous food at fabulous prices. Alcohol is very expensive. You can dine on a budget, but I would still plan on at least US$75 per person per day.

 

[scottbeach]

Welcome to Cayman. I'm confident you're going to have a great time. As for expenses, outside of diving, costs are really what you make them to be. My wife and I have done both "budget" and "high-end" trips to the island, although I think we really just enjoy a relaxing dive-filled week with simple food and maybe one nice dining night out.

A couple of our favorite reasonable places to eat:
- Lonestar, great prices with nightly specials and a Texas-sized menu. We generally hit this one a couple of times a week.
- Eats, a 50s style diner with very affordable prices. We love their burgers and chicken sandwiches.
- Plenty of fast-food on the island as well, including a Burger King with a million-dollar view and a shore-dive.

A few things we do to save costs:
- If the room has a fridge, hit the grocery store when you land. Grab some juice, snacks, etc.. The Fosters in the middle of SMB makes some mean cinnamon rolls perfect for a dive morning meal.
- Alcohol is expensive on the island (opposite of Coz). You are allowed to bring a certain amount with you onto the island without duty. The duty-free shop from your departure airport is an option too. Personally, for us this isn't a huge issue as we don't party it up when we're diving. There are a couple of nice beachfront bars closer into town (like Rackhams) that make a good blender drink and you pay more for the atmosphere than anything.
- While we've not done the bus, people certainly use it. Our hotel (Sunshine Suites) offers a car rental discount through Budget... might be worth checking with Marriott
- We always bring nutrition bars and Kool-Aid mix for the dive boat... Gotta keep up the 'ol energy
- Check the airport upon arrival for coupons for Stingray City. There's generally a deal or two to be had.
- We tend to spend our afternoons shore diving at Eden's Rock. For roughly 10 bucks, you get a tank and weights. There are three great divesites together only 50 yards or so from shore, right downtown. Couldn't be easier.

On the subject of dive operators, without offending Drew (who is a great resource on all things Cayman), we prefer to use some of the smaller outfits. Red Sail is just too big and commercial for us... we dove with them during a stay at the Westin, but there are just too many great small operators who support this board to pass them by.
My personal experiences are with Neptune's Divers and Off the Wall Diving. Keith and Casey at Neptune's run probably the best boat I've ever been on for newer divers. Casey is a perfect mentor underwater and Keith provides great service up top. Danny at Off the Wall runs does a great job with more experienced folks and provides a lot of flexibility and independence. I know Drew well enough from his years on this board to tell you that if Red Sail hired Drew, they have good taste in Dive Masters. Our personal preference is just for single boat outfits over multi-boat multi-island cruise ship-serving companies. To close in the spirit of cost savings, remember that many operators offer discounts on multi-dive packages. If you know you plan on diving, better to pay for multiple days at once, rather than a la carte.

I hope this helps. Have a great trip.

 

[Torontonian]

Hi.

A suggestion for you to consider. If you will be doing three 2-tank dives, might do the AOW course. Maybe even combine with Nitrox course.

Last year when I went to Hawaii and looking at the cost of doing three 2-tank dives, it turned out the price for doing AOW was similar, especially when I can get the materials first.

I ended up doing a combined AOW + Nitrox. This is where the dive ops had different range, some offering good discount for combining while other's discount wasn't good. By doing Nitrox on two of the dives, it also count toward the AOW. So at least consider doing AOW. You'll still get three great 2-tank dive trips, and it's always good to have another certification. PLUS, you get great attention from the instructor during the dives.

 

[ntt]

Let me also indicate this is not designed to be a "dive only trip." We in the past only dive about 1/2 the time we are on an island, and do other things the other days like land trips, lounge on the beach. Is Grand Cayman good for this? or is diving about the only thing to do?

Cant say what the others have already said! Everything seems to be covered from my expierence there.

But yes, theres a bit to do on the island. Im pretty sure youll have a good time laying on Seven Mile beach! There will be enough to do, I know you enjoy it!

ahhh I should just go back! </jelous>