Here's a report from my first trip to Grand Cayman (June 9-20, 2018.) The trip had two parts: first 4 days on 7-mile beach with some non-diving friends, then 7 days at Compass Point / Ocean Frontiers on the east side with an old friend and dive buddy. We also did 1 afternoon shore dive at Devil's Grotto while based on the east side.
Part I: West side - 4 nights, 3 AM 2-tank dives
Along with my daughter and 3 of her friends I got a spacious 3-bedroom AirBnB condo near the middle of 7-mile beach (near the Fosters). I did 2-tank AM dives with Living the Dream (LTD) on three days, and joined up with the others for non-diving activities in the afternoons. I had a compact rental car, but the others also found the public "bus" service to be very easy to use when I wasn't around to drive.
Diving: on the big boat LTD puts no more than 12 divers on a boat that could easily hold 20, so very roomy. I can be a bit of an airhog, but for no extra charge they gave me AL100 tanks (and yoke adapter for my DIN regs) and so I was never the first one back on the boat. There were no restrictions on dive time, as long as you got back on the boat with 500psi.
Dive Sites: Eagle's Nest, Killer Puffer, Sand Chute, Bolero, Kittiwake, and Rainbow Reef.
The diving was nice, but the weather was mainly cloudy, with occasional rain, so that detracted a bit. I've been on several wrecks, but I still found the Kittiwake to be fun (if a bit of a follow-the-leader dive).
Other Activities:
Sting Ray City (sandbar, 3-4 ft deep): I was skeptical, but this was a great experience for me (as well as the nondivers). We did the Ambassador Divers 3-stop tour. First the sandbar (no snorkel necessary), then two different snorkel sites on the barrier reef. Especially nice for the non-divers.
Bioluminescent bay: A very cool experience, but only available +/- 1 week from the New Moon. Went with "SeaElements" on a pontoon boat, as opposed to the kayak trips. I think the boat is nicer, since you can get into the water and snorkel to really see the lights. They supplied full body dive-skins as protection from the hydroids that can get stirred up by the snorkelers.
Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park: The non-divers took public buses to get there and reported a very enjoyable hike in the gardens.
Food: We preferred to hit the less fancy / more local places, including Chicken-Chicken, Heritage Kitchen, and the West Side Diner. Yes, food seems expensive (and that's BEFORE the 1.25x multiplier for the USD exchange).
Airport Arrival: We arrived on Saturday before noon. We did not have to stand in the sun, and went through immigration rapidly. The main hold up was customs, but there was AC so the 20min in line didn't seem too bad.
Airport Departure: I left on a Wednesday which should have been less busy, but there was a snaking line OUTSIDE the terminal (in the heat) BEFORE you get inside to an even bigger line to check bags. HINT: if you are able to check in on-line the night before, you can get expedited inside (show them the boarding pass on your phone). And once inside they had a shorter, faster bag-check line for the folks with e-boarding passes.
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Part II: East Side - 7 nights, 6 x 2-tank dives + a bonus shore dive.
The non-divers flew home after 4 days, and my dive buddy flew in. I picked him up and we drove east to CompassPoint. Along the way we stopped at Fosters (groceries) and the Cayman Island Brewing company where we got a mix and match case of 4 different 6-packs for a (relatively) low price. VERY tasty brews, IMO.
CompassPoint: Condo-like apartments with kitchen, with 1 restaurant on-site (Eagle Ray's Grill). More importantly, Ocean Frontiers dive op is on site, so you walk 2min from your room to the dive boats. They provide valet service (rinse and dry gear, then put it on the boat the next morning.) We had a 2-bedroom, 2-bath ocean-view second floor unit; full kitchen, large eating area, nice living room with cable TV, and a nice porch overlooking the sea. A rental car is included in the package (although AVIS still hit me for miscellaneous taxes and fees of about $20 USD per day). Lesley at Compass Point let me extend the rental for the 4 days I spent on the west side before getting to Compass Point.
Diving: The wind was from the south for the first days, so we headed to the calmer northern sites. The wind then swung to the north and we could hit some of the southern sites for the rest of the trip. All in all, excellent dives. Again, no charge for AL100 tanks (and they had convertible valves for my DIN regs.)
The first dive was usually a deep wall dive, down to 100 ft. The second dive would be shallower, usually no deeper than 70-80 ft, often less. In general, the DMs would show folks around for ca. 35min, then bring folks back under the boat. The DMs would surface, leaving buddy pairs in sight of the boat for as long as they wished (again, back on the boat with 500psi.) They were flexible about buddy pairing; if your buddy was ready to surface, you could stay down as long as you could pair up with another diver (or pair.)
Shore Dive: A nice couple on the AM 2-tank dives let us tag along for an afternoon shore dive at Devil's Grotto / Eden Rock back on the West side. We grabbed our gear and drove ca. 40min to Eden Rock Diving Center where we showed our cert cards and paid $12 for an AL80. It's a decent swim out to the Devil's Grotto mooring ball, so swim on the surface to conserve air. It was a really fun, relatively shallow dive with an incredible number of swim-thrus. No silver sides, but we did run into 4 big tarpon. We finished up with a beer at the restaurant next door before driving back east to Compass Point. This was an easy, inexpensive way to get in another dive or two.
Food on the East Side: The Foster's grocery store on the east side is only 10min away. Breakfast is included in the CompassPoint package. About half the time we just made a light lunch in the condo after the AM dives, but Eagle Ray's is nice and very convenient. The Taco place across the street was nice for dinner, serving some unusual soft tacos (e.g. korean BBQ beef, duck breast, tuna sashimi), in addition to the standard chicken, pork, etc. They make nice Margaritas, too.
The Czech Inn Grill was by far our best find. 16 minutes drive back west, just at the edge of Boddentown. The vibe at this little road-side is super casual, but the quality of the food blew us away. The owner / chef, George, had been the executive chef at some of the resorts, then grew tired of the grind and opened the Czech Inn Grill. We had dinner there twice, and two lunches, as well. Every dish we tried could have been served at a high-end restaurant. There are some tables, or better, sit at the bar and chat with George and some of the locals who are regulars. Try the mussels and garlic or the ceviche as starters. Better: have both. Go crazy with the schnitzel with Jaeger sauce, a rich mushroom sauce made with red wine and heavy cream. Three different types of BBQ ribs (I suggest the Asian style), or fresh fish prepared blackened, fried, or baked whole. It's BYOB, with a liquor store almost next door, and George will keep your wine bottle or six-pack cold and serve it to you while you eat.
Summary: I had great experiences both in and out of the water on the west and east sides. I chalk a lot my "luck" up to the great advice I found on the Cayman forum here on ScubaBoard. Cheers!
Part I: West side - 4 nights, 3 AM 2-tank dives
Along with my daughter and 3 of her friends I got a spacious 3-bedroom AirBnB condo near the middle of 7-mile beach (near the Fosters). I did 2-tank AM dives with Living the Dream (LTD) on three days, and joined up with the others for non-diving activities in the afternoons. I had a compact rental car, but the others also found the public "bus" service to be very easy to use when I wasn't around to drive.
Diving: on the big boat LTD puts no more than 12 divers on a boat that could easily hold 20, so very roomy. I can be a bit of an airhog, but for no extra charge they gave me AL100 tanks (and yoke adapter for my DIN regs) and so I was never the first one back on the boat. There were no restrictions on dive time, as long as you got back on the boat with 500psi.
Dive Sites: Eagle's Nest, Killer Puffer, Sand Chute, Bolero, Kittiwake, and Rainbow Reef.
The diving was nice, but the weather was mainly cloudy, with occasional rain, so that detracted a bit. I've been on several wrecks, but I still found the Kittiwake to be fun (if a bit of a follow-the-leader dive).
Other Activities:
Sting Ray City (sandbar, 3-4 ft deep): I was skeptical, but this was a great experience for me (as well as the nondivers). We did the Ambassador Divers 3-stop tour. First the sandbar (no snorkel necessary), then two different snorkel sites on the barrier reef. Especially nice for the non-divers.
Bioluminescent bay: A very cool experience, but only available +/- 1 week from the New Moon. Went with "SeaElements" on a pontoon boat, as opposed to the kayak trips. I think the boat is nicer, since you can get into the water and snorkel to really see the lights. They supplied full body dive-skins as protection from the hydroids that can get stirred up by the snorkelers.
Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park: The non-divers took public buses to get there and reported a very enjoyable hike in the gardens.
Food: We preferred to hit the less fancy / more local places, including Chicken-Chicken, Heritage Kitchen, and the West Side Diner. Yes, food seems expensive (and that's BEFORE the 1.25x multiplier for the USD exchange).
Airport Arrival: We arrived on Saturday before noon. We did not have to stand in the sun, and went through immigration rapidly. The main hold up was customs, but there was AC so the 20min in line didn't seem too bad.
Airport Departure: I left on a Wednesday which should have been less busy, but there was a snaking line OUTSIDE the terminal (in the heat) BEFORE you get inside to an even bigger line to check bags. HINT: if you are able to check in on-line the night before, you can get expedited inside (show them the boarding pass on your phone). And once inside they had a shorter, faster bag-check line for the folks with e-boarding passes.
********************
Part II: East Side - 7 nights, 6 x 2-tank dives + a bonus shore dive.
The non-divers flew home after 4 days, and my dive buddy flew in. I picked him up and we drove east to CompassPoint. Along the way we stopped at Fosters (groceries) and the Cayman Island Brewing company where we got a mix and match case of 4 different 6-packs for a (relatively) low price. VERY tasty brews, IMO.
CompassPoint: Condo-like apartments with kitchen, with 1 restaurant on-site (Eagle Ray's Grill). More importantly, Ocean Frontiers dive op is on site, so you walk 2min from your room to the dive boats. They provide valet service (rinse and dry gear, then put it on the boat the next morning.) We had a 2-bedroom, 2-bath ocean-view second floor unit; full kitchen, large eating area, nice living room with cable TV, and a nice porch overlooking the sea. A rental car is included in the package (although AVIS still hit me for miscellaneous taxes and fees of about $20 USD per day). Lesley at Compass Point let me extend the rental for the 4 days I spent on the west side before getting to Compass Point.
Diving: The wind was from the south for the first days, so we headed to the calmer northern sites. The wind then swung to the north and we could hit some of the southern sites for the rest of the trip. All in all, excellent dives. Again, no charge for AL100 tanks (and they had convertible valves for my DIN regs.)
The first dive was usually a deep wall dive, down to 100 ft. The second dive would be shallower, usually no deeper than 70-80 ft, often less. In general, the DMs would show folks around for ca. 35min, then bring folks back under the boat. The DMs would surface, leaving buddy pairs in sight of the boat for as long as they wished (again, back on the boat with 500psi.) They were flexible about buddy pairing; if your buddy was ready to surface, you could stay down as long as you could pair up with another diver (or pair.)
Shore Dive: A nice couple on the AM 2-tank dives let us tag along for an afternoon shore dive at Devil's Grotto / Eden Rock back on the West side. We grabbed our gear and drove ca. 40min to Eden Rock Diving Center where we showed our cert cards and paid $12 for an AL80. It's a decent swim out to the Devil's Grotto mooring ball, so swim on the surface to conserve air. It was a really fun, relatively shallow dive with an incredible number of swim-thrus. No silver sides, but we did run into 4 big tarpon. We finished up with a beer at the restaurant next door before driving back east to Compass Point. This was an easy, inexpensive way to get in another dive or two.
Food on the East Side: The Foster's grocery store on the east side is only 10min away. Breakfast is included in the CompassPoint package. About half the time we just made a light lunch in the condo after the AM dives, but Eagle Ray's is nice and very convenient. The Taco place across the street was nice for dinner, serving some unusual soft tacos (e.g. korean BBQ beef, duck breast, tuna sashimi), in addition to the standard chicken, pork, etc. They make nice Margaritas, too.
The Czech Inn Grill was by far our best find. 16 minutes drive back west, just at the edge of Boddentown. The vibe at this little road-side is super casual, but the quality of the food blew us away. The owner / chef, George, had been the executive chef at some of the resorts, then grew tired of the grind and opened the Czech Inn Grill. We had dinner there twice, and two lunches, as well. Every dish we tried could have been served at a high-end restaurant. There are some tables, or better, sit at the bar and chat with George and some of the locals who are regulars. Try the mussels and garlic or the ceviche as starters. Better: have both. Go crazy with the schnitzel with Jaeger sauce, a rich mushroom sauce made with red wine and heavy cream. Three different types of BBQ ribs (I suggest the Asian style), or fresh fish prepared blackened, fried, or baked whole. It's BYOB, with a liquor store almost next door, and George will keep your wine bottle or six-pack cold and serve it to you while you eat.
Summary: I had great experiences both in and out of the water on the west and east sides. I chalk a lot my "luck" up to the great advice I found on the Cayman forum here on ScubaBoard. Cheers!
