Grand Cayman, Brac, Little or ?

[Murphy in NC]

So first of all, THANK YOU
Scubaboard is a resource that has proved to be invaluable.

Just got back from Belize and looking to book my next trip.

I can fly to Grand Cayman direct using mostly miles, almost for free.

Traveling with my wife and son, wife is non-diver who would like a nice beach ( e.g. 7 MB is amazing )
I prefer as little current as possible when diving and see no reason to go extremely deep .

We have been to Grand Cayman and wanted to go somewhere different however

BVI, first choice, wanted to dive wrecks as I have been told there is little current and relatively shallow however hurricane damage
Bermuda VRBO says about 1000 a night
Bahamas just not sure if diving and beaches will be better than Cayman
Mexico have no interest

Would appreciate any information on how Brac and Little are different than Grand or any other suggestions on sites that have little current with wrecks or that are fishy. I am still a relatively new driver less than 30 dives however its becoming an obsession.

Will be traveling in July

Thanks again
Murph

 

[KathyV]

Brac and Little are lovely but they are very different from GC and there is not much to do beside enjoy nature, relax, and dive - they are very small and quiet. The dive resorts that we usually stay at are the Cayman Brac Beach Resort or the Little Cayman Beach Resort and they have nice little beach areas, but they are not swimming beaches - turtlegrass and boat traffic; nothing like 7MB on GC.

Take a look at Southern Cross Club on Little Cayman, it is small, private and upscale and appears to have a lovely beach but it is also a dive resort. There are some wrecks around Little but it is not really a wreck dive destination. The best wreck in Caymans IMO is the Tibbett's off of Brac, but if there is interest the LC dive ops will take a group over to the Tibbetts for a small fuel surcharge, weather permitting.

There is not much current and the Bloody Bay Wall is one of the top dive destinations in the Caribbean. Many of the Little Cayman resorts and businesses shut down in Aug and Sep but you should be fine in July.

 

[Scared Silly]

Having dived both Little Cayman and Cayman Brac we are on opposite and think 7MB is far from amazing due to the commercial buildup. Both islands are quiet, Little Cayman is very quiet. So unless they want that I do not think your spouse would enjoy themselves.

Given your wife is not a diver check out St. Croix. Like many areas they too sustained hurricane damage. However, you can dive out Cane Bay while they hang on the beach. There are other beaches like Sandy Point which are worth visiting (limited to certain days as it is a wildlife refuge - it will closed because of turtle nesting but you may the chance to join a group at night to see the nesting).

Might also look at the Caicos Islands. We have spent time on Salt Cay which again is very quiet. Grand Turk might be an option.

 

[drrich2]

Saw your thread and remembered the Sept. 2017 thread started by Ironborn, Why is Little Cayman diving considered better? I imagine a lot of what you want to learn was drawn out in that lengthy thread.

If you take an interest in St. Croix, I may be able to help with that -
St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017 - St. Croix Research Report Aug. 2017

I really enjoyed St. Croix, but I wouldn't put the diving on Little Cayman's level (though I enjoyed it). On the the other, I think topside St. Croix would have a major advantage, depending on what you like to do. Really enjoyed my dive at Cane Bay for the nice reef wall dive, but gotta tell you...that was one long swim-out to reach it! You can get plenty of beach in St. Croix.

Richard.

 

[DawgFan]

I'm a new diver too. Last June, my wife, two teen boys and I all got certified. We did pool and course work at our LDS and went to Grand Cayman for checkout dives and some fun dives. Went back to Grand Cayman during December school break and then to Turks and Caicos a few weeks ago for Spring Break.

At Turks and Caicos we stayed on Providenciales in a condo in the Grace Bay area but dove all week with an operator that went to West Caicos and Northwest Point sites. Turks and Caicos is beautiful turqouise water. The West Caicos and Northwest Point sites are about a 45 minute boat ride to get there from Providenciales. They are also wall sites so depth is something you have to keep a close eye on. I'm looking at my log book and we did 9 dives. 2 tanks for 4 days and 3 tanker one day. Max depths for the dives were 89, 73, 82, 66, 97, 67, 86, 66 and 71. We all got nitrox certified last Fall. Multilevel dives so didn't stay at max depth the whole dive. My family enjoyed the diving. We saw reef sharks (a first for us) on 4 of the 9 dives. Saw nurse shark, turtles, barracudas, stingrays, etc. Lots of fish and macro.

There are dive sites at Turks and Caicos that are shorter boat rides from Providenciales but we didn't do them so I can't speak from personal experience. My research indicated those sites weren't as good and I like riding in boats so the 45 minute trek didn't bother me or my family. It's also an option to stay somewhere other than Providenciales as others have suggested. Other islands in the chain are closer to good diving from what I read but less topside. For us with teen boys, we needed the choice of restaurants and other activities offered on Providenciales.

We're headed back to Grand Cayman this summer. Yes, this will be the third time in 13 months but we really like it there. Compared to Turks and Caicos the boat rides are shorter while still offering good diving. Grand Cayman has a larger population than Providenciales and therefore incrementally more topside options. As an example, Providenciales doesn't have a movie theater. We liked Turks and Caicos enough that I'm confident we will go back so don't me wrong...it's a great place.

I'm curious how you liked Belize and what part of Belize did you stay. That's one that I've researched but haven't decided if the family will like it.

 

[Murphy in NC]

So I am not completely clear on Turks and Caicos.

I do want to watch depth and a 45 minute boat ride is fine as long as there is little to no current and we don't have to go very deep. Got caught in surge once and ever since I am a little cautious.
Looking at map now, not sure where to stay in T &C in comparison to dive sights.

I love Grand Cayman however I would like to go somewhere new. Now looking at Bonaire and T & C.

When in Belize we stayed at Ambregris Caye and the weather didn't work. Belezians are are great, good topside things to do like ATM caves
In regrads to Ambregris Caye and how it relates to the best dive sites I would return to Belize however not to Ambregris Caye.

I would stay in southern Belize on the mainland.

 

[drrich2]

Other islands in the chain are closer to good diving from what I read but less topside. For us with teen boys, we needed the choice of restaurants and other activities offered on Providenciales.

What activities did you guys do? I've wondered that about Provo; with Grand Cayman 'what's to do besides the beach' seems better known; the Provo, I don't see specifics beyond 'beautiful beach, nice restaurants, high prices.'

Richard.

 

[tkaelin]

You may want to double check your info on BDA. You should be able to find much less expensive accommodations. The diving is generally free of currents, relatively shallow and an abundance of wrecks. Makes for a nice family vacation with some diving. Beautiful island and beaches. Nice for nondivers. We stayed at Grotto Bay with rooms around $450 and less when on sale. We also stayed at a rental, part of house with separate entrance, two bdrm, kitchen, water access for $200. There are two good vacation rental websites. Have not used VRBO for BDA, but I found VRBO more expensive than booking through other sites/other methods for GCM.

 

[DawgFan]

T&C is definitely a good option to consider if you want to try something new. The water color and the Grace Bay area beach is really good. Grace Bay is a section of Providentiales that is sort of the T&C equivalent of Seven Mile Beach. That's my analogy but since I've only been there once others may have better opinions. We went during Spring Break so the water was chilly to swim in but walks on the beach, sitting in beach chairs or our condo patio overlooking the turquoise water was enjoyable. My guess is your wife would like it.

We stayed in a condo unit at The Tuscany Resorts. Here's a link to their site www.thetuscanyresort.com. We found it by just looking at guide books and internet reviews but we liked it. We'll stay there again when we go back. Nice clean condo. Housekeeping comes every day. Fully stocked kitchen. Washer/Dryer. A/C. Good attentive building manager. There are other options closer to the heart of Grace Bay but Tuscany was less expensive. We rented a car and only downside to Tuscany is we drove to dinner every night except one that was close enough to walk. Only a mile or two drive the other nights but far enough to not walk it. There are many Grace Bay resorts closer where you could probably find restaurants and shops to walk to but they seemed more expensive.

We like dive operators that aren't cattle boats. The dive operator we used was about a 15 minute drive from our condo to put it in perspective. Our general routine was out the door at 7:30am, at their dock at 7:45am and back in our condo after diving around 2pm. We had a car so we didn't have to wait on the operator to drive us home after the dives.

As for depth, our operator asked us to not go below 100 feet. I gave our max depths in my earlier post and you can see that we did hit 97 feet on one dive and many dives at 80+ feet. Since they were wall dives, the opportunity to go much deeper is there so you do have to watch your depth. All 4 of us being nitrox certified helped.

There was a mild current I felt on a few of our dives but no big swells at the surface. I was worried about swells because the week we were there the forecast called for 15-19 MPH winds most days but it was fine. Our operator did cancel the dives on one day when it was forecasted to be particularly rough but the other days it was fine. My wife gets sea sick and she had no issues if that helps put it in perspective. When we had currents they were mild enough that nobody in my family had any issues with it. We're all new rec divers with flutter kicks and it was fine. I will say that on one dive, another diver in our group was going a bit deeper to get video of a shark. Our dive guide got his attention to come back up with the group. When we got back on the boat our guide said she felt some current at the edge of the wall and wanted to keep all of us away from it. I never felt it but I was at a higher depth than the guy our guide chased down.

 

[DawgFan]

What activities did you guys do? I've wondered that about Provo; with Grand Cayman 'what's to do besides the beach' seems better known; the Provo, I don't see specifics beyond 'beautiful beach, nice restaurants, high prices.'

Richard.

I generally agree with your sentiment particularly about the high price. T&C is expensive but so is Grand Cayman. My comment about activities was referring to Provo versus say Grand Turk. From my research, while the diving would be great and convenient on Grand Turk, it would just feel too small for my teens. I've never been there so could be wrong. Activities was really the wrong word. My older son does like to rent paddle boards and things like that but those activities may be available at both places...don't know. Strong wifi connection is a big deal for teens as well.