Grand Cayman family friendly resorts?

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dashark

Contributor
Messages
384
Reaction score
1
Location
Ventura, Ca.
# of dives
100 - 199
Going to G.C. in Dec......Looking for a good family friendly resort/ condo that gives us access to the best diving and provides activities and ammenities for the non divers....Any family-type travellers out there with recomendations?
Thanks...
Danny
 
As far as activities and amenities, it would help if you give more details what exactly those are for you.

There are only a few dedicated dive places on GC where you would be diving with their operator and be able to get on a boat or do a shore dive on site. In some cases those places are missing things you're probably looking for, like a beach. If you decide not to go for one of those then diving-wise it doesn't matter as much where you stay as long as you select the right operator who dives the better areas and will pick you up where you're staying.

As far as access to the best diving, that would be the East End or the North Wall for the most part.

On the East End there are only 3 resort options, I'd stay at the Reef and dive with Ocean Frontiers. Ocean Frontiers is located not far down the road at Compass Point condos, which are nice but not a great place for non divers. But OF will pick you up or it's a short drive. The Reef has a very nice beach and pool, pretty good snorkeling, some activity, but if your non divers want lots of activity/shopping/restaurants all the time it's a long drive. There is also Morritt's Tortuga Club next door.

In the northwest, Cobalt Coast is a very nice place to stay and the excellent on site op DiveTech dives mostly the North Wall, or the northern end of the West Wall when weather blows out the north side. It's a smaller place in a quiet area and there is not a lot to do for non divers at CC though. Nice enough pool area but no beach (rocky coral shore) and nothing much in particular going on. There's a bar and a pretty good restaurant. The non-divers would probably want a car to go do stuff, which is not a bad idea anyway and it's not that far to SMB. They have hotel suites with a bit of a kitchenette, or cottage type accomodations away from the water. The dive boats don't leave from the hotel often but they drive you not far to whatever dock they're leaving from. You can shore dive from the hotel as long as conditions are ok, or at their nearby shop at Turtle Reef which is a great shore dive.

On Seven Mile Beach where most places are, since it doesn't matter as much for diving it all depends what you want. Condo (a kitchen is a good thing) or hotel, how much you want to spend, do you want to be in the middle of the zoo/closer to town - or in a quiet area and drive to it? You could stay in a condo towards the north end of the beach like the Aqua Bay Club mentioned (I've heard that's quite nice) and be in a somewhat quieter area, but not have too far to travel to stuff and it would be fairly convienient to get a package with Divetech and use their shore diving facilities.
 
Below is the web site for one of my favorite places. They are on a good location on 7 mile beach, and between the Ritz and Westin, so there are "watersport" rentals nearby. There is a Grocery store and liquor store within 2 blocks, and the Eats sports bar across the street. They are family oriented, and we have stayed there for over 15 years. Ms. Ebanks runs the place. Hope it helps. John

http://www.villasofthegalleon.com/
 
The resort is off the beaten path from Seven Mile Beach (about 3 miles) but the diving is awesome from boat or shore. The new Boatswain Beach attraction is across the street from their other shore diving shop, the horseback beach ride is down the road and the butterfly farm is close by. They run a shuttle back and forth from Cobalt Coast to their Turtle Reef shop. Divetech has 3 sepaerate docks to load from depending on the weather. We were there in January at their Digital Jam event and we left from the Resort dock everyday except for the last day (cold front), even then it was only a 5 minutes shuttle ride. They will always dive the Northwall when ever weather permits. What is especially different, is on Divetech's boats they run 2 one hour profiles. If you don't have a computer they will loan you one for all your diving. Talk about max bottom time. They have larger tanks than most operators even 100 cu.ft. tanks if you request. The shore diving out front the resort and their our shore diving shop were just awesome. The deep wall was a fair swim (8 minutes), but the mini wall 25'-60' was a stone throw from the ladder.

Divetech has kids programs from 5 years old and up while we are out diving on the boat. They also have the underwater scooter that are a blast. We rented them for a family snorkel tour (just not divers). We also tried out the rebreather experience where in one afternoon they took us on a 60 feet for 2 hours with no bubbles. The fish were in our face with the no bubbles. We also enjoyed morning and evening walks along the iron shore while the kids played in the tide pools and especially the hermit crabs.

Cobalt Coast Resort gets a high review except for the limited menu. The owner lives on site and is a great host. Arie worked hard with his chef to meet our dinning needs.

Have great trip......
 
We are devoted to the place. While its off the beaten path, as mentioned there's a nice pool, some nifty nearby stuff, like the Turtle Farm, and if you have a car, its an easy drive down to seven mile beach for the stuff around there.
 
Damselfish:
As far as activities and amenities, it would help if you give more details what exactly those are for you.



As far as access to the best diving, that would be the East End or the North Wall for the most part.

On the East End there are only 3 resort options, I'd stay at the Reef and dive with Ocean Frontiers. Ocean Frontiers is located not far down the road at Compass Point condos, which are nice but not a great place for non divers. But OF will pick you up or it's a short drive. The Reef has a very nice beach and pool, pretty good snorkeling, some activity, but if your non divers want lots of activity/shopping/restaurants all the time it's a long drive. There is also Morritt's Tortuga Club next door.


I second that. The Reef Resort www.thereef.com.ky and Ocean www.oceanfrontiers.com are a great combination. The beach at the Reef is great for small kids and has good snorkeling. There's even better snorkeling at nearby Queen's Monument. There isn't much variety with restaurants, but Portofino's and The Lighthouse are both nearby and both excellent. There are water sports equipment rentals a 20 minute drive away in Rum Point, and possibly next door at the Tortuga Club (jet ski rentals were advertized but I never saw any). I've only ever dove the East End of Grand Cayman, but from what I've heard from divers who've done both sides, the Ocean Frontiers East End experience blows Seven Mile Beach diving away. One caveat is the weather. Remember that the East End is the windward side. It was mostly calm in April, but from what I heard from the Ocean Frontiers staff, it can get pretty gusty in the winter. I'd be cautious and enquire about that before going.
 

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