Grand Caymen...what area of Island to stay?

[-JD-]

Just gonna drop some good bets for food and fun ...

Waterfront dining:
"Tukka" East end and now also on the West shore of the North Sound. Lionfish Tacos

Sunset, waterfront dining and diving:
"Macabuca" North of 7MB in West Bay by the Turtle Center. Watch the sunset with a meal and then do your night dive right from the deck while your companions chill with libations.

Gelato at Camana Bay



Barkers Park
They kite-surf and ride horesback up there. Shallow lagoon area for a couple hundred yards inside the reef. Fair warning - it feels a bit sketchy as for the most part there is nobody around except at the activity points but there is evidence of weekend "camps". Also - dirt/sand roads. We've been all 3 times with no issue.

The Bioluminescent Bay:
Really cool. It is like swimming in the milky-way. Has to be either a new-moon or a late-rising moon as you need darkness to get the full effect. There are tourboats out of the west side marinas or kayak tours from "around the corner" at the Rum Point area on the north side.

7MB Snorkeling:
Cemetery Beach & Governor's Beach: Both are a good swim out to the bulk of the heads.
Seafire reef. Immediately North of the RedSail sports at the Kempton Seafire complex there is a nice little reef 10s of feet from the water line that extends for a couple hundred yards along the beach. As kid-safe as you can get on the inside since it is very shallow. We parked in the northern-most lot. Nobody bothered us, but no idea if it is an explicitly authorized use or not.

Snorkeling otherwise: TESTUDO'S SNORKEL GUIDE: Cayman Off the Beaten Path


QE II Botanical Park: Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park


Misc:
Fosters Supermarket at Camana bay is really nice. I don't know if there is a CB tax compared to the other Fosters, but is sure is pretty and clean. Just happened to be the closest to our condo last trip.

Lots of things are closed on Sundays (supermarkets included - prepare accordingly)

Since you said April, are you going over the Easter holiday? Easter weekend is a big camp-out at the beaches for the locals. Parking will be a challenge if you are going to one of the public beaches.

 

[jonhall]

don't want to be on the opposite end of the island from a good dive op, but still want to be around areas they can do stuff in without driving cross the whole island.

They can drive for sure. I'll probably just do 2 tanks for 3 or so days depending on how the weather is, how i like it, etc, and a nite dive for sure.

There are great ops on both sides. Ocean Frontiers on the East End is by far one of the better ops I dove with. Compass Point is the resort - the dive op and resort work hand in hand together. They take care of everything - makes the diving very easy. Although the resort has a small beach area, it's not 7 Mile Beach in any way - there are other beaches on the East End though.

The West side has many good dive ops. A plus to staying on this side is that if the water is iffy in the north or east, the 7 Mile Beach area is usually calmer and dive ops will go there. Macabuca restaurant would be a good place to get a shore night (or day) dive in.

The question, as @-JD- brought up, is what "stuff" are the non-divers looking for during the 4-5 hours you would be diving? There are what I would call main attractions that everyone should see and things that could be done while waiting for you to get back.

The East End is quieter than the west side. There are beaches at Morritt's and Rum Point where food and water activities are available. Between the 2 areas, there are places to pull off the road and swim or snorkel, most likely having the beach to oneself. They could also go to Starfish Beach, a smaller beach to snorkel and see starfish, the botanic garden, or caves. There is a Bioluminescent Bay, but the is a nighttime activity.

The West Bay (7 MB) and Georgetown areas have quite a bit to explore. Needless to say, there's a lot of beach activity. Camana Bay is on a waterfront and is a nice place to walk around and shop/eat. Can also walk around and shop in Georgetown. Other things to see are the Cayman Turtle Centre (Turtle Farm) which has a nice snorkeling lagoon and Stingray City.

 

[dberry]

Everyone else has summarized the West vs East aspects pretty well. We did 3 nights in a 3-BR AirBnB with my adult daughter and her friends on the West (7MB) side and did 3 days diving in the mornings with Living the Dream. That was a good base for many of the non-diving activities. If you're there around a New Moon you should do snorkel trip to the bioluminescent bay. Sting Ray City is touristy, but it's still extremely cool to be in waist-deep water being surrounded by rays and feeding them squid from your hand.

After 3 days The "young folks" flew home and I met my regular dive buddy at the airport and continued to Compass Point / Ocean Frontiers on the East side for a week of really great diving. They include a car rental as part of the package (and let me get the car 3 days earlier for our time on the West side.) Driving back over to the West side for some shore dives and/or more dining options wasn't THAT big of a hassle, IMO.

Regardless of where you stay, do NOT miss the Czech Inn Grill, on the south end not far from Boddentown. It may look like a hole-in-the-wall tiki bar, but owner George used to be the executive chef at West side hotels before setting out on his own. The food is really really good - as in what you might find at a serious foodie restaurant. As a plus it's right next to a liquor store and George will keep your beer cold while you eat. We were there in 2018, but my brother was there last month and I was happy to hear George and his funky little restaurant survived the shutdown.

CzechInn

czechinngrill.com

 

[Dish]

+1 for Czech Inn Grill.

 

[wgw04024]

Thanks for all the info folks! Booked a vrbo on the north west side. Grand Cayman hadn't really been on my radar much, but the more I looked into it, the more this looks like a fun spot to definitely hit.

People say how 'expensive' it is there, but the vrbo was very reasonable, car isn't too bad, and restaurant costs seem reasonable. Is there some hidden tax I won't see till I get there? Otherwise it doesn't seem that bad at all tbh.

 

[-JD-]

Cars and lodging aren't that bad.

It is more the daily stuff food/drink/incidentals that creep up on you ... Import duties are high and most things are imported.

Typically things are priced in Camaynian dollars $CI.
Pretty much every place takes cash $USD, but change will usually be in $CI.
1.00 $CI = 1.20 $US

So that "not so bad for island pricing" burger becomes a little more dear when you fork over the $US bills or look at the charge slip.

We were there a couple months ago, but hadn't been since 2017. Most restuarants were now runhing the final charge in $US once they swiped our cards. Probably a good thing if your card has international conversion charges, and for transparency - it does hurt the relaxation vibe a bit, though.

 

[wgw04024]

Yes. I just noticed that prices are usually in ci$, with a 20% or so cost increase in exchange rate. Ok, well, it is what it is

 

[Doctorfish]

Good choice re NW area. Provides easy access to West Bay Dock, and the Yacht Club for boat diving as well as Sundivers at NW Point. The shore dives at Sundivers/Macabuca and Lighthouse Point are outstanding. Don't miss them. Both have a dive shop on site, rinse tanks, and easy ocean access. We will often do a 2 tanker in the afternoon at Sundivers, clean up and then watch the sun go down while having a beverage at a table on the dock at Macabuca.

 

[wgw04024]

Also looks like Dive Tech is right down the road too! Just need to find a buddy for nite/shore dives.

 

[Doctorfish]

Divetech is based at Lighthouse Point if I'm not mistaken. Virtually all of the west side operators will pick up and drop off divers who are boat diving with them, allowing the car to stay with the non divers.

As far as finding buddies, other divers on your morning boat are best bet. Also, start a post on this board with your time frame. There are usually several SBers on island at any given time.