Grand or Little Cayman

[ECPaul]

A few questions to pose to those of you who have been to Grand Cayman or Little Cayman since the hurricane last year - we are considering going on to one or the other on a summer dive vacation in late June:

1. Have these places recovered sufficiently from the Hurricane to go to on a dive vacation there? [I've hadf a couple of conflicting opinions on this].

2. We're looking for nice, but not exceedingly splashy accomodations. We tend to want to stay away from the mega-resorts. Any recommendations?

3. Why would someone choose Grand Cayman over Little Cayman, or vica versa?

4. Who are the best dive ops to go with?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but might as well go for it.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

I've been to both since Hurrican Ivan last September. I was at Little Cayman Beach Resort in November 2004 and dove with their resident dive shop Reef Divers. They had virtually no damage from the hurricane and the diving and the accommodations were outstanding. Little Cayman, however, is very "rustic". There is not much else to do other than dive, dive, dive. The diving, however, is superb! If you are looking for more night-life Grand Cayman is more the ticket.

I was just in Grand Cayman last week and had a great time. There are still a lot of plastic on roof and fallen trees as you fly in, but it had definitely had a great rebound from the devastating storm. The worst hit areas were the south and the eastern parts of the island. Georgetown, 7 mile beach, etc. are up and running without problems. I usually stay at Cobalt Coast (www.cobaltcoast.com) on the northwest part of the island. It is an outstanding resort that only has something like 16 rooms, it's away from the crowds, and has excellent food. There is a pool and a jacuzzi on site. They have a breakfast only option or a full meal plan. There is shore diving from the resort as well as boat diving available from the resident dive operation, Dive Tech (www.divetech.com). Dive Tech also has a shop and shore diving at the Turtle Farm. They are an outstanding operation for everything from entry level diving to trimix technical diving, to closed circuit rebreathers.

You can't go wrong at either Grand Cayman or Little Cayman. It just depends on what you are looking for. Photos from both of my trips are on my website, www.debersole.com. Have a great trip!!!

 

[downdeep]

You might consider a liveaboard as well. I did the Aggressor and felt I got the biggest bang for the buck that way. We did 25 dives during the week.

That way you get to sample diving on all the islands.

 

[sdwho]

1. Yes, particularly if you focus on the North and West part of GC
2. Little Cayman Beach Resort on LC; Cobalt Coast on GC
3. If you want more options in terms of dining, shopping, etc. then try GC over LC. My recommendation: split your trip between both.
4. On GC, we always stay at Cobalt Coast and dive with Divetech. Staying at Cobalt Coast is like being on a land based liveaaboard -- you end up getting to know the other guests, swap dive tales, etc. LCBR is much the same and the dive operation there also is first rate.

sdwho

A few questions to pose to those of you who have been to Grand Cayman or Little Cayman since the hurricane last year - we are considering going on to one or the other on a summer dive vacation in late June:

1. Have these places recovered sufficiently from the Hurricane to go to on a dive vacation there? [I've hadf a couple of conflicting opinions on this].

2. We're looking for nice, but not exceedingly splashy accomodations. We tend to want to stay away from the mega-resorts. Any recommendations?

3. Why would someone choose Grand Cayman over Little Cayman, or vica versa?

4. Who are the best dive ops to go with?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but might as well go for it.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Having stayed and dived both I would take LC over GC in a heartbeat if its all about the diving. I will admit that it is nice to have the great restaurants, etc. on GC but the diving on LC is otherworldly.

 

[adawg888]

I was just on GC for 2 weeks at the end of April. Make no mistake, the island is still recovering - lots of homes still without roofs, uprooted trees here and there and a lot of the folliage is dead around the ocean. Taht all said, there are many areas that are in very good shape, especially on the North Side and for the most part a mjority of seven mile beach. If you are looking to go for a dive vacation there is no reason not to go. The food is good on the island and the diving was good too.

 

[-hh]

A few questions to pose to those of you who have been to Grand Cayman or Little Cayman since the hurricane last year - we are considering going on to one or the other on a summer dive vacation in late June:

Was on LC last Thanksgiving; our 3rd trip there. Continued on to the Brac; our 15th trip there.


1. Recovery...?

Obviously, LC is going to be better off, since they had less damage.

2. "nice, but not exceedingly splashy accomodations"...?

Advantage generally goes to Little Cayman, as there aren't any mega-resorts. Plus, your LC options open up further if you're willing to take "nice, if a bit rustic", as this allows you to consider PP, SCC & Sam's instead of just the LCBR.

3. Why Grand Cayman vs Little Cayman...?

It depends a lot on just what it is that you're looking for. If you think that sitting in the shade with a book is a nice way to spend an afternoon, and you enjoy outdoorsy quiet stuff like bird watching, then you'll probably enjoy LC. OTOH, if your idea of fun is to hang out at the club bar, then you're doomed for either the LCBR or a more mega-ish resort on GC.


4. Who the best...?

Again, it depends on what you want. For example, LCBR has caught some flak for a fairly rushed AM diveboat schedule, but they do have an AM + PM boat such that its not hard to get in 3 tanks/day, even though they may be somewhat shortened (this can depend on your air consumption rate). In contrast, Pirate's Point catches flak for only doing 2 dives/day, although they don't limit bottom time. This means that if your air consumption is good, you can get just as much bottom time as LCBR's 3 tanks. FWIW, I'm not sure what Southern Cross Club is doing these days...last I heard, they were doing 3/day. Then there's places like Sam McCoy's, where in addition to whatever boat dives, since they're the only resort on the North side (eg, Bloody Bay wall side), you can do unescourted shore dives on your own. A friend of mine goes there and he's had trips where he's done 4 or 5 dives per day. Perhaps a better question to ask is what do you really want your environment to be when you're not diving. For example, if you enjoy birdwatching or iguana-feeding, PP's location on the island's western end makes it a shorter bike/walk from the resort. There's also an interesting backcountry trail from the Salt Rocks back to the airstrip if you're not afraid to get back in the woods. Etc, etc.


-hh