how does GC work? condo, hotel, resort?

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Dolphin,

You can also eat out relatively inexpensively on GC. I went on a last minute solo trip last spring (18 months ago) and found a number of tasty cheap spots. Rule of thumb, avoid SMB and follow the locals :-).

My trip blog is posted on trip advisor (under same name, navi_jen), but in summary:

Ms. Vivenne's: East End. Local homecooking (under $10)
Seymour's Jerk Chicken: Georgetown, the best jerk chicken I've ever eaten ($8)
Morgan's Harbor: West End, excellent lunch and views of the Harbor
Chicken Chicken: Off SMB: Good roasted chicken and excellent cornbread ($10)
Portofino's: East end. Serviceable lunch, but excellent views make up for it ($13)
Sunshine Suites: Off SMB: Tasty burgers and excellent sides, with complimentary mini ice cream cones for dessert ($15)
A la Roti: Off SMB: Takeout roti with excellent kanni (hot pepper) sauce ($10)
 
dolphinlover98:
My husband & I have dived have there 2-3 times a year since 1999 and just bought a condo at Compass Point Phase 2 (part of the Ocean Frontiers operation). I recommend a condo so you can buy groceries and save time and money. Most of the stores are well stocked and have a liquor store nearby for convenience. There is near the airport and one in Savannah on the way to East End.

Of note, grocery stores are CLOSED on Sundays so prepare ahead. We make our menu and grocery list on the flight over and stop on the way to the condo. We still go out for a couple of meals, but groceries are the most economical way to go to enjoy this wonderful island.
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Welcome to compass point.

I do pretty much the same thing: stop at the grocery store near the airport and get supplies for the better part of the trip. But i will go to the fosters up near the reef resort to grab some stuff during the week.

Chris
 
We stayed at Reef Resort on the east end once. It IS a time share and they WILL solicit you. We ignored them. East End was so bad that we ended up diving SMB. Ocean Frontiers even moved their boats it was so bad. There is a Grocery across from Reef, but if you are buying a lot, go to the big one by the airport.

We are staying at London House this time. It is at the end of SMB, and more West Bay than anything. $157 a night for a one bedroom with kitchen.

Most certainly eat at Ms. Vivenne's tiny hidden place with awesome local food. Over the Edge is also an interesting place to hang. Lot's of Ex-pat locals. Ms. Vivenne's is past Bodden going towards East End and you can miss it quickly. Over the Edge is North Side.

HTH
 
ConchyJoe:
We stayed at Reef Resort on the east end once. It IS a time share and they WILL solicit you. We ignored them. East End was so bad that we ended up diving SMB. Ocean Frontiers even moved their boats it was so bad. HTH
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Can you explain what you are saying here? East End was so bad for what? Ocean frontiers moved their boats from where to where for what reason? We stayed at the Reef Resort for a week and weren't solicited at all.
 
Codeman00:
Can you explain what you are saying here? East End was so bad for what? Ocean frontiers moved their boats from where to where for what reason? We stayed at the Reef Resort for a week and weren't solicited at all.
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Sure,

Reef Resort is a Timeshare. If you book there is it it were a hotel, they will call you and attempt to schedule an appointment to show you the property and sell you a week or two. If you booked through VRBO or some other site that is actually selling another persons weeks, you are generally left alone. I am not saying it is a bad thing, I simply politely told them we were not interested, and that was the end of it. I have been to other timeshares, one on Grand Bahama Island in particular, where they hammered us 4 times a day. I unplugged the phone after the second day. They tried to tell us it was "required", and even stopped us in the lobby once on the way to the beach. Not cool.

While we were staying at Reef, diving on the East and North side was impossible due to weather. 6-7 foot seas, and it was difficult to get through the pass and out into open water. Most companies will move their boats so they can continue to operate. The last two days we were there, the weather laid down, and we were able to Dive the East side.

The bottom line is you really can't go wrong in Cayman. Just stay away from Georgetown and SMB close to Georgetown when there are 2-3 Cruise boats in.
 
The only reason the East End dive operators move their boats is weather. They will secure them ahead of a tropical storm or worse and there will be no diving. Since it takes a day of preparation ahead of the storm to do that, it is possible that shore diving operations on the west side of the island might still be open and you may have beautiful calm seas ahead of such a storm.

Very rarely dive ops might move a boat to dive a different part of the island. Never in 4.5 years of working for an EE dive op did we do that.

A note of the location of Ms Vivines. It is in Gun Bay, between the church and the police station. Gun Bay is east of the village of East End, and thus closer to The Reef Resort or Morritts Tortuga Club than to Bodden Town. It is definitely worthy of a visit.
 
Definitely stay in a condo, buy groceries and eat in if you want to do GC on the cheap. The best source I've found for locating condo rentals is VRBO.com. If you need to rent a car, I recommend Andy's Car Rental. Definitely cheaper than the big name companies.
 
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