How's early March for the Caymans?

[nwflyboy]

We've been trying to do a trip to the Caymans for years. We've flirted with this trip several times, even tentatively booked it, only to have to cancel later for various reasons. Now we're looking at taking another crack at it. We've got a little more than a week free in early March, and I'm thinking about pulling the trigger.

I'm assuming that early March is a fine time to go. Our destination will be Little Cayman, so I assume that we would be unaffected by any "spring break" crowds.

Good time to go? Any reason not to go to LC then?

Thanks.

 

[jdcpa]

March is a great time to go. Water is starting to calm down, still close to 80 degrees.

No spring break crowd for sure.

Go, you will love it.

 

[divesergeant]

Hi nwflyboy,

Definitely go for it. You'll be ahead of hurricane season and, on Little Cayman, you and jdcpa are right, not much to worry about from spring break crowds.

Where on Little Cayman will you stay?

DS

 

[Roombaguy]

Anytime is a great time for Cayman. I'm biased though

Enjoy

M.

 

[carriemak]

You can't go wrong when you select Little Cayman as a dive vacation!

 

[nwflyboy]

Well the flights are booked. We arrive GCM at 1 pm on a Friday in early March (after a redeye from the west coast). Used some of our FF miles on Delta to book the seats, so that'll help keep our total cost down.

Next steps: arranging flights (Cayman Airways Express) from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman (and return). I assume this is straightforward - there are no deals to be had, it's their flat rate, looks like $60 each way. I know about the weight limits and chance of some of your gear following the next day, we'll deal with that.

First question: Book online now, or just show up and get on the next flight? Any reason not to book now?

Our inbound flight from ATL is scheduled to arrive at 1:03pm. I'm guessing that clearing customs, etc. will be a fairly low-key event and an hour or so is enough time to connect to the puddle jumper - correct? Their schedule alleges that there's a 2:45 pm departure (arrives LYB 3:20 pm). There's at least one later departure in case we miss that one. Any worries about connecting (other than the baggage issues)?

Thanks - more newbie questions to come.

 

[carriemak]

Book online now, as the flights to Little Cayman on the Otter do fill up. Clearing customs in Grand is painless compared to other places. Once you have your luggage, then you clear customs, walk out one door of the airport and back in another door to check in for the Little Cayman flight. AFAIK, the price for the flight from GC to LC doesn't vary. No specials!

 

[billinwilliamston]

1:42 is plenty of time, as long as, everything goes right. You have to decide your comfort level with that. You might want to check and see what, if any, policy Cayman Air has on delayed flights from the U.S.

Have a great time.

 

[Damselfish]

definitely book the LC flight as soon as you can. They fill up especially closer to the weekends.

Getting through the airport is generally pretty efficient, though if I were getting in at 1pm I might consider booking for the later flight depending on how lucky I was feeling. If you're there in time and there is still space on the earlier flight, it will be no problem to hop on that.

 

[nwflyboy]

Our flight from ATL is scheduled to arrive in GCM at 1:03 pm. According to flightstats.com, this flight looks like it's pretty reliable, with an "on-time performance of 89%" and any delays tend to be fairly short (avg. delay: 33 min).

Cayman Airways website lists flights to Little Cayman departing:

2:45 pm (non-stop)
3:00 pm (one stop, presumably in Cayman Brac)
5:05 pm (non-stop)

They list fares as $60 for "economy low fare" and $73 for "economy semi-flexible".

They never define what "economy semi-flexible" means. Does anyone here know?

If we book seats on the 2:45 departure (which I think we should have no trouble making), but if for some reason we miss that flight, I assume they would just put us on the next available flight...right? Or is there much chance that all the seats on later flights would be booked (this is on a Friday in early March, presumably a busy time)? If so, would they leave us there, stuck overnight?

Overall, I'm thinking it would be quite safe to book that 2:45 flight. Am I missing anything?

Thanks.