Is It Possible to Dive Grand Cayman on a Budget?

[tridacna]

I have not stayed at CC since the change. I was last there three years ago. I liked the place but the shore diving is not great and very rare for the two trips I made. That damn wind ruins things pretty quickly.

I hate to make the comparison between the two resorts. They are very different. CCV is a dedicated diver-only place. You go there ONLY to dive. Food is "HOT AND A LOT". Adequate - definitely not gourmet but perfectly acceptable. Yes, the second dive is a drop off but you can cruise at 40-80 feet along either wall-hardly a shore dive. The setup at CCV is also unique. You never have to walk more than 10-20 yds to either get on the boat or enter the water for a shore dive. For many 'older' divers, this makes CCV an ideal location.

We enjoyed our trips to CC but not nearly as much as CCV. My dive buddies are begging for a return trip to CCV not to CC.

 

[KathyV]

I have not stayed at CC since the change. I was last there three years ago. I liked the place but the shore diving is not great and very rare for the two trips I made. That damn wind ruins things pretty quickly.

I hate to make the comparison between the two resorts. They are very different. CCV is a dedicated diver-only place. You go there ONLY to dive. Food is "HOT AND A LOT". Adequate - definitely not gourmet but perfectly acceptable. Yes, the second dive is a drop off but you can cruise at 40-80 feet along either wall-hardly a shore dive. The setup at CCV is also unique. You never have to walk more than 10-20 yds to either get on the boat or enter the water for a shore dive. For many 'older' divers, this makes CCV an ideal location.

We enjoyed our trips to CC but not nearly as much as CCV. My dive buddies are begging for a return trip to CCV not to CC.

Thanks for the information. I liked the drop off dives but I have never encountered that practice any place else except Roatan. I appreciate your comment about the ease of diving for older divers, that is good information. That's one of the reasons we like the valet diving with Reef Divers so much (the new dive op at CC) because they do all the heavy work and we are getting older.

 

[KathyV]

...You mentioned mosquitos, but what I see complained about most 'bug-wise' on Roatan are the 'sand fleas,' that eat some people up badly. Haven't heard that about the Caymans. For those traveling with elders, young children (they won't be staying at CocoView!) or those with serious health problems, I'm guessing the health care system might be better on Grand Cayman than Roatan? Anybody know much about either?...

Well, Honduras and the Bay Islands are located on the "Mosquito Coast" and I don't think that name was part of anybody's marketing plan!

If the wind is up you may luck out but we generally found it necessary to use repellent while visiting Roatan. I'm pretty sure that I am allergic to mosquito and other insect bites. When my husband gets a bite it get red and itches a little and then quickly fades, when I get bitten I get big red welts that itch like crazy and persist for a long time.

I tend to loathe and lump all biting insects the same because they all make me miserable, but I worry most about the Anopheles (Malaria) and Aedes Aegypti (Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika) mosquitos because they are the vectors for many tropical infections. And both of these species are found on Roatan as are these diseases.

Cayman is a wealthy country and they have a very aggressive mosquito-abatement program and it has been increased in recent months due to concerns about Zika. They have actually released hundreds of thousands of genetically-modified male Aedes Aegypti mosquitos to mate with the females because their off-spring will not mature and will die off.

But I have read some recent trip reports about both Cayman Brac and Little Cayman that complained about the mosquitos being very bad. It makes me wonder if most of the abatement efforts and money are being focused on Grand Cayman because it has the largest population and the biggest risks for Zika. I hope not, I don't want to be eaten alive when we visit Brac soon.

And I have also had some experience with the health care systems in both Roatan and Cayman because it has not been unusual for one or the other (or both!) of us to get an ear infection when diving. Roatan is a very poor country and the health care systems are not as sophisticated as Cayman. That's another reason we have become such big fans of Cayman, health risks have become more important to us as we have gotten older.

 

[large_diver]

I've only been to Little Cayman...and CCV 4 times, so not quite the comparison you are looking for (GC). There is a reason I've gone back to CCV multiple times with my daughter and will certainly go there again = the great dive operation, fantastic staff, the diversity of the types of diving located right at your fin tips and that it is a dive-dedicated resort. That said, our goal on CCV trips has been to get my daughter as much dive experience as possible, so we've stayed 100% on the resort on most trips and are normally getting in 5 dives each day. Pre-sunrise dives, night dives, boat dives, drop off dives, shore dives, wreck dives, wall dives, shallow muck dives in the CCV front yard - all so easy at CCV. If you have trouble on the drop off dives, you can drop your tank in the rack at the shore exit and the staff is always willing to carry them back for you if you let them know. The staff is super helpful with any special needs you have - my daughter is a vegetarian and the kitchen crew make her a special plate every night we're there.

Another of CCV's underappreciated advantages is Andrea, Registered Nurse who works at CCV and runs a clinic for divers, staff and staff family members. She has saved my daughter's ears multiple times when we've been there, particularly the first year when she was just certified. Patty Grier, who runs the dive shop at CCV, always treats my daughter like a close relative when we've returned, always welcoming her with a big hug and happy to have her hang around the shop to play with her new puppy. DMs have all been there a long time and are among the best I've dove with. There's something to be said for more mature DMs vs. younger staff, in terms of pace, patience, dealing with a wide range of diver abilities/interests, appreciation and finding marine life, etc.

Part of the lure of Roatan and CCV is also that they are more out of the way, more rustic....and I love packing the same as I would for a liveaboard - a few bathing suits, a few t-shirts, flip flops and dive gear. Although I've only passed through it, GC does not feel that different than the US in terms of creature comforts and level of development. For some that is a nice to have - safety, more dining options, etc.

We definitely use insect repellent at all times at CCV and have generally avoided getting more than a few bug bites. On LC there were a few mosquitoes, but very few the week we were there. I generally did not wear insect repellent.

 

[jonhall]

Going to Grand Cayman First 2 weeks of Jan. Will give some ideas of what I will/would pay and others can see how it fits/compares to their budgets.

Week 1: Cobalt Coast - 2 room cottage. Through dive buddy's vacation club, he pays about $400 a year for maintenance fees, and $105 for the room. My share of that is $52.50 for wife and me. Since the Cobalt Coast website does not show the cost of the meal plan, I will revert to what we paid for the lunch/dinner plan in 2015 - $300/person. We spent $104 on groceries. Don't see myself doing more than 5 x 2 tank boat dives during the week, so (based this on the Reef Divers Cayman Brac website, since I can't find one for Grand Cayman) at $108 a day, $540 plus a minimum of $50 in diving tips. Free shore dives included, weather permitting. Will be renting a car (definitely more this time of year) at $238.50, which is my share, for the week. Total cost - $1586.00 for 2 people. Cobalt Coast website shows a package with MAP meal plan and 1 more boat dive at $1724/person, double occupancy. TIP: find a friend that has a vacation club. (Cobalt did have breakfast as a meal plan option; I was happy to be able to opt out as I don't eat much before diving)

Week 2: Compass Point Resort: 2 room condo. No deal on this one. Room through Hotels.com after rebate will be $2224 - my half $1112. Project the cost of eating out and groceries (based on the average of previous trips) between $4-500 eating out and $85-100 on groceries (the alcohol must jack up that amount!) Five days of boat dives, at $129/day, will be $645, but their website shows a package deal at $525! Also minimum $50 in diving tips. Car rental is same as first week at $238.50. Total cost - $2525.50 for 2 people. Ocean Frontiers special package with 1 more day of diving, car rental, and breakfast (no other meal plan) is $1510/person, double occupancy. As my wife and my buddy's wife are not diving, there would be a different rate for them.

What Week 2 should have/could have been: Timing is everything; had we been able to stay the week before Week 1 (Christmas week -we would have but our friends wouldn't) this is how cost would have changed. Stay would have been at one of the Morritt's properties in 2 bedroom unit, just down the road from Compass Point. With our timeshare ($800 yearly maintenance fee), we would have paid $104.50 for the transaction fee, our friends paying the other half of transaction fee. Now our stay for the week would have been $1518 for 2 people -$1000 less!

Our friends and I cover our own maintenance fees. Although mine is more, it allows use it for more than 1 week a year, generally 3 weeks as well as gives us some other benefits.

Now I just have to get to Coco View, okay any place in Roatan will do, so I know something about it!

 

[Wingy]

I apparently need my magnifying glass on land too...I thought you wanted to dive the Grand Canyon on a budget....

 

[KathyV]

It is always easy to spend a lot of money on a dive vacation anywhere including Roatan and Grand Cayman (especially Grand Cayman) but I still maintain that it is possible to enjoy good diving and a nice resort at a more modest price on Grand Cayman, particularly during the low season.

Jonhall is traveling to GC during the height of the high season which is great but it is much more expensive. However he brings up other suggestions for reducing expense - travel with friends and split the cost or travel to a vacation club destination (is that the same as a timeshare?)

 

[KathyV]

One more comment relevant to budget traveling to Grand Cayman. As mentioned we like to travel in Oct/Nov because it is the low season and it is less crowded and cheaper, the water is very warm, and we can celebrate our anniversary, although we do run an increased risk of bad weather.

But another nice thing about traveling to GC in October is that it is "Restaurant Month". There are lots of really excellent restaurants on GC, especially in the West Bay 7MB area, but they can be very expensive (think upscale NYC prices) and of course the strong Cayman dollar adds to the cost.

During October many of these pricey restaurants offer special prix-fixe menus for lunch and/or dinner all month long. The lunch is usually about $20 CI and the dinners run around $35 CI. For dinner you can pick an appetizer, entre, and desert from a limited menu. It's still not cheap but usually quite delicious and a nice option for a special treat or occasion, like an anniversary dinner! See the link below for more info about Restaurant Month with links to the participating restaurants and their featured prix-fixe menus.

One word of advice when eating out in Cayman, no matter the price range of the venue, some restaurants (not all) automatically add a 15% tip to the bill. That's fine and you can add an additional tip if you wish, but it can get confusing when they are converting US and Cayman dollars and including the tip. You just need to pay attention and understand what your paying. Enjoy!

Restaurant Month Cayman 2016

 

[tkaelin]

That also reminds me of the specials at Guy Harveys. They have a dinner special each night where there is a particular entrée for $9.99 CI and Sat and Sun Buy one entrée at reg price get another for a $1 CI.

 

[EastEndDiver]

I missed Restaurant week by one day last trip....bad timing.

Lots of places now give you the Bill in both C.I. and US dollars but be vigilant and check.

As to costs I am used to NY prices so for us this the norm. we pay about same price here as GC for meals.