DancinDiver
Registered
We were at Little Cayman Beach Resort this week expecting a full week of great diving on Bloody Bay Wall. Hurricane Beryl had other plans for us, so our trip was cut short, and we were evacuated to Miami on Wednesday. Kudos are due both Clearly Cayman and Cayman Airways for genuinely excellent service in getting everyone from LCBR and CBBR safely and promptly off the sister islands and to Miami.
The staff at LCBR communicated the weather news as they had it and the evacuation plan as it developed. They ferried our dive gear and luggage to Cayman Brac and made sure it met us for our flight to Grand Cayman. Cayman Airways created new flights to get everyone to Cayman Brac ahead of any winds that would have prevented the Twin Otters from flying, and a new flight from Brac to Grand Cayman on a 737 and onward to Miami. We were the next-to-last commercial flight out of Grand Cayman before the airport closed.
Everything went remarkably smoothly. Thank you, LCBR and Cayman Airways.
Trip report:
We arrived in Grand Cayman on a United flight on Saturday 29 June 2024, passed through immigration and retrieved our luggage with no issues. There were plenty of electronic kiosks to do the documents check, and they worked well. Unfortunately, though, the immigration form filled out by hand is still required, which seems a foolish duplication of effort. Our flight was about 30 minutes late, so by the time we cleared customs we had only about 90 minutes before our flight to Little Cayman -- so we had no time to take the shuttle to lunch at yacht harbor. Check-in with Cayman Airways was fast and trivial, with no issues, and the flight departed on time.
The staff at LCBR is very friendly and welcoming -- but they were mostly entirely new since our last visit in June 2022. Our room had two double beds (not our preference) with very hard mattresses (also not our preference). Air conditioning in the room was functioning but a bit understrength. With the ceiling fan, we were comfortable enough at night.
As with our 2022 trip, the food was good and plentiful, with frankly a surprising amount of variety for a small island at the mercy of whatever can be shipped in fresh. I enjoyed the made-to-order omelettes each morning. I certainly didn't need any of the desserts each evening.
We managed two diving days -- six dives -- before preparing for Beryl cut it short. Our boat, a Newton 46, had 18 divers on the roster, but I only counted 14 on Sunday. With Clearly Cayman's valet diving service, you carry your mask and fins to one of three stations at the stern of the boat, and the crew help you into your BC. 14 divers is acceptable, but 18 would be too many. The pre-dive briefing is good, with a hand-drawn map and discussion of highlights and the lead DM's planned route. Two DMs are in the water with the group. You're free to stay with the group or dive your own plan, but a time limit is encouraged (if not strictly enforced).
Although our boat was an ad hoc mixture of pairs, we formed a very good group. Everyone cooperated. No one constantly pushed to be first or otherwise special. Most kept reasonably close to the dive plan -- which meant that swim-throughs were a bit crowded -- and no one seriously pushed the dive time limits.
With Beryl passing through the Lesser Antilles at Cat 4/5 early Monday morning, as we returned to the dock after the morning dives, we were told that this day (Monday) would be the last diving day before the storm, and that we should take everything off the boat after the afternoon dive. At dinner Monday, we were told to meet in the dining room Tuesday at 0800 to hear the plan going forward. Overnight Monday/Tuesday, the storm track forecast looked ominous for the Caymans with a likely Thursday arrival, so at the Tuesday breakfast we were told we'd be evacuated Wednesday, with our gear and luggage to be taken by boat to Cayman Brac. By Tuesday afternoon our Wednesday flights to Brac, then Grand Cayman, then Miami were arranged.
Wednesday morning the wind was starting to pick up and white caps were obvious from LCBR. The staff had cleared away all of the pool and bar furniture, secured and distributed the boats around the semi-protected water inside the fringing reef, cleared the dive shop, and covered the large windows on the common buildings. The Twin Otters made a series of round trips shuttling us to the Brac, falling a little behind schedule, and by the time we left Little Cayman an outer rain band from the hurricane was looming all along the southeast. At the Brac airport, we joined the guests from CBBR on a 737, and by the time we left the Brac the rain had arrived. Our luggage was checked all the way through from the Brac to Miami, which meant going through security at Grand Cayman was quick. We had no issues at all making the various connections.
About the diving -- oh yeah, that's why we went, isn't it? -- the reef at Bloody Bay and Jackson Bight seemed reasonably healthy despite the 84 degree temperatures at depth. There was a lot of algae on the top of the wall, though, and very few urchins. We saw no evidence of stony coral tissue loss disease, but we're amateurs and wouldn't necessarily know it if we saw it. Fish populations seemed down from 2022. We saw two reef sharks and a single nurse shark. There were several groupers, but not many, and they seemed intermediate in size. We saw a few large schools of snappers and/or grunts, a reasonable number of porgies and jacks, and a few isolated blue tangs. No tang gangs. Among the rays, we saw one spotted eagle ray at a distance and a lot of stingrays with their bar jack buddies. One spotted porcupinefish clearly thought my buddy and I were its long-lost school chums, and came cruising directly to us with its big, dumb grin, made a few passes by us, and swam with us for a bit.
Despite the short trip and the too-small ratio of dive time to travel time, we had a good trip, and we'll certainly be back. Thank you to Clearly Cayman and Cayman Airways for taking great care of us.
The staff at LCBR communicated the weather news as they had it and the evacuation plan as it developed. They ferried our dive gear and luggage to Cayman Brac and made sure it met us for our flight to Grand Cayman. Cayman Airways created new flights to get everyone to Cayman Brac ahead of any winds that would have prevented the Twin Otters from flying, and a new flight from Brac to Grand Cayman on a 737 and onward to Miami. We were the next-to-last commercial flight out of Grand Cayman before the airport closed.
Everything went remarkably smoothly. Thank you, LCBR and Cayman Airways.
Trip report:
We arrived in Grand Cayman on a United flight on Saturday 29 June 2024, passed through immigration and retrieved our luggage with no issues. There were plenty of electronic kiosks to do the documents check, and they worked well. Unfortunately, though, the immigration form filled out by hand is still required, which seems a foolish duplication of effort. Our flight was about 30 minutes late, so by the time we cleared customs we had only about 90 minutes before our flight to Little Cayman -- so we had no time to take the shuttle to lunch at yacht harbor. Check-in with Cayman Airways was fast and trivial, with no issues, and the flight departed on time.
The staff at LCBR is very friendly and welcoming -- but they were mostly entirely new since our last visit in June 2022. Our room had two double beds (not our preference) with very hard mattresses (also not our preference). Air conditioning in the room was functioning but a bit understrength. With the ceiling fan, we were comfortable enough at night.
As with our 2022 trip, the food was good and plentiful, with frankly a surprising amount of variety for a small island at the mercy of whatever can be shipped in fresh. I enjoyed the made-to-order omelettes each morning. I certainly didn't need any of the desserts each evening.
We managed two diving days -- six dives -- before preparing for Beryl cut it short. Our boat, a Newton 46, had 18 divers on the roster, but I only counted 14 on Sunday. With Clearly Cayman's valet diving service, you carry your mask and fins to one of three stations at the stern of the boat, and the crew help you into your BC. 14 divers is acceptable, but 18 would be too many. The pre-dive briefing is good, with a hand-drawn map and discussion of highlights and the lead DM's planned route. Two DMs are in the water with the group. You're free to stay with the group or dive your own plan, but a time limit is encouraged (if not strictly enforced).
Although our boat was an ad hoc mixture of pairs, we formed a very good group. Everyone cooperated. No one constantly pushed to be first or otherwise special. Most kept reasonably close to the dive plan -- which meant that swim-throughs were a bit crowded -- and no one seriously pushed the dive time limits.
With Beryl passing through the Lesser Antilles at Cat 4/5 early Monday morning, as we returned to the dock after the morning dives, we were told that this day (Monday) would be the last diving day before the storm, and that we should take everything off the boat after the afternoon dive. At dinner Monday, we were told to meet in the dining room Tuesday at 0800 to hear the plan going forward. Overnight Monday/Tuesday, the storm track forecast looked ominous for the Caymans with a likely Thursday arrival, so at the Tuesday breakfast we were told we'd be evacuated Wednesday, with our gear and luggage to be taken by boat to Cayman Brac. By Tuesday afternoon our Wednesday flights to Brac, then Grand Cayman, then Miami were arranged.
Wednesday morning the wind was starting to pick up and white caps were obvious from LCBR. The staff had cleared away all of the pool and bar furniture, secured and distributed the boats around the semi-protected water inside the fringing reef, cleared the dive shop, and covered the large windows on the common buildings. The Twin Otters made a series of round trips shuttling us to the Brac, falling a little behind schedule, and by the time we left Little Cayman an outer rain band from the hurricane was looming all along the southeast. At the Brac airport, we joined the guests from CBBR on a 737, and by the time we left the Brac the rain had arrived. Our luggage was checked all the way through from the Brac to Miami, which meant going through security at Grand Cayman was quick. We had no issues at all making the various connections.
About the diving -- oh yeah, that's why we went, isn't it? -- the reef at Bloody Bay and Jackson Bight seemed reasonably healthy despite the 84 degree temperatures at depth. There was a lot of algae on the top of the wall, though, and very few urchins. We saw no evidence of stony coral tissue loss disease, but we're amateurs and wouldn't necessarily know it if we saw it. Fish populations seemed down from 2022. We saw two reef sharks and a single nurse shark. There were several groupers, but not many, and they seemed intermediate in size. We saw a few large schools of snappers and/or grunts, a reasonable number of porgies and jacks, and a few isolated blue tangs. No tang gangs. Among the rays, we saw one spotted eagle ray at a distance and a lot of stingrays with their bar jack buddies. One spotted porcupinefish clearly thought my buddy and I were its long-lost school chums, and came cruising directly to us with its big, dumb grin, made a few passes by us, and swam with us for a bit.
Despite the short trip and the too-small ratio of dive time to travel time, we had a good trip, and we'll certainly be back. Thank you to Clearly Cayman and Cayman Airways for taking great care of us.
