Thanks for the feedback Kathy! I saw the cayman expedition promo but it's at the height of hurricane season. We live in FL with a house and a boat in the water, so leaving for an extended amount of time from August to November is pretty much out for us. I'll check regardless just to see if they can do anything for us.
If you don't mind I have a couple of other questions:
1. how have you gotten between the 2 islands? air or boat? We bring our own gear so we're looking at 3 suitcases minimum.
2. Does the Brac resort have mini-fridges in the rooms? There isn't much room/accommodation info on their website. I've seen some posts that say only some rooms have them, but it looks like all of the rooms are the same??
3. Does the Brac resort have coin laundry? trying to minimize the amount of clothes so if only one resort has laundry, thinking going their first so we have clean clothes for the 2nd week if that makes sense.
4. Looks like Cayman air has direct flights from Miami to both Brac and LC....do you have any experience with these flights?
Here are my answers to your questions, others may have different opinions or additional information.
1. how have you gotten between the 2 islands? air or boat? We bring our own gear so we're looking at 3 suitcases minimum.
We have never stayed back-to-back at both LCBR and CBBR. We usually spend a week on Grand Cayman and then a week on either Brac or Little. You will fly on Cayman Airways, usually from GCM to either Brac or Littte. The airport at Brac is larger and can accept jets, turboprops, and smaller planes like the Twin Otters. The small airport on LC can only handle small planes like the Twin Otters.
There was a couple staying at CBBR at the same time that we were there in November. They had just spent 5 days at LCBR and then transferred to CBBR for 5 more days. They took a Twin Otter from LC to CB - it is a very short flight!
The dive boats do sometimes travel between Brac and Little. When the weather cooperates divers at LCBR can sign up for an excursion over to Brac to dive the Tibbetts wreck, and divers at CBBR can travel over to LC to dive Bloody Bay Wall. Starting this year the 2 resorts will be offering 3 dives and lunch at the sister resort, at no extra charge. But only if the water is calm, they are not far away but they won't make the crossing if it is rough.
The Cayman Expedition package includes boat transfers for guests staying at both resorts. When you book you can ask about boat transfers but I think that you will most likely be flying between the Sister Islands.
Regarding baggage, you are limited to 50 pounds total when flying to Brac and Little, including carry-ons. Sometimes they are a little more generous about luggage (and carry-ons) when Brac is your destination because they have more flights and larger planes - but they are usually pretty strict about baggage when you are going to LC, especially in the fall and winter months when the days are shorter because the LC airport is not lighted and they can only fly during daylight hours.
When we were at LCBR in 2017, a fellow-traveler had a lot of camera equipment with him and he was charged per pound overweight for the excess baggage. So plan to pack light!
It is not unusual for a bag to be delayed during trips to the Sister Islands, especially LC. The bag usually shows up the next day but you should be prepared. There isn't overhead storage but I always carry a large purse that I can squish under the tiny seat in front of me on the Twin Otters and I make sure that it is packed with the essentials, including travel documents, medications, contact lenses, swimsuits, a change of undies, C-cards, log book, and whatever else I can jam in there.
On our last trip to LC, one of our bags was delayed but we had the essentials in my purse; and the hotel staff kindly laundered our outer clothes for free so we were able to get by pretty easily.
Another couple had the bag with all their gear delayed for one day, but the dive op loaned them free equipment until their stuff arrived.
2. Does the Brac resort have mini-fridges in the rooms? There isn't much room/accommodation info on their website. I've seen some posts that say only some rooms have them, but it looks like all of the rooms are the same??
Yes, many rooms have mini-refrigerators but not every room. We always ask for one when we make our reservations and we usually get it, but one time we had to request one and they brought it to us promptly. All the rooms have coffeepots and supplies. There are ice buckets in the rooms and ice machines for guest use at both resorts.
It's the same for the standard rooms at LCBR, but they have a few suites that are larger and have mini-kitchens at an extra cost. But I am told that some of the suites are close to the compressor where the tanks are filled and can be noisy, so if you decide to go for one of the larger rooms be sure to ask for a quiet location.
3. Does the Brac resort have coin laundry? trying to minimize the amount of clothes so if only one resort has laundry, thinking going their first so we have clean clothes for the 2nd week if that makes sense.
They do have a coin-op washer and dryer for guest use at CBBR - they may only take Caymanian coins (or tokens) but I am sure that they will make change for you at the desk. At both resorts you can ask for a plastic laundry bag to fill with dirty clothes and the hotel staff will launder, dry, and fold the items for you. I can't remember how much they charged but it wasn't bad. You are smart not to bring many clothes because of the limited luggage allowance.
4. Looks like Cayman air has direct flights from Miami to both Brac and LC....do you have any experience with these flights?
There are some limited Cayman Air flights direct from MIA to Brac as Menno says, but not to LC; but you may be able to fly to Brac, go through immigrations and customs there and catch a connecting Twin Otter for the hop over to LC.
We always fly to GCM and then fly to the Sister Islands. You can book your own flights, but the booking agents at the Clearly Cayman resorts really know the nuances of the Cayman Airways flights, and flights into Cayman in general, and so we let them book all our flights for us. They do charge a fee but it isn't bad and we can count of them to get the best options.
We are coming all the way from the Midwest and one advantage of having them book all our flights is that they can put it all on one ticket - I have never been able to do that when flying outside the US. We learned the hard way that if you book flights on separate tickets and there is a delay with one leg of your trip, the other airlines don't know (or care) about your delay. But if they are all on the same ticket they will make adjustments and try to assist you. But since you are only traveling from Florida, that may not be an issue for you.
