terrylowe
Contributor
Hi...this is one of my first times to post here, so wanted to give a trip report on one of my favorite places in the world to dive.
I now have over 100 dives, a couple of teenage boys that love to dive and a wife that prefers to snorkel. We first ended up at Head O' Bay because we know the Rhians who are the owners of this slice of heaven.
Little Cayman has 3 or 4 dive resorts on it and not much else. This is NOT a place to go to get that high-dollar-tourist-shopping done. Head O' Bay sits at the edge of a large shallow beautiful bay...looks like a beer commercial!! The rental house is very spacious with two private bedrooms with comfortable king size beds and a large central room with big tv (bring dvd's) and kitchen. There is a fold out bed and couch that can sleep a crew of children. The first story has an extra shower, washer and dryer and is where we stack our scuba gear.
What is there to do on a tiny island with nothing to do? Picnic at the Point O' Sand or on Owen Island (the key), sail a two-person boat, use the motor boat to fish all over the bay for bone fish (some of the finest bone fishing in the world), go out on the Donna Lorraine for some deep sea fishing, fish from the pier, go tubing, paddle a kayak with a see-through-bottom, ride bicycles, go to the island museum, bird watching, or even slip into Mahogany Bay to feed the huge hungry iguanas. Oh yeah...you can rest too!
My boys have built a raft, have played baseball with a palm tree branch and even participated in a pick-up soccer game with the locals.
It is quite a site to watch my wife chasing the kids trying to keep sunscreen on them. (By the way, guided fishing trips are the only thing that is not covered in the cost of staying at Head O' Bay, but I would recommend getting at least a half-day if not more deep sea fishing).
We often invite another family to go with us (we have returned several years in a row now) and we end up with 10 or so people staying in the house. We pack one suitcase with bathing suits and scuba gear and the other with food and snacks (there are now two tiny grocery stores on the island). We rarely go out to eat...it is just easier to throw a pre-made lasagna in the oven or grill a burger on the grill. By bringing our own food and sharing the house with friends, it turns into a very reasonable vacation!
OK...this IS a dive forum and I would not do a review justice if I didn't talk about diving. Head O' Bay is NOT a dive resort....but it works out just fine for our crew. The local dive resorts are happy to put us on their boats and have some very seasoned dive masters. After going to several sites multiple times, I started doing a little shore diving and enjoy that just as much, but don't recommend shore diving in an area that you have never seen. Also a shore dive involves a 100 yard swim to get to the buoys. The diving is out of this world! It is no wonder Bloody Bay Wall is ranked tops in the world. There are numerous dive sites and with names like Shear Wall...you could imagine the vertical drop. There are sites that have a wide variety of swim-throughs at various depths. There is a tame grouper named Jerry at one site who wants you to scare out a squirrel fish for him. They are curious turtles seen nearly every dive. Just simply out of this world. The color is amazing and there is a huge variety of fish. The night diving there is absolutely breath taking....probably shouldn't use that description on a scuba board. The bio-luminescence is so bright that you honestly don't have to use a light!! And you won't want to because it is so spectacular.
LOL...looking back over this it looks like I'm trying to sell something...which I am not. It's just a great place to visit.
You can get more information at http://www.headobay.com
My photos are posted at http://photos.terrylowe.com/Dive-Vacations/Little-Cayman-Summer-2010
I now have over 100 dives, a couple of teenage boys that love to dive and a wife that prefers to snorkel. We first ended up at Head O' Bay because we know the Rhians who are the owners of this slice of heaven.
Little Cayman has 3 or 4 dive resorts on it and not much else. This is NOT a place to go to get that high-dollar-tourist-shopping done. Head O' Bay sits at the edge of a large shallow beautiful bay...looks like a beer commercial!! The rental house is very spacious with two private bedrooms with comfortable king size beds and a large central room with big tv (bring dvd's) and kitchen. There is a fold out bed and couch that can sleep a crew of children. The first story has an extra shower, washer and dryer and is where we stack our scuba gear.
What is there to do on a tiny island with nothing to do? Picnic at the Point O' Sand or on Owen Island (the key), sail a two-person boat, use the motor boat to fish all over the bay for bone fish (some of the finest bone fishing in the world), go out on the Donna Lorraine for some deep sea fishing, fish from the pier, go tubing, paddle a kayak with a see-through-bottom, ride bicycles, go to the island museum, bird watching, or even slip into Mahogany Bay to feed the huge hungry iguanas. Oh yeah...you can rest too!
My boys have built a raft, have played baseball with a palm tree branch and even participated in a pick-up soccer game with the locals.It is quite a site to watch my wife chasing the kids trying to keep sunscreen on them. (By the way, guided fishing trips are the only thing that is not covered in the cost of staying at Head O' Bay, but I would recommend getting at least a half-day if not more deep sea fishing).
We often invite another family to go with us (we have returned several years in a row now) and we end up with 10 or so people staying in the house. We pack one suitcase with bathing suits and scuba gear and the other with food and snacks (there are now two tiny grocery stores on the island). We rarely go out to eat...it is just easier to throw a pre-made lasagna in the oven or grill a burger on the grill. By bringing our own food and sharing the house with friends, it turns into a very reasonable vacation!
OK...this IS a dive forum and I would not do a review justice if I didn't talk about diving. Head O' Bay is NOT a dive resort....but it works out just fine for our crew. The local dive resorts are happy to put us on their boats and have some very seasoned dive masters. After going to several sites multiple times, I started doing a little shore diving and enjoy that just as much, but don't recommend shore diving in an area that you have never seen. Also a shore dive involves a 100 yard swim to get to the buoys. The diving is out of this world! It is no wonder Bloody Bay Wall is ranked tops in the world. There are numerous dive sites and with names like Shear Wall...you could imagine the vertical drop. There are sites that have a wide variety of swim-throughs at various depths. There is a tame grouper named Jerry at one site who wants you to scare out a squirrel fish for him. They are curious turtles seen nearly every dive. Just simply out of this world. The color is amazing and there is a huge variety of fish. The night diving there is absolutely breath taking....probably shouldn't use that description on a scuba board. The bio-luminescence is so bright that you honestly don't have to use a light!! And you won't want to because it is so spectacular.
LOL...looking back over this it looks like I'm trying to sell something...which I am not. It's just a great place to visit.
You can get more information at http://www.headobay.com
My photos are posted at http://photos.terrylowe.com/Dive-Vacations/Little-Cayman-Summer-2010
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