Little Cayman info

[Zebra mussel]

Is anyone familiar with any private rentals other than the 5 main resorts on the island? Is this a viable option....renting privatly and diving with a local operator ala carte?. How is the shore diving. McCoys Dive Lodge includes shore diving as a part of its package. Is it something that is easy to do? Any recommendations on resorts would be greatly appreciated. Everything seems to be all inclusive except Paradise Villas. Is dining expensive and are there many options? Thanks for any help you can give me!!!!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I can't answer several of those questions, but let me tackle one:

Is dining expensive and are there many options?

Even including the resorts, there aren't many options for dining during a stay in Little Cayman. The Hungry Iguana (adjacent to Paradise Villas) bills itself as the only full service a la carte restaurant on the island.

Not to worry, the food at the resorts is quite good. One of the resorts (Pirate's Point) is run by a Cordon Bleu trained chef. Yumm!

 

[Damselfish]

There's a reason almost everything is all-inclusive - there's not much on the island and it's not well set up for do-it-yourself, there's just not the critical mass to support it. I'd say if planning a vacation on LC you should just pick the resort that best suits you, or one of the few small condo complexes if it's just that you want that type of accommodation and space, and go with one of their packages. If it's privacy you're after, the whole island pretty much qualifies anyway. Little Cayman Beach resort is the biggest (still not that big) and is something of a communal dive experience. Everything gets smaller from there. If you're looking for a way to do LC somewhat cheaper, maybe it's possible but you'll really have to work at it.

Dining in Cayman isn't generally known as cheap and things don't get cheaper on a remote island. The only "standalone" restaurant is The Hungry Iguana at Paradise Villas. You can eat at any of the resorts, but should generally make reservations. I think at least some of them will pick you up for dinner. If you plan on cooking some on your own, be aware there is not much to the little grocery store on LC. You'd want to bring stuff along or shop on the way on Grand Cayman. I'm sure you could arrange diving with whichever operator you like but it's not something you see alot of. (Don't know what would happen if they were really full with resort guests.) Renting someplace (if you can find it) and doing everything ala carte might require a car depending on where you are which is very expensive on LC, or I suppose you could bike if bikes come with your place.

 

[zf2nt]

Several people who own condos on Little Cayman will rent them on a short-term basis. Let me run through some of the things which come quickly to mind:

1. The Conch Club condominiums, which are about 1/4 mile east of the Little Cayman Beach Resort, are often available. Since these were developed by the same person who owns LCBR, there is a rental office in the Beach Resort. Contact them for more info.
2. About 200 yards west of Little Cayman Beach Resort is "The Club", also developed by Dan Tibbetts. This was built as a luxury time-share, but the last I heard only one of the eight units had sold. Dan has since started renting the unsold units.
3. There are a couple of small cottages just to the west of Conch Club which are available for short term rental. Contact Cayman Villas for more info.
4. Down by the lighthouse on the western tip of the island there is at least one, and maybe two, condos which are available for rent. Contact Betty Bua at Tranquil Realty (http://www.tranquilrealty.com/index.html) for more info. Betty would never forgive me for posting her email address publicly, but I will share privately on request.

A roll-it-yourself vacation on Little Cayman isn't as awful as people are trying to make it sound. The trick is to load up on meat at Foster's Food Fair on Grand Cayman and bring it with you. The store on Little Cayman doesn't usually have much more than frozen chicken, frozen sausage, frozen pizza, etc. They do have reasonable produce, though, and you can get the other necessities there. But it is priced somewhere in the range of 2x-4x what you're likely to consider reasonable!

In general, your best value is going to come by staying at one of the resorts. But each year we have plenty of people who rent cottages or condos because they want more privacy. I've thought of doing this with my own home there, since I'm always off the island from May-September, but there are just too many hassles involved in doing that.

 

[Zebra mussel]

Thanks for the response. What kind of weather can I excpect in early December?

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Just my two cents but the Conch Club condo rentals were a great deal. They are only 1/4 mile from the LCBR but far enough for peace and quiet. We pretty much had the place to ourselves and really enjoyed the mix of accessibility to amenities at LCBR and the peace and quiet of our own place. Highly recommended. http://www.conchclub.com/index2.html

 

[zf2nt]

Thanks for the response. What kind of weather can I excpect in early December?

Most likely, perfect. The water temperature in December is still warm enough that you don't really need a wet suit, though lots of people do bring a 3mm suit. Personally, I just use skins that early in the year.
You will probably get clear skies, daytime highs in the low to mid 80's, and nightly temperatures down to the mid 70's. But there are no guarantees on anything. I remember one year (2001?) where we had rain every single day of the month of December. I'm not sure if the sun ever came out that whole month! But usually the rains stop somewhere Nov 1 - 15
and then we have perfect weather all winter long.

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

When we stayed at LCBR in Nov. 2003, we were placed on the Conch Club Divers' boat as one of the LCBR boats had developed engine trouble the day before we arrived. The CCD staff were one of the 2 top operations we have dived with! They have posters covered in waterproofing for all the dive sites already made, and it gives a much better site briefing than scribblings on a dry erase board. And, you can stay at Conch Club Condos and get the LCBR meal plan - this is probably what we'll do if we visit Little Cayman again. Dining a la carte for each meal vs. on a meal plan would be more expensive.

Shore diving the Bloody Bay side of the island when we were there was not an option with the swells / weather (there was a tropical depression in the Caribbean, not close enough to dump rain, but enough to kick up the waves the last few days we were there). Transporting yourself and equipment to that side of the island looked like the main logistical challenge to us, but we weren't staying at McCoy's. The boat Mccoy's used was smaller than the ones used by LCBR and CCD, and it had to sheer off on one of the choppy days and go to the other side of the island, while we forged ahead with the CCD boat to dive Marilyn's cut that day (probably my favorite site there). Weather the next day forced all boats to the leeward side for diving though.

Have a great trip!