Travelnsj
Contributor
LITTLE CAYMAN BEACH RESORT June 22 thru June 30
Finally arriving to Little Cayman from Los Angeles on two late flights from American Airlines, I was hoping to get an early afternoon flight to Little Cayman and maybe a dive in. That is if I could have made my connections! Unfortunately, I did not. In addition, the return was as bad to LA.
The Resort: Little Cayman is a nice resort they are undergoing a remodel of the rooms in August which they need to replace old bathroom fixtures etc. The rooms are nice and the AC kept my room cool, in fact the weather was so nice I turned off the AC at night. The air temperatures were 85 to 90 degrees. The meals are excellent with a large variety and the deserts that are out of this world. The resort staff and dive staff were great. Overall, Little Cayman is a very well run operation.
The Diving: Was done off 42’ Newton’s. Staffed by two people one boat Captain/Dive guide and another dive guide. At the end of the boat there was a sit down area where they brought you your tank and you did a giant stride. There were between 12 to 20 divers on the boat and it never felt crowded. The two dive guides/boat captain would take turns leading the dive for about 30 minutes then they go back to the boat to help people getting out of the water. Although their dive briefings were excellent I would of liked a full time dive guide to show a few more of highlights underwater. The time that Matt or Sunny spent in the water was helpful. They did make sure everyone had a buddy. You were pretty much allowed to dive your own profile up to 60 minutes. Seas were at times a bit choppy and a couple of days some large swells but nothing that would make entry’s and exits a problem. I cancelled one afternoon dive due to seasickness. Water temperatures were 83 to 84 degrees. Bloody Bay wall had some spectacular contrasts with the sea fans, corals and the blue water when approaching the wall. There were many swim throughs or you could swim over depending upon the dive site to reach the wall. I believe the highlight of the diving to most people was the view of the wall, I did have one of the DM’s say this is the best wall diving this side of Palau. I asked if they had ever been to Palau? No. The only resemblance I saw to Palau was the majestic drop off but not much of anything else in the way of Marine life, Corals etc. I saw an occasional String ray, Reef shark, some Unicorn fish, Pufferfish, small school of Jacks (at the Mixing Bowl), Drums, a Juvenile trumpet fish, Squirrelfish, Triggerfish, a couple of Groupers that like to be petted and assorted reef fish. Overall, there was not a lot of Marine life. The dive sites I thought that were good dives were the Mixing Bowl, Cumbers caves, Sarah’s set, Coconut wall and hanging out in the sand on some various sites watching the Jawfish. Two people who I dove with in Little Cayman were there nine and ten years ago they said there was a significant drop off in marine life.
I have dove Cozumel, Turks & Caicos, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Belize, and Utila. This diving was better than most in the Caribbean and probably equal to or better than Cozumel.
Finally arriving to Little Cayman from Los Angeles on two late flights from American Airlines, I was hoping to get an early afternoon flight to Little Cayman and maybe a dive in. That is if I could have made my connections! Unfortunately, I did not. In addition, the return was as bad to LA.
The Resort: Little Cayman is a nice resort they are undergoing a remodel of the rooms in August which they need to replace old bathroom fixtures etc. The rooms are nice and the AC kept my room cool, in fact the weather was so nice I turned off the AC at night. The air temperatures were 85 to 90 degrees. The meals are excellent with a large variety and the deserts that are out of this world. The resort staff and dive staff were great. Overall, Little Cayman is a very well run operation.
The Diving: Was done off 42’ Newton’s. Staffed by two people one boat Captain/Dive guide and another dive guide. At the end of the boat there was a sit down area where they brought you your tank and you did a giant stride. There were between 12 to 20 divers on the boat and it never felt crowded. The two dive guides/boat captain would take turns leading the dive for about 30 minutes then they go back to the boat to help people getting out of the water. Although their dive briefings were excellent I would of liked a full time dive guide to show a few more of highlights underwater. The time that Matt or Sunny spent in the water was helpful. They did make sure everyone had a buddy. You were pretty much allowed to dive your own profile up to 60 minutes. Seas were at times a bit choppy and a couple of days some large swells but nothing that would make entry’s and exits a problem. I cancelled one afternoon dive due to seasickness. Water temperatures were 83 to 84 degrees. Bloody Bay wall had some spectacular contrasts with the sea fans, corals and the blue water when approaching the wall. There were many swim throughs or you could swim over depending upon the dive site to reach the wall. I believe the highlight of the diving to most people was the view of the wall, I did have one of the DM’s say this is the best wall diving this side of Palau. I asked if they had ever been to Palau? No. The only resemblance I saw to Palau was the majestic drop off but not much of anything else in the way of Marine life, Corals etc. I saw an occasional String ray, Reef shark, some Unicorn fish, Pufferfish, small school of Jacks (at the Mixing Bowl), Drums, a Juvenile trumpet fish, Squirrelfish, Triggerfish, a couple of Groupers that like to be petted and assorted reef fish. Overall, there was not a lot of Marine life. The dive sites I thought that were good dives were the Mixing Bowl, Cumbers caves, Sarah’s set, Coconut wall and hanging out in the sand on some various sites watching the Jawfish. Two people who I dove with in Little Cayman were there nine and ten years ago they said there was a significant drop off in marine life.
I have dove Cozumel, Turks & Caicos, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Belize, and Utila. This diving was better than most in the Caribbean and probably equal to or better than Cozumel.
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