Little cayman trip report

[Amanwithaphone]

Just got back from LCBR and thought I'd give a little review. 1st, I went as a solo diver for 4 nights, 3 days of diving. This wasn't long enough. Missed flight to Little on night 1 and arrived @ 805 the next morning. LCBR was awesome about the missed flight (put me up in Cobalt coast). Reef divers wasn't at all flexible. Even tho they knew I (and 3 other guests) were arriving around 800am, they wouldn't hold the am dive boats at all. We got to the resort and the boats were still at dock for 5-10m, but we weren't able to get on them. I thought that was a bit ******, tbh. I've been on the other side of that sort of thing, and have always felt fine waiting 10m for a late arrival.
Beyond this, the diving was excellent w 100ft vis and temps around 84. 0 turtles, 0 eagle Ray's in 8 dives and only 2 nurse sharks, so a bit light on pelagics. Did a night dive which was ok. Room very nice. Food pretty good.

 

[Doctorfish]

I can't see how you could have made the dive.

If your flight arrived at 8.05,
it would take 10-15 minutes to get to resort and then 10-15 minutes to check in and unpack dive gear. 5 minutes at the dive shop to register. (even if you rushed)
When you saw the boat leaving did you have your bathing suit on, dive gear in hand and your paperwork done?

Boats leave 8.30 latest on first day after orientation, 8.15 other days.

Reef Divers needs to keep to a schedule in order to be back in time to allow divers to have lunch and get back on the boat. Even if on time, one can feel rushed. Sorry you missed your first dive but I understand their position. Isn't there an earlier flight into LC?

 

[flyboy08]

Bummer,...I agree, as a diver on the boat I would have no issue waiting for a few more given the circumstances....

The air or water was 84*? Heading to Brac on Saturday with a gaggle of 25!

 

[scubadada]

@Amanwithaphone

You had no reasonable expectation for making the morning boat on your arrival, that is not a valid criticism. Too bad you missed your flight the night before

 

[caruso]

Is this a trip report or a vent about how Reef Divers didn't change their schedule to accommodate a late arriving diver?

The question is rhetorical.

 

[KathyV]

I am sorry that you had flight problems and that you missed some dives, and I think that most divers and dive ops would be willing to wait a short time for a late arrival, but I agree with others that the timing was just too tight in this case.

The airport is very near but you still have to collect luggage and transfer to the resort, check in at the resort, unpack your stuff, register with the dive shop, get your gear on the boat and set up. Even with valet assistance that's just cutting it a bit too close IMO.

We've all missed dives for various reasons like weather, illness, and travel delays and it is a bummer, especially when you were only there for such a short time. I hope that your next trip goes smoother, wherever you decide to go.

I have a few questions, are they still remodeling the dining room at LCBR? What is the status of the remodeling.

How did you like what you could see of Cobalt Coast? How was the overnight at CC arranged? Did you have to contact Clearly Cayman or LCBR, or were they aware of the flight delay and did they contact you?

 

[Amanwithaphone]

I can't see how you could have made the dive.

If your flight arrived at 8.05,
it would take 10-15 minutes to get to resort and then 10-15 minutes to check in and unpack dive gear. 5 minutes at the dive shop to register. (even if you rushed)
When you saw the boat leaving did you have your bathing suit on, dive gear in hand and your paperwork done?

Boats leave 8.30 latest on first day after orientation, 8.15 other days.

Reef Divers needs to keep to a schedule in order to be back in time to allow divers to have lunch and get back on the boat. Even if on time, one can feel rushed. Sorry you missed your first dive but I understand their position. Isn't there an earlier flight into LC?

Sorry it wasn't clear. I was at resort @ 805 with my gear. Boat was in dock for 10m with me there begging to get on. I also realize they were within their rights not to accommodate this problem. But, would've been greatly appreciated if they did

 

[KathyV]

Oh I see, did they give a reason for not allowing the late arrivals to get on the boat? Was the boat already crowded or was there just not enough time to process everyone at the dive shop? Or maybe they didn't have enough tanks and weights readily available to take on additional divers at the last minute?

This advice is a little late in coming but in future, when you are planning a very short trip (especially over a holiday weekend) it might be best to look for locations with easy, direct access. Then you won't have to worry about connecting flights, especially during the winter high season which is one of the busiest travel periods for the tropics, and when blizzards in other areas can cause havoc with air schedules.

I see that you are located in NYC and I know that there are a lot of direct flights from NYC to dive destinations in FL, Bahamas, and the Caribbean. So you could fly direct to Grand Cayman and dive with Cobalt Coast, or Sunset House, etc. for a short trip, and save places with connecting flights like LC for later, when you have more time.

The flight from GC to LC is short, but the LC airport is unlighted and they can only fly small planes in during the daylight hours, and the days are short during the winter; so if you are delayed and arrive late then there is no choice but to overnight on GC, as you've experienced, so sorry!

I am curious as to what caused your delayed arrival at GCM, was it weather-related or due to the TSA delays we've been reading about, or something else?

I know how frustrating flight delays can be, we once went to Curacao twice on the same night, and we were not even scheduled to go to Curacao at all!

Better luck next time!

 

[Amanwithaphone]

Is this a trip report or a vent about how Reef Divers didn't change their schedule to accommodate a late arriving diver?

The question is rhetorical.

Sorry, got on a rant mainly to make the point that it's not a great spot for a short trip as the transport is unreliable and the dive ops don't have a lot of flexibility. This is probably the only thing I can say that hasn't already been said. Obviously bloody bay wall is awesome. Minimal pelagics tho . happy to answer specific qs.

 

[Amanwithaphone]

Oh I see, did they give a reason for not allowing the late arrivals to get on the boat? Was the boat already crowded or was there just not enough time to process everyone at the dive shop? Or maybe they didn't have enough tanks and weights available to take on additional divers at the last minute?

This advice is a little late in coming but in future, when you are planning a very short trip (especially over a holiday weekend) it might be best to look for locations with easy, direct access. Then you won't have to worry about connecting flights, especially during the winter high season which is one of the busiest travel times in the tropics, and when blizzards can cause havoc with air schedules.

I see that you are located in NYC and I know that there are a lot of direct flights from NYC to dive destinations in FL, Bahamas, and the Caribbean. So you could fly direct to Grand Cayman and dive with Cobalt Coast, or Sunset House, etc. for a short trip, and save places with connecting flights like LC for later, when you have more time.

The flight from GC to LC is short, but the LC airport is unlighted and they can only fly small planes in during the daylight hours, so if you are delayed and you arrive late then there is no choice but to overnight on GC, as you've experienced, sorry!

I am curious as to what caused your delayed arrival at GCM, was it weather-related or due to the TSA delays we've been reading about, or something else?

Hi kathy,
Agree on easier access for short trips going forward. Actually missed 2 flights to LC. 1st missed due to random delay getting to GC. 2nd missed due to rain not clearing until too late to fly to LC. Dining room still under Reno btw.