Little Cayman

[Stoo]

Hi All...

I'd appreciate your thoughts on resorts on Little Cayman. We are looking at Little Cayman Beach Club, but I understand the beach area is not great. I don't know the geography of the island, but proximity to the wall is of prime importance... oh and the food needs to be outstanding or the better half gets cranky...

Thanks... PM if you prefer...

Stoo

 

[rad21]

Stoo,

We have stayed at LCBR 5 times. The beach is not great for swimming, there is lots of sea grass. If you want to sit in a hammock on the beach and look at the beautiful caribbean, you can do that. What brings us back is good food, close proximity to the marine park, short boat ride and nice comfortable Newton boats. If you enjoy wall diving and calm, clear water, you will love Little Cayman.

 

[Damselfish]

I'm going to assume you're talking about Little Cayman Beach Resort - there is also a place called The Club at Little Cayman not far down the beach.

The beach at LCBR is perfectly fine to lay or walk on, with nice hammocks to hang out in. Actually it's a great place to take a long walk down a pretty much deserted beach. But people don't typically swim or snorkel off the beach because it's quite shallow with lots of turtle grass (and maybe a little because they're pretty much waterlogged already.) The pool/bar area is pleasant and people tend to hang out there.

The famous wall is on the opposite side of the island from where LCBR (and most other places) are but the boats go there most of the time, unless the weather is really bad.

Some people rave about the food at LCBR. I wouldn't go that far but they do a pretty good job especially considering the place is a little remote. It's all buffet style. We were last there in December, one of the chefs was outstanding, the others that covered when he was off were just ok. So it depends who's cooking. (Another small hotel on LC, Pirates Point, is pretty famous for the food.)

We've been there 5 times and are reasonably fussy, for what it's worth. It doesn't have the absolute best food, or rooms, or anything, but everything is pretty good so the whole package works well.


There is lots of discussion of LCBR and the other resorts on Little Cayman if you search for them at http://www.scubaboard.com/search.php.

 

[Stoo]

Good info. Thanks. I did do a search, but the amount of information is a little overwhelming, and some is quite dated.

I guess I am wondering about alternatives to LCBR. While I couldn't care less about the swimming off the beach, we are 6 people in all, and at least 3 of the others do care.

Is Southern Cross Club an alternative? Their website makes it look pretty nice...

 

[Damselfish]

Honestly, most of the info you would be finding here about the hotels on Little Cayman is probably still good. Not much has changed.

I haven't stayed at SC, but I've walked down the beach to it many times. Never see anyone swimming there either. It's still in the same shallow reef-protected lagoon area as LCBR. It's smaller than LCBR, not that LCBR is that big. The rooms are sort of bungalows on the beach whereas LCBR is more of a motel layout.

Here's a map that marks most of the places to stay. http://www.caymanvacations.com/general/lc-map.htm

 

[MarkUK]

Hi Stoo,

I was just at Little Cayman Beach Resort two weeks ago and it was the first time I'd stayed there. I also stayed at Southern Cross Club three years ago.

As has previously been pointed out, most of the resorts (LCBR, SCC, The Club, Conch Club) are all along the same stretch of coastline facing into the lagoon, so whichever you end up at, you are going to be faced with the same problem of shallow water and lots of seagrass. To be honest, Little Cayman is all about the diving (Bloody Bay Wall absolutely rocks!) and chilling out – if you want a nice sandy beach to swim off, go stay on Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman. The diving is totally ****e compared with LC, but you have got a nice beach – it is all about what is important.

For what it is worth, LCBR and SCC both have small pools for a quick dip when it gets hot, and LCBR has got two hottubs (perfect for kicking back with a Stella Artois after a hard day's diving!).

I also had people raving about the food at LCBR and I wasn't overly impressed. It is tasty and adequate, but apart from the coconut chicken (absolutely fantastic) and a good barbecue night, I wouldn't say it was gourmet. Adequate, no more, but they do well to say the island has to bring everything in.

The rooms are comfy and everything is close, so it is just a short wander to the dock on a morning. The dive staff are great and you can have a good laugh with them enroute to the dive sites.

I did 17 dives in all and saw eagle rays, reef sharks, southern stingrays, turtles galore, plus all the usual Caribbean marine life, so you will have a blast.

SCC is a little different now from when I stayed – it lost several bungalows in Ivan, and now has three new two-storey units built on property. These looked very nice, and even have a Maldivian-style outdoor shower! It was quiet when I was there, whereas LCBR was quite busy, with lots of people in the bar on a night.

Hope this helps

Mark

 

[gbf]

I don't know what it is like now, but several years ago we took our kids to "Point of Sand" on the east end of LC. There is a sandy beach and shallow (8-10' or less) lagoon with many coral heads. Good swimming and good snorkelling. We'd load up drinks and picnic lunch and make a day of it. You'll need a car from LCBR/SC - too far to bicycle.

 

[caymaniac]

If you are concerned about the proximity to the reef, have you looked at Pirates Point?

 

[Stoo]

If you are concerned about the proximity to the reef, have you looked at Pirates Point?

I'm really sure I'm concerned about any of this honestly. The name of the place was suggested by one of our gang, and my regular dive travel guy books there so it is easy to arrange. (Most of our crowd are in the education field, so we have limited travel windows...).

I haven't looked at Pirate's Point, but I am about to!

Thanks again for all of this great information folks....

 

[Damselfish]

If you are concerned about the proximity to the reef, have you looked at Pirates Point?

I don't think Pirates Point is a shorter boat ride to the reef. The resort itself may be closer, but they moor their boat in the lagoon not far from LCBR and have a private dock there that they drive people to. I don't think they have a dock at the hotel itself? It's a much less protected area. (Though I think you might be able to swim and snorkel there if things aren't too churned up.)