A "rut?" Of course not. The more dives you do in a given area, the better you understand the local species and ecology. Enjoy! I've done a few thousand dives alone in our dive park and still see new things with some frequency.
We're Stuck in a Rut - But It's a Beautiful Rut - Going Back to Cayman!
- Thread starter KathyV
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Been to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac every year for about 13 years. Is that a rut? Of course it is and I love it!
I'm just back from another trip to GC. Line for immigration took over an hour (arrived on a Thursday, thought it would be better). Great diving as usual, got over the immo wait pretty quickly. But leaving via Jet Blue, I got flagged by TSA to have first my carry on searched, then later, my checked bag. This seems to happen to me and my dive buddy with very high frequency at GCM. And we have "known traveler", "TSA pre-chek", Global Entry with every carrier. Doesn't seem to happen in any other country. Anyone know whats going on and a possible solution? I have two more trips through GCM planned this year.
OP
Where did you stay on GC, did you see any problem with sargassum seaweed clogging up the shores and beaches on any part of the island? I've read that it is getting bad again in various parts of the Caribbean.
I am sorry that you had bad experiences at the airport but Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, and Known Traveler won't do you any good - they only work in the US and not in foreign countries.
I think that it's often a random security check during departure and you've been unlucky. If your boarding pass has the dreaded SSSS designation on it then you will be checked and rechecked. My husband got it once at GCM and it was annoying but at least the Security staff were professional about it and they only searched him one time. It happened to me once at the Provo airport in the Turks and Caicos and it was a truly bad experience.
They opened my suitcase out in public and hand-checked all my clothing including my dirty laundry. They hand-searched my purse and body-searched me in the ticketing lounge and then paged me later in the departure lounge to search me again. And they were all very unpleasant while they were detaining and searching me.
As we were exiting the airport they detained me and searched me a third time - like I had somehow managed to pick up a weapon while I was in the Provo departure lounge!
It got really bad when they insisted that my husband leave me behind and board the plane and he refused. I guess he was blithely supposed to head on his merry way while his spouse was being detained by the authorities. He refused and they threatened to place him under arrest! He finally started to walk toward the plane very, very slowly and he would stop every other step to tie or retie one of his shoes, or he would stop to fuss with his carry-on, etc. They were screaming at him by the time they let me go and I was able to rejoin him. It was an unpleasant way to end a lovely vacation in the T&Cs.
That is absolutely terrible! I understand security but ticking off the source of a large amount of your lively hood makes no since. I wonder what the tourism department would say about it.
I got a kick out of what I witnessed when I was leaving GC. There were some food employees taking quite a bit of food stuffs, meats, liquids etc, in plastic containers out to the stand in the departure area. They, of course, had to go through security and get their IDs checked. The plastic containers of food, however, were passed through with no inspection whatsoever. To me, this seemed like a great way to smuggle things out. Hopefully that doesn’t say something bad about me
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no sargassum. perfect diving conditions. mild seas, mid-80s air temps. water temp at 60 feet was 80 degrees.
back to GCM security issue: the code I got was SSSS. I spoke to the local security supervisor. He said it was flagged by U.S. TSA, not local, not random. So that's why I mention that I have TSA pre chek, etc. at every other airport I have been to. The process was handled very courteously, as is the typical Cayman style for all interactions. But over the last few years it has happened consistently at GCM, and never at any other airport. I should also mention that there seemed to be at least 4 or 5 passengers from each flight who were flagged.
back to GCM security issue: the code I got was SSSS. I spoke to the local security supervisor. He said it was flagged by U.S. TSA, not local, not random. So that's why I mention that I have TSA pre chek, etc. at every other airport I have been to. The process was handled very courteously, as is the typical Cayman style for all interactions. But over the last few years it has happened consistently at GCM, and never at any other airport. I should also mention that there seemed to be at least 4 or 5 passengers from each flight who were flagged.
We too just returned from 12 days in GC and Little Cayman. Great weather and great diving. April and May are our favorite months for Cayman.
Stayed at Comfort Suites and Little Cayman Beach Resort.
Stayed at Comfort Suites and Little Cayman Beach Resort.
OP
How was the Comfort Suites section of Seven Mile Beach? It had eroded significantly due to storms last year - the nearby Marriott beach was also eroded.
A lot of erosion! The waves wash up under the beach chairs at Comfort Suites and Marriott. You could not walk south very far until there was no beach at all, just rocks. Situation is much better farther north.
OP
Happy News!
We made our reservations for LCBR over 4 months ago but at that time they could only book 6 nights because there was "no room at the inn" for the last night.
They told us that it was likely that space would open up for the last night, but that we might have to change rooms for one night. Those were the dates that we wanted and so we accepted the provisions and we've been on the waitlist for a room on our last night.
We were notified today that they had a cancellation and that we can now have a full week - without changing rooms - so I am very relieved!
We made our reservations for LCBR over 4 months ago but at that time they could only book 6 nights because there was "no room at the inn" for the last night.
They told us that it was likely that space would open up for the last night, but that we might have to change rooms for one night. Those were the dates that we wanted and so we accepted the provisions and we've been on the waitlist for a room on our last night.
We were notified today that they had a cancellation and that we can now have a full week - without changing rooms - so I am very relieved!
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