What part of Grand Cayman to stay on?

[Byte Me]

Have an opportunity to go to Grand Cayman in April 2010 and have two acquaintances who have condos there - one is on Seven Mile Beach and the other is in Cayman Kai.

There will be 5 of us going, three to dive (two of us to dive a lot, wife willing, and are experienced the other diver will be freshly minted). For those of you who have been there - which is the better area to stay for not only those of us who want to dive but for those who want to lay on the beach and also for us all to have a bit of night life?

Any dive op recommendations are appreciated as well. I've heard good things about Divetech. My ideal shop is small, no cattle boats, personal service, dive my profile, don't get hounded by DMs on a nose to tail guided dive but help me find my way back to the boat if necessary.

Thanks!

 

[Roombaguy]

Hi,

If you dive, Seven Mile Beach is the definite choice IMO. Loads of dive operators. In Kai, you are off the beaten path. To my knowledge, there is only Red Sail in the Kai/Rum Point area.

That being said, Kai will be much more peaceful than SMB if that is what you want. Nightlife & restaurants you will be happier on SMB tough.

My 2c

M.

 

[divesergeant]

They're like two different worlds. SMB has night life, Cayman Kai has tranquility.

If night life is paramount, do SMB. If peaceful beach lounging is critical, Cayman Kai is the way to go. On Cayman Kai, there are still Rum Point and Kaibo for some evening activities, although they aren't like the SMB bar scene. You can drive into SMB for festivities, but be sure to have a designated driver. Drunk drivers are idiots!

As for dive ops, we've stayed at Cayman Kai and dove with Ocean Frontiers on East End(www.oceanfrontiers.com) and found them to be superb. It is, if I recall, about a 20-25 minute drive to their shop, but there is pretty much no traffic getting there. They consistantly score tops in polls. When staying on SMB, we have had great experiences with Casey and Keith at Neptune's Divers (www.neptunesdivers.com). Both of these dive ops will accomodate all experience levels.

Of course, there are lots of good operators on the island, but we've found these to have served us well.

Feel free to PM with any questions you think of.
DS