divesergeant
Contributor
GCM April-May Trip Report
We made it to Grand Cayman Sunday afternoon, April 24th. Uneventful flights, with four quality hours spent in layover at MIA. Woo-hooo! But I have to say, the tacos we had there for lunch were arguably amongst the best we can remember having.
Andy’s Jeep Rental- part un
The first Jeep from Andy’s had issues. The back would not close enough to keep stuff dry, and the tire light was on. The tire solution offered by the first lady was for us to take it up to a station and pay to fill the tires. Ummm, nope WTF? Then another one of their ladies decided she would put air in and pumped the tires to 50psi. The Jeep placard says 35psi, just like I had told her before she started. We ended up taking the Jeep anyway but made arrangements to swap it the next day when they had another one ready.
Food
Of course, there were absolutely no groceries stores open at all being a Sunday. We ended up eating at Rackams, then buying a carryout pizza at Pizza Hut which we put in the fridge to be warmed up for breakfast.
Lodging / Diving
I’ll attach a picture or two of the view off our balcony. Our dive operator (Living The Dream Divers) just opened their own resort (Ocean Cabanas) on the northwest corner of the island with just 7 cabanas in it. We’re one of their first guests and they seem as excited to have us here as we are to be here, and they are justifiably proud of what they have created.
We are in their Stingray Cabana.
The condos are nicely furnished with Moen, Whirlpool, Cuisinart and KitchenAid appliances. High, vaulted 12 foot + ceilings with 8’ high door wall opening up to the sea makes the condo feel very light and airy.
And of course, we’re diving with them as well for our first time. Living the Dream Divers has some of the best dive boats we’ve been on for years. They’re large, pretty new, very well maintained. They are made to accommodate probably 16 or more divers, but they limit the boats to about half that. Dives are guided, but once they became comfortable with our skills they were OK if we wanted to lag a bit behind the group and explore at our own pace.
1- Looking North- that is the dock from DiveTech’s Lighthouse Point on the far right, with Macabuca restaurant a half mile or so farther north
2-Looking south- Bonnie’s Arch dive site would be just out of view to the left of the picture
Day one of diving found us at Notre Dame and Hammerhead Hole. Descending on the second dive I had a large male loggerhead turtle come up and get in my face. Literally, in my face. Like, nose to nose. Like, eye to eye. Like, I just load my drawers close. Like, Holy crap is this thing going to munch my nose close. He and I froze, nose to nose for a few moments. Then he ended up putting its right flipper on my shoulder and pushing off, brushing my forehead with its shell and rear flipper. I could have stopped the dive right then and been happy! Apparently this fellow has been cruising off SMB and interacting with divers fairly regularly. It is breeding season and he is looking for some turtle move. Sorry fella, not judging, but that’s not the lifestyle for me!
Day two we dived Big Tunnels and La Mesa,
Day three saw us at Trinity Caves and The Aquarium.
On both the second and third days the first dives were beautiful with swim throughs and dramatic underwater formations. These dives are often more about cruising past the scenery than checking out little stuff. The second dive each day found us surrounded by an endless number and species of fishes. At Aquarium we spotted a huge Cubera Snapper lounging under an overhang. It did not stick around to visit with us, which is probably why it has grown to the size and age it has.
After several days of diving, we have to give Living The Dream Divers high marks. We’ve dived with Casey at Neptune’s Divers for years but she has closed Neptune’s. We ended up trying LTD because they seemed to have the same philosophy as Casey did as far as small groups and good service. And their boats are great!
Dining so far has been the aforementioned Rackams the first night and Macabuca the third night. The other nights we’ve eaten at the condo.
We’re taking today, Thursday, off from diving to drive around the island.
Thursday Island Trip
We drove to Rum Point, which is closed. until further notice. No big lose as far as I am concerned. We visited there in the 1980s when it was pretty much a shack on the beach and was fun. The last few visits I cringe when I think of going there. From there we headed east and had a wonderful lunch at Eagle Ray’s at Ocean Frontiers. We had a chance to visit with Mo. Sadly, we learned that their original boat, the NautiCat, has been hauled out and is on the hard waiting to be cut up. It sounds like they may sell pieces of her hull stamped with the name and made into keychains.
Another sad item of news. The Lighthouse at Breakers is closed. It is up for sale so who knows if it will reopen.
We finished the island tour with a stop at Pure Art, an island must-do stop that invariably increases our return flight luggage weight.
Andy’s Jeep Rental- part deux
We swapped Jeeps as planned. This one seemed okay. Until the second day that we had it. I locked the tail gate and it would not unlock. Something was loose in the mechanism. Back to Andy’s we went. They arranged to swap with us the next day, and to do it at the SMB location which was very convenient for us. We swapped the next day, and so far so good!
Dear God, how I miss Cayman Auto Rental. Robbie’s Jeeps were always well maintained, clean and just plain worked right!
Friday/Saturday Diving
More wonderful west side diving, with Saturday being to the south at Eagle Ray Rock where we were treated to a large barracuda at a cleaning station.
Dining Update
After a late lunch at Eagle Rays on Thursday, we ended up making a batch of popcorn and having that and wine for dinner. Hey, there has got to be good fibre in popped corn, right?????
On Saturday we headed to Alfresco where we, as always, had a wonderful meal with great ambiance. It is highly recommended!
’Nuff for now. Gotta head to the sack and rest up for another grueling day of valet diving!
Cheers,
Dive Sergeant
We made it to Grand Cayman Sunday afternoon, April 24th. Uneventful flights, with four quality hours spent in layover at MIA. Woo-hooo! But I have to say, the tacos we had there for lunch were arguably amongst the best we can remember having.
Andy’s Jeep Rental- part un
The first Jeep from Andy’s had issues. The back would not close enough to keep stuff dry, and the tire light was on. The tire solution offered by the first lady was for us to take it up to a station and pay to fill the tires. Ummm, nope WTF? Then another one of their ladies decided she would put air in and pumped the tires to 50psi. The Jeep placard says 35psi, just like I had told her before she started. We ended up taking the Jeep anyway but made arrangements to swap it the next day when they had another one ready.
Food
Of course, there were absolutely no groceries stores open at all being a Sunday. We ended up eating at Rackams, then buying a carryout pizza at Pizza Hut which we put in the fridge to be warmed up for breakfast.
Lodging / Diving
I’ll attach a picture or two of the view off our balcony. Our dive operator (Living The Dream Divers) just opened their own resort (Ocean Cabanas) on the northwest corner of the island with just 7 cabanas in it. We’re one of their first guests and they seem as excited to have us here as we are to be here, and they are justifiably proud of what they have created.
We are in their Stingray Cabana.
The condos are nicely furnished with Moen, Whirlpool, Cuisinart and KitchenAid appliances. High, vaulted 12 foot + ceilings with 8’ high door wall opening up to the sea makes the condo feel very light and airy.
And of course, we’re diving with them as well for our first time. Living the Dream Divers has some of the best dive boats we’ve been on for years. They’re large, pretty new, very well maintained. They are made to accommodate probably 16 or more divers, but they limit the boats to about half that. Dives are guided, but once they became comfortable with our skills they were OK if we wanted to lag a bit behind the group and explore at our own pace.
1- Looking North- that is the dock from DiveTech’s Lighthouse Point on the far right, with Macabuca restaurant a half mile or so farther north
2-Looking south- Bonnie’s Arch dive site would be just out of view to the left of the picture
Day one of diving found us at Notre Dame and Hammerhead Hole. Descending on the second dive I had a large male loggerhead turtle come up and get in my face. Literally, in my face. Like, nose to nose. Like, eye to eye. Like, I just load my drawers close. Like, Holy crap is this thing going to munch my nose close. He and I froze, nose to nose for a few moments. Then he ended up putting its right flipper on my shoulder and pushing off, brushing my forehead with its shell and rear flipper. I could have stopped the dive right then and been happy! Apparently this fellow has been cruising off SMB and interacting with divers fairly regularly. It is breeding season and he is looking for some turtle move. Sorry fella, not judging, but that’s not the lifestyle for me!
Day two we dived Big Tunnels and La Mesa,
Day three saw us at Trinity Caves and The Aquarium.
On both the second and third days the first dives were beautiful with swim throughs and dramatic underwater formations. These dives are often more about cruising past the scenery than checking out little stuff. The second dive each day found us surrounded by an endless number and species of fishes. At Aquarium we spotted a huge Cubera Snapper lounging under an overhang. It did not stick around to visit with us, which is probably why it has grown to the size and age it has.
After several days of diving, we have to give Living The Dream Divers high marks. We’ve dived with Casey at Neptune’s Divers for years but she has closed Neptune’s. We ended up trying LTD because they seemed to have the same philosophy as Casey did as far as small groups and good service. And their boats are great!
Dining so far has been the aforementioned Rackams the first night and Macabuca the third night. The other nights we’ve eaten at the condo.
We’re taking today, Thursday, off from diving to drive around the island.
Thursday Island Trip
We drove to Rum Point, which is closed. until further notice. No big lose as far as I am concerned. We visited there in the 1980s when it was pretty much a shack on the beach and was fun. The last few visits I cringe when I think of going there. From there we headed east and had a wonderful lunch at Eagle Ray’s at Ocean Frontiers. We had a chance to visit with Mo. Sadly, we learned that their original boat, the NautiCat, has been hauled out and is on the hard waiting to be cut up. It sounds like they may sell pieces of her hull stamped with the name and made into keychains.
Another sad item of news. The Lighthouse at Breakers is closed. It is up for sale so who knows if it will reopen.
We finished the island tour with a stop at Pure Art, an island must-do stop that invariably increases our return flight luggage weight.
Andy’s Jeep Rental- part deux
We swapped Jeeps as planned. This one seemed okay. Until the second day that we had it. I locked the tail gate and it would not unlock. Something was loose in the mechanism. Back to Andy’s we went. They arranged to swap with us the next day, and to do it at the SMB location which was very convenient for us. We swapped the next day, and so far so good!
Dear God, how I miss Cayman Auto Rental. Robbie’s Jeeps were always well maintained, clean and just plain worked right!
Friday/Saturday Diving
More wonderful west side diving, with Saturday being to the south at Eagle Ray Rock where we were treated to a large barracuda at a cleaning station.
Dining Update
After a late lunch at Eagle Rays on Thursday, we ended up making a batch of popcorn and having that and wine for dinner. Hey, there has got to be good fibre in popped corn, right?????
On Saturday we headed to Alfresco where we, as always, had a wonderful meal with great ambiance. It is highly recommended!
’Nuff for now. Gotta head to the sack and rest up for another grueling day of valet diving!
Cheers,
Dive Sergeant