Generic Little Cayman Beach Resort
- Thread starter PartyStar
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
jdcpa
Contributor
I was in Little Cayman in June and, off the top of my head, I saw Seahorse, Pipehorse, Juvi Trunkfish, Painted Allsyia, Purple Crowned Sea Goddess, Pikefish, Headshield Slugs and the usual cast of characters. I saw very few Lionfish compared to the last few years. My impression was that the fish life is greater than it was last year. I have to respectfully disagree with the poster who indicated otherwise.
Although I did not use one, the bikes did not appear to be rusty to me.
I don't stay at LCBR, but do go there often.
Although I did not use one, the bikes did not appear to be rusty to me.
I don't stay at LCBR, but do go there often.
I was at LCBR just a few weeks before the OP. This was my second trip there. I was in a group of 36. The only bad parts was plane problems getting there & getting home,... No fault of the resort. The food always had many selections at any time of the day,... If I didn't like this, I got that. We had a selection of pork, beef, chicken, lamb, fish. The dive masters, while they do adhere to resort rules, They work their butts off, setting up & bring you your equipment. Some of the dive sites were a bit bare of exciting life, but that is not the fault of the resort,... That's diving,... luck of the draw to what you see. I have been to Malaysia & the Galapagos,... sorry,... the Caribbean will never hold a candle to that,... but it is the Caribbean. Every region has its own character, leave it at that. From what I can surmise from the OP, They would not have been happy, no matter what the resort does for them. Unfortunately,you can't please someone who doesn't want to be pleased.
caymaniac
Contributor
Little Cayman has great diving...for the Caribbean, it is tops to me. Turks and Caicos comes in second, and Little Cayman is not the Pacific as we've been to Australia and Papua New Guinea which has an incredible diversity. LC is as good as the Caribbean gets.
I've stayed at LCBR, the food is good, the DM's are good, the diving great,some people have to gripe at a place to show how much better they are as this "good" diving gets a thrashing review...you can't please everyone all the time!
I've stayed at LCBR, the food is good, the DM's are good, the diving great,some people have to gripe at a place to show how much better they are as this "good" diving gets a thrashing review...you can't please everyone all the time!
AggieDiver
Contributor
Mike, If my post was one you consider to be backpedaling on the quality of the experience at LCBR, you would be incorrect. I think it is the best diving and best dive experience in the Caribbean, hands down. I will be going back for the 4th year in a row in about 45 days. What I was trying to say is that it is not a lifestyles of the rich and famous type spa resort, and it sounds as though that is what the OP was looking for. I can understand how somebody might have those expectations if they only read brief comments from people raving about how great the place is. However, if they had even read one or two of the recent trip reports about the place here, they would have understood what to expect (or at least should have).
The fact is that as Drew said, the diving is the best in the Caribbean, not the best in the world. So if you go there expecting to see better than South Pacific type sealife, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you go there expecting five star lifestyles of the rich and famous type accomodations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It is a nice place to stay. As far as hotels I have stayed in at dedicated dive resorts, it is the nicest I have been to, but it is not a 5 star elegance type of place. It is a very quiet island with very few people and it is a small resort with only about 40 rooms or so. If that is what you are expecting, you won't be disappointed. But if you are expecting a Fijan style private Bure on the beach with your own personal staff attending to your needs and feeding you peeled grapes, you are going to be disappointed.
I just think the OP went into his trip there expecting one thing and he got something else. I also suspect that being there with what sounds to be some less friendly dive groups may have colored his perception of everything else a bit as well...which is completely outside of the control of the resort. In the end, maybe it won't be so bad if people post a few negative reviews from time to time. I love the place and would hate for it to become so popular that it was hard to get a reservation or they stopped offering the fall specials. It is a great and very quiet little resort with terrific food and the best diving in the caribbean...if that is what you want, come on down and have a great time. If you want the Ritz Carlton, then you are better off stopping on GC and going there instead.
Damselfish
Contributor
I agree, I don't think anyone is trying to lower expectations, just set them properly. The meaning of any given review depends on the experiences and expectations of the person writing it. And I don't actually agree with some reviews of LCBR that fall all over themselves raving about the place.
The key to me is that they do a consistently good job of everything and pretty much always have (except for a period years back when the dive op went all dive police, and we stopped going there until I heard it had changed.) That is actually somewhat rare. There are many places that do a good job at some things and not so much at others. Or do a good job sometimes and a crappy job others. or just plain slide downhill over time. I don't go there expecting Pacific class diving on a private boat, gourmet food, and the most luxurious facilities. I go there trusting I will conveniently get some of the best diving in the Caribbean with a good op, pretty good food, a nice room and facilities, in a nice relaxing place.
The key to me is that they do a consistently good job of everything and pretty much always have (except for a period years back when the dive op went all dive police, and we stopped going there until I heard it had changed.) That is actually somewhat rare. There are many places that do a good job at some things and not so much at others. Or do a good job sometimes and a crappy job others. or just plain slide downhill over time. I don't go there expecting Pacific class diving on a private boat, gourmet food, and the most luxurious facilities. I go there trusting I will conveniently get some of the best diving in the Caribbean with a good op, pretty good food, a nice room and facilities, in a nice relaxing place.
AggieDiver
Contributor
Sorry to resurrect this post from a couple months ago, but I had to bring up another point regarding some of the comments regarding a post here, and on tripadvisor. I suspect that DiverCarlos who chimed in on page 3 is the same Carlos who posted a really scathing review on TripAdvisor. A major part of Carlos' complaint on tripadvisor focused on what he referred to as "questionable dive shop practices" dealing with divers who lock out their computers being held out for up to 48 hours. If I spent a bunch of money to go diving somewhere, and locked out my computer early in the trip and had to sit out two days worth of diving, I suspect it would sour my opinion of the place as well. Carlos didn't mention that angle on his post here, I suspect because he knows he would get called on it, since it isn't a "questionable dive shop practice" but instead a very admirable policy to ensure diver safety since they are on a small island with minimal medical facilities and no recompression chamber.
I just wanted to report some firsthand observations from my visit last week where two different couple managed to get themselves locked out for 48 hours. Carlos' trip advisor post made it sound like the DMs simply responded to the "computers beeping as the divers exited the water" and immediately banned the divers without even looking at the profile data on the computer. Well my firsthand experience watching on my boat, and hearing the DM from the other boat describe their divers profiles put that claim to bed. In the case on my boat, the divers did a 1st dive to max depth of 118' for something like 42 minutes, and came up somehow just barely out of deco. Keep in mind that the profile for the dive was supposed to be max 110 for 45 minutes. So the divers already blew the profile once. On the second dive, with only a 45 minute surface interval, they proceeded to go to 112' for nearly 50 minutes and surfaced ignoring a deco obligation showing clearly on the computer. The second dive profile was max 60' for 60 minutes. So they blew that max depth by nearly 100%. The computer locked them out for the missed deco obligation. In my opinion, Reef Divers would have been well within their rights to prohibit the divers from diving again at all due to blatantly blowing generous profiles on two consecutive dives. Instead, after 48 hours, they let them back in the water for the afternoon dive. The couple again went well below the max depth on the profile and surfaced again with their computers locked out.
The upshot of all of that is that I would not be at all surprised to see another review appear on tripadvisor or elsewhere from a couple that couldn't find anything positive to say about the resort since they only got to do something like 4-5 dives total all week. I felt Reef Divers was being very generous in letting the divers back in the water again, after multiple blown profiles, but I am sure the divers who were locked out probably have a different take on how the whole thing wasn't their fault and the resort and diving were somehow terrible and boring.
Oh, and Betty...if you have read this far, I just got an email the other day about a special running I believe either in December or January, or both for 6 days of 2 tank dives, all three meals, and 7 nights poolview room for under $1400. I think you have to book before the end of September, but even if you wanted to add afternoon dives to that package, you would still come out well below $2000 pp.
I just wanted to report some firsthand observations from my visit last week where two different couple managed to get themselves locked out for 48 hours. Carlos' trip advisor post made it sound like the DMs simply responded to the "computers beeping as the divers exited the water" and immediately banned the divers without even looking at the profile data on the computer. Well my firsthand experience watching on my boat, and hearing the DM from the other boat describe their divers profiles put that claim to bed. In the case on my boat, the divers did a 1st dive to max depth of 118' for something like 42 minutes, and came up somehow just barely out of deco. Keep in mind that the profile for the dive was supposed to be max 110 for 45 minutes. So the divers already blew the profile once. On the second dive, with only a 45 minute surface interval, they proceeded to go to 112' for nearly 50 minutes and surfaced ignoring a deco obligation showing clearly on the computer. The second dive profile was max 60' for 60 minutes. So they blew that max depth by nearly 100%. The computer locked them out for the missed deco obligation. In my opinion, Reef Divers would have been well within their rights to prohibit the divers from diving again at all due to blatantly blowing generous profiles on two consecutive dives. Instead, after 48 hours, they let them back in the water for the afternoon dive. The couple again went well below the max depth on the profile and surfaced again with their computers locked out.
The upshot of all of that is that I would not be at all surprised to see another review appear on tripadvisor or elsewhere from a couple that couldn't find anything positive to say about the resort since they only got to do something like 4-5 dives total all week. I felt Reef Divers was being very generous in letting the divers back in the water again, after multiple blown profiles, but I am sure the divers who were locked out probably have a different take on how the whole thing wasn't their fault and the resort and diving were somehow terrible and boring.
Oh, and Betty...if you have read this far, I just got an email the other day about a special running I believe either in December or January, or both for 6 days of 2 tank dives, all three meals, and 7 nights poolview room for under $1400. I think you have to book before the end of September, but even if you wanted to add afternoon dives to that package, you would still come out well below $2000 pp.
keyshunter
Contributor
Aggie,
I don't usually read tripadvisor but someone called and told me about that particular post, so I looked it up. I thought it was pretty funny, since the comments are so far from my experience. I spend quite a bit of time at LCBR and seldom has there been a trip when someone does not have to sit out because of a computer lockout. Every boat briefing calls attention to the rule about lockouts, and often the DM says that if you inadvertently slip into deco, "do the time", but there seems to always be someone ... Usually it is the macho male who leads his partner astray, but on one occasion 2 all-female buddy teams came on board with all of their computers singing.
Blacktip Boulevard, particularly when done as a second dive, was notorious for people slipping into deco. This has a deeper mooring and although cautioned against it, people often begin on the wall, then venture across the sand and up onto the mini-wall at 15 feet and then back across the sand at the bottom to the mooring. This profile gives many computers dyspepsia. Blacktip is seldom done these days since essentially the same area can be covered from Anne's Attic, which is one of the newer sites and has a shallow mooring.
Winter before last, because of weather, we were doing a wall dive on the south side. This is my favorite area, and I know it pretty well. Chatting with my instabuddy before the dive, I noted that he was one of those been everywhere, done everything types, but he would follow me. I cautioned that the swim-through I was going through came out a bit deep, but if we stayed to the top we would come onto the wall at 110 feet. Naturally, he ignored me and followed the bottom of the exit, and then continued on down the wall to (as I found out later) 145'. Now I am pretty comfortable at that depth and beyond, and if he was a young kid, I would have caught him, but I don't chase down "experts". I hung at 110' and when I finally got him to check his depth, he did a double take and then jetted back up to me. I took a look at his remaining bottom time, and decided that I had to scrap my plan of heading east and going up through a particularly nice crack and just headed straight up the wall and played on one of the shallower fingers under the boat until he used up his bottom time. I wonder if he were leading an inexperienced diver would they have ended up in sit out mode.
I don't usually read tripadvisor but someone called and told me about that particular post, so I looked it up. I thought it was pretty funny, since the comments are so far from my experience. I spend quite a bit of time at LCBR and seldom has there been a trip when someone does not have to sit out because of a computer lockout. Every boat briefing calls attention to the rule about lockouts, and often the DM says that if you inadvertently slip into deco, "do the time", but there seems to always be someone ... Usually it is the macho male who leads his partner astray, but on one occasion 2 all-female buddy teams came on board with all of their computers singing.
Blacktip Boulevard, particularly when done as a second dive, was notorious for people slipping into deco. This has a deeper mooring and although cautioned against it, people often begin on the wall, then venture across the sand and up onto the mini-wall at 15 feet and then back across the sand at the bottom to the mooring. This profile gives many computers dyspepsia. Blacktip is seldom done these days since essentially the same area can be covered from Anne's Attic, which is one of the newer sites and has a shallow mooring.
Winter before last, because of weather, we were doing a wall dive on the south side. This is my favorite area, and I know it pretty well. Chatting with my instabuddy before the dive, I noted that he was one of those been everywhere, done everything types, but he would follow me. I cautioned that the swim-through I was going through came out a bit deep, but if we stayed to the top we would come onto the wall at 110 feet. Naturally, he ignored me and followed the bottom of the exit, and then continued on down the wall to (as I found out later) 145'. Now I am pretty comfortable at that depth and beyond, and if he was a young kid, I would have caught him, but I don't chase down "experts". I hung at 110' and when I finally got him to check his depth, he did a double take and then jetted back up to me. I took a look at his remaining bottom time, and decided that I had to scrap my plan of heading east and going up through a particularly nice crack and just headed straight up the wall and played on one of the shallower fingers under the boat until he used up his bottom time. I wonder if he were leading an inexperienced diver would they have ended up in sit out mode.
Keyshunter:
Your comments about Blacktip show you definitely know the area. I used to work at LCBR as a DM and repeatedly saw precisely the problems you described. These days I go down there for a couple of months each winter and do all my diving from shore. Blacktip is usually my turn point when I'm heading west from the Sarah's Set entry, which is an easy one. Somebody cut a trail through the woods so you can do an entry right at Blacktip, but I wasn't impressed by the entry there. So now you got me curious about this new mooring you mentioned: "Anne's Attic". I'm sure I know the basis for the name, and I'm really glad that somebody managed to memorialize Annie by naming a site after her. (She was one of my favorites on Little Cayman for years, and we will always miss her.) So where exactly is this new ball? I was there until the end of February last winter and don't remember seeing any new mooring balls in that area.
Bruce
Your comments about Blacktip show you definitely know the area. I used to work at LCBR as a DM and repeatedly saw precisely the problems you described. These days I go down there for a couple of months each winter and do all my diving from shore. Blacktip is usually my turn point when I'm heading west from the Sarah's Set entry, which is an easy one. Somebody cut a trail through the woods so you can do an entry right at Blacktip, but I wasn't impressed by the entry there. So now you got me curious about this new mooring you mentioned: "Anne's Attic". I'm sure I know the basis for the name, and I'm really glad that somebody managed to memorialize Annie by naming a site after her. (She was one of my favorites on Little Cayman for years, and we will always miss her.) So where exactly is this new ball? I was there until the end of February last winter and don't remember seeing any new mooring balls in that area.
Bruce
AggieDiver
Contributor
I believe Anne's Attic is what used to be Sailfin Reef. Not a brand new site, just a renaming of an existing one.
Similar threads
