Over on the Trip Advisor Forum there is a discussion under way titled "Grand Cayman on a Budget...Is It Possible?" and of course that are a variety of opinions being expressed both pro and con.
In my mind, the deciding factors for the cost of any trip are "what are you looking for, when do you want to travel, and how much do you want to spend?" Even if you desire to stay in the most pricey resort in the center of Seven Mile Beach there are still options to reduce your costs - like traveling during the low season - but that might not meet your other expectations.
Anyway, I started thinking about options for diving GC and I decided to do some comparison shopping. I selected Roatan because it is generally considered a lower cost Caribbean dive travel destination and I selected "all-inclusive" dive resorts because they are easier to compare.
For Roatan I picked Coco View and for Grand Cayman I selected Cobalt Coast. Neither of these places are the cheapest (or the most expensive) options available and they are both diver-dedicated, popular, all-inclusive resorts. I have never stayed at either resort, but I have visited both and I have dived with the Coco View dive operation and with Reef Divers, the Cobalt Coast dive op - and I thought that they were both good dive operations. Both resorts have 4.5 stars and a large number of positive reviews on Trip Advisor. In general, I think that the 2 resorts are pretty evenly matched, but others may have different opinions.
The cheapest, low-season, all-inclusive package I found for Coco View was US $1445 per diver (that includes the 19% government tax) and the cheapest I found for Cobalt Coast was US $1573 (that includes the 13% government tax). Both packages include oceanfront, air-conditioned, accommodations for 7 nights, 3 meals per day, no drinks, airport transfers, 2 boat dives per day, and unlimited shore diving. Prices are based on 2 divers, double occupancy.
So a stay at Coco View is $128 dollars cheaper per week per diver, but you also have to consider travel costs in the budget. I picked a variety of dates during the low season for flights to and from Chicago and the flights to GC were more available and usually cheaper, often about $300 cheaper per person. So that could make the overall trip to GC about $172 cheaper per diver.
Of course, there are other value-added features that a prospective diver needs to consider. Coco Vew offers the nice option to take a extra tank on boat dives and drop divers off at the house reef on the way back - so that the dive starts as a boat dive and ends as a shore dive. While Reef Divers at Cobalt Coast offers free valet dive services and free use of a dive computer. Nice extra perks from both and hard to quantify the values.
Both resorts are located "off the beaten path" and present challenges if you want to leave the campus. We have never rented a car on Roatan, preferring to take some escorted tours. We always rent a car on GC, even if just for a few days, but tours are available and there is a reliable public bus system on GC; so there are other options, you don't have to rent a car.
Anyway, both taking escorted tours and renting a car are additional expenses that should be factored into the budget. Just checking some internet prices, basic car rental and tours are more expensive on Grand Cayman and if the prices are listed in Cayman dollars, keep in mind that the US dollar is only worth 80 cents, so that would make GC the more expensive option.
But another issue to consider are the health risks and travel medicine expenses for Roatan. Before we visit Roatan we always see the doctor and get immunizations or boosters for illnesses like typhoid and hepatitis A and we take anti-malarial medication before, during, and after the trip. We take precautions to avoid food and water-borne illnesses, especially outside of the resort complex. And the risk of mosquito-borne tropical infections are greater on Roatan so we take extra precautions against biting insects while we are there. So those are other concerns and expenses that could increase the costs, or decrease the value, of a trip to Roatan.
Of course you might find a special offer for either resort or some great prices on flights for either destination, but overall I think that both destinations and resorts seem pretty evenly matched in both value and in price, and that leads to the next question, how is the diving?
Both Roatan and Cayman offer very good Caribbean diving. Personally I think that the boat diving is better off of Grand Cayman than Roatan, but that's my opinion. I have never shore dived the house reefs at either the Coco View or Cobalt Coast resorts but from what I have read, Coco View may offer the better, more reliable, shore dive option.
Anyway, in answer to my own question, I think it is possible to dive Grand Cayman on a budget, especially if you spend most of the time on the AI resort property, but as always, the deciding factors are "what are you looking for, when do you want to travel, and how much do you want to spend?"
What are your opinions?
In my mind, the deciding factors for the cost of any trip are "what are you looking for, when do you want to travel, and how much do you want to spend?" Even if you desire to stay in the most pricey resort in the center of Seven Mile Beach there are still options to reduce your costs - like traveling during the low season - but that might not meet your other expectations.
Anyway, I started thinking about options for diving GC and I decided to do some comparison shopping. I selected Roatan because it is generally considered a lower cost Caribbean dive travel destination and I selected "all-inclusive" dive resorts because they are easier to compare.
For Roatan I picked Coco View and for Grand Cayman I selected Cobalt Coast. Neither of these places are the cheapest (or the most expensive) options available and they are both diver-dedicated, popular, all-inclusive resorts. I have never stayed at either resort, but I have visited both and I have dived with the Coco View dive operation and with Reef Divers, the Cobalt Coast dive op - and I thought that they were both good dive operations. Both resorts have 4.5 stars and a large number of positive reviews on Trip Advisor. In general, I think that the 2 resorts are pretty evenly matched, but others may have different opinions.
The cheapest, low-season, all-inclusive package I found for Coco View was US $1445 per diver (that includes the 19% government tax) and the cheapest I found for Cobalt Coast was US $1573 (that includes the 13% government tax). Both packages include oceanfront, air-conditioned, accommodations for 7 nights, 3 meals per day, no drinks, airport transfers, 2 boat dives per day, and unlimited shore diving. Prices are based on 2 divers, double occupancy.
So a stay at Coco View is $128 dollars cheaper per week per diver, but you also have to consider travel costs in the budget. I picked a variety of dates during the low season for flights to and from Chicago and the flights to GC were more available and usually cheaper, often about $300 cheaper per person. So that could make the overall trip to GC about $172 cheaper per diver.
Of course, there are other value-added features that a prospective diver needs to consider. Coco Vew offers the nice option to take a extra tank on boat dives and drop divers off at the house reef on the way back - so that the dive starts as a boat dive and ends as a shore dive. While Reef Divers at Cobalt Coast offers free valet dive services and free use of a dive computer. Nice extra perks from both and hard to quantify the values.
Both resorts are located "off the beaten path" and present challenges if you want to leave the campus. We have never rented a car on Roatan, preferring to take some escorted tours. We always rent a car on GC, even if just for a few days, but tours are available and there is a reliable public bus system on GC; so there are other options, you don't have to rent a car.
Anyway, both taking escorted tours and renting a car are additional expenses that should be factored into the budget. Just checking some internet prices, basic car rental and tours are more expensive on Grand Cayman and if the prices are listed in Cayman dollars, keep in mind that the US dollar is only worth 80 cents, so that would make GC the more expensive option.
But another issue to consider are the health risks and travel medicine expenses for Roatan. Before we visit Roatan we always see the doctor and get immunizations or boosters for illnesses like typhoid and hepatitis A and we take anti-malarial medication before, during, and after the trip. We take precautions to avoid food and water-borne illnesses, especially outside of the resort complex. And the risk of mosquito-borne tropical infections are greater on Roatan so we take extra precautions against biting insects while we are there. So those are other concerns and expenses that could increase the costs, or decrease the value, of a trip to Roatan.
Of course you might find a special offer for either resort or some great prices on flights for either destination, but overall I think that both destinations and resorts seem pretty evenly matched in both value and in price, and that leads to the next question, how is the diving?
Both Roatan and Cayman offer very good Caribbean diving. Personally I think that the boat diving is better off of Grand Cayman than Roatan, but that's my opinion. I have never shore dived the house reefs at either the Coco View or Cobalt Coast resorts but from what I have read, Coco View may offer the better, more reliable, shore dive option.
Anyway, in answer to my own question, I think it is possible to dive Grand Cayman on a budget, especially if you spend most of the time on the AI resort property, but as always, the deciding factors are "what are you looking for, when do you want to travel, and how much do you want to spend?"
What are your opinions?
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