Taking wife to cayman, need help

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Icculus

Registered
Messages
24
Reaction score
5
Location
Austin, Tx
# of dives
50 - 99
So my wife and I have decided on Grand Cayman for our dive trip. Hoping for 6nights 7 days. She doesn't care about amazing resorts, we just want diving included, and at least breakfast, preferably all three meals. Everything seems to run $1400pp or more without airfare. And sunset house's website is so crappy I can't even see their prices from my iPad.

any cheaper way to go about this? Said and done I'm looking at just under 2k each........which just seems excessive
 
Does this help?

This is the pricing from Sunset House.

Winter 2014

3 Nights with 2 DAYS DIVING - PER PERSON

SINGLEDOUBLE
Courtyard$959.50$682.75
Oceanview$1107.10$756.55
Suite$1162.45$784.23
Apartment$1236.25$821.13

5 Nights with 4 DAYS DIVING - PER PERSON

SINGLEDOUBLE
Courtyard$1620.50$1159.25
Oceanview$1866.50$1282.25
Suite$1958.75$1328.38
Apartment$2081.75$1389.88

7 Nights with 6 DAYS DIVING - PER PERSON

SINGLEDOUBLE
Courtyard$2281.50$1635.75
Oceanview$2625.90$1807.95
Suite$2755.05$1872.53
Apartment$2927.25$1958.63

Extra Nights with DIVING- PER PERSON

SINGLEDOUBLE
Courtyard$330.50$238.25
Oceanview$379.70$262.85
Suite$398.15$272.08
Apartment$422.75$284.38

 
Cobalt Coast is your other AI option on the West side. I believe it's even more expensive. Cobalt Coast

Grand Cayman is one of the pricier dive destinations in the Caribbean. So $1400 at Sunset doesn't surprise me, I'd have thought it would be more.

Ocean Frontiers on the East End also bundles diving with condo accommodations at Compass Point. No meals included though. That's really the better diving. Dive & Stay Vacations

The Reef is the other AI option out there - they bundle diving with Red Sail. Cayman Diving Resort - theReef Resort - Grand Cayman's Dive Vacations
 
I've wanted forever to go to cayman.......then I look at Bonaire and it's not much cheaper. Oh well. Thanks for the pricing info. I'm thinking we might just do 3 nights of 2 day boat dives and shore dive the rest.......
 
Are you set on boat dives? You can do a ton of shore diving at a fraction of the cost and stay somewhere else.

I would shore dive on the west and northwest like crazy and then save your boat diving for the east end!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Have a look at Little Cayman Beach Resort and Brac Beach Resort as well. They are on respective sister islands, offer all inclusive packages, good food, good dive ops and in my opinion the diving is better on both of these islands as well. They often have discounted "special offers". Depends on what kind of holiday you want. If your primary objective is diving and not shopping, I'd consider avoiding Grand Cayman.

Disagree with Lopez116, what sets the Cayman Islands apart from a lot of the rest of the Caribbean is the awesome wall diving which is not easily accessible from shore, so going out by boat is essential to experience this.

My preference for diving these islands is LC > Brac > GC.
When I am on GC, I almost always go boat diving in AM North or East End Wall and than do an afternoon shore dive at Turtle Reef or Cobalt Coast and then a night dive from same site.

---------- Post added January 5th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ----------

Just saw an all inclusive package for Cayman Brac reef resort for January for $1195 including afternoon diving, on a different thread. Hard to beat that deal.

---------- Post added January 5th, 2014 at 11:55 AM ----------

Don't forget to calculate in Cayman Airways flight to CB or LC. about $175 return per person.
Still a great deal on CB.
 
My understanding is that the op is considering a boat dive package with sunset house. I was responding to that when I said save the boat diving for the east end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
Having only been to Grand Cayman I cannot comment on the others. I can comment about Grand Cayman because I have been there.

We only did boat dives so I can't speak about the shore diving but here is what I have experienced.

The weather kicked up the day after we got there. We stayed and did our boat dives with Sunset House. We only go 2 days of diving on the west side, the first day and the last day. Because of the wind we were transported by van to the south side. I truly enjoyed the diving there. Great diving! Now the catch. Sunset House is a bit of a walk from town. Not bad but certainly not really enjoyable. Most of the way there are no sidewalks. Cabs are expensive, but then we found everything there to be expensive. Most of the folks at Sunset House were friendly and helpful, I especially liked Cathy Church's gallery onsite. As for the rest of it, I wasn't really impressed. With the weather the shops in Georgetown were mostly closed up, no cruise ships. For the shops and eating establishments we did visit we found them to be overpriced and the folks working there to be borderline rude and uncaring. One of the places we ate we took a cab to, the meal was ok nothing in the line of OMG. When we finished eating we asked to see if they would call a cab for us. The guy said just go stand out in front and someone will stop for you. Usually that would have been fine, except for that night the wind was howling and it was cool and rainy. Did I mention everything there is expensive? I would go there to dive again and I will. I have a trip planned on the Aggressor for later this year. I don't think I would go to Grand Cayman and stay there again.
 
Hi Icculus,

You didn't say when you're going, there is often a significant differential between on-season, winter, and off-season, summer. I have 10 trips to Grand Cayman from 1997-2011 and nearly 200 dives. Again, I find myself in agreement with diversteve and my two favorite resorts/operators are Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers in the East and Cobalt Coast/DiveTech in the Northwest. I have two stays at each. Grand Cayman is relatively expensive, but the diving is excellent.

Welcome to Compass Point
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The cost at Compass Point includes 2 boat dives each morning and a rental car for the stay, which is really needed. No meals are included but the accomodations include nice kitchens and you can save money by buying most of your groceries on the way there from the airport. There is now a restaurant at Compass Point and several within a reasonable drive. Ocean Frontiers is one of the best, if not the best, operator I have used. North dive sites and south dive sites are both excellent, access is othen weather/season dependent. There is little no shore diving though some savvy visitors have described some available here on SB. Afternoon or night dives would cost you additional.

Cobalt Coast
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The cost at Cobalt Coast includes 2 boat dives each morning and unlimited shore diving at 2 good sites, the resort and Lighthouse Point. This could save you some money on extra dives. They have a shuttle to the latter site. No car is included but they provide airport transportation. Personally, I like having a car. They have 3 meal options including breakfast only, all three meals, and all 3 meals and drinks. The food was quiet good and varied on both my visits. DiveTech is a very good operator. The West dives are good, the North wall dives are fantastic. Again access is weather/season dependent

From Philadelphia, I can often get direct flights to Grand Cayman at reasonable cost, not sure the situation for you from Austin. Best of luck in arranging your trip to Grand Cayman.

Good diving, Craig
 
I would break up the diving and the stay. Dive with Off the Wall Divers and stay somewhere on 7 mile beach. They'll come pick you up when you want to go on a boat dive and you can mix in a few shore dives to save on cash. Turtle Reef is excellent (mini wall).

Best of both worlds in my mind.

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