Cayman Airways carry-on baggage policy

[cleomagic]

HI! We are headed to LBCR at the end if September and we are taking the Twin Otter plane from Grand Cayman to Little Cayman. I have looked on the Cayman Airlines website, and I cannot tell if I am interpreting their carry-on baggage policy correctly. I read it as we are allowed 1 carry-on with a max limit of 15lbs, and then each additional lb is $0.50. My husband is reading it as 1 carry on with the 15lbs limit and $0.50 each additional and a personal item - purse or laptop.

We figure someone here would know and then we can pack accordingly. Thanks!

 

[Hintermann]

I did exactly the same thing this January and can tell you that you are interpreting it correctly. I had 2 check-in bags, both just under 20kg (55lb) and they allowed the second at 50 cents per pound or roughly $1.20 per kilo. This added $24 per combo flight (GC>CB>LC) and so it cost me $48 in all both ways. But do not make either of your check-in bags heavier than 20kg because they might then grumble if the plane is full. One of the guys that I was chatting to at CA told me that they do calculate the total weight on every flight (passengers + luggage + fuel ) and make sure that they are within safe limits.

The carry-on baggage is limited to 7kg or 16lb. This they enforce rather strictly because there is no separate storage room within the Otters. The hand luggage goes between your legs or in the aisle.

 

[cleomagic]

Thanks, Hintermann - I wish my husband was right (just don't tell him I said that ) We think we are good on the checked baggage - the carry-on is where we are struggling.... Time to lay everything out and get out the scale...

 

[AdivingBel]

We just returned from Little Cayman. For the Otter it was 55 lb. checked baggage and 1 carry on up to 15 lb. per ticket (no additional personal item). We called Cayman Airways prior to our trip and confirmed the policy. Onsite they were more liberal and allowed my wife a medium sized purse as a personal item in addition to her carry on. I got the impression that could vary depending on the load and circumstance. YMMV

 

[cleomagic]

Thanks, AdivingBel - Right now, my husband and I are checking out the size of our pockets

 

[lmorin]

........... We think we are good on the checked baggage - the carry-on is where we are struggling.... Time to lay everything out and get out the scale...

We are going through the same process right now. We usually take a 50 lb rolling duffel containing two sets of the bulky dive gear, a second rolling duffel @ 30-35 lbs clothing for two, with regulators cameras etc spread into two carry-on suitcases. The problem now is that the empty carry-ons are so heavy that I cannot add even one person's regulator, flashlight, prescription mask and miscellaneous other things without exceeding the 15 lbs. We seem to be headed toward using a small backpack for each of us. All the necessary carry-on stuff in my wife's back pack tilts the scale at <12 lbs.

 

[LiquidDivingAdventure]

There is a bit more to your question....it depends upon how you get to Grand Cayman. When we fly to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, we often fly out of Miami on Cayman Airways which includes the flight on an Otter to Little Cayman. When booking the flights with Cayman Airways including the international legs, Cayman Airways has a 2 bags free policy (50 lbs or 22 kgs) which is great for divers. That said, if you fly to Grand Cayman on a carrier other than Cayman Airways and you book the Otter to Little Cayman (Cayman Express), bag fees will apply.

 

[caymaniac]

I use a backpack and get in as much as I can...all 15lbs. I can always cram it in with me but sometimes they weigh them and take them from you.

 

[AggieDiver]

My wife and I face this same dilemma annually, and the solution is to just plan to pay some bag fees. I have never had them physically take a carryon bag from me because it was too heavy. They also have only made me pay the overweight fee twice in about 10 legs back and forth from GC to LC. Even if they do, it is only $0.50 per pound. So if you are 20 pounds over weight, you are still only talking about $20 total for both trips. Less than a single bag fee on most airlines, and well under the $75-200 overweight fees charged by most US airlines.

Here are a couple of tips for what has worked for us in the past. On the Otter from GC to LC and back, you can check two bags totaling 55#, and one carryon totaling 15#. However, most airlines coming to GC will charge you for each checked bag, but will let you carry a carryon and a "personal item". So here is what we have done in the past. We put all of our camera gear, batteries, chargers, portable hard drive for backing up dive photos, and small miscellaneous gear in a carryon sized pelican case. We put our BCs and fins in one large duffel and clothing and toiletries for both of us in another duffel. My wife puts both regulators and both masks along with a book and snacks in a regulator bag, and I put our small tablet, passports, kindles, and other miscellaneous travel stuff in a medium sized backpack. For the flight to GC, we check the two duffles, and my wife carries her reg bag on, and I carryon the pelican and the backpack is my "personal item". When we get to GC, we check the two duffles and the pelican case and wind up at about 115-120#s for the two of us. They may or may not charge us $5-10 in overweight fees. I have never had them weight my carryon bag at the GC airport, but mine usually weighs around 20-25# and my wife's weighs around #25 with both regs in it. When you leave LC, they will have you put all of your combined bags on the scale one at a time and then add it up to see if you (as a couple) are over the 140# total (2x55#+2x15#) and may or may not ask you to pay for the overage there.

Here are a few more tips. Don't pack a bunch of clothes. We know we will usually end up buying a shirt or two from the dive/gift shop. So pack 1-2 fewer than you need and buy them at the beginning of your stay. Also, the water this time of year is generally very warm (84-86F generally), and you may not need any exposure protection beyond a rash guard while underwater. The last 3 years that we have gone in September or early October, I have been diving in shorts and no shirt or shorts and a long sleeve rash guard. I carried a 2mm shorty for 2 of those years and never even got it wet. They only offer night dives 1-2 times per week, so if you go on one, just rent a light instead of bringing your own. Other than that, just realize that although the food is fabulous, the dining room is a VERY casual place, and shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops are what almost everybody will be wearing to meals. So again...don't pack so many clothes!

I hope that helps...now I have to get back to figuring out how I am going to pack for this year's trip in late October now that we will have 2 camera rigs instead of just one... I wonder if they would be willing to factor in the fact that we have lost over 100# between the two of us since February in whether they charge us more bag fees?

 

[cleomagic]

Here is where we are at - we have 1 rolling duffle that has 2 pairs of fins, BCs, wetsuits (I do get cold), and boots. Weights in at 48#s

We do have 2 camera rigs, and we have a backpack that has 2 housings, 4 strobes, 2 photos lights, 2 fisheye lenses, and 2 macro lenses - weights in at 15#s.

Between the 2 of us, we weighed our clothes in at 10#s.

So, looks like we are not doing to bad - however, our 1 rolling suitcase with the 2 regs, computers, arms, clamps, batteries and electronics came in at 36#s.

We are thinking about setting up 1 suitcase so it is carry-on size, and then we can check it at the gate (free). When we arrive in GC, then it becomes one of the checked bags.

We are also looking into a travel backpack - there are some reviews of some online. The backpack alone is ~3#s where our suitcase is 6 1/2#s (this is the lighter one) That will save us a few pounds, and we can reuse it for our backpacking trip to Europe next year

Will keep y'all posted. Sad that we are travelling with 140#s of weight when only 10#s of it is clothes.....