I was in Grand Cayman the first week of November. This was our first trip to Cayman and it definitely wont be the last. We are lucky enough to have friends with a time share who also dive and we stayed in a 2 BR place at The Reef Resort on the East End.
The boring stuff.
We flew USAir with a stop in Charlotte. They were a little more expensive than Continental but the flights both ways were great - which is not all that common for USAir. We rented an el-cheapo car with Hertz and it was a real POS. It broke down on Friday night and in the islands you can forget about service after hours. The maintenance staff at the Reef was great. They came out with jumper cables to get us back to the resort. Hertz replaced the battery the next day. It might have been the first time that hood was opened.
Verizon cell coverage was good in Georgetown but spotty on the East End.
We had some excellent meals. A new place Tukka was by far the best but also the most expensive. Over the Edge was also good and the Pelican Bar at the resort had good food and great drinks. Liquor was expensive due to the sin taxes and next time we will each bring a liter of sin into the country.
On an off day we made a trip into Georgetown so the wives could check out the jewelry stores ouch. I held out to stop at Sunset House and see Cathy Church. I wanted to see the Olympus EPL1 in the housing. It looks great and Ive seen nothing but good reviews. Im going to sell my SP-560 and buy one before the 2011 season starts (If I can only get Santa to put one under the tree). We found a couple of prints to buy in Cathys store because I know Ill NEVER be that good. I dont have the patience but I did get some good shots in the swim throughs.
Now for the good stuff
We were planning on diving with Ocean Frontiers based on reports on SB but they had a large group for the week and could not accommodate us. Im kind of glad they couldnt since they were a 10 minute drive. We dove with Tortuga Divers (part of Red Sail) located next door at Morritts resort. It was an easy walk and they were great. We kept our gear in the equipment lockers right on the dock (no charge) and went out with them on 3 different days and dove the wall at 100ft and 5 different sites on the reefs at about 60ft. The boats were not crowded and the staff was great especially Woody, Reports of a Cattle Boat DO NOT apply to Tortuga Divers!
I dont normally do the guided thing but since they had a guide in the water for every dive anyways we decided to tag along. Im glad we did as he was great at pointing out Lobster, Crabs, Lionfish, Trumpetfish, Morays and a few Nurse Sharks hiding under the reefs. And on the last dive Jessica got to swim with a Sea Turtle.
Stingray City had you guessed it Stingrays. My wife isnt a diver but we had a lot of fun snorkeling with the stingrays (and drinking rum punch on the boat ride back).
Air temp was upper 70s to upper 80s and aside from a few showers it was sunny. Water temp was about 82 and Vis ranged from WOW to Oh my God. The St. Lawrence wreck diving is outstanding but it sure was nice to leave my drysuit at home and wear a 3mm shorty or just a rash guard.
Now for the best part we bought a timeshare at The Reef so were going back! :banana:
NetPro
Links for stuff
The Reef
Grand Cayman Resort | The Reef Cayman Islands All Inclusive
Tukka
cayCompass.com :: Tuck in at EE's Tukka, mate
Over the Edge
Over the edge restaurant
Cathy Church
Welcome
Tortuga Divers
Tortuga Grand Cayman - Scuba Diving From Morritts Red Sail Sports
The boring stuff.
We flew USAir with a stop in Charlotte. They were a little more expensive than Continental but the flights both ways were great - which is not all that common for USAir. We rented an el-cheapo car with Hertz and it was a real POS. It broke down on Friday night and in the islands you can forget about service after hours. The maintenance staff at the Reef was great. They came out with jumper cables to get us back to the resort. Hertz replaced the battery the next day. It might have been the first time that hood was opened.
Verizon cell coverage was good in Georgetown but spotty on the East End.
We had some excellent meals. A new place Tukka was by far the best but also the most expensive. Over the Edge was also good and the Pelican Bar at the resort had good food and great drinks. Liquor was expensive due to the sin taxes and next time we will each bring a liter of sin into the country.
On an off day we made a trip into Georgetown so the wives could check out the jewelry stores ouch. I held out to stop at Sunset House and see Cathy Church. I wanted to see the Olympus EPL1 in the housing. It looks great and Ive seen nothing but good reviews. Im going to sell my SP-560 and buy one before the 2011 season starts (If I can only get Santa to put one under the tree). We found a couple of prints to buy in Cathys store because I know Ill NEVER be that good. I dont have the patience but I did get some good shots in the swim throughs.
Now for the good stuff
We were planning on diving with Ocean Frontiers based on reports on SB but they had a large group for the week and could not accommodate us. Im kind of glad they couldnt since they were a 10 minute drive. We dove with Tortuga Divers (part of Red Sail) located next door at Morritts resort. It was an easy walk and they were great. We kept our gear in the equipment lockers right on the dock (no charge) and went out with them on 3 different days and dove the wall at 100ft and 5 different sites on the reefs at about 60ft. The boats were not crowded and the staff was great especially Woody, Reports of a Cattle Boat DO NOT apply to Tortuga Divers!
I dont normally do the guided thing but since they had a guide in the water for every dive anyways we decided to tag along. Im glad we did as he was great at pointing out Lobster, Crabs, Lionfish, Trumpetfish, Morays and a few Nurse Sharks hiding under the reefs. And on the last dive Jessica got to swim with a Sea Turtle.
Stingray City had you guessed it Stingrays. My wife isnt a diver but we had a lot of fun snorkeling with the stingrays (and drinking rum punch on the boat ride back).
Air temp was upper 70s to upper 80s and aside from a few showers it was sunny. Water temp was about 82 and Vis ranged from WOW to Oh my God. The St. Lawrence wreck diving is outstanding but it sure was nice to leave my drysuit at home and wear a 3mm shorty or just a rash guard.
Now for the best part we bought a timeshare at The Reef so were going back! :banana:
NetPro
Links for stuff
The Reef
Grand Cayman Resort | The Reef Cayman Islands All Inclusive
Tukka
cayCompass.com :: Tuck in at EE's Tukka, mate
Over the Edge
Over the edge restaurant
Cathy Church
Welcome
Tortuga Divers
Tortuga Grand Cayman - Scuba Diving From Morritts Red Sail Sports
