Wow! Thank you all for such amazing and helpful suggestions. Your kindness and willingness to help demonstrates the awesomeness of the diving community. Special love to
@KathyV; you are truly a skilled concierge!
My pleasure! BTW, you mentioned that you might take a "super early flight to Brac" if you decide to stay over on GC for a couple of days but that may not be the best idea. The check-in time at CBBR is 3 pm and your meal plan starts with dinner on the first night.
If they have the space at CBBR they will let you check in early, but usually they are checking folks out and turning over the rooms. You can also buy food at the bar or in the dining room if you get there early, or you can rent a car at the airport or the hotel to explore the island if you wish. There are a few fun places to eat like the Captain's Table. We usually rent a car for a day to get out and explore sometime during the week, often on the afternoon of our last full day - it's a small place. It's hard to get lost on Brac (much easier to lose your way on GC) but you might want to download Google Maps of the Caymans before you leave home to avoid roaming charges.
When we are staying on GC and then traveling to Brac or Little Cayman. We usually check out of our hotel in the morning and try to fly to the Sister Islands in the late morning or early afternoon. There are lots of places on GC to have a good breakfast, and breakfast is included if you stay at Comfort Suites - or Coconut Joe's right across the street from the CS is good spot for breakfast and lunch.
After breakfast we head to the airport to check in and get rid of our luggage. The Cayman Airways ticketing counter opens early so you shouldn't have any problem checking in and checking your luggage (remember to put any liquor or other liquids greater than 3 oz. in your checked luggage because you will have to go through Security at GCM - and they will take your bottle away from you!)
If it is a Saturday or Sunday we get rid of our rental car at the airport and then take the free shuttle to the GTYC to relax, have a drink, and eventually order lunch before heading back to the airport and an afternoon flight to Brac. The GTYC is open at 8:30 am on weekends. They open at 11 am on Weekdays but if you are too early you can take a cab to another nice option. I think the MyBar at Sunset House also doesn't open until 11 am - but if you do get over there the Red Conch Chowder is delicious!
When you get to Cayman Brac they will pick you up at the airport and transport you to the resort just a few minutes away. You will drive right by the small grocery and liquor stores that I mentioned. You can bike to these stores from the resort if desired but remember that the stores are closed on Sundays.
After you check-in at the front desk we usually walk down to the dive shop to check-in there, present our C Cards, and get our boat assignment. It can be very busy at the dive shop on the first morning of diving because they will be checking in all the late arrivals from the night before, so getting it done the day before works well for us. They will give each of you a numbered mesh bag and instruct you to put your gear in it and leave it outside your door early the next morning. They will pick it up and it will be set up and waiting for you on the boat after breakfast.
There is a small spa at the resort and I enjoy having a massage later in the week, but try to make reservations early because they start to fill up fast as the week progresses.
For your return trip from Brac be aware that for international carriers like United, Delta, American, the ticketing and check-in counters at GCM usually open about 2 hours before their first flight so it is not always great to get to the airport too early. However, they have recently installed kiosks at the airport so that you can check in automatically and check your bags. I haven't had the chance to use them yet but hopefully they will resolve the problem of early arrivals.
Last fall, our only return flight option from CB to GC was the early morning jet - so we got to the to the GCM airport super early and had to hang around waiting for the United counter to open. I would have been happy to use the kiosks if they had been available to get checked in and head out of the airport and over to the GTYC!
So many folks first arriving on GC need to go through customs and immigration, but you won't need to do that after your return flight from Brac - so don't let anyone herd you into the incoming lines, if any. Tell them that you just got off an interisland flight from Brac and have already been processed through I&C.
I hope that you have a great trip!
