Puck:
Has anyone stayed at the Cayman Diving Lodge? What are your thoughts. From the brief posts I have read, it sounds like the diving is great. How about the accomodations, food, etc. Was it a value? 4 of us are looking to book a trip, and this place is my job to research. All of us will have just 4-6 post-OW-Cert dives under our weight belts. Thanks in advance for all of your help.
The Cayman Dive Lodge is a great place to dive. The divemasters are all fun and professional. They look for sites that have little or no current, and the DMs are in the water guiding you, so as new divers, you should have no trouble. One wall dive and one reef dive, usually with swimthroughs on both, is the norm. They are also very good about paying attention to the group, but not so much that you feel like you couldn't do anything but follow the leader. Also, you'll almost always hear the diving on the east/north end of Cayman is the best the island has to offer. They offer night dives, and I believe still offer a weekly trip to Stingray City.
In addition, they give you lockers for your equipment, and will take it to and from the boat, rinse it, and set it up for you each day. They also switch tanks for you during the surface interval. Unless you want to, you don't have to do anything except get your wetsuit each morning to be ready to dive.
I have stayed there twice, and even though my Father-in-Law now has a time share at Morritt's on the east end, we still dive with CDL. That is how good we think they are. We will be going again in March for a week, and diving with them while staying at the time-share.
Now, there are a couple of other things to consider. If you are staying there, it is an all-inclusive deal except for liquor and canned soda. The East End is 30 minutes from Georgetown and the bars and parties, so if you are looking for night life after diving, there is none on the East End to speak of. CDL is more about the diving and peace and quiet, rather than diving followed by nights on the town.
The accomodations are very basic. No tv and no phone in the room. Bed, dresser, shower. The food is plentiful and very good. They post the menu in advance, so if you feel the need to go out to a restaurant, you can skip a night that has something you don't like maybe. In a nutshell, they do airport transports for you, and once you are there, you don't have to leave unless you want to.
So, if you are going for parties and sightseeing, east end is a bit removed from all that and you have to travel a bit to get there (with a rental car it is easily done though). If, on the other hand, you are going for diving, diving and some diving, CDL will be a great place and you won't regret it,
