Hi all,
I've lurked for a long time but thought it was finally time to post a trip report, especially since I didn't find a lot of specifics on Divetech or Lighthouse Point when I was researching where to stay here. We returned yesterday from our first trip to Grand Cayman from April 13-20, and were definitely disappointed to leave!
We chose Divetech/Lighthouse Point as we wanted to stay on the west side to make doing the Kittiwake easier, and I prefer to stay somewhere with dive shop on site to reduce the hauling of gear. The shore dive opportunity was also attractive, although not a deciding factor for us. We were a group of 4, three divers and one snorkeler, and needed accommodations for one couple and two singles, so the Lighthouse Point condo worked well for us.
The condo: Very nice with comfy beds, good sized kitchen and plenty of space for us to relax, both inside and out. It was dark though as there is a window in the kitchen and then a sliding glass door on the other end of open kitchen/dining room/living room, so anytime we were there we had to have the lights on to see. Not a big deal for us, but if you like natural light, it is lacking there. We rented a minivan and appreciated the shaded parking spot under the building.
Dive sites: Our group did 12-18 dives each, including the Kittiwake, Stingray City dive, a night dive at Lighthouse Reef, and sites on the north and west side. I really enjoyed the variety of sites with walls, coral formations and reefs. The Kittiwake was my least favorite--this was my first wreck, and the angled tilt really gave me a headache--although 2 in our group did it a second time. While I'm glad we did Stingray City, it's not one I would do again (been there done that once is enough). My favorite site was Tarpon Alley, largely because we had a nurse shark join us for over half the dive and insist on photobombing pictures of everything else we found (plus we saw two Caribbean Reef Sharks). It's also one of my favorite landscapes--follow a tunnel or sand chute to emerge on the side of the deep wall. The reef dives were nice--nothing spectacular, but just nice. We often saw eels out swimming on the reef, lionfish, shark, turtles, lobster, crab, barracuda, although it wasn't especially fishy. Surface intervals were typically about 45 minutes so I was glad to be diving on nitrox since my Suunto computer is pretty conservative. My husband used 100s and had no problem getting nitrox 100s if he wanted them.
DMs: Divetech goes out with at least 2 DMs, with one leading the first dive and the other leading the second dive. A few days there was a third DM who would be at the back of the group. Their briefings are very complete with diagram on the boat to get a good sense of depth, profile, landscape and landmarks. I really enjoyed and appreciated their briefings. While we dove everyday, the DMs changed every 2 days or so. They are not really chatty but efficient and professional and as we got to know them we really enjoyed everyone.
On the Boat: We got spoiled as the first 5 days we had 6 to 9 divers on board, so there was plenty of room (36' Newton boat I think). Our last day had 15 divers, which was starting to feel cramped (especially since the water was rough). Their boat hulls are pink, so it was always easy to spot in the harbor. For surface intervals there are orange slices and water. I bring my own water bottle with ice to save on cups but also to have really cold water the whole time. We started to bring along something bready to snack on, as well as orange slices only go so far.
Each day we took a van from Lighthouse to the harbor or dock (10 min drive), they would load our gear bag on the boat. We set up our own gear, including between dives. The crew was available to help set up gear, and check to make sure tanks were turned on before entering the water. At the end of the two-tank trip they would carry bags back to the truck, we'd get back in the van and go back to Lighthouse Point. Gear arrived on a separate truck, we'd rinse gear and store in a locker on the first floor of the condo building or bring up to our patio to dry.
Making reservations: I did most of my communication via email. When we arrived, several requests hadn't been communicated to the shop (my husbands request for 100s, changing person #4 from diving to snorkeling) despite acknowledgement of those requests. It all got handled, but I was glad to arrive early enough to get our requests handled before we started diving.
Food: We are pretty low key when it comes to food. We ate lunch at the condo everyday and went out for dinner most nights. With one vegetarian in the group not every restaurant worked well. Some only had meat options (Heritage Kitchen) or offered a pretty boring-looking salad (West Bay Diner). For us meat eaters though, we enjoyed everything we tried. I especially enjoyed Craft's pulled pork fritters. Macabuca had a great setting and good food, although weird service (we had 2 waitresses who each seemed to think the other one was doing the serving; drinks, dessert and the check each took three requests to make happen). Liberty's Restaurant was a nice find and our vegetarian had a really nice looking pile of vegetables there.
Topside activities: The snorkeler and I took a morning off to go to Cemetery Beach and snorkeled there. A few fish, porcupine fish, nurse shark. If you didn't dive it would be nice, but if you are used to diving it was underwhelming. The beach was really nice though with seagrape trees for shade. Also stopped at the post office in Hell to mail some postcards and the Turtle Farm, which was really light on education and seemed sad to us. We did some shopping in Camana Bay and downtown Georgetown as the cruise ships were leaving.
Holiday: We were there on Good Friday, which is a public holiday. A lot of businesses were closed, including Fosters Grocery, tourist activities and shops, although restaurants were open.
Overall, we really enjoyed the week, from the diving to the accommodations to food and the people. The diving was consistently good, although rarely amazing. I don't see Grand Cayman becoming our go-to place, but if/when we return, I would definitely stay at Lighthouse Point and dive with Divetech again.
I've lurked for a long time but thought it was finally time to post a trip report, especially since I didn't find a lot of specifics on Divetech or Lighthouse Point when I was researching where to stay here. We returned yesterday from our first trip to Grand Cayman from April 13-20, and were definitely disappointed to leave!
We chose Divetech/Lighthouse Point as we wanted to stay on the west side to make doing the Kittiwake easier, and I prefer to stay somewhere with dive shop on site to reduce the hauling of gear. The shore dive opportunity was also attractive, although not a deciding factor for us. We were a group of 4, three divers and one snorkeler, and needed accommodations for one couple and two singles, so the Lighthouse Point condo worked well for us.
The condo: Very nice with comfy beds, good sized kitchen and plenty of space for us to relax, both inside and out. It was dark though as there is a window in the kitchen and then a sliding glass door on the other end of open kitchen/dining room/living room, so anytime we were there we had to have the lights on to see. Not a big deal for us, but if you like natural light, it is lacking there. We rented a minivan and appreciated the shaded parking spot under the building.
Dive sites: Our group did 12-18 dives each, including the Kittiwake, Stingray City dive, a night dive at Lighthouse Reef, and sites on the north and west side. I really enjoyed the variety of sites with walls, coral formations and reefs. The Kittiwake was my least favorite--this was my first wreck, and the angled tilt really gave me a headache--although 2 in our group did it a second time. While I'm glad we did Stingray City, it's not one I would do again (been there done that once is enough). My favorite site was Tarpon Alley, largely because we had a nurse shark join us for over half the dive and insist on photobombing pictures of everything else we found (plus we saw two Caribbean Reef Sharks). It's also one of my favorite landscapes--follow a tunnel or sand chute to emerge on the side of the deep wall. The reef dives were nice--nothing spectacular, but just nice. We often saw eels out swimming on the reef, lionfish, shark, turtles, lobster, crab, barracuda, although it wasn't especially fishy. Surface intervals were typically about 45 minutes so I was glad to be diving on nitrox since my Suunto computer is pretty conservative. My husband used 100s and had no problem getting nitrox 100s if he wanted them.
DMs: Divetech goes out with at least 2 DMs, with one leading the first dive and the other leading the second dive. A few days there was a third DM who would be at the back of the group. Their briefings are very complete with diagram on the boat to get a good sense of depth, profile, landscape and landmarks. I really enjoyed and appreciated their briefings. While we dove everyday, the DMs changed every 2 days or so. They are not really chatty but efficient and professional and as we got to know them we really enjoyed everyone.
On the Boat: We got spoiled as the first 5 days we had 6 to 9 divers on board, so there was plenty of room (36' Newton boat I think). Our last day had 15 divers, which was starting to feel cramped (especially since the water was rough). Their boat hulls are pink, so it was always easy to spot in the harbor. For surface intervals there are orange slices and water. I bring my own water bottle with ice to save on cups but also to have really cold water the whole time. We started to bring along something bready to snack on, as well as orange slices only go so far.
Each day we took a van from Lighthouse to the harbor or dock (10 min drive), they would load our gear bag on the boat. We set up our own gear, including between dives. The crew was available to help set up gear, and check to make sure tanks were turned on before entering the water. At the end of the two-tank trip they would carry bags back to the truck, we'd get back in the van and go back to Lighthouse Point. Gear arrived on a separate truck, we'd rinse gear and store in a locker on the first floor of the condo building or bring up to our patio to dry.
Making reservations: I did most of my communication via email. When we arrived, several requests hadn't been communicated to the shop (my husbands request for 100s, changing person #4 from diving to snorkeling) despite acknowledgement of those requests. It all got handled, but I was glad to arrive early enough to get our requests handled before we started diving.
Food: We are pretty low key when it comes to food. We ate lunch at the condo everyday and went out for dinner most nights. With one vegetarian in the group not every restaurant worked well. Some only had meat options (Heritage Kitchen) or offered a pretty boring-looking salad (West Bay Diner). For us meat eaters though, we enjoyed everything we tried. I especially enjoyed Craft's pulled pork fritters. Macabuca had a great setting and good food, although weird service (we had 2 waitresses who each seemed to think the other one was doing the serving; drinks, dessert and the check each took three requests to make happen). Liberty's Restaurant was a nice find and our vegetarian had a really nice looking pile of vegetables there.
Topside activities: The snorkeler and I took a morning off to go to Cemetery Beach and snorkeled there. A few fish, porcupine fish, nurse shark. If you didn't dive it would be nice, but if you are used to diving it was underwhelming. The beach was really nice though with seagrape trees for shade. Also stopped at the post office in Hell to mail some postcards and the Turtle Farm, which was really light on education and seemed sad to us. We did some shopping in Camana Bay and downtown Georgetown as the cruise ships were leaving.
Holiday: We were there on Good Friday, which is a public holiday. A lot of businesses were closed, including Fosters Grocery, tourist activities and shops, although restaurants were open.
Overall, we really enjoyed the week, from the diving to the accommodations to food and the people. The diving was consistently good, although rarely amazing. I don't see Grand Cayman becoming our go-to place, but if/when we return, I would definitely stay at Lighthouse Point and dive with Divetech again.
