Best short trip option? Caribbean vs Jupiter?

[hilljo88]

My 2cents:

Got blown out last Jan in Coz
Not a fan of long boat rides in Provo, plus little to do onshore.

Stuart Cove in Nassau is a sure bet to see sharks and well run operation

Can you stretch a few days and do Cuba? LOB. to Jardines De la Reina is a great trip

 

[KathyV]

I'd seen you mention airport growing pains in other threads. I didn't realize it was quite that bad. I haven't booked yet, but unless someone comes back and reports a change I think I'll be staying on GC instead of brac. I don't (and my wife REALLY won't) want to be hoofing all our stuff around the streets for a plane change . We travel pretty heavy so that situation would be really bad for us.

Actually, the GCM airport is very near completion and we saw quite a few improvements during our recent vacation. The ticketing hall is larger and roomier and has more counters. Security is much larger with more stations and more staff and we passed through quickly. We didn't have to stand in long lines waiting for immigration and customs upon arrival at GCM. Our baggage arrived quickly, both when we first arrived at GCM and when we returned from Brac.

One complaint is that the new departure lounge isn't big enough but it isn't finished yet. I just saw an article on another site saying that the construction will be completed in January 2019 - when are you traveling to Cayman? The article says that "The expansion will almost triple the Airport’s size from 77,000 to 208,000 square feet" so hopefully some of that space will be used to make the departure lounge much roomier when it is finished.

I think that the current process for in-transit passengers is just temporary and that it will be better soon as construction gets nearer to completion. They do have wheeled carts available in the baggage hall (at no charge) so grab one (or two!) of them for your use. Unfortunately the one we grabbed was broken and it got worse as we traveled along - so make sure you've got a good one!

I am still glad that we decided to go to Brac for our dive vacation, even with the weird (temporary) in-transit process at GCM!

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for all the good advice. I decided to book a short trip to LC.

Have you booked your airfare? Just curious as to how reliable availability is on Little Cayman trips, especially not the 'typical' 7-day trip.

Richard.

 

[mi000ke]

We were on GC last week, traveling Saturday to Saturday. Customs and immigration was very fast - maybe the fastest we've seen. We were through immigration before our bags were off loaded. And we would have been through customs in 2 minutes if we were not traveling with a dog (even with the ag dept inspection it was only 10 minutes). Regarding departure, we were through security in just a few minutes. The only issue is that the departure lounge was almost entirely filled, although we did find a couple of single seats. But as @KathyV said, they are still working on the departure lounge and it should be better when done. The walk from arrival to departure (if you are planning to go to LC or Brac) is not really that bad. You exit the arrival lounge, cross the street, walk left about 200 feet, and then cross back over to enter the departure lounge. This is only because of construction, and presumably the transfer will be a lot easier when they are done.

And fwiw, West Bay diving conditions were great - sea was like a lake and temps at depth were 84, vis was about 80 feet.

 

[Damselfish]

Have you booked your airfare? Just curious as to how reliable availability is on Little Cayman trips, especially not the 'typical' 7-day trip.

Unlike some places where flights are scarce outside of Saturdays, for Little Cayman it's actually helpful to avoid Saturdays. I think there's extra flights on Saturdays, but there's also a lot more people that want to get on them and they can fill up - especially the afternoon ones that line up with arrivals from the US. It's easier to get on weekday flights.

Along with less crowded flights during the week, there is much less possibility they will delay any of your bags for lack of space. When leaving Little Cayman on a Saturday morning, they might request you pack a bag early so they can take it to Grand Cayman the previous afternoon. And a full GC->LC flight can have them holding some bags back until the morning. They are quite reliable at dealing with the bags, but it's still a nuisance when it happens.

 

[KathyV]

We were on GC last week, traveling Saturday to Saturday. Customs and immigration was very fast - maybe the fastest we've seen. We were through immigration before our bags were off loaded. And we would have been through customs in 2 minutes if we were not traveling with a dog (even with the ag dept inspection it was only 10 minutes). Regarding departure, we were through security in just a few minutes. The only issue is that the departure lounge was almost entirely filled, although we did find a couple of single seats. But as @KathyV said, they are still working on the departure lounge and it should be better when done. The walk from arrival to departure (if you are planning to go to LC or Brac) is not really that bad. You exit the arrival lounge, cross the street, walk left about 200 feet, and then cross back over to enter the departure lounge. This is only because of construction, and presumably the transfer will be a lot easier when they are done.

And fwiw, West Bay diving conditions were great - sea was like a lake and temps at depth were 84, vis was about 80 feet.

The walk from departures to check in may have seemed longer to us because of our broken luggage cart - which tipped over at one point and spilled all our bags into the street!

 

[Amanwithaphone]

My 2cents:

Got blown out last Jan in Coz
Not a fan of long boat rides in Provo, plus little to do onshore.

Stuart Cove in Nassau is a sure bet to see sharks and well run operation

Can you stretch a few days and do Cuba? LOB. to Jardines De la Reina is a great trip

Thanks. Maybe next time.

 

[Amanwithaphone]

Have you booked your airfare? Just curious as to how reliable availability is on Little Cayman trips, especially not the 'typical' 7-day trip.

Richard.

Yup, didn't seem like any shortage of flights.

 

[varadiving]

Dear SB folk,
New member, long time lurker. I'd like yr advice on where to go based on my specific situation.
I will have a 5 max 6 day window (must include travel days) in early Jan in which to dive. I will leave from and return to Orlando. I have dived in Grand Caymen (west and east sides, though only a few dives on east), coz (many many dives), Roatan (liked, did not love) and Jupiter (4 dives). I was impressed by the pelagic population in Jupiter, though vis wasn't great and I don't think the coral really stacks up to the Caribbean spots. I have around 75 to 100 dives total and have nitrox. I'm not a macro guy, prefer pelagics and beautiful coral. I've saved enough cash so that as long as we're not talking about renting a yacht, I'm not too worried about $. Traveling solo, so no need to please anyone else. Focus is on diving only. Top spots I'm considering:
Little Cayman - everyone seems to love it. Slightly concerned about travel times, not sure if i will see pelagics. I do really love wall dives tho.
GC- would go back to East End and see more of that. Again, wouldn't expect lots of pelagics.
Jupiter- obviously the easiest, since I can drive. I would expect lots of sharks, but not totally sure re time of year. Travel to Fl often, so can go relatively easily another time.
Saba - don't know much about this location. Could it combine sharky water with pretty coral?
Other? I certainly don't know it all!


So, given that set of circumstances and the time of year, where would you go and why? Thanks so much!

 

[varadiving]

There is the Cuban Caribbean dives where it is warm,clear and on calm all year, there is the wall and wrecks. for 600$ you can do 10 dives with accommodation including breakfast for 5 days. any question let me know.