Sorry, I did not mean to strike a nerve. I am typically ok with nothing to do but curl up with a good book. : )
IDK, I guess yeah, theres barefoot man, and I DO like going to lonestar, especially if theres live music. I think GC is a great vacay spot, don’t get me wrong – world class scuba, gorgeous beaches, great restaurants… last trip, I took in calico jacks one night – poor service and pretty boring! Haha…
I do like being able to walk around a central downtown / square area and see whats going on, maybe duck into a bar/live music venue, see street vendors, etc. (thinking about Ambergris, Cozumel and Providenciales fish fry)…
I wasn't upset but I was confused. Whenever someone asks about a good place to visit with non-diving family, with both good diving and opportunities for other activities, I always think of GC first - so I was amazed when you said that there is nothing to do.
The first time we went to GC, many years ago, we didn't like it at all! We loved the diving but not the culture. It was too modern and developed and expensive and we're not crazy about all the cruise ship visitors (I have the same complaint about the cruise ships in Cozumel). But the diving was lovely, much better back then - there were forests of black corals that sadly have almost completely disappeared.
We firmly agreed that "we would never go back to GC again!" and we stayed away for some years, but then fate intervened and my husband won free diving for two with the (long gone) Bob Soto Dive Op on GC. It was a bit of a cattle boat but not bad and it was free diving so we sure weren't complaining! Plus the prize included free tanks for shore diving.
That was before shore diving was an established venue on GC with onsite ops, and it was how we learned that there is some great shore diving available on GC. Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto were absolutely gorgeous sites back then, and there wasn't any Macabuca or Cracked Conch Restaurants on the Turtle Reef site - one of the DMs told us about the spot and we did a couple of night dives there that were fabulous!
We liked GC much better after that trip, but it was still not our favorite "too expensive and developed" but some years later we found a great deal for a liveaboard trip on the Cayman Aggressor and so we headed back to Cayman for the third time. We had a great trip and that was how we learned about the Bloody Bay Wall and the lovely sister islands that offers some of the best diving in the Caribbean IMO. We stayed the second week of that trip on GC and that is when we discovered the Turtle Nest Inn in Bodden Town and the opportunity to reduce the expense and distance ourselves from George Town and 7MB - so now we were really starting to like the Caymans.
A few years later and fate intervened again and I was the one to win a dive trip to Cayman that time! Normally we don't win things but we have both won Cayman dive trips which I why I think it was fate! I won an all-expense paid trip for one to the Cayman Brac Beach Resort - we only had to add on meals and diving for my husband and so it was a really cheap trip! We again spent the second week on GC at TNI so a pattern was established.
We loved the CBBR resort and were eager to experience the LCBR. We enjoyed great trips to Bonaire and the T&Cs and St. Croix and other lovely places in between, but we kept getting drawn back to the Caymans. This most recent trip was our 8th visit so I guess we now have to admit that we love the Cayman Islands!
I also think that getting older has been a factor in our changed attitudes. We like the ease of valet diving and the safe environment and the ready availability of good health care facilities - we don't take so many things for granted any longer.
Anyway, I think that Grand Cayman has a lot to offer people of varying tastes so I was surprised when you said that there was practically nothing to do! Sorry for the long saga but it has been a long (and fun) journey!
