Have SB divers lost interest in GC?

[scubadada]

We were in the same boat, and in answer to the OP, I think the Cayman government's slow reopening and inconsistency in sticking with their plans definitely hurt them when it came to us. We were waiting and waiting for a chance to go back to LC, and finally after their messing around in the fall with reopening, not reopening, no this time we really mean it, but not yet, but no really now, we finally booked a trip to East Bay Resort when the Clearly Cayman folks took over. That would have been a trip to LC if the Cayman Government had gotten their stuff together. So yes, in our case, their Covid stance cost them at least one trip from us.

Would love to hear about your trip to East Bay Resort. When will that be?

 

[Damselfish]

after their messing around in the fall with reopening, not reopening, no this time we really mean it, but not yet, but no really now

 

[AggieDiver]

Would love to hear about your trip to East Bay Resort. When will that be?

We did that one in March. I have struggled with writing a report about it for many reasons. I will get back to it and get it done. Maybe next week while I am not diving... The bottom line is that it was not LC. It is a nicer resort in the accommodations, very well run, with more to do around it topside than LC. But the diving left a lot to be desired, at least partly because they are on the windward side of the island and there is not really any way for them to dive the leeward areas. The east wind blew pretty steadily at 15-23 kts pretty much the entire week and our diving was scratched twice due to seas and once because we just weren't up to going out. The travel to the resort left a lot to be desired too, but hopefully that has been resolved somewhat by now. More later...

 

[tkaelin]

All interesting responses. I wonder if we still have sb'ers who work in the dive business on GC. I would be interested in their take as well. Realizing that everyone has different interests and preferences, having shore diving is becoming the deciding factor for most of our trips. Still viable shore diving options on GC so it is still in the mix for us.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you look back at precovid posts, you will see I was very active because our multi-week trip to the Caymans was canceled because of Covid, rebooked, and canceled again. We then changed that multi-week trip to Roatan. While waiting for that trip (and with the Cayman's still closed), our group booked Cozumel for June. Now that the Cozumel trip is done, we are looking at Fiji.

You have to plan your trips ahead of time. Lots of trips were booked for the future during a time when the Cayman's were a big if. We had no interest in trying our luck there again. Maybe we might in the future, but, like I said, we plan a year or two ahead of time, and I suspect others are like that as well. They Cayman's are going to have be a secure booking at the time that people are making their plans.

As for us, the Cayman's had a chance, and it passed. There are lots of places to dive in this world.

 

[Damselfish]

We did that one in March. I have struggled with writing a report about it for many reasons. I will get back to it and get it done. Maybe next week while I am not diving... The bottom line is that it was not LC. It is a nicer resort in the accommodations, very well run, with more to do around it topside than LC. But the diving left a lot to be desired, at least partly because they are on the windward side of the island and there is not really any way for them to dive the leeward areas. The east wind blew pretty steadily at 15-23 kts pretty much the entire week and our diving was scratched twice due to seas and once because we just weren't up to going out. The travel to the resort left a lot to be desired too, but hopefully that has been resolved somewhat by now. More later...

looks like you said a fair bit towards the end of thread Diving South Caicos? Is it any good?, like post 83 and on. And some other people too.

 

[scubadada]

If you look back at precovid posts, you will see I was very active because our multi-week trip to the Caymans was canceled because of Covid, rebooked, and canceled again. We then changed that multi-week trip to Roatan. While waiting for that trip (and with the Cayman's still closed), our group booked Cozumel for June. Now that the Cozumel trip is done, we are looking at Fiji.

You have to plan your trips ahead of time. Lots of trips were booked for the future during a time when the Cayman's were a big if. We had no interest in trying our luck there again. Maybe we might in the future, but, like I said, we plan a year or two ahead of time, and I suspect others are like that as well. They Cayman's are going to have be a secure booking at the time that people are making their plans.

As for us, the Cayman's had a chance, and it passed. There are lots of places to dive in this world.

I might be willing to give Grand Cayman another chance. Easier with just a couple people than a group. I have had many great dives off of Grand Cayman, I would like to see if they are still there.

 

[jgttrey]

I've been to GC twice since it reopened and had a great time (FWIW, I probably had 25 trips there pre-Covid so I have pretty good perspective). A couple of things.

First, it was closed for a long time, obviously. But Cayman was relatively unique in that their early aggressive response to Covid successfully eliminated it domestically and they were able to resume normal life (inside a bubble). That, together with the fact that they get so much revenue from financial industry, explains pretty well why they took so long to reopen. It's not like other places where they always had "domestic" Covid so it wasn't like reopening was going to really change things. They had beat it, and so they were understandably slow to reopen the borders and go back to social distancing, etc. Just sayin' they had a different sent of considerations when it came tor reopening than, say, Turks, Mexico, or Belize.

Cayman has also been slow to get fully back up to speed because of the large number of DMs, hotel workers, chefs, etc. were expats on work permits. Many went home during Covid and there's been a big backlog of applications to get people back and staffed up. It's getting better, but it's been slow.

On the plus side, GC seems to be thriving (I suppose that's a negative for some, but that's not a debate I want to start). Construction was booming and my impression was that a lot of projects that had languished pre-Covid got back on track and finished. For example, the airport was 100x better and everything seemed to have a fresh coat of paint.

The diving was still great. As others have noted, it ain't the cheapest place but if that's not a deal breaker, it's still a pretty awesome place.

 

[tkaelin]

As for us, the Cayman's had a chance, and it passed. There are lots of places to dive in this world.

I fully understand the sentiment and if I did not have a history of fond memories of visiting and diving GC in the late '70s and early '80s I would probably feel the same.

 

[scubadada]

I've been to GC twice since it reopened and had a great time (FWIW, I probably had 25 trips there pre-Covid so I have pretty good perspective). A couple of things.

First, it was closed for a long time, obviously. But Cayman was relatively unique in that their early aggressive response to Covid successfully eliminated it domestically and they were able to resume normal life (inside a bubble). That, together with the fact that they get so much revenue from financial industry, explains pretty well why they took so long to reopen. It's not like other places where they always had "domestic" Covid so it wasn't like reopening was going to really change things. They had beat it, and so they were understandably slow to reopen the borders and go back to social distancing, etc. Just sayin' they had a different sent of considerations when it came tor reopening than, say, Turks, Mexico, or Belize.

Cayman has also been slow to get fully back up to speed because of the large number of DMs, hotel workers, chefs, etc. were expats on work permits. Many went home during Covid and there's been a big backlog of applications to get people back and staffed up. It's getting better, but it's been slow.

On the plus side, GC seems to be thriving (I suppose that's a negative for some, but that's not a debate I want to start). Construction was booming and my impression was that a lot of projects that had languished pre-Covid got back on track and finished. For example, the airport was 100x better and everything seemed to have a fresh coat of paint.

The diving was still great. As others have noted, it ain't the cheapest place but if that's not a deal breaker, it's still a pretty awesome place.

And how are the reefs post SCTLD relative to than before?