January Week Long Trip

[SterlingDiver]

Hello,

I am trying to put together a trip in January for my wife and I and am thinking of returning to the Little Cayman/Brac area. Last time we were there we rented a home on Brac, but would like to try a resort on Little Cayman. So, my question is which of the handful of resorts gives you the best 'bang' for your buck, below water and topside?

Thank you in advance for your help.

SterlingDiver

 

[zf2nt]

I can already tell you that among the people who congregate here, most will tell you to look at Little Cayman Beach Resort. Personally, I would say you should ALSO talk with Pirate's Point. If you want to save a bit, you can stay at Paradise Villas and then go out diving with Conch Club Divers. If, on the other extreme, you want to splurge a bit, look into Southern Cross Club. Whichever of those you choose, I can almost guarantee you will come home convinced you made the right choice.

Personally, I'm going to be on LC from Jan 5 on. I own a home there, and will be out diving from shore most every day. I never get tired of diving Little Cayman...there's always something new.

 

[Doctorfish]

You are a bit late for January 2014. There are only a few places to stay on LC as outlined above by zf2nt, and they tend to get booked up quickly. I like LCBR but you can't go wrong with any of the dive lodges. As far as bang for buck, Paradise Villas.

Good luck

 

[AggieDiver]

Of the four resorts, each offers something a little different.

LCBR - I love the place and have been back multiple times. Excellent food, outstanding dive operation, rooms are reasonably nice but not what I would consider "upscale". Multiple boats and large dive groups can occasionally make it feel slightly hectic leaving the dock in the morning, but otherwise really well set up dock and storage arrangements.

Pirates Point - Haven't stayed there, but the draw seems to be the cozy atmosphere and eating the meals prepared by the owner family style. I believe they don't do afternoon dives and I think you will have to wade out to get on the boat each morning. Seems to be comparable in price to slightly more expensive than similar packages at LCBR. Dive operation gets good reviews, but they only have one boat that I am aware of.

Southern Cross Club - Have not been there, but it seems to be a slightly more luxurious version of LCBR with comparable increase in price. The accomodations appear to be more upscale but otherwise is very similar in operation to LCBR from what I have read.

Paradise Villas - This is the budget option. You would either have to prepare your own meals or go to the one restaurant on the island or one of the other resorts to eat and pay accordingly. You would dive with Conch Club from the LCBR dock (either walk or ride in a van). They leave half an hour before the LCBR boats to avoid crowding or confusion at the dock, but otherwise their dive op is very similar to LCBR. Leaving early gets you first choice of dive sites, but that is rarely an issue anyways...and for those like me who aren't early risers, it means getting up another half hour earlier while on vacation.

I am sure I haven't given the other resorts enough credit for some things that maybe differentiate them from LCBR, so others who have been there are welcome to step in and add anything I may not have pointed out. I have weighed out the pros and cons several times, and LCBR always seems like the best balance of affordability and quality for me, but if luxury is more important, maybe SCC is your place...or if budget is more important and you can't find a discount package at LCBR, maybe Paradise Villas is the ticket. And if you like the cozy family dynamic, Pirates Point may be your deal. As Bruce pointed out, no matter which one you pick, they are all good. So I suspect you will come home happy and satisfied with your choices no matter what you decide.

 

[staggsSevin]

I was thinking about looking at hitting up cayman brac in Jan myself (saw a special in another post for Jan.) - what type of water temp is typical for Jan?

 

[SterlingDiver]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments, they are all very helpful.

Sterlingdiver

 

[zf2nt]

I was thinking about looking at hitting up cayman brac in Jan myself (saw a special in another post for Jan.) - what type of water temp is typical for Jan?

This is a more interesting question than you might realize! Starting in 1998 I began recording the temperature on all of my dives, and after a few years I saw a fairly consistent pattern emerge. It would stay at 81F until about the end of December, then go to 79F. That lasted until about the end of January, when it went to 77F. At the end of February, it came back up to 79F, and then a few weeks later we got to 81F again. I thought I had this pattern pegged...until about 2006. Then we had several years where the temperature never got below 80F. Last winter, the old pattern seemed to have returned. I showed either 77F or 79F on every day during January.

BTW, this is on computers which read integral degrees C and then convert to degrees F. That's why you never see 80F or 78F.

 

[staggsSevin]

This is a more interesting question than you might realize! Starting in 1998 I began recording the temperature on all of my dives, and after a few years I saw a fairly consistent pattern emerge. It would stay at 81F until about the end of December, then go to 79F. That lasted until about the end of January, when it went to 77F. At the end of February, it came back up to 79F, and then a few weeks later we got to 81F again. I thought I had this pattern pegged...until about 2006. Then we had several years where the temperature never got below 80F. Last winter, the old pattern seemed to have returned. I showed either 77F or 79F on every day during January.

BTW, this is on computers which read integral degrees C and then convert to degrees F. That's why you never see 80F or 78F.

Very Interesting, thanks for the reply!

 

[vossroad]

I was in Brac in Feb 2012 and water temp was 79 all 5 days. The Tibbets is a great wreck dive w plenty of fish. Butterfly reef was fish abundant. Lots of juveniles. Have fun.