Last minute trip to Little Cayman - February 8 - 17

[CanadianTravelAgent]

Hello all! I'm very excited to report that I will be going on my first trip to Little Cayman in February! I will be travelling with my husband and my 2 young children - not the most idea situation for a dive vacation, but otherwise would not have been able to go...so here we are! I plan to do site visits of some of the other resorts/accomodations to be able to provide un-biased advice to other travellers in my new career as a professional travel consultant!

We selected Little Cayman because of it's reputation for being a quiet, laid back, and relaxing island - safe for the kids - and great diving! We'll be staying at Paradise Villas - seems to be the only place that is kid friendly.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for the following....
-are there any places to snorkel from shore with kids when not diving (my husband and I will be taking turns going out diving)
-experience with bringing your own food in checked baggage?
-any special requests for specific dive sites that are must see? like where most likely to see sharks / eagle rays etc - we're not into wreck diving

Thanks!

 

[jdcpa]

I'll try to help.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice for the following....
-are there any places to snorkel from shore with kids when not diving (my husband and I will be taking turns going out diving) Point of Sand-but you really need a car to go there with children; Preston Bay-over by Pirates Point, if the wind is from the north; Cumbers on the north side- straight in front of the corss over road-watch out for a north wind

-experience with bringing your own food in checked baggage? None

-any special requests for specific dive sites that are must see? like where most likely to see sharks / eagle rays etc - we're not into wreck diving -All sites are good; not many sharks, hit or miss seeiing them, no place known for sharks that I know of; Eagle Rays pretty much the same answer

Don't forget you need breakfast food unless you leave Paradise in the mornings to eat elsewhere; Iggy is not open for breakfast

Thanks![/QUOTE]

 

[carriemak]

You will enjoy Little Cayman. As far as bringing food, we have only brought snacks with us due to Cayman Airways weight limits, 55# total for checked luggage. If you decide to purchase groceries there is only one store and it isn't far from Paradise Villas.

As JDCPA stated, you will need a vehicle to go to Point of Sand with children.

 

[-hh]

Cayman Airways also weighs the carry-on bag too, plus there's always the specter of checked bags being delayed (plan accordingly by splitting peoples' stuff between checked bags).

For shore snorkeling, I'd say that one can find spots here or there (see below), but the relatively high cost of a rental car on Little Cayman makes for a pretty compelling argument to skip the car and pay to ride on one of the diveboats. Broadly speaking, this will be cost-competitive as well as less physical and easier access to nicer reefs, although this does presume that a snorkeler is going to be comfortable in padding around in water that's too deep to stand up in (typically, expect depths of 20+ft).

For shore spots in addition to Point of Sand, there's also water access just west of Pirate's Point, although I don't recall there being any "sandy beach" here, plus being on the southside, it can be expected to be rough (depends upon the prevailing weather, which is often from the South or Southeast).

Another potential candiate spot would be the Salt Rocks dock. There's sometimes a ladder here for entry/exit ... be careful of the concrete steps on the right side, as they're often slippery and wave action makes them dicey. Swimmer confidence has to be pretty good here, as IIRC, this goes straight into deepwater and as such, it is more typically a shore dive rather than a snorkel. There similarly might still be a ladder for water access at "Splash House" next store, but owner permission is required. Both are probably around 1.5 miles from Paradise Villas, so consider a bike before walking.

BTW, en route to either of these sites, after you proceed (West) past the Aistrip and Pirate's Point, there will shortly be on your right (towards middle of island) some side roads that go into a mostly unbuilt housing development ... if you walk in and then find the road that's "all the way in the back", this is a known local hangout for iguanas ... take some fruit over to feed them, and they'll come out of the bushes for a handout. A few can be pretty aggressive, so take some care...don't feed them by hand.

Cumber's Caves on the North Side in the Jackson's Bight area has a sandy beach entry/exit that's used for shore scuba dives ... from Paradise, I'd guess this is ~2 miles (other side of the island) distant and requires a bit of wayfinding.

YMMV if this distance is "too far" for doing without a rental car ... if you do decide to walk/bike it, defintely be sure to bring a hat & water, even in February. The good news is that LC's main roads are now all improved (paved), unlike years ago, which make them far far easier to navigate via bike.

Finally, I'd recommend looking into the details for how/where/cost hiring a boat to take your group out to Owen's Island for a picnic/snorkel ... Owen's is a nice, quiet spot with a protected sandy & shallow water area that's reliably in the lee which is clearly quite kid-safe. To get away from the bland sandy bottom to good snorkeling, you'll need to work your way around from the lee to less protected waters, but it is something that you can gage as you go to sort out your group's overall comfort level.


Hope this helps,

-hh

 

[nipi]

Another potential candiate spot would be the Salt Rocks dock. There's sometimes a ladder here for entry/exit ... be careful of the concrete steps on the right side, as they're often slippery and wave action makes them dicey. Swimmer confidence has to be pretty good here, as IIRC, this goes straight into deepwater and as such, it is more typically a shore dive rather than a snorkel. There similarly might still be a ladder for water access at "Splash House" next store, but owner permission is required. Both are probably around 1.5 miles from Paradise Villas, so consider a bike before walking.

YMMV if this distance is "too far" for doing without a rental car ... if you do decide to walk/bike it, defintely be sure to bring a hat & water, even in February. The good news is that LC's main roads are now all improved (paved), unlike years ago, which make them far far easier to navigate via bike.

Finally, I'd recommend looking into the details for how/where/cost hiring a boat to take your group out to Owen's Island for a picnic/snorkel ... Owen's is a nice, quiet spot with a protected sandy & shallow water area that's reliably in the lee which is clearly quite kid-safe. To get away from the bland sandy bottom to good snorkeling, you'll need to work your way around from the lee to less protected waters, but it is something that you can gage as you go to sort out your group's overall comfort level.

There are currently no ladders at Salt Rocks or the Splash House. Don't think you need to worry about owner permission at the Splash House as noones's lived there for years.

A short cut to Salt Rocks is down the bush path from the runway - it enters the bush at the windscock & comes out opposite Salt Rocks.

You can rent kayaks from Southern Cross to go to Owen Island or even swim there.

 

[carriemak]

You can also rent kayaks and catamarans from Reef Divers at LCBR.

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

thanks for all the info. I think we will have to pay the high rental car rate to get around - at least part of the time because of the kids. Owen's Island sounds nice!

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

oh, and I know the kids will love to see the iguanas!

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

We're back from our trip and I've posted a trip report here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cayman-islands/372079-little-cayman-trip-report-long-one.html