Southern Cross on Little Cayman

[hamiltt]

We are thinking about a trip to Little Cayman in February staying at Southern Cross Club. Has anyone stayed there? If so - how is the dive operation compared with others on LC? Any other thoughts about SCC or other places on LC would also be helpful.

 

[divingjd]

The last time I researched the places on LC, Southern Cross Club and Pirate's Point were a LOT more expensive than Little Cayman Beach Resort. I hear the food is better at SCC and PP, but the food is pretty good and plentiful at LCBR. I stayed at LCBR a few years ago and had a great vacation. The rooms are nothing fancy, but they are clean and nice. They are similar to a Holiday Inn or something like that. The dive operation at LCBR is very good. They have excellent purpose-built Newton dive boats (48 footers, I think). The staff gives very good dive briefings and then they turn you loose. If you want a guided dive, they will take you. Service at the resort and the dive operation is very good. We will definitely go back.

 

[Damselfish]

I've only stayed at LCBR (many times.) But I hear good things about all the usual places - LCBR, SCC, PP, Conch Club, The Club. They're just rather different from each other so its a matter of what sort of place you would like best. If you search for Little Cayman on here or by the names of the hotels/condos there are lots of reviews. There is also Paradise Villas which AFAIK doesn't really have a dive op anymore, or at least not a boat, they use one of the other places.

 

[jdcpa]

Paradise Villas uses Conch Club Divers last I heard.

 

[CrackedConch]

I'm going to LCBR in January on a trip with my LDS. From the photos online and the comments here, it sounds pretty good.

Anybody have any tips or advice? Best dive sites / sites not to miss? Bars, food, non-diving activities, things or places I should do or that I should avoid?

You know, please share your "things I've learned"...

 

[divingjd]

There's only one bar/restaurant on the island that's not part of a resort - the Hungry Iguana. We never made it there. We just ate at LCBR and drank at the bar there. The dive staff should make sure you can get to the best sites available for weather and conditions. Seriously, there are so many really good dive site at LC you will never see them all in one trip. As far as non-diving activities, well - there's lying in a hammock, um, sitting by the pool, er, sitting in the pool, and - oh yeah, sitting in the hot tub. You can go to the booby preserve (BIRDS - it's not Hooters, for crying out loud). Really, there isn't much to do, which is pretty cool in my book. Take a couple of good books and hang out and swap dive stories with your friends. I think they had a couple of games (backgammon, go, stuff like that) at the bar. You can kill some time and have fun making a sign for your group to leave behind. I hope ours is still there - Rec Diving - Thanksgiving 2001. Kick back and relax, dive a lot, and you'll have a great time. One of the keys to Little Cayman is slowing down enough to really enjoy it.

 

[wk2000]

:fish: Well, let me chime in. We have dived at SCC twice in past 4 years- its fabulous. The food is great- three meals served a day, and was always really good. The dive operation was first class- great pre-dive briefings, nice clean boat with small number of divers on board, really great staff. Steve was the primary divemaster when we were there-The first time was my 12 y/o son's and 14 y/o daughter's first dive trip, and Steve took us under his wing and was just wonderful- helpful and supportive and safety conscious. The dives are world class, nothing short of spectacular. The staff will handle all your equipment for you the entire week (unless you don't want them to)- you just walk on the boat and go. The accommodations were very comfortable and nice- nicer than a Holiday Inn, but it IS a remote little island- no TV or phones in the room. The owner, Pete, is there year round and a true prince of a guy. We loved the other guests- interesting people from around the world, some of whom my family and I still correspond with. Happy hour at the Tiki bar is a blast. Anything negative? Sure, its expensive. Nitrox is really expensive. The only night life you make yourself. No TV/Phone/hi-speed Internet in the rooms. Its hot in the summer, but the guest rooms and dining room have AC. The mosquitoes can be kinda bad at the Tiki bar. There is no shopping. You have to fly a little puddle jumper plane to get there, and they limit your bags to 50#. Did I mention its expensive? Would I go back? In a heartbeat. I have been diving for 20+ years- been to a lot of other places- SCC is my all-time favorite.

 

[merxlin]

I spent a week at LCBR in August and it was fantastic. As other's have said, slow down and enjoy the fact that you don't have to be doing something all the time. Rooms were nice, food was good, staff was great. They do have Wifi so if you must be connected you can be, and some cell service is available although I didn't bring mine so can't attest to that.

I will tell you that we were usually the first boat at most of the dive sites (they have 4 boats at the resort). You leave at 8:15 for 2 dives and back for lunch, then leave at 1:30 for an afternoon dive and back at 3:30 or so. The on site bar is a lot of fun, as was the Hungry Iguana, but we stayed pretty controlled since there was not going to be any missing out on the great diving because of too much night life!

We also took a ride over to the Tibbets on Brac for one of our dives. The only disappointment was that we didn't get any night dives in. They are only offered Tues/Thurs nights. Tues got blown out by weather, Thursday they claimed was weather but we think they just couldn't get any of the DM's to go out.

My wife doesn't dive but spent all week in hammocks and reading, biking around the island (which doesn't take long), hitting the spa for a massage (to relax from all the hammock time I guess!) and just relaxing. She loved it, so therefore, I did too!

 

[tvictory]

:fish: Well, let me chime in. We have dived at SCC twice in past 4 years- its fabulous. The food is great- three meals served a day, and was always really good. The dive operation was first class- great pre-dive briefings, nice clean boat with small number of divers on board, really great staff. Steve was the primary divemaster when we were there-The first time was my 12 y/o son's and 14 y/o daughter's first dive trip, and Steve took us under his wing and was just wonderful- helpful and supportive and safety conscious. The dives are world class, nothing short of spectacular. The staff will handle all your equipment for you the entire week (unless you don't want them to)- you just walk on the boat and go. The accommodations were very comfortable and nice- nicer than a Holiday Inn, but it IS a remote little island- no TV or phones in the room. The owner, Pete, is there year round and a true prince of a guy. We loved the other guests- interesting people from around the world, some of whom my family and I still correspond with. Happy hour at the Tiki bar is a blast. Anything negative? Sure, its expensive. Nitrox is really expensive. The only night life you make yourself. No TV/Phone/hi-speed Internet in the rooms. Its hot in the summer, but the guest rooms and dining room have AC. The mosquitoes can be kinda bad at the Tiki bar. There is no shopping. You have to fly a little puddle jumper plane to get there, and they limit your bags to 50#. Did I mention its expensive? Would I go back? In a heartbeat. I have been diving for 20+ years- been to a lot of other places- SCC is my all-time favorite.

I've stayed at LCBR (years ago) and SCC (last month). I loved both. On balance I'd give the nod to SCC. It's a bigger property with fewer guests, better food and a more personalized diving experience. It's probably a bit more expensive than LCBR but worth it IMO. You won't go wrong either way.

 

[donacheson]

I've stayed at LCBR (years ago) and SCC (last month). I loved both. On balance I'd give the nod to SCC. It's a bigger property with fewer guests, better food and a more personalized diving experience. It's probably a bit more expensive than LCBR but worth it IMO. You won't go wrong either way.

Indelibly etched in my mind is pub crawling on Little Cayman one evening and the one hour I spent at LCBR - at the bar on karaoki (sp?) night. I left horrified and walked back to SCC, never to return again to LCBR. <G>