Executive Summary:
LCBR - Recommended.
Reef Divers - Recommended.
Reef Fanta Seas (Travel Agent) - Recommended.
Little Cayman diving - Recommended.
Overview
My wife and I took a dive trip to Little Cayman Beach Resort Oct 5-13, our second trip there. My report for our November 2009 trip is here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...tle-cayman-beach-resort-11-11-11-19-09-a.html
This trip was pretty similar so I'm going to make this report a lot shorter, just covering differences, and a few commonalities worth noting. Consider this a supplement/update, not a full report. We did the same 3 dive + 3 meal a day one week package plus a day, without the included drinks this time. Again, arrived Wednesday, left Thursday, 20 dives. Reef Fanta Seas (the LCBR travel agent) suggested a not-obviously-available structure for the the package that saved us a couple hundred dollars by foregoing those "free" drinks we'd mostly never use.
We wanted to get warmer water than last time, and miss the start of northerly winds, so we pushed the trip to early October instead of mid-November, and lucked out on the hurricane risk.
I measured all 86 degF bottom temperatures except for two 87's, both on dives on the Great Wall in Bloody Bay. My wife's computer always reads slightly lower; she had 86's straight across. We had a little bit of overcast the first few days, even rain at the end of one dive, then it turned mostly sunny and hot for the rest of the trip. This time, we did 17 dives on the north side, including a couple in the northwest just around the point.
Vis was mostly 40-50 feet, up to 50-60 a couple of times. Mostly no current or surge, but there was some current on a couple of the dives, enough to bump my SAC rate up 10% or so over the other dives. Much less chop than the last trip.
Plenty of marine life. Last trip I had noted that the only angel fish were french. This time we saw a couple of queens, and one grey. No morays, flounder, or midnight parrots. A number of good-sized lobsters, but not the monsters I remember from last trip. A few reef and nurse sharks, lots of barracuda, and garden eels at several locations. A big spotted eagle ray free swimming on the wall. Several smaller rays in the sand teamed up with a bar jack. A number of juvenile spotted drum, but no adults. Coral banded shrimp. Several whitespotted filefish. Several turtles, including one memorable guy who seemed to be fascinated by his reflection in another diver's camera lens.
Grouper everywhere, and we saw a few lying motionless with mouth wide, being groomed by Pederson shrimp and gobys, looking quite zoned out. Another one followed us half the dive, and I wondered if he was thinking about getting back on the boat with us.
A number of lionfish. The DMs are no longer killing them on sight, we were told that some guests had complained (?!), so they do a "roundup" every so often instead. We were told that the groupers are starting to hunt them on their own, but I didn't see that. I saw an interaction I didn't understand, a lionfish in a hole in the coral, two groupers poking around it, and one even swimming through the hole but seeming to ignore the lionfish. Maybe it needs to get behind it to avoid the spines, and couldn't?
Also, I did the chimney swim-through at Randy's Gazebo again, this time a bit slower, and with my small light on. There was a small lionfish in the tunnel where the chimney meets the horizontal. Off to the side enough to be unlikely to bump into, but I was glad to have the light.
Last trip I noted a solitary queen conch (ID'd by Drew Sailbum, thanks) with a track stretching back into the vis limit, seemed a little mystical. This time they were everywhere. On one south-side dive I stopped counting at 20. Just puts a different perspective on it. Not just conch, but how quickly any of that magical feeling of the strange underwater world gets familiar and taken for granted pretty quick. Like the seahorse pointed out by the DM at Lea Lea's Lookout. If they weren't so relatively rare and hard to spot, they'd be pretty uninteresting.
But I did see one unexpected conch behavior. One guy was visibly moving while I watched him. I had expected their motion was a slow crawl through the sand; the tracks they leave are smooth and continuous. But this guy was lurching forward 4-5" at a time. Did it twice, a minute or two apart. It didn't leave the sand, so the track was continuous, but I wasn't expecting a visible jump forward.
This was now our third dive trip with my wife's Canon S95 & Ikelite housing, and she's pretty much got the routine down. It does add something to our diving. She's shooting in raw, and still working on the post-processing of her photos from the trip.
All in all, another very nice trip, good diving, good food and amenities. I expect we'll be back in a year or two, after another return to Bonaire, and maybe someplace new.
Meeting Photographer Jim Hellemn
We had the completely unexpected pleasure of sharing a dive boat for the first three days of our trip with the creator of the relatively famous composite photo mural of the Bloody Bay wall, among other projects. We knew of this since our last trip to LCBR; there's a small version of it filling a wall in their lobby. See The Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project
He was just hanging with the group and taking photos and video of whatever showed up on whatever dives we were doing, with a rig about 5' across counting the two strobes, camera housing the size of a basketball. I kidded him that it ought to have wheels, and he said it was nothing. Seeing photos of the rig he used for the mural project, he's right.
An interesting technique for getting macro shots, he would just park his rig on the sand, set it up to shoot continuously, and swim away a bit, giving the little guys time to come out from cover and get on with their business.
We had a chance to talk about his scuba rig. He was diving doubles just because he always does, even with 60 feet / 60 minute profiles. A modified Scubapro BC (not a BW/W) allows him to strap in any two tanks of any size, even different sizes, so he doesn't have to travel with tanks. A chest-mounted soft hose-connected manifold/switch block, and two sets of gauges allows him to use the tanks isolated or joined.
Saturday night he gave a presentation in the LCBR conference room of a short film documenting his recently completed 10-year-later re-creation of the Wall mural, and the tie-in with the academic studies using it to study the changes in the coral. LCBR is one of his sponsors for the project, and the DMs seemed very familiar with his diving style and gear.
Dive Operation - Reef Divers
There were few changes in the dive operation or boat routine from our last trip. Rereading my report from 2009, it's still an accurate description. Nitrox is still $10 /tank for nominal 32% (all they offer), which consistently analyzed at 31.1 - 31.8.
They still don't have the nitrox form on their website with the other waivers. I asked again, and they said it was because not everybody needs to use it. I pointed out that they have the PADI medical form there, and only those getting training need that, and the response was ".. and you have no idea how many guests have that filled out for no reason". Clearly, it's a decision, not an oversight, so I think that's the end of that for me. Just fill it out on arrival.
Accommodations and Resort.
Our room was quite similar to the last trip, but downstairs. I don't know if that's the reason, or they've remodeled, but the floor was tile throughout rather than mostly carpet, much better suited for a dive resort.
The electronic safe had moved to the nightstand from the armoire. This time there was a screen on the bathroom window, but none on the front, so it was still A/C all the time. One of the front window locks was broken.
No ironing board! (We could probably have requested one), but there was an iron. :cool2:
I did the whole week with one pair of cargo shorts, five tee shirts, and flipflops, no ironing required. Still way too many large decorative pillows, enough to be annoying given the limited storage space.
Wifi still didn't work at all in the room, but was reliable enough, if a little pokey, in the office/resaurant area.
The stairs to the deck over the fill station now has small tread lights, enough to not need a flashlight to go watch the night sky. And a couple of benches I don't remember, but maybe they were there.
As returning guests we got a free T-shirt. Woot!
Food
Very similar to last trip. Anthony, the executive chef was still there, although he now has a young woman deputy that oversaw the dinner service.
A few small changes in desserts; there were never any cookies, and the only time they had ice cream was in a baked alaska one night. Not complaining, just observing; there were still more than enough dessert choices, and I don't really need any of it.
Last trip, the bread at dinner was kind of indifferent, this time it was worth eating. Anthony says they have a new dough mixer since two years ago, and also he's been working on his bread recipes.
Travel
The airstrip office at LC has been remodeled; the office proper is now larger than a closet, and there's now an air conditioned waiting room with ten or so plastic lawn chairs, and enough standing room for even a full load of passengers on a twin otter. This time, though, no accidental WiFi.
Once again, our baggage between GC and LC was weighed and we again did slightly exceed the 55 lb total limit, even when considering it as 110 lbs for both of us, but once again, we weren't asked to pay the advertised $0.50/lb excess fee.
This time there were a few empty seats going, and a half-empty plane returning, so all our luggage traveled with us.
Usually on the twin otter flights I can't hear the pilot's announcements over the engine noise, but on this return trip I could. The flight altitude is 4500 feet, so anyone thinking that no-fly rules don't apply: They do.
LCBR - Recommended.
Reef Divers - Recommended.
Reef Fanta Seas (Travel Agent) - Recommended.
Little Cayman diving - Recommended.
Overview
My wife and I took a dive trip to Little Cayman Beach Resort Oct 5-13, our second trip there. My report for our November 2009 trip is here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ca...tle-cayman-beach-resort-11-11-11-19-09-a.html
This trip was pretty similar so I'm going to make this report a lot shorter, just covering differences, and a few commonalities worth noting. Consider this a supplement/update, not a full report. We did the same 3 dive + 3 meal a day one week package plus a day, without the included drinks this time. Again, arrived Wednesday, left Thursday, 20 dives. Reef Fanta Seas (the LCBR travel agent) suggested a not-obviously-available structure for the the package that saved us a couple hundred dollars by foregoing those "free" drinks we'd mostly never use.
We wanted to get warmer water than last time, and miss the start of northerly winds, so we pushed the trip to early October instead of mid-November, and lucked out on the hurricane risk.
I measured all 86 degF bottom temperatures except for two 87's, both on dives on the Great Wall in Bloody Bay. My wife's computer always reads slightly lower; she had 86's straight across. We had a little bit of overcast the first few days, even rain at the end of one dive, then it turned mostly sunny and hot for the rest of the trip. This time, we did 17 dives on the north side, including a couple in the northwest just around the point.
Vis was mostly 40-50 feet, up to 50-60 a couple of times. Mostly no current or surge, but there was some current on a couple of the dives, enough to bump my SAC rate up 10% or so over the other dives. Much less chop than the last trip.
Plenty of marine life. Last trip I had noted that the only angel fish were french. This time we saw a couple of queens, and one grey. No morays, flounder, or midnight parrots. A number of good-sized lobsters, but not the monsters I remember from last trip. A few reef and nurse sharks, lots of barracuda, and garden eels at several locations. A big spotted eagle ray free swimming on the wall. Several smaller rays in the sand teamed up with a bar jack. A number of juvenile spotted drum, but no adults. Coral banded shrimp. Several whitespotted filefish. Several turtles, including one memorable guy who seemed to be fascinated by his reflection in another diver's camera lens.
Grouper everywhere, and we saw a few lying motionless with mouth wide, being groomed by Pederson shrimp and gobys, looking quite zoned out. Another one followed us half the dive, and I wondered if he was thinking about getting back on the boat with us.
A number of lionfish. The DMs are no longer killing them on sight, we were told that some guests had complained (?!), so they do a "roundup" every so often instead. We were told that the groupers are starting to hunt them on their own, but I didn't see that. I saw an interaction I didn't understand, a lionfish in a hole in the coral, two groupers poking around it, and one even swimming through the hole but seeming to ignore the lionfish. Maybe it needs to get behind it to avoid the spines, and couldn't?
Also, I did the chimney swim-through at Randy's Gazebo again, this time a bit slower, and with my small light on. There was a small lionfish in the tunnel where the chimney meets the horizontal. Off to the side enough to be unlikely to bump into, but I was glad to have the light.
Last trip I noted a solitary queen conch (ID'd by Drew Sailbum, thanks) with a track stretching back into the vis limit, seemed a little mystical. This time they were everywhere. On one south-side dive I stopped counting at 20. Just puts a different perspective on it. Not just conch, but how quickly any of that magical feeling of the strange underwater world gets familiar and taken for granted pretty quick. Like the seahorse pointed out by the DM at Lea Lea's Lookout. If they weren't so relatively rare and hard to spot, they'd be pretty uninteresting.
But I did see one unexpected conch behavior. One guy was visibly moving while I watched him. I had expected their motion was a slow crawl through the sand; the tracks they leave are smooth and continuous. But this guy was lurching forward 4-5" at a time. Did it twice, a minute or two apart. It didn't leave the sand, so the track was continuous, but I wasn't expecting a visible jump forward.
This was now our third dive trip with my wife's Canon S95 & Ikelite housing, and she's pretty much got the routine down. It does add something to our diving. She's shooting in raw, and still working on the post-processing of her photos from the trip.
All in all, another very nice trip, good diving, good food and amenities. I expect we'll be back in a year or two, after another return to Bonaire, and maybe someplace new.
Meeting Photographer Jim Hellemn
We had the completely unexpected pleasure of sharing a dive boat for the first three days of our trip with the creator of the relatively famous composite photo mural of the Bloody Bay wall, among other projects. We knew of this since our last trip to LCBR; there's a small version of it filling a wall in their lobby. See The Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project
He was just hanging with the group and taking photos and video of whatever showed up on whatever dives we were doing, with a rig about 5' across counting the two strobes, camera housing the size of a basketball. I kidded him that it ought to have wheels, and he said it was nothing. Seeing photos of the rig he used for the mural project, he's right.
An interesting technique for getting macro shots, he would just park his rig on the sand, set it up to shoot continuously, and swim away a bit, giving the little guys time to come out from cover and get on with their business.
We had a chance to talk about his scuba rig. He was diving doubles just because he always does, even with 60 feet / 60 minute profiles. A modified Scubapro BC (not a BW/W) allows him to strap in any two tanks of any size, even different sizes, so he doesn't have to travel with tanks. A chest-mounted soft hose-connected manifold/switch block, and two sets of gauges allows him to use the tanks isolated or joined.
Saturday night he gave a presentation in the LCBR conference room of a short film documenting his recently completed 10-year-later re-creation of the Wall mural, and the tie-in with the academic studies using it to study the changes in the coral. LCBR is one of his sponsors for the project, and the DMs seemed very familiar with his diving style and gear.
Dive Operation - Reef Divers
There were few changes in the dive operation or boat routine from our last trip. Rereading my report from 2009, it's still an accurate description. Nitrox is still $10 /tank for nominal 32% (all they offer), which consistently analyzed at 31.1 - 31.8.
They still don't have the nitrox form on their website with the other waivers. I asked again, and they said it was because not everybody needs to use it. I pointed out that they have the PADI medical form there, and only those getting training need that, and the response was ".. and you have no idea how many guests have that filled out for no reason". Clearly, it's a decision, not an oversight, so I think that's the end of that for me. Just fill it out on arrival.
Accommodations and Resort.
Our room was quite similar to the last trip, but downstairs. I don't know if that's the reason, or they've remodeled, but the floor was tile throughout rather than mostly carpet, much better suited for a dive resort.
The electronic safe had moved to the nightstand from the armoire. This time there was a screen on the bathroom window, but none on the front, so it was still A/C all the time. One of the front window locks was broken.
No ironing board! (We could probably have requested one), but there was an iron. :cool2:
I did the whole week with one pair of cargo shorts, five tee shirts, and flipflops, no ironing required. Still way too many large decorative pillows, enough to be annoying given the limited storage space.
Wifi still didn't work at all in the room, but was reliable enough, if a little pokey, in the office/resaurant area.
The stairs to the deck over the fill station now has small tread lights, enough to not need a flashlight to go watch the night sky. And a couple of benches I don't remember, but maybe they were there.
As returning guests we got a free T-shirt. Woot!
Food
Very similar to last trip. Anthony, the executive chef was still there, although he now has a young woman deputy that oversaw the dinner service.
A few small changes in desserts; there were never any cookies, and the only time they had ice cream was in a baked alaska one night. Not complaining, just observing; there were still more than enough dessert choices, and I don't really need any of it.
Last trip, the bread at dinner was kind of indifferent, this time it was worth eating. Anthony says they have a new dough mixer since two years ago, and also he's been working on his bread recipes.
Travel
The airstrip office at LC has been remodeled; the office proper is now larger than a closet, and there's now an air conditioned waiting room with ten or so plastic lawn chairs, and enough standing room for even a full load of passengers on a twin otter. This time, though, no accidental WiFi.
Once again, our baggage between GC and LC was weighed and we again did slightly exceed the 55 lb total limit, even when considering it as 110 lbs for both of us, but once again, we weren't asked to pay the advertised $0.50/lb excess fee.
This time there were a few empty seats going, and a half-empty plane returning, so all our luggage traveled with us.
Usually on the twin otter flights I can't hear the pilot's announcements over the engine noise, but on this return trip I could. The flight altitude is 4500 feet, so anyone thinking that no-fly rules don't apply: They do.
