October 21, 2009: I just returned from a great week of diving on Little Cayman Island. I can highly recommend the trip to any novice or well experienced diver. I traveled with Aquatic Adventures (
www.learn2dive.net) out of Alexandria Virginia. All flights go through Grand Cayman with a short hop to Little Cayman. We stayed at Little Cayman Beach Resort, which has recently refurnished and upgraded all of their rooms. Our, 8 day - 7 night, package included three meals a day, 5 three boat dive days plus one 2 boat dive day for a total of 17 dives. All tips were included in the package price except for the Divemasters. Not including airfare the trip price was $1,595.00. It was worth every penny of that and more.
The resort and dive boats were immaculate. All the proper safety equipment was on board the boats which easily held the 20 people in our group and still had plenty of room to gear up and move around.. The divemasters were professional and likeable. All divers had a choice of following a divemaster around on a semi-guided tour or were able to go off on their own. The typical first dive profile was no more than 110 feet for 50 minutes followed by two dives with similar profiles of no more than 60 feet for 60 minutes. There was really no reason to go below 70 or 80 feet, since all of the action was shallower than that.. My deepest dive was only 79 feet. None of the dives dissapointed. Seas were calm enough, (like glass) the last two days, that we were able to dive sites that had not been dove in years. It was like diving in an overfilled aquarium. Typical water temperature was in the mid-eighties. Sharks, and rays and turtles, Oh My! The reefs appeared healthy and teemed with life. We never really experienced much current on any dive and only accassionally had some surge to deal with.
On shore the food was borderline gourmet. All meals were served buffet style with plenty of choices no matter what your diet might be. Desserts were in plentiful supply for those who felt the need to carb load after a nice day of diving. As dive resorts go Little Cayman Beach Resort has to be right at the top for quality of accomodations, food service, and customer service. I have stayed in, so called, luxury resorts that don’t match the experience provided by Little Cayman Beach Resort.
Little Cayman Island itself doesn’t have much to offer for the non-diver. It is one mile wide by ten miles long and flat. There is one small store, two very tiny museums and a nature center. But the beach is fantastic as is the bird watching. Mosquitos and no-see-’ums were a problem every night so bring along some bug spray, but if you forgret the resort bar has some you can use for free.
As a highlight to the trip I was able to complete PADI Rescue Diver on this trip and get my Master Scuba Diver certification, I guess that means I am an advanced novice now.
Keep diving!