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Dive Review of Ocean Frontiers/The Reef Resort in
Cayman Islands

Ocean Frontiers/The Reef Resort, Sep, 2003,

by Jay Harmer, CA, USA . Report 816.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 3 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 1 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments On airline food service or when a snack is not a snack. On our Continental flights a “snack” is now a cup of beverage, they will leave the can if you beg, and a bag of pretzels. The “breakfast” was cold cereal, milk, some sort of crunchy bar, and a bag of raisins. Wouldn’t it be better if there were some description of what they were serving?

Located on the east end of the island this the Cayman Reef Resort is away form the bustle of downtown Georgetown. The downside is this necessitated a rental car and 45 minute, but pleasant, drive form the airport. The car was also necessary to reach the rather dispersed restaurants and shops on this end of the island. The resort/timeshare was nicely maintained with a friendly staff and our room had A/C, a ceiling fan, whirlpool tub and a patio with a view of the sand beach and pier plus a hurricane shelter entry. A plus is it had a coin laundry in addition to an on site restaurant, tennis court, and beach toy rentals.

However, promoted as a “luxury boutique resort” the hotel was lacking in daily maid service, only once each week we were told, with daily towel exchange that was spotty at best. The on site dive shop was well stocked but the boat dock was about 10 minutes away.

Ocean Frontiers is one of the better run dive operations that I have encountered. We dove from their aluminum jet drive dive boats with robust 3000+, after sitting in the sun, fills and 5 –10 minutes trips. The crew was friendly and courteous with elaborate, maybe to lengthy, dive briefings including whiteboard drawings. After the safety intonations, 110 feet max 1st dive, 60 feet max 2nd,with computers, find the boat at 1000 psi, return with 500 psi, we were offered either guided or unguided dives. The reefs and sea life on this less impacted end of the island were good with large fish, abundant tropicals, small rays, and turtles, on most of the dives. Upon return Ocean Frontiers would rinse and store or gear and have it ready on the boat for the next days dives. They also had showers and changing rooms at the pier.

In addition to the usual auto tours we returned to the west end to visit the “Turtle Farm”, about an hour of leisurely driving. This is a working FARM and not a conservation effort and we didn’t think it was worth the $6.00 U.S. admission charge. We would also recommend a visit on a day when the curse ships are not touring. Like most of the islands that are ports for the cruise business the concentration of people and buses creates extreme overcrowding. Weekends are the best time to make land tours as the ships are back in the states.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean from Turks & Cacos to Bonaire to Cozumel and Pacific from Southern California to Marshal Islands to Fiji
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather windy Seas choppy
Water Temp 84-87°F / 29-31°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 0-0 Ft/ 0-0 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions 100 ft max 1st dive no time limit w/t computers or tables, 60 ft max 2nd dive, no time limit w/t computers or tables.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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