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Dive Review of Little Cayman Beach Resort in
Cayman Islands/Little Cayman

Little Cayman Beach Resort, Apr, 2014,

by Michael Wood, WA, US (Sr. Contributor Sr. Contributor 21 reports with 14 Helpful votes). Report 7584.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 3 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 3 stars
Comments Little Cayman Beach Resort is a wonderful getaway: Beautiful Island, beach, resort is well maintained. Food is 4 star--varied, plentiful and even custom if you need it. Staff is great, especially the kitchen folks from Jamaica. Massage is first class. Bloody Bay Wall and surrounding reefs are among the healthiest in the Caribbean, the viz is nearly gin clear, very little if any current. The walls and "great blue" are impressive and cool to hover over. Great wide dive boats, good dive briefings, nitrox available. This is my second visit to LCBR and 4th to the island. It will be my last, most likely--here is why.
When your divemaster points out a Queen Angelfish (which are a dime a dozen in Cozumel), you know something is out of whack. Rarely saw Trumpetfish, which are everywhere even in Key Largo and in schools. Sharks? Never. (I don't count Nurse Sharks). Thankfully, the Groupers have come back from near decimation from "Grouper Fests" in the past, and Lionfish are being culled by the Divemasters every week. Small stuff? Practically non-existent. No nudis. A lettuce slug once in a while. A pipefish is another big deal, when it really isn't. Snappers, grunts, yes. Tropicals: Very disappointing.
The divemasters are knowledgeable and relatively friendly, but rigid--and outright wrong--about some of their on-boat safety procedures. First, they neglected to throw out a line a the end of the dives all but 2 dives (over a week's diving). This is a requirement everywhere else in the world, but they see to ignore the rule despite the dive manager telling me it should be done. We had several rough days and this made getting on board difficult. Second, while it's great to have a seat when you get back on board and they take your BC/Tank from you, they ill-advisedly mess with changing out the tanks instead of getting everyone back on board and THEN changing the tanks out for the next dive. Because of this, people are bobbing at the back of the boat, sometimes struggling, and have no line to hold on to while they obsessively change out the tanks. They might be able to do this if they had a 3rd person on board--which, again, most boats around the world do; but they try to eak by on 2 per boat, meaning 1 divemaster instead of 2, which is more normal.
Part of my criticism is that I've become spoiled by diving the South Pacific, where the biodiversity makes Little Cayman look like a desert. But for my money, Cozumel is a better choice for an easy Caribbean dive trip, better value, better fish life, giant formations instead of the wall, and easy drift diving to not worry about finding the boat again. (BTW, dive with Aldora Divers there!).
If you haven't dove Little Cayman (which is much better than Grand Cayman), it's a good trip for your Caribbean bucket list. It's also great for non-divers wishing idyllic solitude. Wifi is adequate, bar is fun as are the barkeeps. It's a beautiful place if nothing else.
Websites Little Cayman Beach Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Little Cayman Beach Resort
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas choppy
Water Temp 82-82°F / 28-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 60-100 Ft/ 18-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Follow your computer, stay with your buddy
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks None Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 2 stars
Small Critters 1 stars Large Fish 1 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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

Subject Matter 2 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments Nice photo bench, no rinse tank on board; they hose your camera as you get on board then put on bench. Good wall diving for wide-angle photos. Keep your macro lense at home.
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Subscriber's Comments

By Craig A Wood in PA, US at May 01, 2014 17:46 EST  
Hi Michael, Your report is right on. I first visited Little Cayman with my son in 2010, I remember a fair number of fish. My wife took me back to Little Cayman at the end of January for my birthday. Walls were beautiful, water was clear, but, where were all the fish? I was luckier than you and did see several Reef Sharks but most of the tropical fish were missing in action. I am spoiled, my wife and I have a house in SE FL and mostly dive Boynton Beach. There are a tremendous number of fish on the reef to the point I generally note, "the usual reef fish" in my log book. This means all kinds of Parrotfish, Filefish, Cowfish, Trunkfish, Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Triggerfish, Porcupine and Burrfish, Wrasses, Cornet and Trumpetfish. Then you can throw in all the Southern and Yellow Rays, Lobster, Green, Spotted and Golden Morays, and Loggerhead and Green Turtles. My favorite site in the Caymans is currently Grand Cayman, East end. There are are many more fish here. Ocean Frontiers at Compass Point is a fantastic operator, perhaps my all time favorite. Good diving, Craig
By report author: Michael Wood in WA, US at May 01, 2014 19:38 EST  
Craig--Thanks for your experience and recommendation for the East End. I've never taken the opportunity to check that out. Guess I'll put that on my bucket list for another Caribbean trip. But I'm so into Indonesia and the Philippines it's hard to work everything in!
By G. Tripp Jones MD in SC, US at May 03, 2014 08:54 EST  
In my opinion, I have never used a better dive operation than Ocean Frontiers. They are superb!
By G. Tripp Jones MD in SC, US at May 03, 2014 08:54 EST  
In my opinion, I have never used a better dive operation than Ocean Frontiers. They are superb!
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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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