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Dive Review of Pirates Point Resort in
Cayman Islands/Little Cayman

Pirates Point Resort, May, 2010,

by George Holmes, NM, US ( 2 reports). Report 5531.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We had a great time at Pirates Point May 15 - 22, 2010, and the resort was really just the type of atmosphere we liked. The clientele is more of our age group, in the 50+ range. Almost everyone was back for a repeat trip, and many have been going there for years. The food was gourmet and excellent. The diving was lots of fun and relaxing. The Bloody Bay Wall is still one of the prettiest places in the Carribean, with huge coral formations and barrel sponges, a sheer vertical drop in many places. Quite a few small fish, the usual suspects, but it didn't seem like they were as prolific as in years past, perhaps partly due to the overcast conditions most of the week. Also, they are getting more lionfish, but the resort staff was dealing with that problem while we were there. Little Cayman seems to have adopted a policy of dealing with lionfish by elimination. There were lots of turtles and lobsters, a few seahorses, pipehorses, macro subjects such as nudabranches and sea slugs. Little Cayman is opening up 8 new dive sites each month with mooring balls, and encouraging the resort operators to use them and let the older sites have a rest. Pirates Point took us to three new sites during our week and we found lots of sealife. You take care of setting up your own gear and leave the BCDs and regs on the boat each night, rinsing the neoprene suits and dive boots back at the resort.

Each day began with breakfast at 8 o'clock. We were expecting yoghurts and muffins, and had such things as eggs florentine, eggs benedict, breakfast burritos. Then we would leave for diving at 9 o'clock and take two vans down the road to the boat, and be in the water by about 9:30 for the first dive, surface interval on the boat with snacks like peanut butter and crackers or potato chips, fruit, in the water for the second dive about 11:30 or 12 depending on how long everyone was on the first dive and distance between dive sites. As promised there was no pressure to complete a dive in a certain time limit. We were diving nitrox and so we were the last to finish some of the time. They have only one dive boat, and can take up to about 16 divers on it comfortably. They always sent out at least two groups, no more than 8 in each group with a divemaster, and one day they sent out three divemasters and 3 groups, spacing each group a few minutes apart so they didn't bump into each other. They have a total of 5 divemasters and they would take turns going out on the boat. There are only a total of 9 people working at the resort, two of whom are gourmet chefs. Most of the workers have been there for years.

Anyway, the second dive would finish at about 1 PM and then we would go back to the resort and lunch would be served at 2 PM. The rest of the afternoon, you were on your own to ride bikes, shower, sleep, sit at the pool, go see the red-footed boobies etc. Cocktails and snacks began at 6:30 with dinner at 7:30 and dominos for whoever was interested after dinner. All the food was excellent with the two gourmet chefs taking turns doing the honors. The head chef, Jeff, made sushi on Friday night for the big champagne party at the owner's house, followed by Ahi tuna served rare (or medium in some of our cases). We also had porkloin, NY steaks cooked to order, wahoo, yellow fin, chicken and beef fajitas etc. As I said it was all terrific. The resort only holds about 24 guests, I think we had about 16 or 18 maximum, with some coming and going on odd days. The locals also came in for dinner a few nights, or people from the condos and resorts down the road.

Some of the bungalows didn't have air conditioning but ours did and we had a king sized bed. The bungalows are pretty nice, island style. Some have oceanfront but we opted for the A/C that was available when we booked.

My husband went out one afternoon with one of the divemasters to fly fish for bonefish. Divemaster Mike is a licensed fishing guide.

We had presentations a few nights before dinner by the local iguana conservation people, the marine life study group, which demonstrated the commitment Little Cayman has to preserving not only the reef, but the topside environment as well.

The price was not a bargain, but well worth every penny with the all inclusive set up and the excellent diving, service, and gourmet food. They clearly state they add on a 15% gratuity to the trip price, so there were no surprises about that. We were so pampered, we even added a little more to the tip.

Our trip was a great success and we will definitely plan on going back to Pirates Point.
Websites Pirates Point Resort   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving All over the Carribean.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, cloudy Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 80-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 75-80 Ft/ 23-24 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Depth limit first dive 100 ft and second dive 60 ft. Get back on board with 500 psi. Dive your computer. Everyone had to have a computer.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics N/A

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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