Main Menu
Join Undercurrent on Facebook

The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975 | |
For Divers since 1975
The Private, Exclusive Guide for Serious Divers Since 1975
"Best of the Web: scuba tips no other
source dares to publish" -- Forbes
X
 

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

Reef Divers/Little Cayman Beach Resort, Dec, 2008,

by Don and Marilee Hughes, Mn, USA (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports). Report 4588.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 5 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments Diving is done “valet style.” The first morning of your diving you leave your gear outside your door in a bag you’re given. It’s picked up and carried to the boat by dive staff. You set up your gear only once. It’s done for you each day thereafter. Dive staff set up your bcd and regs each morning and change over between dives, then rinse them off at the end of the day. Your wetsuit, flippers, and mask are cared for by you. There’s a hose on board for a quick rinse along with towels. You clean your bcd and regs after your last dive of your trip. There’s two large rinse tanks at the dive shop located at the end of the pier for rinsing your wetsuit and gear. Suits dry fast after they’re hanged in a drying room attached to the dive shop. Large covered dive boats are very clean, well kept and maintained. Oxygen, defribrillators, and toilets are on board. Cold water and snacks are provided. You carry your flippers to the end of the boat and sit down. The dive staff carry your tank to you. Same procedure after dives. Dedicated camera table. Dive staff handled cameras carefully, giving them a quick rinse from water hose after dives. Consistent air fills to 3000+ psi. Consistent nitrox fills at 32% at a cost of $10/tank. You test your tanks with provided testers, then mark tanks with your name and assigned boat. Reef Dives fills all the nitrox tanks for the island. Three dives each day. Two morning and one afternoon. Dive limits on first dives are 110 feet/50minutes, second two dives of the day are 60 feet/60minutes. Buddy diving only. A divemaster is in the water for the first 30 minutes or so providing a tour if anyone is interested. He or she then is back to the boat to assist the other dive staff get divers back into the boat. 45-minute surface interval between dives. I didn’t see computers being checked. Computer diving is required. Sunnto wrist computer provided if you didn’t have one. Two night dives offered each week, dependent on weather and adequate interest. A trip to the Brac to dive the wreck is offered once a week. Dive staff are very competent and quite safety conscious. Very thorough dive briefings are given with map of site drawn on dry erase board. The daily routine is breakfast, two morning dives, back for lunch, then out for the remaining afternoon dive. Depending on weather, dive staff will discuss which sites people want to dive. The dive shop is staffed full-time. There isn’t dive equipment for sale, but good selection of clothing, etc. On site photo pro shoots a video of your dive boat group during your trip, then shows it at the bar. $40 for a copy. Camera rentals are available. Good Caribbean diving. Mostly smaller fish, the usual suspects. Fair quantity of cleaning stations. Good coral growth. Four to five friendly Groupers live on a couple of the reefs. If interested, you’re given a detailed printout of your dives for your trip. The resort is undergoing its first remodel. They’re doing a fabulous job with this! Two of the three buildings are completed with a good pace ongoing to finish the third building. All new superior quality materials are being used from the new furniture and air conditioners to the new LCD televisions. All rooms have refrigerators, hot water/coffee makers with coffee and tea packets. There was no working cable to the televisions and the wi-fi for laptops was spotty due to not completely back 100% after Hurricane Palomo. Daily maid service was good. With the exception of the dive staff, your package price includes staff tips. We tipped the maid and bar staff anyway. Dive staff tip boxes with their individual names are inside the dive shop. All staff from the maids to the resort manager are friendly, seem like they enjoy their jobs, and do a good job. There’s a good selection available in the on-site gift shop/store. Bicycles are provided free. The store is a few minute ride down the street, including a liquor store. The bar is frequented by the dive staff after the dive days. Beer is $3.50 to $4.00 C.I. Mixed drinks approximately $6.00 C.I. The food is served buffet style. It’s excellent, definitely the best I’ve encountered in a dive resort. More than one entrée are offered, same with the deserts. Omlets to order available for breakfast. Wine at $6.00 C.I. per glass available for the evening meal as well as a selection of wine bottles. There’s only 150-200 people living on the island. This includes the workers. There’s no cruise ships or people selling their wares. It’s a very peaceful beach area and grounds to relax. Beach chairs and hammocks present. Smaller, but very clean pool located by the bar. Cayman Airways is only service into Little Cayman. The small puddle jumpers fly daylight hours as the runway doesn’t have lights. Baggage is weighed and overweight bags are charged .50 cents/pound U.S. Bags can be delayed in arriving, like arrive the following day. It’s requested you set out as much of your bags the day before by 3:00 p.m. to facilitate Cayman Airlines getting the baggage to Grand Cayman.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Solomon Islands, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas, Saba, Statia, St.Kitts, Mexico.
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, choppy
Water Temp 81-82°F / 27-28°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 70-100 Ft/ 21-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions First dive 110 feet/50 minutes. Second and third dives 60 feet/60 minutes.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 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 4 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities 5 stars
UW Photo Comments
Was this report helpful to you?
Leave a comment (Subscribers only -- 200 words max)
Subscribers can comment here
 

Subscribe Now
Subscribers can post comments, ask the reviewer questions, as well as getting immediate and complete access to ALL 1022 dive reviews of Cayman Islands and all other dive destinations. Complete access to all issues and Chapbooks is also included.

 

Want to assemble your own collection of Cayman Islands reports in one place?
Use the Mini Chapbook Facility to create your personalized collection.

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.

Undercurrent Home


Get more dive info like these and other important scuba updates sent monthly to your email.
And a FREE Recent Issue of Undercurrent

Free Undercurrent Issue
Get a free
monthly email and
a sample issue!


Find in  

| Home | Online Members Area | My Account | Login | Join |
| Travel Index | Dive Resort & Liveaboard Reviews | Featured Reports | Recent Issues | Back Issues |
| Dive Gear Index | Health/Safety Index | Environment & Misc. Index | Seasonal Planner | Blogs | Free Articles | Book Picks | News |
| Special Offers | RSS | FAQ | About Us | Contact Us | Links |

Copyright © 1996-2024 Undercurrent (www.undercurrent.org)
3020 Bridgeway, Ste 102, Sausalito, Ca 94965
All rights reserved.

Page computed and displayed in 0.17 seconds