Grand Cayman- Where to Stay?

[thor]

Thinking of the Cayman's for late August for about 4 days.

1) Looking for something romantic, but still going to be a diving trip.
2)Is this a bad time to go due to rain/hurricane/ etc.
3) Somebody recommended the Reef Resort. Anyone have any comments?

[Defman]

1. I stayed at Cobalt Coast once, really nice place.
2. It's a crap shoot, buy trip insurance?
3. No opinion.

[Damselfish]

The Reef and Cobalt Coast are both very nice and good bases to dive from, they are my 2 prefered places to stay on the island and could both pass as romantic. It depends which end of the island you want to be on and what you want. West End (CC) you will be closer to restaurants, shopping, and relatively convenient shore diving. East End (Reef) is getting further away from it all but not a good choice if you really wanted to do some shore diving.

The dive op at CC is Divetech and at the Reef you would want to use Ocean Frontiers. They are both good ops, but very different. Ocean Frontiers is valet diving with lots of service (to the point of rinsing and hanging your wetsuit for you.) Divetech believes real divers rinse and haul their own gear. (I've read a few complaints lately about attitudes of some Divetech stuff, I never ran into anything like that but I haven't been there in a few years either. )

Cobalt Coast is relatively small and in a quiet area of the West End, you are near stuff without being right in the congestion of SMB. No beach at the hotel, it's on ironshore (better for diving anyway) but there's at least one beach nearby. Nice pool on the water, pretty good food, great owner, and generally a pleasant place to hang out. The boat diving can be little less convenient at Cobalt Coast as Divetech's boat's doesn't leave from there often, though in August you may get lucky with that.

The Reef is a bigger, more resorty (in a good way) place. Nice beach and pool. Ocean Frontiers has a shop there but it's more for buying beach stuff, the real dive shop is down the road at Compass Point Condos. The boats do not leave from the Reef either, they leave from Compass Point. But since they pick you up and take care of gear it's still pretty convenient. One thing, if you want to do the morning and afternoon boats, it's pretty hard to get back to the Reef between dives to grab lunch, etc. Compass Point is also very nice and a whole lot more convenient if you want to get as many dives in as possible, just less resorty/romantic.

Late August would not be my first choice of times to go, since that is pretty much the peak of hurricane season. But if it was the only time I could go I would, but maybe buy trip insurance and keep an eye on the weather.

4 days is not nearly enough...

[thor]

Thanks Damselfish. Exactly the kind of answer I was looking for.

[mselizann]

Originally Posted by Damselfish

The Reef and Cobalt Coast are both very nice and good bases to dive from, they are my 2 prefered places to stay on the island and could both pass as romantic. It depends which end of the island you want to be on and what you want. West End (CC) you will be closer to restaurants, shopping, and relatively convenient shore diving. East End (Reef) is getting further away from it all but not a good choice if you really wanted to do some shore diving.

The dive op at CC is Divetech and at the Reef you would want to use Ocean Frontiers. They are both good ops, but very different. Ocean Frontiers is valet diving with lots of service (to the point of rinsing and hanging your wetsuit for you.) Divetech believes real divers rinse and haul their own gear. (I've read a few complaints lately about attitudes of some Divetech stuff, I never ran into anything like that but I haven't been there in a few years either. )

Cobalt Coast is relatively small and in a quiet area of the West End, you are near stuff without being right in the congestion of SMB. No beach at the hotel, it's on ironshore (better for diving anyway) but there's at least one beach nearby. Nice pool on the water, pretty good food, great owner, and generally a pleasant place to hang out. The boat diving can be little less convenient at Cobalt Coast as Divetech's boat's doesn't leave from there often, though in August you may get lucky with that.

The Reef is a bigger, more resorty (in a good way) place. Nice beach and pool. Ocean Frontiers has a shop there but it's more for buying beach stuff, the real dive shop is down the road at Compass Point Condos. The boats do not leave from the Reef either, they leave from Compass Point. But since they pick you up and take care of gear it's still pretty convenient. One thing, if you want to do the morning and afternoon boats, it's pretty hard to get back to the Reef between dives to grab lunch, etc. Compass Point is also very nice and a whole lot more convenient if you want to get as many dives in as possible, just less resorty/romantic.

Late August would not be my first choice of times to go, since that is pretty much the peak of hurricane season. But if it was the only time I could go I would, but maybe buy trip insurance and keep an eye on the weather.

4 days is not nearly enough...

Damselfish is exactly right- the Reef is wonderful (right next door to my resort) they have a beautiful beach, pools, a beach bar- and quiet........
but if you want to dive, and are only going for 4 days it is a long drive and you may be better off somewhere else

[thor]

We're leaning towards The Reef and the East End. Are there any decent restaurants close by?

[mselizann]

Oh yeah- plenty. Depends on what you want-
There is a place called Over the Edge- beers, local food, seafood, reasonably priced. At Kaibo Yacht club there is a beach bar and fine dining- Rum Point has a nice beach bar and Sunday bbq's....the Lighthouse is more fine dining, and Portofino's had middle-range food with a really good Sunday brunch. Also- right down the road is Miss Vivinne's, a local lady who cooks in her house- you can eat at the picnic tables in her backyard, or get food to go. VERY local food there- like jerk, mince fish, fritters, etc.
Also- the restaurants at the Reef and Morritts are good too!

[Damselfish]

We liked the restaurant at Kaibo Yacht Club a lot, though I wouldn't really call it close - everything is relative. Our other fav around there is the Lighthouse.

[Irregular]

I stayed at The Reef last April- Nice place. While there I dove with Ocean Frontiers- Great Op! (they also have a satellite store at the reef and will pick you up and drop you off there every day) Have a Great trip!