A couple of things happened to make this possible. Our wonderful daughter Maggie gave us a week of babysitting so that we could take a vacation without any kids, thank you Maggie. When the opportunity presented itself for us to rent the same condo in Seven Mile Beach Resort in Grand Cayman that we did in May of 2017 so we jumped on it. The earliest we could book a vacation for me, at the time, was in September.
We also decided that if we’re going to spend the bucks to get there and dive, might as well maximize the opportunity and decided to extend it a couple days, three to be exact.
We originally asked the condo folks for a special rate to extend because, well, honestly, we like to be frugal like that, and we also have a boat load of Marriott points so we could technically stay at the Marriott resort for free. Initially the resort said “No” and quoted us standard rates which were ridiculous. Anyone in Cayman in the offseason (August-September-October) an paying list price is not doing their homework.
So we looked around. The problem with the Marriott for us, was simply that it’s basically a standard hotel room, an when you’re diving, you have a lot of wet, sometimes stinky gear to deal with. There’s no good place to store it at the Marriott and they don’t have their own dive company to take it off your hands. We also like to have the opportunity to cook a bit and save some money when we can and you can’t do that when all you have is a Microwave. Well, I suppose you can, but we can’t.
Additionally we wanted to experience other parts of the island, not just Seven Mile, which can be busy like Gatlinburg only with a beach. If you don’t know how busy that is, just know that it’s crazy busy. It turns out, in the offseason, that’s not a problem.
After some research, we selected a condo on the north side in Old Man Bay. Originally we rented On The Bay Unit #104 via Grand Cayman Villas & Condos, a ground floor unit at the back, which didn’t really have the best of views but it was priced really good. Upon arrival, we were notified there was a problem with #104, it had recently sold and the electricity hadn’t been turned on so we were moved to unit #310 on the third floor with a spectacular view! This was certainly an upgrade!
As we did our research we were a little bummed about the number of things that were down/closed for the off season. Island population is certainly lower, it is hurricane season after all. A few of the dive companies we planned to dive with told us they would be down for maintenance and when I tried to get reservations at one of the all you can eat lobster nights and they were like, “Yeah, uh, no, we’re closed in September.” But we soldiered on.
We eventually booked diving with EPIC divers for the 7 days we’d be staying on 7 Mile because of their stellar reputation on Trip Advisor. We figured we’d just snorkel, shore dive, or find someone on the North side when we got here. We also planned to check out the Morritt’s resort and Ocean Frontiers as potential places to stay next time.
Unit #310 On The Bay @ Old Man Bay on the North Side
On The Bay Unit #310 (Third floor ocean view) was an upgrade for us from unit 104, (ground floor, no view). Kudos to Grand Cayman Villas for upgrading us. The On The Bay condos are nice and spacious. The unit we stayed is was an owner occupied rental so it was extremely well appointed versus a condo that’s 100% rental and filled with the bare minimum. We essentially had the entire 12 unit complex to ourselves. It really couldn’t have been better.
Starfish Point
Did someone say starfish? What a great little corner of the earth. Named Starfish Point for a reason. We stopped out there on our first night to check out the sunset, then followed up with a poor attempt to snorkel there the next day. Worth going for the starfish but it’s not a great place to snorkel despite what you may read. Super shallow to a 10 -15 foot deep sea grass area to a deep drop off. Not a ton of life outside of some basic fish and the starfish of course. We’re told you sometimes see turtles feeding there. Current was strong when we visited.
Over The Edge Restaurant – Great place on the north side for a relatively inexpensive meal. Inexpensive as far as Cayman goes. Good food, locally sourced fish, etc, with a bit of a french flair. We stopped here for dinner the first night on the porch over the water. Wonderful view.
Friday morning after snorkeling at Starfish point and stopping off to see Rum Point (not real sure what the attraction is there) we headed around the east end of the island to see what Ocean Frontiers had to offer and to inquire about diving with them on Saturday.
Ocean Frontiers
This dive resort is now on our list of places to stay in the future. Something about rolling out of bed and onto the dive boats really appeals to us. The facilities were super well organized and the room that they showed us was very clean with a good view. Sad that the pool is located across the street in the other part of the complex but we’d manage. We booked our first dive with them for Saturday morning, with a penciled in spot for Sunday if we could coordinate the move out of the north side and into 7 mile in a way that would work out.
What can I say? This is our go-to night out in Grand Cayman. Their food is amazing as well as the atmosphere. This is our second trip. I made reservations for The Brasserie as soon as I knew we were coming. We opted for the Chef’s selection. A five course tasting menu that was out of this world.
We started with their Tuna Ceviche with plantain chips, followed by the Prince Edward Island Mussels, Swordfish, Steak, a sample of some magical cheese, and our desert sampler. All of it was amazing@
Saturday morning we dove with Ocean Frontiers, and loved every minute of it. It’s a larger boat for sure, but there was PLENTY of space. I liked having the room, and the service and attention to detail spoiled us. Everyone had their own dunk tank next to their two tanks of gas. 3 Dive masters on the boat, two in the water with every dive. We were fortunate, there weren’t any newbies, or anyone that required any attention. Two stellar dives , enough to get us to book again for Sunday.
Dive logs were captured using my new dive watch/computer. The Garmin Decent MK1. This little gem logs not only the dive particulars but my heart rate as well. Additionally it logs the GPS location of your entry and exit. SWEET. (Click any of the links below for the details)
Dive 1: Eeny Meeny Miny Mo | Single-Gas Dive
Dive 2: Iron Shores Garden | Single-Gas Dive
Rum Point
I don’t see the attraction to Rum Point, sure it might be quieter, there’s a Rum Point beach area with a bar or two, bar food, and a restaurant (which was closed except for dinner). The beach there was small, and full of seaweed. Clearly party central though if that’s what you’re looking for. That’s to say to buy overpriced buckets of beer and play sand volleyball. No kidding, I paid $28 Cayman for two Mango Coladas and I don’t think there was any alcohol in them to speak of. Worst investment of the trip. We did however enjoy the hammocks for a bit. But I see no need to go back there. In all fairness, we didn’t get out to the western part of the beach.
Sunday
Two more dives with Ocean Frontiers
Dive 3: Lost Valley | Single-Gas Dive
Dive 4: FantaSea Land | Single-Gas Dive
Again, exceptional service, and great overall dives. Same boat, completely different and equally great crew.
On the bay was kind enough to allow us a later than 11am check out so that we could dive on Sunday. We were told by 7 mile we could check in after 4pm, maybe early but 4pm for sure. After our dives we took a little pool time to wind down before packing up and moving to 7 Mile Beach Club and Resort.
Upon arrival (at 4:10) we noticed that the office closed at 4pm. Fortunatly the manager lived in unit 1 and was able to accommodate our check in. That certainly didn’t jive with the “You can check in after 4pm for sure story we got the day before.
Epic Divers
After checking in and getting settled I sent an email to Epic Divers, whom we booked with confirming our arrangements after I read that they were winding down. They confirmed our pick up time and that all things were a go.
EPIC more than lived up to their reputation. For the most part Claudine and I had the boat to ourselves with Pete (one of the owners parents). What a distinct pleasure it was to meet them and dive with them. We did pick up another couple divers Thursday, Friday and a full boat for their final run on Saturday.
I wish Pete and his family success in whatever it is they decide to do and plan to keep in touch.
The first two dives with EPIC were on the western 7 mile side. I enquired about diving the north wall as I hear that’s often harder to get to, specifically when in the summer as the weather comes from the north.
Monday’s dives:
Dive 5: Knife | Single-Gas Dive
Dive 6: Ono Verde | Single-Gas Dive
Tuesday’s dives:
Dive 7: Big Tunnels | Single-Gas Dive – Drift
-= Followed by a move to the North Sound
Dive 8: Lemon Reef | Single-Gas Dive
Wednesday’s dives:
Dive 9: Leslie’s Curl | Single-Gas Dive
– Surface Interval at Stingray City Sandbar.
Dive 10: Ray’s Bedroom | Single-Gas Dive
We got to spend some time with “Hook” about a 5 foot reef shark, that once had a huge hook in his nose (note the scar) which was removed a while back.
We had originally planned to take Wednesday and Saturday off to shore dive, but because the service was so good, and the weather on the north wall was cooperating we elected to dive both Wednesday and Saturday as well in the end.
We also took our Sunset Snorkel trip off Cemetary beach this evening. Good stuff.
Thursday’s dives:Dive 11: Main Street | Single-Gas Dive
Dive 12: Blue Pita | Single-Gas Dive
Shore Dive @ Macabuca
Dive 13: Macabuca | West Bay Single-Gas Dive
Friday’s dives:
Dive 14: 7 Fathoms | Single-Gas Dive
Dive 15: Sturgeons Domain | Single-Gas Dive
Shore Dive @ Sunset HouseDive 16: Sunset House | George Town Single-Gas Dive
-= Yes, we found the mermaid. We did swim past it but found it on the way back. Cleaned up after the dive and had dinner on a patio all to ourselves.
Saturday’s dives:
Dive 17: Hammerhead Hill | Single-Gas Dive
Surface Interval at Stingray City Sandbar again
Dive 18: Monet’s Garden | Single-Gas Dive
At the end of the trip, these are all the dive sites we hit in 10 days, 8 of them diving.
There are supposed to be 365 dive sites between the 3 Cayman islands. We have only scratched the surface, with 18 this trip and 11 the last trip, with the only duplicate so far being the shore dives at Macabuca.
Video
Disclaimer: This is a quick chop down of over 40 hours of video captured during the trip. I am not a professional videographer or video editor. You may be about to spend time on the internet that you’ll never get back.
Video 1: Photos, Sharks and Eels
Video 2: Fish and Stingrays