It has been a long time since Hannah and I did some "leisure, non-stressful, warm water" dives in the ocean. In fact, according to our record, the last time we dove in warm waters of Caribbean was on Hannah's 21st birthday. Two years ago, we had planned for this trip to Grand Cayman Island, but was cancelled last minute (we were literally ready to board the plane from Florida to Grand Cayman!) due to a storm that caused some damage to the resort that we were staying. After postponing and anticipating eagerly for a whole year, we are finally here to celebrate our 13th year wedding anniversary- Grand Cayman.
We are staying and diving with Living The Dream Divers (https://www.livingthedreamdivers.com/). It is such a welcoming weather, with the warmth and sunshine, coming from the frigid winter in Kansas.We are staying in the Angel Fish Cabana, which is a one-bedroom apartment, with a kitchen, living room, balcony and even an outdoor bath. There is also a saltwater pool for the residents to use, but most of our time were spent diving in the ocean!
Even through transport is provided to bring us to and from the dive shop/ boat, we chose to rent a car the whole time we are in Grand Cayman. This allowed us to go and visit other places during our surface intervals, as well as means to get around the island if we need to buy any groceries. We rented a SUV, while in hindsight, we could have rented a cheaper, smaller car.
When we first checked into the resort, Christian welcomed us with two cold beer. Christian has been working with Living The Dreams for a long time, and is a very funny character. He is also a very accomplished diver, and has been featured in a Suunto advertisement alongside some world famous divers. Hannah and I took no time to get settled in, and started enjoying our beer in the sunshine, eager to start our vacation.
We went to Macabuca (https://www.crackedconch.com.ky/macabuca) for dinner. that evening It is a short 15 mins walk from the resort, and it was highly recommended by Christian. It is a very chilled place, next to the ocean. On Mondays, they have all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet for $22. It is definitely a steal as there is a wide spread of food, from jerked chicken to fish/seafood. I highly recommend this place, especially not to miss the Monday's BBQ Buffet.
After dinner, we went back to the room, and started packing our gear for tomorrow's diving! We are super excited about looking at colorful fishes and corals, while enjoying the warm Caribbean waters! First impression of the diving operation - SUPERB! From the pick-up early in the morning to the end of the dives for that day, we are spoiled! We did not need to carry our own gear, we did not need to change tanks in-between dives, we did not need to wash down our gear after dives, we did not need to do the weird walk to the waters (across the boat) with the heavy tank on our back - all were taken care of! We just need to walk to the edge of the boat, put on our mask and fins, and the crew brings our BCD and tank to us, and help us put it on!!!!! Hannah and I have only heard of this service, but have NEVER experience this.
First day diving wasn't a great experience for Hannah! She always have challenges with equalizing during her decent, especially on the first few dives. To make things worse, her purge valve on her BCD CAME OFF, and flooded her BCD. We have to call the first dive, and she has to use the crew's back-up BCD for the second dive for the first day! After the first day of diving, we drove around the island, hoping to find a place where they can repair her BCD, but we didn't have any luck. Luckily, a diver from Indepth ( Watersports (https://indepthwatersports.com/) was able to lend us his spare BCD. The day was saved!
We dove for 4 days (8 dives), saw a lo of sea-life (fishes, shrimps, turtles, barracudas etc), healthy corals. However, my tummy is not feeling good throughout the 4 days, and I feel as if I am suffering from acid reflux on the second dives - Note to self: need to go consult a gastroenterologist.
On Wednesday (Jan 15) evening, we went to Tukka West Restaurant and Bar (https://west.tukka.ky/) for dinner and drinks. The setting was casual, the food was good (the seafood is definitely very fresh!), and drinks are decent as well. It is quite a drive (almost 30 mins) from the resort, but it is away from the main tourist place (7-mile beach), and thus it is definitely the place to go to to enjoy some peace and quiet, while savoring good food.
On Thursday (Jan 16), we planned for a night shore dive (after our morning boat diving). There are tons of shore diving around Grand Cayman Island, but one that intrigue us is the shore dive from Macabuca - to do a shore diving from a bar? This is the first time 😆 Hannah's plan was to enter the water just before sunset to oriented ourselves in the water, and be able to navigate back to the shore when it is dark. We rented tanks and geared up at Indepth (which is next to macabuca), took pics of ourselves for proof of diving from the bar, and were in the water at 5.15pm. The dive was really nice, with tons of unique structure, corals and fishes. However, the sunset took VERY long, and we were back on the surface even before it got really dark. After talking to a couple of divers who regularly dove this site, we could have waited for another 45 mins more before entering the water. However, the experience of gearing up in scuba gear, walking pass a bar, in and out of the water, while staring by tons of people is definitely an unforgettable experience. And of course, having dinner and a drink immediately after the short dive is the cherry on the cake.
After the last day of diving on Friday (Jan 17), we went to Calypso Grill (https://www.calypsogrillcayman.com/) for our anniversary dinner. Calypso Grill is just located next to the Tukka West Restaurant, and is an award winning restaurant. The setting is very classy, very beautiful. and the food is excellent! We shared a bottle of NZ wine, and reminisced our past 13 years of marriage life together. Again, if you are in Grand Cayman, do not miss this place - need to make a reservation because it is almost always busy, and don't forget their famous Calypso sticky toffee pudding.
We are leaving on Sat (Jan 18), but have a whole morning before our flight. We drove (approximately 1 hour) to Queen Elizabeth II Royal Botanic Park (https://www.botanic-park.ky/?doing_wp_cron=1738856225.4871890544891357421875). It was warm and humid on this day, but we walked around the park, enjoying the different flora, and also paid a quick visit to say hello to the Blue Iguanas in the Blue Iguana Conversation (within the Botanical Park).
Overall cost for this trip :
- Lodging (for 5 nights): ~$1500
- Diving (for 4 days / 8 dives for 2 people): ~$900
Dive sites that we dove
- In between
- Wild life
- Eagle's nest
- Oro Verde/ Paradise reef
- Neptune's wall
- Lone star reef
- Turtle reef (shore dive)
- Big tunnels (OUR FAVORITE SITE!!!)
- Bonnie's arch
We could have save quite a bit of money if we buy groceries and cook, but hey, it's our anniversary and vacation :)
