Little Cayman

Date: October 1994

Last year’s success with an out-of-the-way place, Blue Marlin Resort on South Water Caye on Belize’s barrier reef, suggested that we ought to try the same concept again. Little Cayman is definitely off the beaten path, and the legendary wall diving there had been an attraction for some time. Although getting there by air has not always been possible, we learned that regular air service between Grand Cayman and Little Cayman was being reinitiated.

At a DEMA (Dive Equipment Manufacturer’s Assoc.) convention early in the year, I met with Chris McCoy, the son of Sam, founder of the lodge and early pioneer of diving in Little Cayman. In addition, a couple of longtime NAUI officials gave glowing recommendations. So, plans were made and a group of 16 was set to go.

Diving: The diving met if not exceeded our expectations. As far as shear vertical, dramatic walls go, Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson Wall on the north side of Little Cayman set the standard in the Caribbean.

Our first day started out kind of shaky. The sky was overcast and we could see lots of whitecaps out on the seas. At the dock, the boat was lurching up and down about five feet, which may equipment handling and boarding interesting. This small bout with weather was short-lived, however, as the remainder of the week settled into lots of sun and calm waters.

Four of our five night dives were at a great location called Cumber’s Caves. As a shore dive, it was challenging. First we took the flatbed off-road to get to the shore, we had to don our equipment in the dark or use the truck’s headlights, battle ferocious misquitos that seemed to know we would soon become inaccessible, then walk out over iron-shore until we found enough water to surface swim. Once we got to the site, just short of the wall, however, we were greeted by sandy bottoms lined with towering coral heads that must have risen from the bottom 40’ or so.

It was here we were told, that we might meet Molly the Manta, and we did. Before heading out for the evening, our divemaster told us if Molly showed, to slowly settle to the shallow bottom and form a large circle with our lights shining towards the center. We complied, and were treated by a manata show for the next 20 minutes or so. Not everyone made the dive that night, so when we returned, there was definite bragging rights.

The walls were spectacular. Sometimes we would approach the wall with a "hill" of coral blocking our way. As we approached closer, however, swim-through tunnels appeared beckoning us to the deep blue visible on the other side. On the wall itself, seafans, soft corals, and sponges competed for domination. Usually, nothing could be seen directly below us but more blue. On another section, we were dropped onto a flat bottom in only 20’ of water where a few feet away, the bottom completely and immediately dropped out of sight thousands of feet below. This was probably the most dramatic drop-off I have ever seen.

Dive Operation: Our group was divided into two groups for the week and we dove together off of two boats. Chris McCoy was the dive master on one and a self-professed fugitive from the U.S. took the other boat. Everyone was "pardner" to him and we quickly tired of him as he mostly just like to hear himself talk with very little important to say. We typically did two morning dives off the boats, an afternoon shore dive, and a shore night dive. Although the resort is directly on the shore, water there is too shallow for a dock. For diving, then, we all boarded a flat-bed truck for a few minute drive to either the boats or a shore location.

Meals: In a word, the "worst" we have experienced on any dive trip anywhere. A major part of the group’s legitimate complaint was food quantity. It was so meager that we had to continually raid the peanut butter and bread to fill ourselves after extremely active days. I won’t even expound on the bugs in the kitchen.

Resort: We would never return nor recommend it to anyone else. The rooms were adequate, but in the main building, some would have to pass through other’s rooms to get to theirs—not real convenient. It certainly was no fault of the resort, but at least where we stayed on Little Cayman had the worst mosquitos of any other destination. It was literally impossible to be outside after dark. McCoy’s had a nice new swimming pool, but no one ventured there at night.