M261152 trip report - 7/27-8/3/2007

It was so exciting to finally be going back for a week at Grand Cayman. Last trip was 2005 not counting the 1 day cruise stop in 2006 on my honeymoon, but 1 day just doesn't cut it when we are talking about Grand Cayman.

Day 1 - Flight out of St. Louis at 7:15 AM. Had to get up at 4:15 AM, but who cared because soon we would be in paradise. My husbands first real experience of the island. Everything went smooth getting through security with huge Dive Bag in tow. We always take our regulators as carry on and the TSA guys can't ever seem to get what they are looking at. We pushed away from the gate and were ready to go......when the pilot came on 5 minutes later saying that a gauge was lite up and we had to go back to the gate.....no big deal right...probably just a light malfunction and we would soon be on our way. But no....some battery something or other had to be replaced and we were delayed 1 1/2 hours at the gate.

All was still well, we still had time to catch our connecting flight in Miami. We land in Miami with 35 minutes to catch our Grand Cayman flight...Boy are we excited. BUT....since we were late, there is no gate for us....SO...we wait on the tar mat.....we are getting nervous. I kept telling Mike everything would be fine. Didn't want him to worry that we were on a 757 so we were at concourse D and flying to Cayman on a 737 which meant concourse A. He didn't know how far that really was. We spent 30 minutes waiting for the gate. When we got off it was good to see that the monitor showed our Cayman flight was delayed 20 minutes. If anyone is familar with Miami airport course D to a means a 20-25 minute walk.....So, we ran carryon in tow. We got to the gate in a record 7 minutes...YEAH!!!! we boarded an were on our way.

The flight was uneventful..Landing was perfect...Getting through customs was no problem....We talk about plans for the day as we wait for our luggage, which we had wondered if it made to the plane. We didn't think the baggage handlers would be as eager to make the plane as we were. You guessed it....NO bags. We had clothes and incidentals in carry on. We have learned that lesson before......But the Dive Bag didn't make it and we had our first Dive in pristine waters first thing in the morning.

We filled out the appropriate forms and we happy to hear that American had another plane arriving from Miami at 6:00PM. Would our Bags be on it. We would just have to wait and see.

Took a taxi to the Marriott Beach Resort. My daughter and I stayed there in August of 2005 when it wasn't quite fully renovated, but it has it ship shape and we were given a room upgrade. How nice!!

We had gotten up early so we took a small nap. Boy it is hell to be past our 30s.

We went to the Buccaneers feast. The buffet was very good. We took a swim in the pool and off to bed for our early morning dive.

YEAH!!!!!! Our luggage was waiting for us when we returned.

Day 2 - Had a 7:00 AM wakeup call for our morning Dive with Neptune's. Casey and Keith picked us up at the hotel. Got to love the curb service.

They took us to Black Coral Wall and Lemon Reef. There were 3 other divers. Love the personalized service they provide. Just can't beat it. As always the coral is beautiful and tons of fish. One my first dive the hose on my BCD broke so my BCD kept filling up with air all by itself. Casey noticed my problem and quickly came over and disconnected it. Only diving for 2 years, I hadn't had that problem before under water, so it was great to have her there. When I got back on the boat, I told Keith about my issue. He asked if I had another hose, which I did. He quickly replaced it.

2nd dive the BCD worked great. another malfunction though. My wetsuit zipper broke when I got it caught on the tank. Not a major issue, but being cold natured, I knew that diving the remainder of the week in my shorty might not go so well. But since the visibility in Cayman is so great...who cares.

After the dives, Casey dropped us back off at the hotel. We walked to Foster's for some groceries to put in our mini fridge. We usually get items for breakfast and meat and cheese for lunches. Little trick I use is to take my carryon bage with wheel to put the groceries in for the walk back. Usually works great, but it was very hot at 1:00 PM. Usually I make the trip the first night in when it is cooler but didn't this trip. won't make that mistake again.

Had Dinner at Bamboo...We love sushi...It was good...not as good as last trip but definitely good.

Walk back to the hotel via the beach. Wonderful moonlight and atmosphere. Waves got a little deeper then expected at times so my dress got drenched. But who cares....I was in Grand Cayman.

Day 3 - More dives with Neptune's. Dream Weaver wall and Blue Peter reef. Love the fish. Several large lobsters this go round. BCD was messing up again. so just disconnected the hose when I descended and reattached when I surfaced. Got to love quick connect hoses. Waves were really strong. Have to get that fixed now that I am back home.

Oh, I don't think that I have mentioned that the weather forecast showed rain all week, but as we know that means nothing. we had nothing but sunshine the entire week. Not a raindrop in site.

After diving, layed on the beach all day, snorkeled in the ocean. The marriott has some good snorkeling around their reef balls. I like to venture out further to the natural reefs. Made friends with a stingray and a school of squid.

Off to Dinner at Coconut Joes. My husband had the blacked Mahi burger and I had the RU Coc Nuts salad. Very good as always for a cheaper meal. Tired the Banana ice Box dessert. Loved it since I only eat desserts on vacation.

Day 4 - Nothing but sun. Up bright and early for our next dive excursion with Keith and Casey. This time it was to Eagle Ray Pass wall and Black Forest Reef. Can you imagine, yes we did see a school of eagle rays at eagle ray pass. Who would have guessed. More beautiful coral and tons of fish. Can't beat diving in Cayman.

Casey is great with new divers. Many of our dives involved either people getting certified or refresher course divers. Casey has the patience of a saint.

Back to the hotel for a brief nap...more snorkeling..laying on the beach and in the water. Really refreshing to put your lounge chair in the water. .

Off to Lonestar for Dinner. It was all you can eat fajitas and my husband can put them away.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:36 pm Post subject:

Glad you made it down there and caught you connecting flight....don't know whats going on but more and more flights are having issues Confused

, my Aunt is a travel agent and lately flying has not been fun. I have a 40 minute layover and an wondering if I will make it, Confused

Well the good thing about not having your bags at the airport when you arrive is that they will deliver them to your Hotel. sure beats lugging them around, especially if they arrive the same day. Smile

RC

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