Browsing: Little Cayman

It’s no secret that the Cayman Islands are notorious for spectacular scuba diving, but why do the Cayman Islands differ from many other beautiful countries lying across the Caribbean wonderland?

After a record breaking 2017 for Cayman tourism overall, and projections for continued growth, the island’s dive operators expect 2018 to be a banner year for their industry, and they are prepared for it. As a leader in dive tourism, Cayman has always balanced responsible diving and conservation with an outstanding dive product, always keeping it fresh and exciting for discerning divers. Cayman’s dive sites, dive operators and resorts remain topnotch, and the divers who voted in the Scuba Diving Magazine’s Readers Choice Awards agree.

The U.S.S. Kittiwake, Grand Cayman’s immensely popular shipwreck, is being shaped by the sea as it undergoes its natural life cycle in the shallow waters off Seven Mile Beach. Recent rough seas moved the wreck slightly, so the Kittiwake now leans on her port side and is 10 feet deeper. Dive leaders say the ship is intact, and the Kittiwake remains a spectacular dive, only now there are new things to explore and photograph.

Southern Cross Club General Manager Jennifer Mills took home the Stingray Award for Accommodations Manager of the Year during a ceremony hosted by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) at the Kimpton Seafire Resort & Spa on Tuesday, June 20, 2017. Ms. Mills was competing in a field that included the managers of the Kimpton Seafire, the Ritz Carlton and other large hotels in Grand Cayman.

Red Sail Sports has hired 18-year-old local resident Lej Batiste as the newest member of its professional dive staff. He is the first Caymanian to complete his divemaster certification through the company’s dive training program since Red Sail Sports began offering dive services in Grand Cayman 30 years ago. Batiste joined Red Sail Sports as an intern with the Cayman Islands Further Education Centre (CIFEC) work experience programme, and quickly established himself as an enthusiastic employee, an avid diver and a young man with a plan for the future.

New Divetech owner and managing partner Jo Mikutowicz has been at the helm of one of Cayman’s leading dive operators for more than a year, and she is making her mark. Mikutowicz has big fins to fill. Cayman dive pioneer Nancy Easterbrook, a mentor, and friend, founded Divetech on the shores of northwest Cayman in 1994 and built it into an operation committed to conservation, education and training.

So far, 2017 has been a remarkable year for the Southern Cross Club in Little Cayman. First, the online travel site TripAdvisor.com named the resort to its top 25 in the Caribbean in two categories based on customer reviews: Best Hotel for Service and Best for Romance. Adding to the awards, administrations manager Neil van Niekerk was named an “Emerging Hero in Tourism” by the Cayman Islands government, and resort owner Peter Hillenbrand was recognized for his “Long Service to Cayman Tourism.”