Just spent a week at Compass Point in a one bedroom condo diving with on site operation Ocean Frontiers.

We have been to the Cayman Islands over a dozen times and have 5 previous visits to Grand Cayman. Have logged over 500 dives each.

We had not been to Grand Cayman since Hurricane Ivan. We had never stayed, and dived exclusively, on the East End.

Progress continues relative to recovery. Here and there we saw properties that hadn't been touched since Ivan but not many... If anything there seems to be relentless building. More, bigger, higher...that said the East End is as quiet and mellow an area as you will find on Grand Cayman.

We contacted Compass Point directly via website and toll free number for information and to book our dive package. It included our one bedroom condo, a rental car, and two tank am dives for 6 days. Nitrox and pm two tank dives were extra.

The reservation process was painless. Questions promptly answered and details about the package relayed. Good directions to the property came with the rental car confirmation.

The included rental car was a Daihatsu Charade. I was taken aback by how small it was. We could barely fit our luggage and dive gear in it. Even though it is a four door I would consider it a two passenger car. No way more than two can fit in it with any gear. It was like a Soda can on wheels. The only upside would be the good gas mileage. If we go back we will spring for an upgrade to a real car.

The Condo was very nice. A one bedroom , one bath third floor unit (309) with a small kitchen and a nice living/sitting area with couch and chair and entertainment center. There was a small table and two chairs for eating inside. Two twin size pull down murphy beds (is that what they are called?) flank the entertainment center. The Condo had a nice sized balcony with a large table, 4 chairs, two more chairs and an end table. It was oceanside overlooking the sea and the dock. A nice compact unit. I can't imagine more than two people in it though... Maybe a couple with very small children?

Downside...the bed in the bedroom was a standard double. We would rather have a little less floor space and have a Queen. The kitchen had virtually no counter space. There were plates, glassware, pots, pans etc so you could cook in if you wanted. A Fosters Grocery store is near by as is a liquour store so we did stay in for breakfasts and lunches. No dishsoap or paper towels provided so pick these items up at the store.

The unit has a washer dryer. A modest amount of Tide was provided. Lots of towels provided.

Maid service was $30 (?) a day. May be wrong on the amount. We declined and tidied up after ourselves. Included was garbage removal every day and it appeared they mopped a couple times.

Property very clean and nicely landscaped. Small pool and pool deck over dive shop. It was available if not being used for dive training.

The dive operation was very efficient. Given a crate for gear upon arrival and it was on the boat when we reported for our dives. Never set up our own gear. At the end of dive day put gear back in crate and it was whisked away.

The diving was good. Interesting in that lots of swim throughs and canyons. Every dive presented these opportunities. The sites were all visually pleasing. Not as fishy as Little Cayman. That said we saw schools of tarpon and snapper and french grunts on a number of dives. Lots of little things. Saw more juvenile yellow tail damsel fish (jewel fish) in the week than we have seen in previous 500 dives! Only saw a handful of Large Groupers. I guess they are mostly on the local menus! Saw a few turtles. Only one shark and one stingray all week which seemed odd...

No onsite restaurant. Restaurants are 10-30minute drives. Ate out every nite. Twice at "Portifinos" which we enjoyed mightily and as luck would have it is one of the closest restaurants. They have An Indian chef and we had some fun Indian specials one nite. We ate twice at "Over the Edge". Once it was delightful, the second time a nightmare...over an hour wait for meal, they forgot appetizer, couldn't get attention of server for drinks, napkin, salt and pepper, etc. We ate once at "Castaways" at the Reef Resort which was nice, but thoroughly forgetable. Once at the "Lighthouse" which was truly a fine dining (albeit expensive) dining experience. The service and presentation, not to mention the food, at the Lighthouse were excellent.

All in all a nice dive vacation. Dove, read, played dominos, ate...Not much else to do. Would caution folks that aren't divers that this is a very dive oriented place. Beach area is really non existant. There are chairs and sand but ironshore and turtle grass preclude swimming off the resort.

Before booking our dive trip to Grand Cayman, we did a bit of research trying to find the best place to spend our money--good view, great diving for newbies, good value, etc. Our search turned up several of the dive places on Cayman: Divetech, Sunset House, and Ocean Frontiers. We knew we didn't want the craziness of 7 Mile Beach, so Sunset House was out of the picture. Both Divetech and Ocean Frontiers seemed okay, based on internet reviews, so we closed our eyes and picked a place. Before we knew it, we had put a 1000+ dollars down for a deposit for a week stay at Ocean Frontiers. Crossing our fingers, holding our breath, we hoped it would be a great vacation. Not long after booking our vacation, several dive instructors asked where we were going and with whom. "Ocean Frontiers...that's one of the best companies in the world, and I've dived all over!!!!" Whew! we felt a little more relieved about our choice.
The choice proved to be a good one. Over and over and over again, our experience at Ocean Frontiers was good. We did our Open Water checkout with them--great instructor, amazing first dives with sunken sailboats and in the later dives, swimthroughs. During our week of diving, we were constantly impressed by the level of service. Now we had read about this a little before we went, but I think we must have been spoiled for our first dive trip ever: dive briefings drawn on white boards, the option to go guided, staff that take care of your gear--from changing the regulator system to a fresh tank after dives to rinsing all gear everynight and having it ready to go the next morning. We were also impressed with the service we received on land. Someone walked us to our condo to give a quick tour and orientation. We were able to do yoga sessions, on request, on the pool deck. The staff planned a bbq and showed a great diving film. They kept track of our dive sites and data and printed a list for us at the end of the trip. Typically, we vacation on our own--taking our raft down the river or camping on the lake. So this trip was a special treat for us and we feel so grateful for the experience we had at Ocean Frontiers.
Besides the great time at Ocean Frontiers, Grand Cayman was a great place to visit.

My buddy and I spent 4 days at Compass Point in early March. The main purpose for the stay was diving and so we were not expecting luxurious accommodations. We were pleasantly surprised by the spacious, well appointed, modern equipped suite. High end stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, flat screen TV, washer and dryer, super comfortable beds, spacious living and dining areas, and a large patio with walkout to the white sandy beach with private chaises longue.

But where Compass Point really excels is in its world class diving services and facilities. Staffed by the most professional, knowledgeable, helpful, and genuinely caring dive masters anywhere, and situated across from some of the most spectacular and diverse dive sites in the world, it is hard to imagine a better diving destination. And talk about full service...you hand them your equipment in a basket on the first day...and it's all set up for you for the trip, thoroughly rinsed and stored overnight till the next day when it's setup on the boat again for the next trip. Ample fresh towels are provided on the boats along with orange wedges, lemonade, and cold water.

I cannot think of a single negative to convey. I guess for some, the location on the secluded east end of the Island, a good 35 minutes drive from the main town and tourist area might be a disadvantage but we rented a jeep and enjoyed the open top drives into town for dinner and back. You just have to keep reminding yourself "To the left, to the left!" The one disappointment is the island itself. Really hasn't fully recovered from Hurricane Ivan...it's quite barren for a Caribbean island (in terms of vegetation)... and quite empty...the downtown was almost deserted unless the cruise ships were in, and the restaurants and clubs downtown were half empty.

But all that did little to reduce our total satisfaction with our experience at Compass Point. Highly recommended with no reservations as a world leading dive resort and destination.

Compass Pointe is ideal for independent travelers because all units contain full kitchens. The island has a number of full-service grocery stores (I recommend Hurley's), allowing you to save quite a bit on food. Packages at this resort generally include car rental, which is key for reaching the resort and for touring the island. We drove the entire length of the island over our stay, from dinner at Papagallos on the North Side to drinks at Rum Point, reached by circling out to East End.

Compass Pointe gives you excellent access to the dive sites of East End and keeps you away from the madness of the cruise shippers in George Town and Seven Mile Beach. East End is far less developed, though there are a couple great restaurants (Off the Wall is fun and reasonably priced). Ocean Frontiers, the onsite dive shop, is excellent, with a very professional staff. We did our checkout dives for our Open Water certification with them, and were impressed with the quality of instruction. We had Brian, who's new, and amazing. Over several days of diving, we got to know the dive staff and they helped us decide what types of dives we were capable of as newly-certified divers.

Because a number of the units at Compass Pointe are owned through timeshares, you may dive with folks very familiar with Cayman sites, with newbies like us, or anywhere in between. The atmosphere on the dive boats was very friendly and relaxed, but there was little socializing off the boat.