Clearly Cayman
The Buddy Line Spring 2017
Clearly Cayman Newsletter | Spring 2017
Free Diving, Free Nitrox, and Free Nitrox Certification*
This year we’re giving YOU the gifts for holiday travel to any of our world-class dive destinations! Enjoy FREE diving, FREE nitrox upgrades, and FREE nitrox certification* with our specially priced packages for peak, holiday travel, November 18, 2017, through January 13, 2018.
Choose your favorite resort’s package, beginning at $1,402 (Cobalt Coast Resort), $1,527 (Cayman Brac Beach Resort), and $1,677 (Little Cayman Beach Resort).
Consult your dive travel planner or contact us to book your dive vacation.
Same Great Name and Services – Now at 3 Resorts
Reef Divers is now the official in-house dive operation for all three of our resorts: Little Cayman Beach Resort, Cayman Brac Beach Resort, and our newest— Cobalt Coast Resort on Grand Cayman. So wherever you dive with us, you’ll experience the same great valet service that has made divers like you love us and return again and again.
Why valet diving? Simply put, we’ve never met divers who actually enjoy carrying all their gear. So we created a style of stress-free diving in which we do all the heavy lifting—counting on you to just enjoy your diving experiences. When you leave at the end of your vacation, we want you to be smiling and feeling relaxed and refreshed (instead of needing another vacation to recover).
For the safest diving, we require all divers to use computers. Don’t have one of your own? No worries. Our special packages include the use of one for your visit—at no charge. Contact us for more info.
You’ve Got a Friend (or Two)
Look for these friendly faces to help you feel at home on your next visit to one of our resorts.
Meet Emma, Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort Front Desk
Emma moved 4,642 miles from Wales, UK, to the Cayman Islands after falling in love with them during a holiday visit in 2007. She’s a long-time familiar face to many who originally met her at our resort on Little Cayman. Today, Grand Cayman is home to Emma and the light of her life—her 6-year-old daughter Nyah, who shares her love for walking the beach and collecting shells together.
“I want guests to feel totally satisfied at the end of their vacation. When they pop in to tell me goodbye with smiles on their faces as they are leaving, and that they’ll be back—I’m confident they will return.”
Meet Mick, Little Cayman Beach Resort Manager
Mick’s move was only 1,595 miles from (blustery and cold) Chicago to the warm, sunny Cayman Islands. He’s a true company success story, having started with Reef Divers on Cayman Brac in 2002, progressing to dive manager, and today is general manager of our Little Cayman Beach Resort. When he’s not working, Mick and his wife love playing with their four dogs—at least one of whom is immortalized in a painting he did that hangs in his office.
“I want guests to feel like they’re among family here,” according to Mick. “So I look for well-rounded staff with great life experiences and stories, because I know they will relate well to our guests and make them feel welcome.”
Don’t Keep Your Arrival Time a Secret
Please remember to provide us with your airline flight numbers and times for your arrival and departure – preferably when you make your final payment 30-45 days prior to arrival. Airlines change schedules, and we don’t like to keep you waiting.
We use the information to prioritize room cleaning (we want to get you settled into your room as early as possible) and to staff our front desk for faster service during busy check-in time periods.
Clearly Cayman Dive Log
Find Out Why These Are Our Favorite Dives
Originally from Michigan, Reef Divers Cayman Brac manager Joe Kellogg just kept moving south until he ended up in the Caymans. One of his favorite local dives is Snapper Reef, near the western tip of Cayman Brac. Joe delights in watching divers’ eyes open wide as they explore the reef’s beautiful coral formations and lots and lots of reef fish, including snapper, juvenile drum, spotted morays, and the resident big green moray eel. Snapper Reef makes a nice, long morning or afternoon dive, maxing out at about 60’ deep.
I’ve Seen That
The beautiful flamingo tongue (Cyphoma gibbosum) is a marine snail that belongs to the class Gastropoda and is related to terrestrial animals such as garden snails and slugs. They’re relatively easy to find in the Caribbean surrounding the Cayman Islands.
The Flamingo Tongue:
- Secretes a mucus layer of chemicals through their radula or “foot,” helping to break down food into edible nutrients.
- Feeds on toxic soft corals such as the sea rod in the photo.
- Gets its striking colored mantle from these toxins that build up in their bodies.
- Is really light pink. The beautiful spots seen on the shell are part of its mantle and disappear when the animal dies.
- Is preyed upon by hogfish, pufferfishes, and Caribbean spiny lobsters who feed on the soft inner body.
Learn more about the marine environment from Katie Correia, Science Programme Coordinator at Central Caribbean Marine Institute, Little Cayman Research Center. For more info on the CCMI, visit www.reefresearch.org.