Villa Mora

There were 13 of us in the villa for a week, and it housed everyone easily. We had a wonderful time. The facilities were really good, and the beach out front is lovely. Snorkelling was fab out toward the reef, where the water gets to around 7 feet deep. We booked four kayaks, which helped us get to those areas. The sand isn't as pristine as at 7 Mile Beach, but we didn't expect it to be, and it suited us perfectly. Evenings felt like a holiday with the outdoor dining area, BBQ, and sound system beside the pool. It was 28C every day, which beats February weather in the UK any day!

The property managers, Pam and Paula, were helpful and responsive, and Eddie runs a great grocery delivery service. The house has lovely amenities, but the beach was a serious problem for us. As of October 2016, seagrass started at the shore and extended through the top of the water. You couldn't swim over it without scraping your face, and it was covered in fuzzy algae that smelled like sulphur, or rotten eggs. Even in wetsuit boots, walking over it for 15 minutes didn't get us to the end. We later kayaked out, but the snorkelling was poor and there wasn't much to see. Dead seagrass also washed up in mounds in front of the house every morning, though that wasn't shown on the site. They cleaned the beach before we arrived, but by day three it was covered again. We had a baby and toddler and needed a beach where we could play and swim close to the house. Trips to nearby beaches were a big hassle, so we asked to move. Jim Leavitt was unhelpful and hostile. He said he was a lawyer, claimed what we said about the seagrass was simply untrue, and told us we wouldn't get a refund if we moved. Family had flown in from the US and UK, and we'd looked forward to the trip for six months, so we were very disappointed. The house was also for sale, and we found many things not working properly. The hot tub was either too hot at 107 degrees or too cold. For a large group, locals recommended other homes through other agencies, including Coral Reef house at Cayman Villas. Don't go to Rum Point/Cayman Kai if you want to be near everything else, it's an hour's drive away, and the water has rough conditions and strong currents much of the year. For the effort of getting to a decent beach, you'd be much better off at somewhere like Smiths Cove or Sports Beach. We went diving out of the West Bay with Living the Dream, and the sites were sensational.

Wow, breathtaking. We've been here for a week with fifteen people, and it's been wonderful!

A peaceful, beautiful villa for a vacation.