There's a long list of pros and cons in making the choice between STOVL and cat and trap. It's not just a question of austere basing, but (as I understand it) a shedload of other factors like sortie rates and the sea states you can operate in. I suspect it was also felt that continuing with STOVL operations would be more straightforward and lower risk than getting back into the cat and trap game from scratch.
Then again there's a downside in terms of cost and other aspects of performance such as range.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages and how you view it depends on which factors you see as most important.