Cobalt VS Sunset House Debate

[NightRaven77]

Ok...

Im debating on where to stay....I have never been there before...and need some of your opinions....

Cobalt Coast and Sunset are our choices.....

And I want to know the pro's and con's...

Which would be better to stay at....and what are your observations...

Thanks for the help

NR77

 

[Alex777]

Cobalt Coast is a much newer and better maintained facility. Sunset House is definitely showing its age.

OTOH, Sunset is close to town, which means lots of restaurants & shopping. Cobalt is in a relatively remote location in West Bay.

So ... which is more important: well-maintained, modern facilities or convenient location?

 

[scubatoys]

Cobalt Coast is more off the beaten track. A small hotel with a small restaurant and bar... so not many other folks around. And a longer drive into town. Sunset house is kind of a popular hang out bar at night, and just south of town about a mile... So a lot is do you want to be tucked away (CC) or closer to the action (SH).

Then the sunset house has a shore dive that is a very short swim from shore - that is pretty good. Old WWII beach landing craft, some decent reef etc - and not far out.

Cobalt Coast is a much farther kick out - but it's basically heading to the north wall, and the dive is better - but far enough out, unless you like long surface swims, you may want to opt to have them carry you out in a dingy they have, drop you in, then you nav to shore.

They also have a cool scooter dive you can do from the cobalt coast down to the Turtle farm. They take you out in the Zodiak, then follow along above you while you scoot the wall all the way down to the other shop - probably about a mile total... real fun, neat dive.

And the turtle farm dives are great little mini walls.

So for isolated and the pure diving, I'd take the cobalt coast. If you want more folks to share a drink with and closer shopping - I'd go sunset house.

 

[ianr33]

One of the resorts has one of the best Dive Ops on the island.
The other is Sunset House.

One thing not mentioned is that Cobalt Coast has really excellent,shallow (3 feet) snorkelling all around the dock. (octopus,peacock flounder,squid,needlefish etc etc)

I have not stayed at either place but I understand that Sunset House rooms are kind of basic (they have been compared to Motel 6)

Really the deciding thing is do you prefer being close in to town,lots of people,shopping,traffic or do you want somewhere quiet and out of the way.

 

[Damselfish]

I've stayed at each 2-3 times. To me, no contest.

Cobalt Coast is physically just so much nicer and better maintained than Sunset House.

On average I've found folks friendlier and better service all around at CC. Ari is great.

CC is a little further away from stuff, but it's really not that far, nothing like being on the East End. Just nothing in walking distance so you would have to drive to anything, while you will be able to walk to some places from SH if you really want. (Once you're driving, it really depends where you want to go - CC will be closer to some things.)

I prefer the quiet and prettier area CC is in, and the cruise-ship-less view.

I prefer Divetech to Sunset Divers. In my experience better facilities, better boats, better attitudes, better dive sites. Divetech treats divers as adults, Sunset sometimes does not. Divetech does the North wall whenever they can, and the north end of the West wall if weather is a problem. Sunset Divers does the heavily dove sites on the West most of the time. Sunset House does do the south side some, which doesn't get done much by anyone and is nice.

It's a much shorter kick to stuff when shore diving at SH than CC. (Renting a scooter is good.) But the quality of what you get to is so much better at CC. And you can just go to the Turtle Reef shop nearby to shore dive - yeah you have to leave the hotel but it's worth it, it's a great shore diving site, so much better than at SH.

hmm, this has got me wanting to go back there...

 

[dive ladder]

I personally would stay at Harbor View and dive with one of Caymans many small operators. It's much cheaper at Harbor View. Although there is no on site dive operator, the shore dive from there is fantastic. Both Dive Tec and Sunset divers carry 15 or more divers per boat. Thats way too many in my opinion. There are many companys there that carry a maximum of 8 divers per boat. Divers Down/ Ambassador Divers/ Dive n Stuff and the list goes on.

 

[DiveDad]

I was in Cayman in March...due to high winds diving at CC was seriously curtailed and no shore diving. Just a consideration depending on the time of year you're going....Personally, i stayed at Sunset House for a long weekend, had a great time. There is are advantages to being within walking distance of town, restaurant selection, shopping and such beiing the main ones. Alex777 about summed it up. With a non-diving spouse Sunset House was the better choice.

 

[Damselfish]

That's a good point, shore diving is more likely to be blown out at CC especially in the winter, although you can always head to Turtle Cove. Sunset House is less likely to have that issue, although I've gotten blown out there too (only for a day, as opposed to the week we got blown out of shore diving at CC once.)

If I were a non-diver, I'd still rather spend my time at CC since it's so much nicer. But then, I'm pretty happy with a book or taking a walk.

 

[worlddiver]

Divetech has 2 shore diving shops, when one is rough the other is calm and they run a shuttle between the 2 shops. The shore diving at Cobalt is one of the best in the Carribbean with abundance of marine life and soft corals (thousands of sea fans). I have seen Cathy Church with her students at Divetech. The swim at Coablt is about 3 minutes farther than the Sunset's reef but well worth the reward, plus your diving the Northwall out front of Cobalt Coast Resort veres the west wall with all the cruise ships and jets flying over.

Divetech runs 2 one hour dive profiles from their boats (max 10 on their 34' & 14 on their 42' boat) and if you don't own a computer they provide them for free so you can get max bottom time. Their boats are provided with half shade, freshwater shower, towels, bottle water, fruit and 2 dive staff. The staff at Divetech are just awesome especially Javan, Eleanore and Gary.

Cobalt Coast Resort is off the beaten path about 10 minutes to town but I would much perfer be there than with 1,000's of cruise ship passengers. Arie owns the resort and Nancy owns Divetech and they both live on site to take care of your needs 24/7.

Have a great vacation...

 

[DiveNerd]

I'm planning my second trip back at the end of October. When will you be there NR77?

We stayed at SH last year same time and loved it so we planned to go back again same time of year and same place! The accomodations at SH are definitely basic, but it IS a resort for divers with many convenience right there. The Dive Op is in house, the restaurant ion the property and has very good food. The Bar that is on the property (called MY BAR) is a locals handout and its kinda nice to be in the middle of some action. Still not crazy by any means. The entire island is low key and not a lot to do. But I really enjoyed having the sea pool and reef right outside my room to go visit any time. As far as the staff at SH, they are awesome. I cannot say enough about them. The DM's are responsible, professional but with TONS of personality. They will keep you laughing even underwater.

Also, they are a PADI & SSI training facility. Right now they are prolly in the middle of training a new round of instructors. It makes me feel good to know that so much experience is there.

I cannot comment about CC because I never stayed there. It is true that it is in a more remote part of the island. But if you have a car or scooter(which we prefer) you can get around anywhere. We visited Divetech and the staff there seemed very friendly and competent as well. We saw tons of hard core local divers stopping by to chat and pick up fills. Anyone that I have heard of using them has loved them as well.

It all boils down to where you have developed a personal attachment to. I love SH hands down because I love the people there but others that have stayed at CC will tell you same. Good luck! and let me know when you plan on being there. Since we'll be there soon too. I finally might get to meet a Sb'er in person! Even though I live in Florida and we are full of them!