My family and I are planning a trip for late December and are looking to do quite a bit of scuba diving. We have been to Cozumel several times and are looking for an alternative. The diving there was great, so we would like something comparable. We have never been to the Cayman Islands, so any ideas or suggestions are welcome!!
Compare diving Cozumel to Cayman?
- Thread starter kdufour
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The obvious major difference is currents. Cozumel is a drift diving destination. Cayman is not.
Cayman has warm clear water and deep, deep walls.
Cayman has warm clear water and deep, deep walls.
caymaniac
Contributor
I would say at most times the clarity can be greater in Coz, but if you hit it right the clarity of the water right, Cayman can top Coz. Both have good looking coral, but I think Cayman will beat Coz with its colorful sponges. On the Brac and Little Cayman there is usually a better chance to see a shark than Coz. The walls at all three Cayman Islands are terrific, the walls in Coz cannot match. Maybe a bit more fish life in Coz. Coz has drift diving, Cayman has little of drift diving.
My wife would say in Cayman you can eat the food and drink the water with no problem while Coz has its problems. The towns are not alike, there is begging going on in Coz., at Cayman there is none that I've ever seen. The Caymanians are quite industrious. There is little poverty in the Caymans, no so in Coz.
My wife would say in Cayman you can eat the food and drink the water with no problem while Coz has its problems. The towns are not alike, there is begging going on in Coz., at Cayman there is none that I've ever seen. The Caymanians are quite industrious. There is little poverty in the Caymans, no so in Coz.
caymaniac
Contributor
If it's dive dive dive you want, try one of the resorts on East End. Google it or Bing it to find places. We went to Cayman diving lodge a long time ago but a hurricaine wiped it out. They built nice condo's in the place but I think some of them are for rent.
Coz is drift diving, Cayman is bathtub diving. But the corals and walls are breathtaking in the Caymans.
If you do stay on 7 mile beach, you are pretty much stuck with the cattle boats for diving with a lot of O/W divers that bounce off the bottom. Shore diving is not that great because the surf crashes on the reef that you need to cross for the good diving.
I've only been to Grand Cayman. I hope to get Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the future.
And the reason for no poverty on the Caymans: They control entry. You can't stay in the Caymans (unless you are vacationing there) without having a job before you get there. That way they can get the occupations they want to import without importing the occupations that the people of the Caymans can fill.
Coz is drift diving, Cayman is bathtub diving. But the corals and walls are breathtaking in the Caymans.
If you do stay on 7 mile beach, you are pretty much stuck with the cattle boats for diving with a lot of O/W divers that bounce off the bottom. Shore diving is not that great because the surf crashes on the reef that you need to cross for the good diving.
I've only been to Grand Cayman. I hope to get Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the future.
And the reason for no poverty on the Caymans: They control entry. You can't stay in the Caymans (unless you are vacationing there) without having a job before you get there. That way they can get the occupations they want to import without importing the occupations that the people of the Caymans can fill.
qwerty988
Registered
I am doing Blackbeard's dive cruise in August from Freeport. I haven't been to the Caymans, but from what I hear, this liveaboard hits many of the sweet spots.
qwerty988
Registered
wow...there's not a delete button. OK...well, as you can see, I am geographically challenged. My post really wasn't relavent. sorry!
Difference between Coz and Cayman = price.
AggieDiver
Contributor
That isn't really true if you compare apples to apples. Sure, if you just look at the price of a hotel package and diving, Coz is much cheaper. But if you compare the typical "cheap" Coz package to someplace like Little Cayman Beach Resort's all-inclusive package, you have to include the cost of taxis in Coz, or the time wasted walking to restaurants, the cost of being disturbed by traffic noise, the value of not being annoyed by street vendors, the time to wait while your dive boat visits multiple docks picking up divers, the dive time lost when your group has to surface early because half the group is composed of air hogs, etc.
I like Coz, and I like the Cayman Sister Islands (haven't been to GC). But I like them for different things. If I just want to do a quick cheap dive trip, Coz is great, convenient, cheap, not particularly relaxing per se, but you can get your dive fix. But if I want a "vacation", then the Sister Islands are the only way to go...no crowds, no taxis, no noisy traffic, no getting harassed by street vendors, etc. Just quiet beaches, valet diving, terrific food, and nothing to do but eat, sleep, dive, and relax.
Kdufour,
To explain a little more what everybody is talking about with drift vs moored diving...as you are familiar with in Cozumel, when you drift dive, you all enter the water together, you all stay together on the dive with a guide, and you all surface more or less together, usually when most of the group is short on air. When you dive from a mooring as most dives in Cayman are done, you enter when you are ready, you and your buddy alone pick where you want to go, you pick how fast you go and how long you stop to look at anything, and you pick when you come back. Obviosuly there are some limitations, but if you are like me and hate the "following the crowd" feeling of drift diving, then you will LOVE diving in the Caymans. The best diving really is on Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, but the East End of GC is reportedly very close. If your family really needs more topside entertainment, then you are probably better on GC; but if you are all about the best diving and don't need nightlife, then the Sister Islands are where you want to be.
I like Coz, and I like the Cayman Sister Islands (haven't been to GC). But I like them for different things. If I just want to do a quick cheap dive trip, Coz is great, convenient, cheap, not particularly relaxing per se, but you can get your dive fix. But if I want a "vacation", then the Sister Islands are the only way to go...no crowds, no taxis, no noisy traffic, no getting harassed by street vendors, etc. Just quiet beaches, valet diving, terrific food, and nothing to do but eat, sleep, dive, and relax.
Kdufour,
To explain a little more what everybody is talking about with drift vs moored diving...as you are familiar with in Cozumel, when you drift dive, you all enter the water together, you all stay together on the dive with a guide, and you all surface more or less together, usually when most of the group is short on air. When you dive from a mooring as most dives in Cayman are done, you enter when you are ready, you and your buddy alone pick where you want to go, you pick how fast you go and how long you stop to look at anything, and you pick when you come back. Obviosuly there are some limitations, but if you are like me and hate the "following the crowd" feeling of drift diving, then you will LOVE diving in the Caymans. The best diving really is on Little Cayman or Cayman Brac, but the East End of GC is reportedly very close. If your family really needs more topside entertainment, then you are probably better on GC; but if you are all about the best diving and don't need nightlife, then the Sister Islands are where you want to be.
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