Cruise Divers in Grand Cayman

[jac8724]

I am having a problem trying to find a dive operator to accommodate cruise divers on Grand Cayman. I've already emailed Living the Dream (booked) and Dive Tech, but their boats leave at 8am, and our cruise ship docks at 8am, meaning, by the time we stand in line and tender we could possibly not reach the island till 9am, or who knows when. Other operators I'm looking at all have 8am morning dive departures too.

Does anyone know of a place that would be more flexible for cruise ship divers? Our ship will be there 11/16 and it says its docked 8-3.

Dive Tech did offer us a guided shore dive off of their Lighthouse Point shop. Are these shore dives any good? That would be an option if we cant find anyone willing to take us on a 9-9:30am morning boat dive.

Last resort, I could always book through the cruise excursion, but I've just heard terrible things about over crowded conditions and careless instructors.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[diversteve]

Try Lobster Pot Dive Center, they're near enough the cruise port to walk over afaik. They book several local operators and work with Cruise divers - Grand Cayman Dive Operator - Scuba Training | Boat Dives | Shore Diving | Cayman Diving - The Lobsterpot Dive Center

fyi, the cruise operator is either (probably) Don Foster's or possibly Red Sail.

You could also take a 5min. cab ride south to Sunset House if you wanted to shore dive there. It's a pretty good dive, you could get a picture with Amphitrite - the mermaid statue at 55' - and My Bar there is a divers hangout - good food. Also the Cathy Church Photo School Gallery is worth a look. I think you'd get there too late for their boat dive departure also.

Personally I'd do Lighthouse Point instead of Sunset House but it is a farther ($$) cab ride. Given your schedule, 2 dives plus rides might be tight - sometimes there can be minor traffic delays on Seven Mile Beach road on the way to NW Point/Lighthouse. I'd suggest a 2nd dive at Turtle Reef just up the road but that would really be cutting it close...

 

[divejay]

I would recommend getting out of the Georgetown harbour area and get a couple of shore dives at Lighthouse Point in West Bay. The deep wall is close and awesome and then a second dive on a really nice miniwall. The local buses cost US$2.50/person each way and leave from the courthouse in town (2 minute walk from cruise ship) and take about 10 minutes. The West Bay shore dives are better than most boat dives from Georgetown.

 

[rivers]

i've used divers down in the past. i like them. They're good about working with divers from a ship. Also, they are about a 5 minute walk from the piers in georgetown.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Another option would be Eden Rock a short walk south of the terminal.This is a well worn reef that can get a bit busy when several cruise ships are in with both snorkelers and divers.

I would do Sundivers Turtle farm (Cracked Conched) before I would do Light house point,it is right up the road from light house point just past the Turtle Farm....same bus.At Turtle farm you can do completely different dives by heading right or left at entry .It is a mini wall and if you head left you will happen upon many many many tarpon (50-70 on most dives) of all sizes from 2-3 feet to 4-6 feet.The mini wall is a short swim from the entry point and easy to navigate.If you go right you will go a bit deeper 70-80 feet at bottom and see a more varied wall system.Also at Turtle Farm they have an outside bar/restuarant area where you could have lunch and refreshments between dives if you wanted.I have done both Light house point and Turtle Farm many times and prefer Turtle farm.

Another option is Sunset House which has been mentioned they also have a bar/restuarant on premise.

 

[Lefty Writer]

My wife and I are facing the same situation in December, when we call in Grand Cayman off the Carnival Magic. When originally researching dive ops, I found that pretty much all of the boat dives left before or just as our ship arrived.

After consideration, we decided to go ahead and book a two tank dive through Carnival. Their prices, believe it or not, weren't too different than if we would've booked a two tank dive with a local dive op.

We also spoke to several members of our local dive club, who had good experiences with Don Foster's.

Given the lack of availability and the "security" of booking through the cruise line, we thought that was our best option. We are still new divers, having been certified only a few months (May of 2011). I only mention this as we have no baseline to compare to, so any dive we do in the Caribbean will probably be fun for us.

 

[Alex777]

Don Foster's leaves at 9 AM or even later. They are relatively close to the cruise ship port.

 

[jac8724]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, I've researched all these options, and it looks like a shore dive is a really good option for us. However, one dive shop, Indigo Divers, has said they would be willing to wait to leave until 9am for us. I think that is really nice of them to wait. Does anyone have any experience with getting off the cruise ships at Cayman...how long does it take? How long is the cab ride from the cruise terminal to West Bay, where I think they are located (their site didnt say)? Do you think we could make it by 9? Otherwise, I'll do a shore dive.

 

[divejay]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, I've researched all these options, and it looks like a shore dive is a really good option for us. However, one dive shop, Indigo Divers, has said they would be willing to wait to leave until 9am for us. I think that is really nice of them to wait. Does anyone have any experience with getting off the cruise ships at Cayman...how long does it take? How long is the cab ride from the cruise terminal to West Bay, where I think they are located (their site didnt say)? Do you think we could make it by 9? Otherwise, I'll do a shore dive.

Our ship arrived at 7AM and stepped on land at 9:30 because we did not book with the cruise ship they put us at the back of the line to get off the ship. It took us over 2 hours to get into the port area. Then, you have to take a taxi $17/person plus wait for them to fill the taxi so we walk into the town to get on a local bus for $2.50/person. So, 10AM would be my guess with a 7AM anchor.

Another shore dive I would recommend is Cobalt Coast if weather permits. It is located on the North Wall in West Bay and has the healthiest reefs in all the Cayman Islands, better than Little Cayman. If weather is in on the North then Lighthouse Point in West Bay would be the next best shore diving. There are hugh barrels sponges (10' tall), swim throughs, turtle canyons with abundance of marine life.

 

[diversteve]

In case you're not aware of it, you'll be tendered in - the ships moor out in the harbor - sometimes on thrusters which doesn't help the viz at Eden Rock any...lol.

If you don't get to Indigo Divers in time, just continue on in the cab to one of the better shore dives, Cobalt Coast, Lighthouse Point or Turtle Reef. If you go to Turtle Reef, you can get lunch at Macabuca. They open b4 noon.

I know Indigo Divers picks divers up in a white Avalanche along SMB - not sure if they are allowed to do so downtown. Maybe you could meet them halfway - getting in their vehicle would likely assure the boat would wait for you.