Trip Report East end Grand Cayman

[Catito]

We dove 5 days with Ocean Frontiers, stayed at Compass Point. It is a great place to stay…as they say, roll out of bed and onto the boat. Great crew, great guides, and concierge diving. Lots of room on the boat with other very experienced divers. Flat and clear water and no currents…very relaxing.

High points: on our Hamlet quest, my buddy and I found a Masked Hamlet, Shy Hamlet, Yellow Bellied Hamlet, Butter Hamlet, tons of Barred Hamlets, and a Hybrid of a Butter and Masked. No Indigo.

Healthy coral in many spots…but dead coral all over the downtown area (coincidentally—or not— the cruise ship port area…). Eden Rock/Devil’s Grotto is just dead. Big mountains of totally dead coral. Very sad. 6 years ago it was paradise.

Pretty scary what is happening to our seas.

 

[tarponchik]

Did you boat dive at Eden Rock from your place (seems pretty far to me) or did you shore dive there on your own?

 

[rx7diver]

I'm a bit confused. Did you dive the east side of the island, say, east-northeast of Ocean Frontiers, beyond the reef? Water's a bit rougher there, correct? But the wall is more spectacular, correct?

rx7diver

 

[Ukmc]

I was diving on the other side of the island in June and while there was some dead hard coral, the dove sites were vibrant with life.
Can you please tell us more about your experiences.? How many dives a day, what were all the dive sites, how did the operator do, what other marine life did you see? Would you go back?

 

[Saboteur]

We dove 5 days with Ocean Frontiers, stayed at Compass Point. It is a great place to stay…as they say, roll out of bed and onto the boat. Great crew, great guides, and concierge diving. Lots of room on the boat with other very experienced divers. Flat and clear water and no currents…very relaxing.

High points: on our Hamlet quest, my buddy and I found a Masked Hamlet, Shy Hamlet, Yellow Bellied Hamlet, Butter Hamlet, tons of Barred Hamlets, and a Hybrid of a Butter and Masked. No Indigo.

Healthy coral in many spots…but dead coral all over the downtown area (coincidentally—or not— the cruise ship port area…). Eden Rock/Devil’s Grotto is just dead. Big mountains of totally dead coral. Very sad. 6 years ago it was paradise.

Pretty scary what is happening to our seas.

Sorry to hear about the coral. I heading down in 3 weeks - west side. I really enjoy Eden Rock, it’s a great place to get reacquainted with gear, weight check etc. before getting on the boats.

 

[Catito]

I was diving on the other side of the island in June and while there was some dead hard coral, the dove sites were vibrant with life.
Can you please tell us more about your experiences.? How many dives a day, what were all the dive sites, how did the operator do, what other marine life did you see? Would you go back?

Hi:

We love the East end. Dove with Ocean Frontiers.

I was most interested in finding Blennies and Hamlets. Found lots of Redlip Blennies, the Hamlets I mentioned, Reef sharks, big lobster, tons of Fairy Basslets, Horse Eyed Jacks, Nassau Grouper, Tiger Grouper, Lettuce Sea Slugs…and the regular reef fish.

We dove 14 dives over 5 days. The dive that I would never do again= the Kittiwake. We dove two macro dives (Sunrise Reef and Sunset Reef). Both were a lot of fun and 10 mins from shore by boat.

Other favorite sites: Fish tank, Old Number 9, Dragon’s Lair, John McKenney’s Canyon, Maggie’s Maze, Northern Lights…to name a few. The operator is timely, safe; with a great staff, and concierge diving.

Eden Rock=dead