Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto Shore Dive

[John4455]

In two weeks I'll be going to Grand Cayman. This will be the third trip there. Is the Devils Grotto at the Eden Rock Dive Center a good shore dive? We have dove the shore at the sunset house, and Dive Tech at the Turtle farm. I was wondering if this is something worth doing. Is it near where the cruise ships come to shore? In the past we kind of stayed away from that area. Are there any other really cool shore dives that I am missing?

I can't wait!:14:

 

[carlislere]

I have had many good dives at Devil's Grotto. It is alot of ironshore with swimthroughs, tarpon, lots of anemones, some large grouper at times and the normal Caribbean fish. My favorite beach dive is Turtle Reef at DiveTech. I have heard that Smith Cove is another good dive site, but I have not dove there. Have a lots of fun and a safe trip.

 

[Alex777]

I think Devil's Grotto is worth doing, although it is true that the coral in that area is not what it used to be.

There are some other good shore dives. Check out Spanish Bay Reef - there's a mini-wall, and then you can follow a coral finger or a sand flat down to the main (North) wall. You can dive Hepp's Wall & Hepp's Pipeline from shore if you get permission to use the ladder at Coconut Bay condos. Ditto for Bonnie's Arch & Orange Canyon if you get permission at Bonnie's Arch condos or Dolphin Point condos. In George Town, you can dive Cheeseburger (Soto's) Reef and Wreck of the Cali from shore. Armchair is accessible from the small shoreside park in S Sound. In the right conditions, you can do some NE sites from shore, such as Babylon. I am sure there are many I have missed.

 

[tsreimer]

If you havent dove there, it's worth checking out. I just got back from a 9 day trip in GC, and ended up spending a tank on each site. Both sites are accessed from Eden's rock dive center which is just at the end of downtown on your way to sunset house. Eden's rock has a lot of fun swim throughs, and Devil's Grotto seemed to have lots of nice sea life to look at. The nice part is that it's practically next door to sunset house, so you can easily do all 3 sites in one day if you wanted.

Were they my favorite sites... no. But still worth checking off the list. Turtle reef was my favorite dive during the day, although the visibility wasn't the best the days we dove there. My 2nd favorite dive during the day and my favorite night dive was sunset reef around the mermaid. I didn't get around to checking out the balboa or anything around the east coast.... that will have to wait until my next trip.

Have fun!


-Todd-

 

[cerich]

Eden rock it is worth the money to get a guide from the shop. They know all the swim thrus and the site well, I lived DM'd in Cayman for 5 years and never really "appreciated" Eden rock until I went with a friend who worked there.

Sunset house is a great shore dive, as is Dive Tec and Cobalt Coast.

If you dive the Cali or Cheeseburger reef do it on a Sunday and be careful of boat traffic, during the week there is far too much boat traffic to make it enjoyable or anywhere near safe! Bring a dive flag!

 

[Skinsfan1311]

Eden rock it is worth the money to get a guide from the shop. They know all the swim thrus and the site well, I lived DM'd in Cayman for 5 years and never really "appreciated" Eden rock until I went with a friend who worked there.

Agreed!

A couple of years ago, I did 2 tanks with a guide and it was a very enjoyable way to spend the morning.

 

[pir8]

If you are a photographer Devils Ghrotto can be an awesome site. Probably one of my favorites for wide angle shots with vigenettes and sunshadows thru the rocks

 

[ewong]

Indeed, Eden Rock is well worth it. It's shallow and has a lot of interesting swim-thrus. If you are a photographer, you can spend lots of time there. The lighting is very dramatic in those grottos.

Here are 2 pix that were taken at Eden last summer.

Other GC dive sites that I liked: Tarpoon Alley, Royal Palms Ledge and McCurley's Wall.
See my blog, I have a couple of postings on GC sites and Sunset House:

http://www.yellowtangsoftware.com/purpleink/blogs/eddy.html

Eddy.

 

[John4455]

I think Devil's Grotto is worth doing, although it is true that the coral in that area is not what it used to be.

There are some other good shore dives. Check out Spanish Bay Reef - there's a mini-wall, and then you can follow a coral finger or a sand flat down to the main (North) wall. You can dive Hepp's Wall & Hepp's Pipeline from shore if you get permission to use the ladder at Coconut Bay condos. Ditto for Bonnie's Arch & Orange Canyon if you get permission at Bonnie's Arch condos or Dolphin Point condos. In George Town, you can dive Cheeseburger (Soto's) Reef and Wreck of the Cali from shore. Armchair is accessible from the small shoreside park in S Sound. In the right conditions, you can do some NE sites from shore, such as Babylon. I am sure there are many I have missed.

We dove Bonnies Arch last year and we are staying at the Spanish Bay again. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[billinwilliamston]

I didn't see this part of your question answered. They are within spittin' distance of where the tender boats (boat tenders?) dock. Check out http://www.caymanport.com/schedule.htm to see what cruise ships are in port when while you're there. That way you can plan accordingly.

They are definitely worth doing.