Novice Diver

[sea_otter]

Living the Dream is awesome. One thing they do which I think is great for novice divers is that they'll do a guided dive as a group, bring you back to the boat's anchor line, and then reassign buddies based upon air consumption so that you can finish the dive at your own pace. I don't know if this is common practice with other dive ops, but I've never seen another do it, and it fixes the problem of insta-buddies with highly disparate skill levels (or marital friction for husbands who use way more air than their wives!). They also have Liz's homemade cookies.

They go beyond full valet - to the point where they'll set up your gear and even bring it to the back of the boat for you. You literally don't need to lift a finger. This may be a pro or a con depending upon who you are.

The other thing that impressed me about Liz and Gary is that they were really flexible when it came to reservations. They didn't take a credit card in advance and last minute changes to plans were no trouble at all.

I've also done dives with DiveTech and Ocean Frontiers (way on the other side of the island). Both were exceptional, but I'd recommend LTD to the novice diver looking for a comfortable vacation.

 

[Doctorfish]

Does not make sense. All operators will respect "don't touch my gear" philosophy. All you need to do is say that you want to do your own set up and they will back off. I like to put together my own equipment and DNS, Wall to Wall, Living the Dream and OF have all respected that. Most ops will also pick up and deliver you to any hotel or condo along 7 mile beach, west bay strip, not just a prearranged pick up point nearby. DNS, Wall to Wall, Indigo, LTD, Dive Tech all leave from West Bay dock when they are going west or yacht club when going north.

All of the GC operator will have a mix of newbies, and more experienced divers as customers. Some ops have a regular following so that the ratio is slanted towards experienced divers but can vary on any given day. All of the ops mentioned in this thread are popular and limit number of divers per boat, so pre book early so as not to be disappointed.

On DNS boats, they serve home baked cookies or pastries between dives and provide towels. Top that!

 

[sea_otter]

Does not make sense. All operators will respect "don't touch my gear" philosophy. All you need to do is say that you want to do your own set up and they will back off.

Fair enough. I didn't ask. I just sat on the seat the back of the boat, put on my fins, and they brought my stuff to me. After all, I'm on vacation!

It sounds like the consensus is that you can't go wrong in the Cayman Islands.

 

[Skeptic14]

It's probably ok if people had good experiences with different operators and suggesting one is good isn't saying another one isn't...

Sounds like there are a lot of good choices, op. Contact them yourself and make a decision, probably can't go too wrong

 

[Doctorfish]

There are many good choices and we all seem to have our favourites.

I've personally had a few less than stellar experiences over the years and have also seen some boats with what looked like an awful lot of divers. in general, diving is a very competitive on Grand Cayman and a dive op that isn't customer friendly and service oriented won't be around for long.

 

[Lopez116]

Im curious how you came to choose between those two when there are so many great dive ops in Cayman.

I would suggest DNS or Epic Divers. Dusty (DNS) and Freddy (Epic) are both good guys.

Re Living The Dream - Living the Dream Divers

 

[kmantis]

Im curious how you came to choose between those two when there are so many great dive ops in Cayman.

I would suggest DNS or Epic Divers. Dusty (DNS) and Freddy (Epic) are both good guys.

Re Living The Dream - Living the Dream Divers

Not knowing better I went with reviews on Tripadvisor. All or most of the dive operators have very good reviews. LTD just had many more reviews than anyone else. Perhaps better marketing on their part. Divers Down can't recall why I also considered them versus the others. But they dropped out of consideration because I didn't get replies to my emails on a timely manner. I will definitely consider DNS on days where LTD is booked up. This will be my first time to GC but have a feeling I will be going down more often.

 

[Doctorfish]

I think that many Tripadvisor reviews are made up by friends and relatives of companies. I'v at times been coerced to put in a good review
You were lucky that you found 2 good dive ops. I suggest you use the same one all week for familiarity and multi day discount.

The reviews that appear on Scubaboard are hopefully more trustworthy as they are by divers for divers, and the reviewers do not have a fiscal interest in the company they are reviewing. I've been steered wrong by tripadvisor and by reviews in dive mags., not by the members of this community.

 

[perry64]

I think Dive Tech generally appeals/caters more to the "no one touches my gear" crowd. What they subtract from valet service they make up for in orange slices!

Are the orange slices at halftime or after the kiddie soccer game??? ;-)

 

[wildbill9]

I have always stayed away from discussions on "do you let some else set up your gear?" I like to and no one has ever had a problem with it. My dive buddy, my wife, some how must breath out of her eye lashes and always comes up with 500+ more psi than me. Even then we try to be the first off the boat since we are usually the last back. BUT try to reassign us dive buddies to better match our consumption will sell as well as a ejection seat in a helicopter. That will not happen. I trust my life with my buddy and will not just dive with anyone. I have seen to many dive partners oblivious to the other. A dive operation that attempts that imho does not understand the relationship and trust dive buddies need to have