Advice on Grand Cayman 7 Mile Beach

[declujo]

I have been diving on and off for years, but my 15 year old son just got PADI certified and is dying to go on a dive vacation. The problem is - he tends to get a little seasick so I will probably want to focus in on shore diving and avoid boat trips.

In this regard, my local dive shop recommended several locations for shore diving, but Grand Cayman seems like the easiest for us to get to from the NY area in early November.

If anyone has some advice on where to stay that would be convenient for shore diving, e.g. 7 mile beach, I'd very much appreciate your advice. Since our trip will be somewhat short (4 days), I don't need to be too economical within reason.......

Thanks

[ianr33]

Sunset House if you like crowds. Cobalt Coast if you prefer peace and quiet.

[Roombaguy]

My suggestion (and what I would do)

1) Stay at a hotel on Seven mile beach (Sunshine suites, Westin, etc)
2) Rent a car
3) Dive - Sunset house, Eden Rock, Macabuca (Turtle farm) and Cobalt coast.

[diversteve]

What makes Seven Mile Beach such a nice beach makes for lousy shore diving. The reef is too far out along practically all of the developed areas.

One thing to know - with one or two exceptions - no one lets tanks off their property. The dive store in West Bay does rent them if you want to explore other nearby options. Cemetary Beach is one that's really shallow with a short swim out to the reef - it's on the north end of SMB.

All the sites Roombaguy mentioned have an onsite operator for tanks/weights gear rental etc. We especially liked Turtle Reef - it was shallow with a mini-wall a short swim out. Lots of life growing down the wall and Tarpon school in the shadows.

You also want to try to be in/through Georgetown when the cruisers aren't there. Not only is it insanely crowded but Eden Rock is 100? yds. north of the cruise port. Since you're driving on the opposite side of the street, they don't always look before stepping off the curb either.

We dove Eden Rock one afternoon right before the ships sailed and it was ok - the reef is a little tired looking from all the traffic. Shallow though, both it and the Grotto next door can't exceed 50'. Sunset House was better IMO. You can do both the Nicholson and Amphitrite in one dive if you start with the Nicholson. Also the Cathy Church Photo School/Gallery on site is worth a look.

I agree with Roombaguy except we rent a condo instead of a hotel room. Food on Cayman is really pricey (as is everything else) so we cooked a few days. For 4 days it won't be as big an issue. For me Divetech was too far north and Sunset House is in the airport flightpath.

Shorediving.com lists the more popular shore dive sites. Except Seaview is condos now. Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Cayman Islands, Caribbean (http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Caribbean/Cayman_Islands/index.htm)

[Alex777]

Neither cobalt Coast nor Sunset House is on SMB. You may wish to try Comfort Suites, on a budget, or the Marriott or Westin Hotels, if not. I agree that there is NO shore diving at all on SMB. You can rent tanks to take way at Divers Supply in West Shore Shopping Centre on SMB.

[Jersey]

Neither cobalt Coast nor Sunset House is on SMB. You may wish to try Comfort Suites, on a budget, or the Marriott or Westin Hotels, if not. I agree that there is NO shore diving at all on SMB. You can rent tanks to take way at Divers Supply in West Shore Shopping Centre on SMB.

Comfort Suites is a great location and though I have never seen their rooms, understand it to be quite nice. Ambassador Divers is right out the door (literally), walk over in the morn, the van drives you to boat, loads you up, off diving and they drop you back at your door after! You can rinse and store your gear while diving with them as well. Restaurants, grocery and adult beverage stores well within walking distance.

If you are looking for a bit more space and kitchen, plenty of condos right there - 7 Mile Beach Resort and Plantation Village are both nicely maintained.

Good luck!

[RussL]

I'm not prone to motion sickness, except when boat diving, so I always take some over-the-counter medicine like Dramimine when I head to the islands. My point is, you don't have to limit yourself to shore diving just because of a little sea sickness.

The good shore diving up in the West Bay area is in primarily a residential part of the island. It's really not that far from 7 mile beach (SMB) or Georgetown. The three places to do shore diving up in West Bay are at the Cracked Conch/Macabuca, DiveTech Lighthouse, and Cobalt Coast (also Dive Tech). They are all within a couple miles of each other.

We snorkeled Eden Rock/Devils Grotto last week instead of diving. I agree that the reef is a bit tired looking from all the traffic. The big draw for diving that site IMHO is being able to swim through the grottos and also to see the big tarpon that hang out.

I've been to Grand Cayman seven times, including last week, and I always rent a condo on seven mile beach. I generally like staying closer in towards Georgetown so I can walk to places, but I always end up renting a car. Several places we've stayed near town are Georgetown Villas, Poinsettia, and Cocplum. There is a nice shipwreck nearby that is a great snorkeling site. A good place to find condo rentals is VRBO.com.

About 7MB, it faces west which is the leeward side of the island. What that means is: watching sunsets every day, sandy white beaches (mostly) and calm blue water. Throw in a bottle of Corona and you have a TV commercial. ;) The beach gets rockier as you get closer to Georgetown. I know some people go to GC strictly to dive and are on a budget, but for me personally, if I go, I'm staying on the beach and watching sunsets, too. :)

[navi_jen]

Dec,

The ride to most sites off SMB is, like, 5 minutes....virtually only enough time to get suited up. I think it's completely reasonable to try to few boat dives.

The bigger (or at least important question) is what kind of lodging/surrounding do you want. SMB, although a beautiful beach, sorta feels like Florida (at least to me). Big hotels, fast food, traffic, expensive. Subpar shore diving, IMHO.

West End is definately more residential, with some good restaurants, and rocky beaches (although sandy beaches are an easy bike or drive away). Lighthouse Point was a great shore dive. East End is very quiet, little development (save Kaibo), but shore diving is hard. But if you like Island vibe, this is the place to get it.

On my last visit, I took a tour of Cobalt Coast. Rooms are very comfortable, spacious and have ikea-like design. Scenic location, too. Rocky beach, but great snorkeling (I had already done my day's worth of diving when I arrive). I chatted with several guests, and they raved about the diving. And, it's far enough away to be relaxing, but close enough to SMB to quench any need for non-diving activity (probably about 20 minutes from airport).

Good luck...let us know what you choose!

[nipi]

You should stay at Harbour View Apts (Harbour View Apartments Grand Cayman Cayman Islands (http://www.harbourviewapartments.com/index.shtml)) at the south end of Seven Mile Beach which is walking distance from Kirk Supermarket, Blackbeards offie, Southern Spice restaurant (Indian), Fidel's Irish Pub & Shireynolds night club & rent a car at the airport from Andy's at the airport. You can shore dive off the jetty at Harbour View & get your tanks from Divers Supply in West Shore Centre a short drive up West Bay Road.

[Drew Sailbum]

I would not suggest a place to stay at the far southern end of West Bay Road (such as Harbour View). Unfortunately this area has seen an increase in property crimes and violent street crime such as assaults and robberies. It is located quite close to an area of high crime and drug activity (Dog City). I would not recommend walking in this area after dark.

Damn shame. Lock any patio doors. Shut and lock all windows. Secure valuables in your room safe.

I would suggest the idea of staying at the Westion or Sunshine Suites and a getting a rental car. This would provide a great base of operations that is convenient to Seven Mile Beach. You can easily head north to the West Bay area shore dives in the morning and hit the George Town area shore dives in the afternoon after cruise ships clear out.

[Anaconda40]

My wife gets motion/sea sick very easily. On our trip, someone recommended a product called Bonine. She took it every day starting the day before we left and never had one problem.

[Chris at Silent World]

Just got back from cayman yesterday. I stayed at Cobalt Coast (DiveTech), very convenient for a 6000' wall thats about a 15 min swim out. We got the boat out each day and swam back in, as with tech gear and multiple bottles it was NOT a doable or enjoyable experience to swim out and back. For our single tank fun dives, it was perfectly OK.

I dont think its an issue where you stay on GC. Most of the hotels and dive shops provide shuttles, so I would recommend picking the hotel you like the look of, same for the shop and go from there.

BTW - Stingray city dive (not the snorkel) is a must do. We went with red sail, they were awesmoe and will pick up / drop off from SMB

[nipi]

I would not suggest a place to stay at the far southern end of West Bay Road (such as Harbour View). Unfortunately this area has seen an increase in property crimes and violent street crime such as assaults and robberies. It is located quite close to an area of high crime and drug activity (Dog City). I would not recommend walking in this area after dark.


I don't often disagree with Drew's comments but I don't think you can say staying at Harbour View is any more dangerous than anywhere else on West Bay Road. You're just as likely (or unlikely) to get burgled staying at a condo further north up the beach & if you think we can't walk back to Harbour View from say the Wharf after dark then we really are in trouble. Yes - Dog City is a dodgy area nearby but no tourist would need to go there. We don't want to be recommending (for example) people not to stay at the Turtle Nest in Bodden Town because Mostyn's was held up the other day & a few unsavoury characters sometimes hang out around Gun Square.

[Drew Sailbum]

I'm not the only one pointing out real problems in this area of the island.

Treasure Island and Cayman Reef are top targets of Burglars (http://www.caymannewsservice.com/local-news/2010/07/28/cayman-reef-treasure-island-burglars-top-condos)

"Inspector Anthony White of the RCIPS... revealed that the area around Captain’s Bakery, Helen Drive and St. Matthews University residencies on the West Bay Road is where the highest number of robberies, have taken place in the Seven Mile Beach tourist corridor.
...close proximity to the Watler’s Road area which has been a source of problems for the police.
... more assaults were now taking place during these robberies.
... residential as oppose to commercial properties were the ones most frequently targeted
...most burglaries did occur when owners were home with 65 percent happening as people were asleep."

Property crimes don't typically make the headlines, but this region is a hot spot for burglaries, prowlers, thefts and the like.

I will not let my family walk in this area during hours of darkness.

[PatW]

I just got back from Little Cayman. We had a few systems go through whilst I was there. The seas tended to be rougher than last year.

I do get sea sick. But even this year, Little Cayman at its worst was not as bad as most days on the east coast of Florida.

At Little Cayman, it is a 30 minute boat ride to the wall on the north side of the island. You also have a 40 minute surface interval. I have done something like 22 boat rides there and I have not gotten anywhere near quesy.

Most days on Little Cayman, the seas were very close to being flat.

If you can find a dive operator at Grand Cayman who is close to the dive sites, your son should be fine on the boat. On Little Cayman, the north side tends to be calmer than the south side (at least in the summers).

There are advantages to boat dives vs shore dives. Many places talk about "unlimited shore dives" but no one ever does them. That is because the diving is way off shore and too much of a swim to be practical. Another thing, is if you get in some current, it is easy to get going a ways. With a boat, if worst comes to worst, they will always up anchor and come and get you. Another advantage with boat dives is you have a dive master in the water with you. You also should get a pretty complete briefing. At Little Cayman Beach Resort, they even draw a map up on the board complete with depths and points of interest.

I would suggest that you give some thought to doing boat dives at Grand Cayman.

As for shore dives, you might be able to find something. I managed to get a good look from the air and it looks as though there are some places where the reef gets in close to shore. But you still need parking and beach access to do the shore dive and I don't know if such things exist.

[RussL]

I'm not the only one pointing out real problems in this area of the island.

Treasure Island and Cayman Reef are top targets of Burglars (http://www.caymannewsservice.com/local-news/2010/07/28/cayman-reef-treasure-island-burglars-top-condos)


Property crimes don't typically make the headlines, but this region is a hot spot for burglaries, prowlers, thefts and the like.

I will not let my family walk in this area during hours of darkness.As they say, "ignorance is bliss." I spent a week in GC a couple of weeks ago in the CocoPlum condos which are directly behind the St Matthews University residences. I walked all over the place, including to/from the Kirk grocery store and never had any issues. Granted, I don't go walking around at night anywhere in which I'm not familiar.