I am in charge of planning our trip next June for us and 6 of our friends that have never dove before.
Are they certifying there or before? I took
never dove before to mean they will be. If not, I might look somewhere else, except for the beach and shopping downtown there's not a lot to do on GC for non-divers.
The plan is to rent a condo/house, cook at home and then really go out for diving and some nightlife stuff.
Good plan, the resort are expensive. It helps that you're going during low season - and pre-hurricane season. Look on vrbo.com. You'll see options in Cayman Kai, Rum Point, Old Man Bay, North Shore but understand that those are an hour drive around the island from Georgetown/SMB. And really quiet. So is the East End - it's only a 45min. drive. For what it sounds like you want Seven Mile Beach or maybe West Bay would work.
How is the diving in the Caymans vs. places like St. Johns, or Tortola? (Looking for larger aquatic life like stingrays and turtles.)
Better, deeper, generally clearer. Both have rays/turtles, but since Cayman has Stingray City and the Turtle is the countries official mascot...they get out frequently from the Turtle Farm - both releases and during storms - Turtle Reef (one of the better shore dives) is a given.
How are the prices in the Caymans on things like food/drinks/diving? (I have been told and it looks like online it is the one of the most expensive spots in the Caribbean)
It is. Food is pricey, drinks are pricey, most everyone charges $100 for 2 dives. You can save some by shore diving. Even food in the stores is high since it's all imported. One thing that helps is the US chains are on Cayman - Subway, KFC, Burger King, Dominos etc. Restaurant options:
Grand Cayman Islands Restaurants Guide
How is the nightlife on the island? (Some of the newbies with us want to be able to go out and party on the days we are on diving.)
There's a few clubs, live music at bars, etc. Some are beach bars but some are upscale, dress code places. O Bar and Jet were two (if they're still around) Also the Hard Rock and Margaritaville downtown. Some options:
Grand Cayman Restaurants Guide for Cayman Islands Restaurants
A couple of things:
Most of the dive operators pick up along Seven Mile Beach. You may find less expensive condo options closer to Georgetown - conversely the ones by the Ritz/Westin - they're not...lol. One thing to check on with any of them is the condition of the beach, some of it washed away in a storm recently. I read that happened at Plantation Village recently.
Diving off Cayman is typically a 100' first dive followed by a shallow 2nd dive. BUT with 8, you will own the boat with many of the smaller operators - most advertise 6-8 divers max. per trip. So request shallower dives - many are excellent also.
Turtle Reef is probably one of the best shore dives - 45' down the min-wall to the sand. Aquarium is a good shallow boat dive - it's 45' to the bottom between the coral clusters. Eden Rock/Devils Grotto in town are closer to 30-40' but kind of tired - they're 100 yds. from the cruise terminal - you really don't want to be in Georgetown when the cruise ship(s) are. Sunset House is worth an afternoon. Pictures with the Mermaid, good food/view at My Bar, view the Cathy Church photo gallery.
Also there's the Kittiwake now, it's a purposely sunk wreck off SMB, 65' to the bottom, with your skill levels, you'll be limited to penetrating the 1st three decks. And Stingray City is only 15' deep. It's the other signature Cayman dive. For dive operators - some to consider are Ambassador Divers, Wall to Wall, Divetech, Neptunes Divers, Indigo Divers (you may be too big for them) - but really all are good, competition gets the bad ones. The Kittiwake site also lists many others - all CITA approved:
The Official Website for the Kittiwake Shipwreck
Tortola might be another good option for newer divers. A week of diving in the BVI's we seldom broke 60' - and did all the better dives. The Rhone is around 70' at the front but the deck is considerably higher. It's fans, soft corals, the occasional shark, rays, saw a few turtles - probably not as much fishlife as Grand Cayman overall but interesting. Not as clear as Grand Cayman, at the Rhone I couldn't see the boat 60' away. On the North Wall at Cayman I've sure I've seen 200' horizontal viz. We dove Big Tunnel, you come out at around 100' - I could see the ScubaPro "S" on the safety stop reg hanging down off the boat. bviscuba.org for dive info.
Less nightlife (it's a much bigger island than GC) - more beach bars etc. The Willy T is a famous floating bar and most of the smaller nearby islands have one or more also. Many you sail right up to. A fun thing we did on a non-dive day was to hit 6 of them on 5 different islands via a charter. Cost about $700 for the boat, captain and one deckhand. At a couple we dove off the boat and swam in to the bar. Pusser's Rum is big there, Marina Cay is their island. We stayed on Virgin Gorda (quieter) there was 1 or 2 dance type clubs (outdoor) and several good waterfront bars. Also the beach bbq/buffet on Friday night at Leverick Bay Yacht club - everybody went. You can rent villas on VG but they're pricey - often up high so not waterfont. Beautiful uninhabited beaches there.
PM if you have further questions, I don't always review threads I post in.
