Why is Little Cayman diving better than Grand Cayman?

[qwimjim]

Hi everyone, I keep reading about how Little Cayman is hands down the best diving in the Caymans, that it blows away GC (even the east/north sides).. that people who've been on liveaboards felt their trip was ruined when the crossing was to rough and they didn't get to dive bloody bay wall. So first of all.. is this true or mostly hyperbole? And if it's true, why? What's so different that makes LC so much better? Thanks!

 

[tajkd]

it isn't better. just different.

 

[caymaniac]

it isn't better. just different.

Nope. It's better on the northside of Little Cayman, better in the fish category, better in the shallow wall category, better in the sponge category, better in the chance to see pelagics, better night dives, better in that every dive can be spectacular...unlike the west side of Grand Cayman.

 

[qwimjim]

Nope. It's better on the northside of Little Cayman, better in the fish category, better in the shallow wall category, better in the sponge category, better in the chance to see pelagics, better night dives, better in that every dive can be spectacular...unlike the west side of Grand Cayman.

But how does it compare to the north/east sides of grand cayman?

 

[caymaniac]

The north side is really great, so is the east side. But IMHO not as good. I've dove around the Caribbean a bit and Little Cayman hits the top, Cozumel has some good sites and comes in third, Turks and Caicos comes in second, after the Brac then Grand Cayman.

 

[tajkd]

imo not better just different as I said. I also have pictures but everyone is due their own opinion. Wall diving at Little Cayman much better. That said, there are some amazing sites at Grand Cayman that are not seen anywhere else. I'm thinking Devils Grotto in particular and the wreck of the Kittiwake.

 

[ronscuba]

The main draw is Bloody Bay Wall, plus Little Cayman gets much lower diver traffic.

Even when staying on Little Cayman, there might be days where the boats stay on the south side and don't do the wall. I went in March and we had a day the boats skipped the wall because the water crossing to the north side was too rough.

 

[vincent54]

If you had one week to dive in the Caribbean, go to Little Cayman. My favorite dive in the Caribbean is Mixing Bowl. After that, Brac's southeast wall.Don't get me wrong, I love Grand Cayman and would have no problem diving there everyday. There is just a lot more concentrated, healthy sea life on LC. Besides, the coolest Grouper in the world lives at Mixing Bowl. IMHO Cheers

 

[AggieDiver]

I haven't been diving on Grand Cayman, but what I can tell you about Little Cayman that makes it pretty unique is the depth profile of the Bloody Bay Wall. The wall is very sheer and starts very shallow (like at 20-30'). So you can do a wall dive for every dive, and never go below 60' if you don't want to. You can go to 100'+ and back to 15' under the boat and never be more than 5' above the reef if that is what you want. You can spend an entire dive at 20' inspecting the shallows for macro critters and never lose sight of the boat. To me it is the ability on almost every dive site to choose whether you want to go deep on the wall, stay shallow on top of the wall, or work the shallows or do all three in one dive that makes the place unique. And on top of all of that, there is almost never any current worth mentioning and the sealife is exceptionally healthy and mostly unspoiled. The grouper puppies that follow you wanting to be petted are just the icing on the cake.

 

[scubadada]

I love Grand Cayman, I have two stays at Cobalt Coast/Divetech diving the West and North walls and two stays at Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers in the last 5 years. I also have a stay at LCBR. My wife offered me a trip to celebrate my 60th birthday, I chose Little Cayman. Everything is just a bit better. I'd go back to any of these operators without hesitation.

Good diving, Craig