Sunshine Suites Grand Cayman + Operators?

[Diver477]

Hey all,

Thanks for all of the suggestions you've given...based on what we've read it looks like we'll be visiting the CI this summer. But with this decision comes just one or two more questions.

1. We found a pretty good deal at Sunshine Suites (has anyone stayed there and could give thoughts?) but their dive packages are a little lackluster, and quite frankly to us, not worth its price. So we were looking to go with another operator in the area or who can do pick-ups. Any suggestions on who to check out? Smaller groups would be preferred for us.

2. Before we book, I was curious to ask if anyone has rented out a condo? I'm very new to all of this, so I am not sure what would be a better deal in terms of staying with a hotel property or a hotel. Can anyone recommend a nice condo/property?


Thanks!

 

[Doctorfish]

On Grand Cayman we tend to rent a condo at Christopher Columbus up at the north end of 7 mile beach. If there are 3-4 of you in the group, it will be less than a hotel, provide much more space, have a kitchen and have a beach. Sunshine Suites is not ocean front.
Condo rates are pretty reasonable in the summer.

Almost all the west side operators will pick up and drop off divers.
We have personal experience with Wall to Wall and DNS, both of which are excellent. Have not used the other operators but all seem to have a following so they must be good as well.

Another option would be to stay north at Cobalt Coast. They offer a decent summer package and the dive op, Dive tech is more than adequate. There is also excellent shore diving on site as well as the option to dive their other shore site at Lighthouse Point if the north side is blown out. Cobalt Coast packages include breakfast and unlimited shore diving.

If you are not limiting to Grand Cayman, the diving is better at Little Cayman, and Little Cayman Beach resort has good all inclusive package pricing in the summer.

 

[Diver477]

Doctorfish,

Thanks for the recs! I'm going to look into Columbus and the dive operators you suggested....but how were they (the operator) you used on prices? We're looking for a reputable, independent operator in the area since the package through the hotel isn't too economical.

 

[Doctorfish]

All the operators have similar pricing as they need to be competitive. They tend to give you a break for repetitive days of diving. Best overall package deal probably with Dive Tech as they include unlimited shore diving at their land based sites as well.

There are other condos up and down the beach which may be lower priced as well. I think London House and Anchorage are pretty reasonable in summer.

 

[oregondiver]

We do mostly shore diving when we go so we break it out like this: Renting 2br/2ba condo on 7 mile beach with pools, swim up bar, safety cove for snorkeling out front: $1500 for the week (under $400 PP as we are 2 couples). 3 days of shore diving with Cobalt Cost (and their sister site Lighthouse) $100 PP. Day of diving at Eden rock, day of diving at SunDivers, a day at Sunset (just using these as examples). Each day works out to about $50 PP if we do 4-5 dives per person. Total for lodging for week and 6 days diving: $700pp. This is all shore diving though and doesn't include rental car, gas, food or stingray city/kittihawk kind of thing. Good luck

We will be back for our next trip end of October....

 

[Doctorfish]

I agree that you can save some money by shore diving and the sites Oregondiver mentioned are good, particularly turtle reef and cobalt coast.
If you are going to GC, however, you should try to do some wall diving as well, that is what the island is famous for.
In the summer, the North Wall or East end would have the best wall diving. I only wall dive on the west side if the rest of the island is blown out, which is unlikely in summer.

 

[divesergeant]

Doctorfish is spot on. The north wall is fabulous diving. We've been fortunate this trip and have been north for the last four days and are loving it.

Still, any warm water dive with good vis is alright with me, and some of the shore dives here are really nice. We always say we'll spend several days exploring shore dives, then we get here and end up adding more days with Neptune's and go out on Casey's boats.

 

[billinwilliamston]

My bride and I do mostly shore diving (most trips that's all we do) and we almost always go out the the main wall. The abyss is a fairly easy swim from any of the aforementioned shore diving sites. The two Divetech sites even have ropes you can follow. One of the coolest dives we've ever done was a shore-night dive at Sunset House where we swam out to the Nicholson ball and then hit the wall from there. While I wouldn't recommend it to someone who hasn't dived the same rout numerous times during the day, it was spectacular. There is something about night creatures in front of you and nothing you can see above, below or behind you that is hard to beat.

 

[tkaelin]

Discovery Point is another condo option. They are next to the Christopher Columbus and have the advantage of a pool on the beach and tennis courts. You can check out units on VRBO and on their website. We found a unit on VRBO that was corner ground floor and very nicely appointed.

When we stayed, I dove a couple days with divetech and took advantage of the afternoon shore diving at Lighthouse Point. Divetech picked us up at the condo and they were fine to dive with. The only negative on this occasion was that each morning they drove us all the way to Cobalt Coast then back down to West Bay marina where the boats were due to the weather. In hindsight we should have just driven ourselves to the marina which would have saved a lot of time driving around in their van.

We shore dove at Turtle Reef and Edens other days.

Good Luck and have fun.

 

[Doctorfish]

You certainly can swim out to the wall from several shore sites including Sunset, Lighthouse, Cobalt and Turtle reef but the wall at these sites is not vertical and as impressive as it is on the north and west side sites. I think it is worthwhile to swim out to the wall from these shore dives ( in the daytime ) but in my opinion, does not replace the thrill of the north or east walls. I think billwilliamston's suggestion re potential shore based unguided wall diving at sunset is not for someone with 24 dives listed. The coral reef night diving at turtle reef, cobalt or sunset is a safer idea for divers with limited experience.

I've stayed at Discovery Point in the past and it is certainly comparable to Christoper Columbus.