Diving in Grand Cayman 9/7-11

[gschwim]

Hi all! First time poster here...

I'm diving Grand Cayman between 9/7-11 with my wife. She's a newbie to diving (just finished her open water dives last weekend), and I've been diving on and off since the late 80's. Anyway, I know it's kind of the dead season out there and I figured I'd throw out the idea of getting together with others for a set of easy, shallow dives. Maybe we can commandeer a boat that might not otherwise go out. I have no real idea of a plan beyond that, so ideas are welcome.

I plan on doing a handful of dives on my own as well.

 

[Doctorfish]

You should both shore dive turtle reef. Easy stair entry, dive shop on site.
Little wave action or current, easy navigation and lot's of life on the mini wall.

There is enough there in both directions to keep you happy for several dives as well as a night dive or two.

There are numerous boat diving operations on island, all of which are good. Depends on where you are staying.
If you have not booked yet, Cobalt Coast has a good package right now including room, meals, unlimited shore diving and AM boat diving. Worth considering.
Most operators do 2 tank AM dives with the first on the wall and the second shallow.
It's certainly possible to stay shallow ( 50-60 feet ) and still enjoy the wall diving.

The water is so clear and warm in Cayman that after a few dives, your wife will feel very comfortable going deeper on the wall dives.

 

[diversteve]

+1 for Turtle Reef. Sundivers is the shop on-site. You can find info on the Cracked Conch restaurant site - also located there.

Also the two Divetech locations nearby - both have dive decks and start really shallow. Lighthouse Point and Cobalt Coast. They're a good choice for North Wall boat dives also.

The top levels of the Kittiwake are an option if your wife wants to dive a big dive-cleaned wreck. It's one of the signature dives now. The other is Stingray City - it's 15' deep. Kittiwake Sites in Cayman, Kittiwake Wreck Dive - Kittiwake Cayman

Check the cruise ship schedule and when the ships aren't in (or there's less of them) Eden Rock/Devils Grotto downtown is another option with some shallow swim-thru's - open at both ends and often in the middle. Doesn't exceed 40' either but decades of cruisers haven't done it a lot of good.

Farther down is Sunset House, the other Ai. There's two pretty good dives off their dock - the famous Amphitrite Mermaid stature is at 55'. Small wreck out there a little deeper also. My Bar there is a diver's hangout.

For boat dive operators - here's the list so pick one. They differentiate by providing a higher level of service since all are priced around the same. Many are 6-8 divers maximum on some surprisingly big boats. Cayman Islands Tourism Association - Things To Do In Cayman, Cayman Culture,Cayman Islands Watersports

My personal choices depending on where you're staying are Neptunes Divers, Ambassador Divers, Wall to Wall Diving or Divetech. On the East End it's Ocean Frontiers. Two operators that run larger boats with multiple divers are Don Fosters or Red Sail. Both are cruise ship operators as well so ymmv. Check with Ambassador or Indigo Divers - both used to go with some really small groups. At one time I read Ambassador would go with 2 - IDK if they still do now as they have a bigger boat since then.

About 1/2 the Grand Cayman sites are listed here - most with videos: http://www.idivecayman.com/sites

 

[gschwim]

Thanks much for the info! I'm looking forward to doing this!

 

[tkaelin]

I second Diversteve and Doctorfish's recommendations. Turtle reef in particular would be a perfect spot. I have brought newly certified divers to GC and Turtle reef was their favorite. Eden/Grotto was there second favorite. Very easy but also very interesting - avoid though on a cruise ship day.

 

[releck97]

Jealous! Epic Divers is another top notch operator. I highly recommend them. As Dr. Fish recommended, Turtle Reef is excellent! The bar/restaurant there does close in the fall for an extended vacation...usually in September, so check their schedule on the website: crackedconch.com.ky. Otherwise, the after dive scene there is great. Enjoy!

 

[gschwim]

Thanks all for the info! I'm (sadly) back at home in Arizona after an amazing trip.

We took much of the advice each of you posted. We dove Turtle Reef several times, including at night. We doused our lights and played with the bioluminescent creatures that were hanging around. We also saw a bunch of eels, lobster, and a pretty big (~10 ft) nurse shark. Even better, I got lots of this on video.

We also dove Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto. This was awesome as well. I do recommend trying to do this on days when there are no cruise ships around, though. On one of our dives the noise from the ships underwater was so loud it was distracting. We did see a ton of silversides, a few turtles, etc.

We also dove from the shore at Sunset House, which was quite different from the others. The reef looked more "forest" like with the coral at this location. We took it down the wal to ~100 feet.

We dove the Kittiwake twice, and spotted an eagle ray flying around on the bottom. We laid chase to it for a bit before returning to the wreck.

Also good was the shore dive from Lighthouse Point. The guys at Divetech were awesome, and the reef there very nice. The Guardian statue was a nice touch as well.

Finally, your recommendations about Epic Divers were spot on. We made contact with Freddy, and he took 4 of us out for a great day of diving. I'll definitely be giving him a ring next time I'm down there. I'm hoping that is sooner than later. I plan on farming a few resumes to local companies down there to see if I can find something to support this renewed addiction to diving I have!

 

[Doctorfish]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the diving.
Eden Rock can be quite spectacular when the silversides are in and the cruise ships are out.

 

[releck97]

Awesome to hear! I'm glad Epic Divers came through for you. They are a class act!

 

[keller34]

I will be going first week of Oct for me and my wife's Anniversary. Sounds like we will have a blast also. Going to take some of the suggestions from here seeing how you had a great time.