Just back - not the best impression - this one is a definite skip it

[Kharon]

Spent a week on GC and unfortunately the "group leader" took us to more or less the same section of reef repeatedly for shore dives. I found the Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto area to be really poor. Lots of dead or unhealthy hard coral and very little fish life. Not interested in swim throughs of dead and dammaged coral.

The only dives that were worth doing (IMO) was the Kittywake (even though I don't like wrecks) and Oro Verdi/Paradise Reef - done from boat. Even these were disappointing from the standpoint of the "Cayman is the Diving Capital of the World / Best diving in the Caribbean" hype. NOT! There was more life but certainly not up to Bonaire or Dominica.

My exposure was entirely on the west end so I probably saw the worst of GC diving. However I would advise - this is an extremely expensive place to dive. A tank (air not nitrox) will run almost $16 US ($12.50 Cayman) and they charge you for weights - add another $5 to $6 Cayman for that ($6.25 to $7.50 US) - total between $20 and $25 for a mediocre shore dive. Definitely not worth the price of admission. Compare to Bonaire with a week of unlimited air (Nitrox free if you have the card) and weights free at $150 (doing 3 dives a day = $7.50 a dive)

The worst experience was being shortchanged repeatedly (not at dive shops) when paying in US and getting back change in Cayman Dollars. It ranged from always rounding your change down to an even Cayman dollar amount and keeping the rest to simply returning half the amount you were owed (waitress then disappeared till we left).

I'm glad I went as I always would have wondered. I will never go back as what I saw was that Cayman is extremely overrated, vastly over-hyped, and totally over-priced. There are way too many much better dive destinations that are less expensive and just as easy to get to.

 

[diver 85]

You were only about 75 to 80 miles off..(Brac & LC).........& you'll never top Dominica's diving(in the Caribbean), stick to it, even though it's a 'witch' to get to.....btw, I quit going to GC in '93(it was 'bad' back then--can only imagine what it's like now)

EDIT:......Did you ever get an explanation as to why 7 Mile Beach is only 5 miles long???.....That one has been bugging me since '86 when we 1st dove there.......

 

[tkaelin]

Its a shame you spent most of your time in the West and shore diving at that. The best diving on GC is on the North Wall and East End. I think there is a better concentration and diversity of marine life in Bon and certainly the diving is cheaper but the diving the North and East End is still worth doing as the walls are spectacular. I could see how you were disappointed mostly shore diving on the West Side, especially if you are comparing to Bon. Did you make it up to Turtle Reef at the Cracked Conch?

 

[Doctorfish]

I agree with tkaelin
There is good diving to be had on GC going North, East and even on some of the west wall sites like Northwest Point. The shore diving at Turtle Reef, Lighthouse Point and Cobalt Coast is pretty good as well.

Eden Rock is very beat up and I would not bother getting wet there unless silversides are in.

Sounds like you need a new group leader. You certainly did not experience the best that GC has to offer.

As far as currency exchange, not much you can do.
I have oodles of Caymanian coins and small bills that I am stuck with.
I save them up and use them when I go back there or LC.

 

[jdcpa]

You saw the worst of a good island. I don't think you could have figured out a worse way to do GC. Definitely fire the group leader, or mutiny.

The others are right, the better diving in the Caymans' is about 80-90 miles northeast.

Cheap and Cayman cannot be used in the same paragraph. You should not be going there expecting cheap.

I think someone created false expectations in your mind.

 

[fire_diver]

You need to pick a different dive op. They took you to the cruise-crowd reefs that are fine for once a year divers. There are 365 dive sites around the island, you didn't see the good ones but the that doesn't mean good ones aren't there.

Of course, GC isn't every vacationers preferred place. I have never been short-changed or ripped off by any restaurant or shop I visited, but I don't try to pay with $US. Yes, GC is expensive. That is the first thing everyone should see when they do their research. Of course there are plenty of Caribbean islands that are much more expensive than the US.

I have also NEVER been charged for using a shops weights! you got screwed all the way around by them. Who was it?

 

[Mike]

You saw the worst of a good island. I don't think you could have figured out a worse way to do GC. Definitely fire the group leader, or mutiny.

Boy, you hit that right on the head.

In regard to "Cayman is the Diving Capital of the World / Best diving in the Caribbean", well there are 3 major diving islands in the Caymans, and its' probably the sum of the three to achieve that moniker, Grand Cayman is only one of them and in my opinion when it comes to diving it's probably the other two islands that contribute to that claim more than Grand Cayman anyways.

 

[releck97]

I'm not sure why you went on this trip. Not to be be disrespectful, but you seemed to be less than enamored about visiting the island from the start. I've dived substantially in the Caribbean and Hawaii. There is a substantial amount of world class diving available in Cayman. We'll enjoy it in your absence.
I've never been short changed with the exchange rate ever on Grand Cayman.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[drrich2]

Since a group leader was mentioned, what sort of group? Was this a US based LDS group trip and leader?

 

[Shasta_man]

<< We'll enjoy it in your absence>> ???!!