Little Cayman Beach Vs. Pirates Point

Little Cayman Beach or Pirates Point

  • Little Cayman Beach

    Votes: 12 63.2%
  • Pirates Point

    Votes: 7 36.8%

  • Total voters
    19

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"none of the above"

I vote for the Southern Cross Club :biggrin:

Jennifer
 
Pirates Point would be the first, Southern Cross the second choice.
 
THAD:
Ok vote on the best.. it seems some of you don't like the control people at LCB.
Please tell me more about this issue of "control people at LCB". I have been working as a divemaster at LCBR this past winter so I well know all the people involved and how we run the dives. On every dive, we give people the option of going off on their own as part of a buddy team or following the divemaster around on a tour. Since we (the DM's) help people in the water and then back out of the water, the DM leading the tour is always the last one in the water and then the first one back out. Consequently, the tour is only about 25-30 minutes long and ends up back at the boat. But nobody has to go with us--and sometimes nobody does. But some people want to be guided around, so we offer that...as an option. Other than that, the only stipulations we make are that people go as part of a buddy team, keep the first dive of the day to max 100'/45 minutes and the second and third dives to 60'/50 minutes. The 100' depth limit is mandated by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, to which all the resorts belong. And the time limits are there simply as a courtesy to the 95% of the divers who will be back before that time and then don't want to sit around rocking on the boat waiting for the one diver in the group who has gills instead of lungs.

Anyway, if you know more about this feeling that there is too much control exerted by the DM's at LCBR I would really like to know about it and would gladly pass those opinions/observations along to the rest of the dive staff. We think we run THE class act on Little Cayman, and are always trying to be better at it.
 
I haven't been there in awhile, but much as I like LCBR (been there 4 times) I have had that sort of experience in the past. It gives me second thoughts when I think about coming again. I'll grant similar time limits seem fairly typical for Cayman operators, and Reef Divers doesn't force follow the leader like some do. But I still don't like it.

I don't see any good reason to limit a typical multilevel dive to 45 or 50 minutes, it's too short. I think people that come up earlier should just accept it, it's part of diving. I've been with many ops other places (yes, in rocking boats) where people come up when they're ready, or with longer limits at least, and no one has a problem with it. In my experience when people are left to decide on their own, most people come back in about an hour. I accept that suggesting a limit is reasonable to help keep with some sort of schedule - perhaps an hour or a little more, if only to protect the group from the occasional rude person who decides to do a 2 hour muck dive under the boat when the general plan was for a wall dive - that's extreme. On the other hand I don't think time limits that cause a fair number of people on a boat to come back with lots of gas are right. I think it's more than the 5% you suggest, and certainly would be if people knew they had more time to explore the shallows. In LC there's no reason most people who use more air couldn't adjust their profile to spend more shallower if they don't like to sit on the boat, and I think it would be appreciated by many. The schedule at LCBR feels very driven by the meal schedule. Make lunch run a little later, schedule the afternoon dive a little later if needed - I'm there to dive.

And don't be petty about the time limit. We have for a fact come up 5-10 minutes late to a LCBR boat (for reasons I won't get into here, and this wasn't a habit) and gotten really yelled at. (No, I don't remember their name.) That's just unacceptable. And we have had a few divemasters that seemed on power trips, even if it's not follow the leader - there was often just a tone to the whole thing, a feeling that's hard to explain. Maybe it's not the case now, but it's certainly been that way sometimes.
 
zf2nt:
Please tell me more about this issue of "control people at LCB".

The 100' depth limit is mandated by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, to which all the resorts belong.

Well, here's an example of "control people at LCBR" right here:

The 100fsw you're claiming is the mandated depth limit of CITA is incorrect: that's the recommended limit, and not the published maximum limit.

For your education, the maximum limit had been 110fsw, with some limited 120fsw exceptions on Grand Cayman. This value was revised by the CITA in Aug 2003 (yes, 1.5 years ago) to be 130fsw.

CITA's general summary press release stated:

"New Maximum depth limit for recreational divers increased to 130 ft - Unguided Buddy diving on Wall/Deep dives permitted for qualified buddy teams - Technical Divers may dive to the limit of their certification - Free Diving is supported within set guidelines"

And the current exact verbage from the CITA standard states:

"8. The recommended maximum depth limit with recreational scuba customers is 100 feet, if within certification (See Appendix ‘B’). The required maximum depth with recreational scuba customers is 130 feet and 100 feet for repetitive dives the same day."

Allow me to repeat to add emphasis:

"The required maximum depth with recreational scuba customers is 130 feet."


And the time limits are there simply as a courtesy to the 95% of the divers who will be back before that time and then don't want to sit around rocking on the boat waiting for the one diver in the group who has gills instead of lungs.

Being courteous to group desires is a good thing - - but how does this ever get applied to provide longer duration dives when the entire group onboard is able to demonstrate that they aren't air hogs?


Anyway, if you know more about this feeling that there is too much control exerted by the DM's at LCBR I would really like to know about it and would gladly pass those opinions/observations along to the rest of the dive staff. We think we run THE class act on Little Cayman, and are always trying to be better at it.

A "Class Act" promptly apologizes for getting basics like the CITA standards wrong.

And for some feedback, I understand that some staffmembers actively discourage customers from requesting Night dives so that they can avoid having to stay late to run them.


-hh
 
Damselfish:
And don't be petty about the time limit. We have for a fact come up 5-10 minutes late to a LCBR boat (for reasons I won't get into here, and this wasn't a habit) and gotten really yelled at. (No, I don't remember their name.) That's just unacceptable. And we have had a few divemasters that seemed on power trips, even if it's not follow the leader - there was often just a tone to the whole thing, a feeling that's hard to explain. Maybe it's not the case now, but it's certainly been that way sometimes.

FWIW, I've been on a Reef Diver boat where an older woman got royally reamed by a DM (ExPat) for coming up with only 400psi instead of 500psi.

Yes, she was admittedly a little short, but what pushed her under the magic 500psi value was because she chose to not skip her 15fsw safety stop...it was that extra few minutes for the safety stop that burned the 100psi of air that got her in trouble.

The DM didn't want to hear any part of it, so what he was effectively saying that he would have preferred for her to have gotten bent instead of breaking the "500psi minimum" rule.

Absolutely insane.


-hh
 
Part of my training prepared me to be knowledgable enough to set my own time limits and depths. I also have invested in a dive computer to help me manage both. If I am diving and want to get closer to a reef shark at 130 ft I feel that should be my decision and I certainly don't want a tyranic DM checking my computer and reaming my *** out.

I dove at Beaches TC last year and several times droped below 120 ft checking out neat (big stuff) and even there the DM respected my ability and judgement and didn't embarrass me in front of my peers.

From what I just read I am going to Pirates Point!
 
Good discussion. Thanks for the info. I dove with LCBR several years ago and the "suggested" profiles and time limits. They did occasionally check computers for depth and made reference to their limits. I never saw them get on anyone for pushing time limits. Overall they were one of the best ops I have had the pleasure of diving with. Remember for every experienced diver they encounter who is qualified to set their own limits and conduct themselves appropriately they encounter two divers who are cowboys and only think they can. It must be tough to sort them out.
 
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