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I was in Grand Cayman the first week of November. This was our first trip to Cayman and it definitely won’t be the last. We are lucky enough to have friends with a time share who also dive and we stayed in a 2 BR place at The Reef Resort on the East End.
The boring stuff.
We flew USAir with a stop in Charlotte. They were a little more expensive than Continental but the flights both ways were great - which is not all that common for USAir. We rented an el-cheapo car with Hertz and it was a real POS. It broke down on Friday night and in the islands you can forget about service after hours. The maintenance staff at the Reef was great. They came out with jumper cables to get us back to the resort. Hertz replaced the battery the next day. It might have been the first time that hood was opened.
Verizon cell coverage was good in Georgetown but spotty on the East End.
We had some excellent meals. A new place Tukka was by far the best but also the most expensive. Over the Edge was also good and the Pelican Bar at the resort had good food and great drinks. Liquor was expensive due to the sin taxes and next time we will each bring a liter of sin into the country.
On an off day we made a trip into Georgetown so the wives could check out the jewelry stores – ouch. I held out to stop at Sunset House and see Cathy Church. I wanted to see the Olympus EPL1 in the housing. It looks great and I’ve seen nothing but good reviews. I’m going to sell my SP-560 and buy one before the 2011 season starts (If I can only get Santa to put one under the tree). We found a couple of prints to buy in Cathy’s store because I know I’ll NEVER be that good. I don’t have the patience but I did get some good shots in the swim throughs.
Now for the good stuff
We were planning on diving with Ocean Frontiers based on reports on SB but they had a large group for the week and could not accommodate us. I’m kind of glad they couldn’t since they were a 10 minute drive. We dove with Tortuga Divers (part of Red Sail) located next door at Morritt’s resort. It was an easy walk and they were great. We kept our gear in the equipment lockers right on the dock (no charge) and went out with them on 3 different days and dove the wall at 100ft and 5 different sites on the reefs at about 60ft. The boats were not crowded and the staff was great – especially Woody, Reports of a “Cattle Boat” DO NOT apply to Tortuga Divers!
I don’t normally do the guided thing but since they had a guide in the water for every dive anyways we decided to tag along. I’m glad we did as he was great at pointing out Lobster, Crabs, Lionfish, Trumpetfish, Morays and a few Nurse Sharks hiding under the reefs. And on the last dive Jessica got to swim with a Sea Turtle.
Stingray City had – you guessed it – Stingrays. My wife isn’t a diver but we had a lot of fun snorkeling with the stingrays (and drinking rum punch on the boat ride back).
Air temp was upper 70s to upper 80s and aside from a few showers it was sunny. Water temp was about 82 and Vis ranged from WOW to Oh my God. The St. Lawrence wreck diving is outstanding but it sure was nice to leave my drysuit at home and wear a 3mm shorty or just a rash guard.
Now for the best part – we bought a timeshare at The Reef so we’re going back!
Great report - glad you had such a good time.
And congrats on the time share - we have a place there and love it!
When you closer to town next time, enjoy Sunset House or Sunshine Suites for a good, casual, inexpensive meal - those are 2 of our favorites!
Hope Santa is good to you this year...
Jane Warren, Publisher Eight Safety Rules for Water Sports | TowableTubesDirect.com
Sucker, they got you...Just kidding. We purchased a timeshare at 7 Mile Beach Resort about 10 years ago. The diving in Cayman is outstanding. Being on the west side and long-time visitors, we have learned a lot of the fantastic shore dive locations and almost never get on a boat. Shore diving in Cayman is fantastic because the reef structure is so close. Watch for the current on the North side, sometimes it can give you quite a workout trying to swim back in.
More importantly - They got my wife. We're already planning a return trip in the spring. Thanks for the restaurant and dive ideas.
The one thing I didn't like about Tortuga Divers is that they don't rent tanks for shore diving. I think the reason may be that it is shallow inside the wall and it looked difficult to get over it into the deeper water. We will probably do some shore dives from Sunset House or just get some tanks from Ocean Frontiers which is 10 min away.
More importantly - They got my wife. We're already planning a return trip in the spring. Thanks for the restaurant and dive ideas.
The one thing I didn't like about Tortuga Divers is that they don't rent tanks for shore diving. I think the reason may be that it is shallow inside the wall and it looked difficult to get over it into the deeper water. We will probably do some shore dives from Sunset House or just get some tanks from Ocean Frontiers which is 10 min away.
It's rare for ops on GC to rent tanks to take off property for shore diving. Don't know that OF does either, generally in the past they haven't but never know about current status. Certainly no shore diving from their location either. There's a dive shop in a strip mall along SMB (not associated with any hotel) that is the one reliable place to rent tanks to go wherever.
If you are going to drive to the west end of the island for shore diving, consider going a little farther and diving at Turtle Reef where Sundivers is. Much better shore diving IMO than Sunset House.
It would be a long drive for you from the east end, but if you get a chance, check out Cobalt Coast on the northwest corner Cobalt Coast Dive Resort - dive and vacation packages in Grand Cayman. Good shore dives and friendly people at DiveTech. Then stop off at Turtle Reef. Easy, beautiful dives.
Hi. We are a family of four considering going to The Reef for a diving vacation. My husband and I are experienced divers, though we only get to go while on vacation. My kids, 12 and 11 are newly certified, having done their Open Water Dives while in Belize. Is there good diving here for both experienced divers and beginners? Does all of it require boat entry? We were hoping for some off the beach diving. Any other top suggestions?
By the way, if anyone wants to swap a week for our place in Placencia, Belize, just let me know.
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Originally Posted by NetPro
