Grand Cayman shore dives

[diversteve]

You won't find a direct roundtrip flight from Houston (IAH) to Bonaire as they don't exist. Some airlines add seasonal flights also but about the shortest I've seen is 6hrs. out, 9hrs back on Delta thru ATL. on Saturdays next summer. for $787 r/t.



There's an even shorter non-stop flight direct to Bonaire on United for $686 but the return is a 21 hr. flight thru Newark with a 10 hr. layover - arriving the next morning.

 

[Becca65]

yeah, that's about what I was finding - maybe one day - but not in a big hurry to sign up for all those lay overs

 

[tkaelin]

I may not be following correctly but there are nonstop flights from Houston to Bon. Maybe not the time of year you are looking for? A quick search on orbitz in june shows Continental nonstop. Sat-Sun. 6-2 to 6-10.

 

[Becca65]

yeah, we were looking at April or May so maybe 2019 we'll get to Bonaire - will have to watch and see when they have non-stop from Houston - thanks

 

[KathyV]

The Coconut Bay shore dive on Hepp's Pipeline and Reef are really excellent. We love Turtle Reef at Macabuca with Sunset Divers, but the Coconut Bay shore dive next door is even cheaper and nicer (less wear and tear from traffic on the reef IMO).

Definitely rent a car, but be prepared for the traffic in West Bay and George Town and the confusing roundabouts. We like to bring a Garmin GPS and car charger with us, but some folks prefer to download Google Maps before arriving on the island to avoid data charges.

People keep telling me "it's an island, you can't get lost!" but we must be navigationally-challenged because we have gotten lost! George Town has a lot of narrow, angled one-way streets and limited parking options, and the roundabouts take some getting used to - but I still recommend getting a car, especially if you want to snorkel and/or shore dive; and it will give you a chance to explore the island - there is a lot more to see than just Seven Mile Beach!

 

[tkaelin]

The Coconut Bay shore dive on Hepp's Pipeline and Reef are really excellent. We love Turtle Reef at Macabuca with Sunset Divers, but the Coconut Bay shore dive next door is even cheaper and nicer (less wear and tear from traffic on the reef IMO).

Did you just dive here recently? Glad you liked it. We posted on our trip report that we thought it was a great location and great diving. Other than a couple other divers we had the diving to ourselves the entire stay.

 

[tarponchik]

Back in 2002 when we visited GC the Cobalt Resort reef was rather far off shore, so they offered a "taxi" ride on a small inflatable raft for $5 to the wall. This was not a shore dive really, but not a boat dive either. We also did one shore dive from a small sandy beach somewhere in the Turtle Farm and Cobalt Resort area, which was pretty good since we got to the same wall at another spot.

 

[tarponchik]

As an update: my log book says this was "sandy beach at the end of Sand Hole Rd". The satellite image at googlemaps shows that the wall there was further away from the shore than at Turtle Farm (now Sunset) but what did we care.

 

[KathyV]

Did you just dive here recently? Glad you liked it. We posted on our trip report that we thought it was a great location and great diving. Other than a couple other divers we had the diving to ourselves the entire stay.

We are just back from the Caymans and we really wanted to shore dive again at Coconut Bay, but Tropical Storm Philippe intervened. Our first few days were lovely and we relaxed and snorkeled and did some shore dives at Turtle Reef at Macabuca - but those were our last dives on GC, but we did manage one more snorkel before we left.

We arrived on Little Cayman just as Philippe was almost gone. We dived the South Side the first couple of days and then we were able to dive Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson's Bight for the rest of the trip. It was a bit choppy a few times but the dive masters were great at finding the best spots and we had a lovely week of diving on LC!

 

[Trailboss123]

You won't find a direct roundtrip flight from Houston (IAH) to Bonaire as they don't exist. Some airlines add seasonal flights also but about the shortest I've seen is 6hrs. out, 9hrs back on Delta thru ATL. on Saturdays next summer. for $787 r/t.

View attachment 433363

There's an even shorter non-stop flight direct to Bonaire on United for $686 but the return is a 21 hr. flight thru Newark with a 10 hr. layover - arriving the next morning.

View attachment 433364

United does fly direct to BON from Houston (IAH) year round. Departures are on Saturdays only from IAH and Returns are on Sundays only from BON.