sdwho
Contributor
Got back last night from a week in Grand Cayman (actually a week plus one day, thanks to the snowstorm at home Saturday night). I'm going to bracket this report with one very loud demand: MAKE GC YOUR NEXT DIVE DESTINATION AND SUPPORT THE ISLAND.
Okay. Deep breath. Here's my report.
Accomodations: As we have our last two trips to GC, we stayed at Cobalt Coast. Arie and Dora simply are the best hosts on the planet and I cannot imagine ever staying anywhere else. When I'm at CC, I feel like I'm home, not at some impersonal hotel.
Dive operation: We dove with Divetech. Nancy and her crew (Seb, Gary, Eric, Sarah, Susan, Sharon) are terrific: knowledgable, personable, and entertaining. What is most impressive about DT is that they really enjoy diving and divers. Even though most of the DT guides are experienced tech divers, they can make everyone comfortable. We had some friends who happened to be on the island join us for one morning's dives. One of the friends had only 25 dives under her belt, spread out over more than 5 years. And the other friend had only done a resort course. It was impressive to see how patient and gentle the staff was with these divers, without it limiting the more experienced divers on the boat (too many places force everyone to dive to the "lowest common denominator" -- but not DT). By the way, if you want to have a great time, go on a dive with Captain Jack Sparrow (Seb). What a riot!
Diving: A cold front made for windy and somewhat cloudy conditions for the first part of the week, so some of us weenies dove with hoods and 3 mils, while the more hearty divers were still in t-shirts and swim trunks. The vis was affected a bit in the early part of the week. We dove West Bay sites: Eagles Nest, Aquarium North, Chain Link, Peppermint Reef, Big and Little Tunnels, Trinity Caves. Any concerns about the impact of Ivan were quickly put to rest. The reef is fine (although the wreck of the Oro Verde is even more spread out and it was strange to see a full palm tree in the water at Chain Link). Saw the usual Cayman critters: nurse sharks, stingrays, lots of parrot fish, hamlets (all kinds). Saw a fair number of juveniles, particularly angels, and several turtles. The weather improved significantly towards the end of the week and we were able to get in some afternoon diving at Turtle Reef and Chain Link -- the afternoon light was great for photos--the highlight being a squadron of squid that hung with us for a long time at Turtle Reef.
The Island: This is the part that is hardest. We followed Ivan and its impact on GC on the web quite closely. But nothing really prepared me for how it has transformed GC (I first visited GC twenty years ago and have been diving there once a year on average for the last ten). Just coming in from the airport, my wife was nearly in teears. The number of buildings that show signs of damage is mind blowing and as we travelled around, we noticed that there isn't a fence on the island that doesn't show signs of having been clobbered by some large object. The vegetation is probably the most dramatic thing -- so many trees are gone or stripped of their leaves. And when we drove over to the east end, we were shocked. The Cayman Diving Lodge, where we spent my wife's 40th birthday, looks like a bomb went off inside it. Its hard to imagine that there used to be a dock with dive boats there.
Having painted a picture of continued devastation, I must go on to emphasize that the island is on the mend. Restaurants and lodgings are re-opening at a steady pace and we could note the changes even in a week's time. One of high points was the re-opening of the deck at the Cracked Conch last Friday. When we got out of the water after our afternoon dive at Turtle Reef, we were introduced to Suzi and Bob Soto who were supervising the final prep for the re-opening. We ended up coming back for what turned into an extended happy hour (beginning at 5 and ending sometime after 11!) and had the great privilege to hang out with Suzi and Bob listening to their stories about the Island, both the old days, and the storm.
Anyway, I love Grand Cayman and as I stated at the start of this report, I urge anyone considering a carribbean dive trip to make GC their destination. The reef is fine, the island is mending and they need and deserve our support.
sdwho
Okay. Deep breath. Here's my report.
Accomodations: As we have our last two trips to GC, we stayed at Cobalt Coast. Arie and Dora simply are the best hosts on the planet and I cannot imagine ever staying anywhere else. When I'm at CC, I feel like I'm home, not at some impersonal hotel.
Dive operation: We dove with Divetech. Nancy and her crew (Seb, Gary, Eric, Sarah, Susan, Sharon) are terrific: knowledgable, personable, and entertaining. What is most impressive about DT is that they really enjoy diving and divers. Even though most of the DT guides are experienced tech divers, they can make everyone comfortable. We had some friends who happened to be on the island join us for one morning's dives. One of the friends had only 25 dives under her belt, spread out over more than 5 years. And the other friend had only done a resort course. It was impressive to see how patient and gentle the staff was with these divers, without it limiting the more experienced divers on the boat (too many places force everyone to dive to the "lowest common denominator" -- but not DT). By the way, if you want to have a great time, go on a dive with Captain Jack Sparrow (Seb). What a riot!
Diving: A cold front made for windy and somewhat cloudy conditions for the first part of the week, so some of us weenies dove with hoods and 3 mils, while the more hearty divers were still in t-shirts and swim trunks. The vis was affected a bit in the early part of the week. We dove West Bay sites: Eagles Nest, Aquarium North, Chain Link, Peppermint Reef, Big and Little Tunnels, Trinity Caves. Any concerns about the impact of Ivan were quickly put to rest. The reef is fine (although the wreck of the Oro Verde is even more spread out and it was strange to see a full palm tree in the water at Chain Link). Saw the usual Cayman critters: nurse sharks, stingrays, lots of parrot fish, hamlets (all kinds). Saw a fair number of juveniles, particularly angels, and several turtles. The weather improved significantly towards the end of the week and we were able to get in some afternoon diving at Turtle Reef and Chain Link -- the afternoon light was great for photos--the highlight being a squadron of squid that hung with us for a long time at Turtle Reef.
The Island: This is the part that is hardest. We followed Ivan and its impact on GC on the web quite closely. But nothing really prepared me for how it has transformed GC (I first visited GC twenty years ago and have been diving there once a year on average for the last ten). Just coming in from the airport, my wife was nearly in teears. The number of buildings that show signs of damage is mind blowing and as we travelled around, we noticed that there isn't a fence on the island that doesn't show signs of having been clobbered by some large object. The vegetation is probably the most dramatic thing -- so many trees are gone or stripped of their leaves. And when we drove over to the east end, we were shocked. The Cayman Diving Lodge, where we spent my wife's 40th birthday, looks like a bomb went off inside it. Its hard to imagine that there used to be a dock with dive boats there.
Having painted a picture of continued devastation, I must go on to emphasize that the island is on the mend. Restaurants and lodgings are re-opening at a steady pace and we could note the changes even in a week's time. One of high points was the re-opening of the deck at the Cracked Conch last Friday. When we got out of the water after our afternoon dive at Turtle Reef, we were introduced to Suzi and Bob Soto who were supervising the final prep for the re-opening. We ended up coming back for what turned into an extended happy hour (beginning at 5 and ending sometime after 11!) and had the great privilege to hang out with Suzi and Bob listening to their stories about the Island, both the old days, and the storm.
Anyway, I love Grand Cayman and as I stated at the start of this report, I urge anyone considering a carribbean dive trip to make GC their destination. The reef is fine, the island is mending and they need and deserve our support.
sdwho
