GC Trip Planning Help

[huachele]

Hello All,

I am new to diving and new to the board. I have gleaned quite a bit of info from the board regarding planning a trip to Cayman. However I few questions regarding timing and logistics. I will try to keep it brief and as concise as I can:

First, I am newly certified as are two of my kids. I am looking for "easy" low stress GUIDED dives. Since I will be with a Jr OW diver my depth will be limited and that is fine with me. Reading up on Grand Cayman the dives that look like they would suit us are: Sunset House, Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto (It appears that there will be no cruise ships in port for two days and I was planning on hitting these sites on those days) Turtle Farm and the Dive Tech/Cobalt Coast Mini walls look interesting. As far as from a boat I'd like to do the Stingray City Dive and The Kittiwake (or other shallow wrecks).

1- I will be in GC after Christmas. My first question is when a "cold front" drops down to Cayman is the wind from the NW or NE? Other caribbean locations it seems to be NW but I have read conflicting testimony as relating to Cayman. I ask because while trying to plan shore dives would it be wise to have an alternate plan in case one side of the Island is blown out? And it seems that a NW wind would likely blow out quite a bit of the easy shore diving spots. West Bay/GT area

2-My plan is to do 2 AM shore dives each of 5 days and on two of those days do one tank PM dives at the Kittiwake and Stingray City. The question is which shore dives would you match up with which afternoon boat dives? And with whom would you book it? I assume if I did an AM guided dive at Turtle Reef I would book the PM boat dive with Happy Fish?

3- We will require a lot of hand holding. And, since there will be other non diving family with us I need to make the most of my time, i.e. be an efficient planner. My hope was that I could hire a guide/instructor/dive valet who would plan our days diving and accompany us on the dives. Hotel pick up and drop off would be an added bonus. Is there an outfit who can do this, including arranging the boat dives? I was thinking if there is a sudden weather change the guide would know where to go and what to do. Or, do I have to hire guides from each location from where I initiate my dive?

Thanks for any tips and thanks for the tips I have already picked whilst combing the archives.
H

 

[Alex777]

1) It could be from the NW or the NE. Provided you have a car, you will be able to do easy shore dives on the W side even during a cold front, at least on most days. The West Bay/ George Town area does not get blown out very often, although it does happen.

2) The only reason to create 'matchups' like that is to avoid driving. On your guided shore dives you will be hiring DMs from the local operator but there is no particular reason (other than avoiding driving) to also dive with them in the afternoon. Almost any of the dive ops will take you to the Kittiwake or Sting Ray City. Do book in advance though.

3) PM sent.

 

[diversteve]

If Cobalt Coast gets blown out, you can often dive at Lighthouse Point, the other Divetech location since it's protected from a different direction. It's another shallow dive site. You can also do both if the weather is good, they're about 5mins. apart driving. LP is just a little farther west.

Ambassador Divers has a beginner diver focus. Also small boats - 6-8 divers max. Cayman Islands Scuba Diving | Grand Cayman Dive Packages | Ambassador Divers

. We have dives and sites suited to family dives and new divers as well as dive sites to thrill experienced divers.

Indigo Divers might be another option. They're six divers max. Indigo Divers - Cayman Island Diving

Red Sail or Don Fosters are probably not what you want, their groups usually are larger - still the same 8 divers/DM ratio that everybody does but it can be a little intimidating for new divers to dive with 2-3 groups off the same boat. There's plenty of six-pack operators on GC - many use larger boats also. Living the Dream is one I've heard about lately but have no exp. with.

Just about every dive operator picks up free along Seven Mile Beach. A couple of the operators with flat-bottom boats will also pick you up off the beach. If you're staying in West Bay find one that has their boat nearby - they'll probably be able to pick you up also. Divetech sometimes picks up off their dock and other times shuttles you to their boat nearby if you're diving with them.

Eden Rock also does guided dives 3x/day at their location. Maybe not as frequent on non-cruise days - IDK - it was pretty quiet there one afternoon. Cayman's Best Shore diving. It's a easy beginner dive site, shallow - some of the reef starts at 15' and it bottoms out just over 40'. Some of the Grotto swim-thru's are relatively short, you can see daylight on the other end. There's a couple that dead-end but you likely won't do those with the guide.

I'm sure you can hire a private DM/Guide from any number of operators but they all will put a DM/Guide in the water on every dive, it's the law. A typical dive profile on a mixed boat is going to be a deep (100') first dive down the wall followed by a shallow 2nd dive. But it can be tailored to the group with some notice - just don't show up expecting to be able to stay shallow, some of the moorings start at 60' on the wall.

One thing to be aware of is that the water is crystal clear - often no particles or anything in it - so it's easy to lose track of your depth. You'll be warned about it on the boat also.

A good shallow boat dive is the Aquarium. In among the coral heads it's only about 45' to the sand. Look for fish hovering near the tops of the coral heads, those are often cleaning stations. If you hold your fingers out to the tiny banded coral shrimp, they'll climb on and trim your cuticles (it does sting a little...)

With your experience level you're limited to the top three decks on the Kittiwake. Since it was prepped for diving, it's pretty safe, there's big openings. If you haven't seen it: The Official Website for the Kittiwake Shipwreck - Home Your operator is also required to put a DM in the water for every skill level on the boat - one for your group and if there's more experienced divers going deeper, one for them.

There's also a list of CITA operators down the right side - any would be good to contact for other diving also. Everybody charges basically the same 2dives/$100 and $50-80 for the Kittiwake (they have to pay the medallion fee) so pick someone you like.

Sunset House also has a good outdoor restaurant/bar for lunch. And the Cathy Church Photo Gallery on-site - the kids might like that. Easy entries and if you're all certified to 60', the Mermaid is standing on the bottom at 55'. The LCM Nicholson wasn't worth the swim out IMO, it's pretty small.

While you dive at Turtle Reef, the non-divers could visit the Turtle Farm across the street. Meet back at Macabuca for lunch. The Tortuga Rum Cake factory is also nearby. Eden Rock is downtown near all the shopping also. Sunset House is 5mins. south of there if they wanted to drop you off.

 

[Wolfie]

Sunset House is 5mins. south of there if they wanted to drop you off.

Just to clarify. I believe Steve meant it was a 5 min walk.

I ran into someone once doing shore guides only. No boat. I think he said he was from seven mile Seasports and the shop was around treasure island. Never could find the shop though.

i recall someone also saying that dusty does shore guides. Never met him before but he seems to be a diving legend on the island.

Whatever boat operator you choose will have a guide in the water with you. A couple others you may want to check out are wall to wall, And Seasports. What I like about Seasports is that they pick you by boat so there is no shuttle bus ride, and they pick up at 9 letting you sleep an extra 1 1/2. Wall to wall has 3 boats so they may better match you with other divers to give you and your group shallower easier dives and still accommodate others with more progressive dive profiles.

---------- Post Merged at 09:11 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:02 PM ----------

As far as boat dives and the weather. The boats move with the weather, the operator picks you up and takes you to the boat. Last time I was there a storm moved in from the northwest. Scrapped all regular shore dive locations for 3 days so I booked with a local operator just to get wet. Seeing the mayhem of 30-40 boats all trying to load up from the little dock on the south side. It was nutty, but all the boats were there.

 

[huachele]

Wow! Great info!

Looks like I will be doing a day with Seasport (kittiwake), Eden Rock, Sunset House(with lunch at their restaurant), Turtle Reef (including lunch and turtle farm) and I am waiting to hear from Dive Tech.

This should cover the basics except for SRC. If the kids are dying to see that and they have the stamina we will work it in somehow.

All places will provide a DM in addition to a guide.

Thanks for all of your help
- H

---------- Post Merged at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 08:35 PM ----------

PM answered

Thanks

 

[Wolfie]

You have non diving family as well. Do the cattle boat thing with the whole group. Capt Marvin's or something like that, sting ray city sand bar, like 4 ft water plus a snorkel or two. Perfect trip for the nose breathers.

---------- Post Merged at 11:50 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:47 PM ----------

Oh yah, be sure to pick up the caymans activity guide when you pick up your luggage. Nice info and coupons. They have an online version as well so you can see it before you get there.

 

[huachele]

OK. I think I have my diving all lined up. Thank you all for your input and to those who PM'ed.

As a follow up, there will be 19 college football bowl games taking place while I am in Grand Cayman so I will be needing a place other than my room to watch. Any of you Cayman vets have a suggestion on a sports bar or just a comfortable place to watch hours of football?

 

[Damselfish]

Eats Cafe/Legendz on SMB had pretty good food, decent prices for Cayman. Eats is diner like but Legendz is more of a sports pub. (2 different restaurants but they're connected, and when we had dinner there we got the Eats menu but sat on the Legendz side where there was a free table, so I'm not really sure how it works.)

 

[huachele]

Thought I replied???? Anyway, thanks for the tip. Legends is due for a banner week.

 

[HighSeasYoda]

Legendz was closed over Thanksgiving undergoing what appeared to be a pretty serious remodeling. Didn't see anything that said how long - might want to call them before heading their direction. Agree with Damselfish on the food at Eats - was pretty impressed with the breakfast if you have a morning off from diving.