Grand Cayman- East End advice

[KathyV]

I just added a couple of more links to the Topside? thread:

Davinoff's Concrete Sculpture Garden:

Davinoff's Concrete Sculpture Garden (North Side, Cayman Islands) on TripAdvisor: Address, Top-Rated Attraction Reviews

Here’s a nice blog about things to do on Grand Cayman away from Georgetown and 7MB:

http://danilew.biz/blog/2014/03/03/grand-cayman-paradise-found/

 

[Bubbles below]

I know my girls wants to zipline, but I can't seem to pulled up anything. Discount Excursion shows pictures of zipling but when you look at the website, it doesn't offer it. We will be at the Morritt's East End, May 31-June 7, and diving w Ocean Frontier. I'm considering horseback riding on the beach near our hotel. My girls doesn't want to snorkel w the stingrays. So, the activities I'm looking into is Turtle Farm, Butterfly Farm, horseback riding, paddleboard, and hopefully zipline for them. As for me, I'm booked for the "Best of Cayman" dive package. I really want to add a lionfish hunt for Monday, but I have to wait until we arrive and see how they feel about me leaving them for the whole day. And my other deliema is whether to do a critter night dive or bioluminicient night dive?

 

[KathyV]

I know my girls wants to zipline, but I can't seem to pulled up anything. Discount Excursion shows pictures of zipling but when you look at the website, it doesn't offer it. We will be at the Morritt's East End, May 31-June 7, and diving w Ocean Frontier. I'm considering horseback riding on the beach near our hotel. My girls doesn't want to snorkel w the stingrays. So, the activities I'm looking into is Turtle Farm, Butterfly Farm, horseback riding, paddleboard, and hopefully zipline for them. As for me, I'm booked for the "Best of Cayman" dive package. I really want to add a lionfish hunt for Monday, but I have to wait until we arrive and see how they feel about me leaving them for the whole day. And my other deliema is whether to do a critter night dive or bioluminicient night dive?

Zipline on Grand Cayman! What would you zipline through? I am no zipliner but that term always suggest jungle treetops to me. Grand Cayman is pretty flat and I've never heard of any ziplining going on there.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

There is no zipline on Cayman. There just is not enough change of elevation to make one feasible.

 

[h2oDawg]

Thanks to all for the information. Are there a couple of shore dive locations you would highly recommend? We will have a car so transportation should not be an issue.


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[KathyV]

Thanks to all for the information. Are there a couple of shore dive locations you would highly recommend? We will have a car so transportation should not be an issue.

Turtle Reef is a favorite shore dive. We often head their first to check out our gear at the start of a GC vacation. And after you finish diving you can enjoy a drink and a meal at Macabuca or the Cracked Conch:
Cracked Conch Grand Cayman Ocean Front Seafood Restaurant and Tiki Bar

There is nice wall diving from shore at Cobalt Coast Resort too, but these sites are at the opposite end of the island from you so be sure to bring everything you need with you!

There are other good shore diving sites but I would avoid Eden Rock and Devil's Grotto; they were once great sites but now they are beaten up and rather depressing due to heavy diving pressure.

 

[releck97]

Turtle Reef at Macabuca can potentially provide you with four great dives. If there is little or no current, you can go either south or north on the main wall and/or mini-wall. You can easily do a night dive on the mini-wall as well. Our favorite day to go is Monday due to the outstanding bbq dinner buffet. You can also check out the webcam at the cracked conch before you make the drive over to see what the conditions are like. The main wall is in a transition area between the sloping topography of the west side and the more prehistoric looking north wall. If the conditions are good, it is one of the best easily accessible shore dives on the island.

I also regularly dive the wall at Sunset House. This is a great place to visit with non-divers as well. While you are there, they generally will allow you to use the pool (provided they are not training in it at the time).

Both sites have very good snorkeling and super easy entry. My Bar at Sunset House is very good and quite comparable to Macabuca (sans Monday bbq).

Enjoy!

 

[billinwilliamston]

One piece of advice. If you're going to head to Sunset House, Turtle Reef, Cobalt Cost, etc., call first. All of those spots have on-site dive operations who will gladly tell you if conditions are worth the trip. Don't assume that conditions on the other side of the island will be the same as the conditions where you are. A lot of the time if it's calm in Colliers (where the Reef is), Sunset House will be blown out. The opposite is also true. Things can look undivable outside your front door and be flat calm at Cobalt Coast.

I think these are the right numbers
Sun Divers (turtle reef) 345-949-6606
Sunset Divers (sunset house) 345-949-7111
Divetech at Cobalt Cost 345-946-5658
Divetech at Lighthouse Point 345-949-1700
Eden Rock (eden rock and devil's grotto) 345-949-7243

I have been told that there's a new shore spot at the Riviera Hotel near Sunset House. We'll check that one out next week for sure.

Have fun!

 

[ranchonodinero]

Did a dive with redsail last July and was not impressed. It was the operation out of Morritz. True glamour diving is down the street at Ocean Frontiers.

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[diversteve]

Here's the cruise ship arrival schedule: Ship Schedules

I agree with Kathy, I much prefer to be somewhere else when the cruise ships are in. The first time we dove Eden Rock/Devils Grotto around 2003 it was tired then. And there weren't so many ships calling in Georgetown. The one exception is if you're there mid-June to August. Then it can be fantastic (Frans also has a link to his Turtle Reef video embedded in this one):

[video=vimeo;69518760]https://vimeo.com/69518760[/video]

There's a similar boat dive somewhere off the East End also.

If you plan for early afternoon dives at Turtle Reef, by the time you're done the cruise ships will all either have departed or or tendering pax back so that's a good time to hit downtown before driving back out to the Reef. For dinner, Guy Harvey's Grill is good - just about a block south of the cruise port. There's also Margaritaville. Most of the shops will still be open at that time also. Most of the Stingray City dives are in the afternoons as well so you're back onshore around 3:30-4PM also since most hold to a 45min. dive.

I've been told that if Turtle Reef is blown out that Lighthouse Point is often still diveable due to orientation. Some people dive Smith's Cove south of town also. It's pretty shallow but I've read there's some decent reef structure in about 20-30' so might be good for your new diver. Tanks can be rented at either Eden Rock or Divers Supply in West Bay. None of the dive resorts/shops on dive sites will let you take tanks from their property and you shouldn't bring rentals on-site either - they can deny access since they own the property to the waterline.

Look at a map if you plan to head Northwest during a busy port day. There's a back road that runs behind Seven Mile Beach almost all the way into West Bay. You can bypass all the downtown congestion on it. Driving from the east it's off the rotary to the NW immediately past the Grand Harbor Shopping Centre a few minutes past Savannah. There it's Crewe Road then becomes Linford Pierson, North Sound Road and finally Esterly Tibbetts. At the 2nd Rotary past the airport you can also take Eastern back to N. Church St./West Bay Rd. and bypass most of downtown but still drive along all of Seven Mile Beach if desired. Tibbetts merges back into West Bay Rd at the north end of SMB. which goes all the way to Turtle Reef, Lighthouse Reef and all the touristy attractions in that area like the Stingray City marina's, Turtle Farm/Boatswains Beach, Hell etc.

Unless there's a zipline off the roof of the Ritz Carlton, I don't think there's anything else tall enough on Grand Cayman.