Grand Cayman for Christmas with Kids and Grand Kids

[Montana Tom]

Hey all,
We will be doing GCI from December 15-26 and trying to decide if we bring ur dive gear or not. My wife and I and our oldest daughter dive. But we will have our other daughter, son-in-law and his sister as well as both daughters children aged 2 1/2 and 11months. This being said, I would love to do a couple dives but ultimately want to maximize time with family. We are staying in condo on west end of SMB next to margaritaville. The son-in-law also might want to do a discover scuba class. Open to all ideas and info you can provide.

• We love shore diving and typically do Bonaire. Also we will be bringing our inflatable kayak so could just enjoy snorkeling and kayaking. We are not the type to dive, dive, dive, but would hate to miss a fire at opportunity. Just looking for advise of best sites if you could only do a couple dives.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[jonhall]

Simple answer is you're on SMB, so dive ops are really close by. There are great dive sites all along SMB also, as well as the Kittawake if you like wrecks. Big Tunnels is my favorite site along SMB.

Search some other recent threads here on SB and you'll find lots of info on shore dives and everything else.

 

[diversteve]

I always bring the gear so no help there.

As mentioned just about every SMB area dive op will pick you up freeing the rental car(s) for the others. Two dives and you'll be back before noon.

Depending on the age of the kids, some shops do a combo Stingray City dive/snorkel trip - usually early afternoon. It's a 15' deep dive so the kids/non-divers can snorkel down. A family on our boat did that and we all held the squid for the kids to pickup for the feed.Hard to do when the rays smell that you have it...

I could make a case for Snith's Cove also - it's a local beach with a decent shore dive. No facailities and you'll have to rent tanks at Diver's Supply or Eden Rock in town. Actually if you dove Eden Rock/Devils Grotto, Georgetown is right behind it.

I believe the Marriott sells a day pass - there's also a snorkel trail off the beach there. Red Sail in on-site and will often beach a dive boat and pick you up for west side diving.

Maybe Turtle Reef also - it's a protected cove entrance for the little kids - down stairs and just a few feet deep. Arguably the best shore dive on the west side just outside the cove. Macabuca on-site for lunch and Sundivers for tanks. Across the street is the Turtle Farm/Boatswains Beach park if they get bored waiting for you. It's also a shallow dive for your Discover Diver - among others Happy Fish Diver's guides there.

Lastly for the older "kids" - there's the Kittiwake.You can dive it, they can snorkel above it - it almost breaks the surface. Most of the shops have it on their dive schedule.

Georgetown on cruise ship days (most of them) is a zoo when 4-5 ships port. The grand kids might like the butterfly garden. Also they kayak the mangroves from the Sound and there's the bioluminescence tour at night.

South SMB should be pretty benign for the smaller kids and it's a great beach. Or drive over to Bodden Town, my sister's family used to beach there - the water is calm and shallow a long way out. They'd go after Christmas.

In winter if there's rougher conditions it's on the north side.

 

[caydiver]

Bring your gear!! The dive sites are super close. Some ops (including ours) will pick you up right on the beach along the SMB corridor so you can get in a 2T am or pm in a couple of hours depending on your bottom time and waste no time traveling to the op etc. Most ops offer pick up and drop off by van along the corridor and many offer full valet service for gear. It really doesn’t get any more user friendly!!

 

[Alucard]

Bring your gear! (are you getting a theme, here?)

If conditions are perfect you will KICK yourself if you have the opportunity to dive and can't, or that it costs you so much for rental gear.

Others have mentioned the boat options, I am going to talk about Shore Dives on the West side of the island, south to north. Each of these has an onsite dive op that rents tanks and weights.

Sunset House - Sunset House Reef | Scuba Diving Videos in George Town | iDive Cayman - kiss the mermaid, visit the sunken transport ship, see the garden eels. A nice, easy shallow dive. You have My Bar for good food and beverages afterwards while enjoying the view. This is just south of George Town.

Eden Rock - Eden Rock | Scuba Diving in George Town | iDive Cayman - actually two dive sites - Devils Grotto and Eden Rock. Located right in the heart of George Town - best to visit either before or after the cruise ship visitors are in. Devil's Grotto has some long swim-throughs and Eden Rock has some nice coral heads. Also shallow dives. Bring or rent dive lights if you are doing the swim-throughs.

Lighthouse Point - Light House Point Guardian of the Reef | Scuba Diving in North West | iDive Cayman - mini wall with a statue of the Guardian of the Deep. You can stay shallow on top of the mini wall which is at about 30-40 feet, or go down the bottom which is at 60 feet or so. VIVO cafe there has some interesting dishes for lunch.

Turtle Reef - Turtle Reef | Scuba Diving Grand Cayman | iDive Cayman - also known as "Macabuca" - in my opinion the best publicly-accessible shore dive on island. Mini Wall at similar depths to Lighthouse Point. Macabuca is a great place to hang out after a dive.

Cobalt Coast - similar mini wall dive to the others with similar depths.

I find the last 3 to be the more interesting shore dives, but the other two are nice for variety or when the currents and conditions get a bit difficult norther north.

(and the for regulars here, I have not included Coconut Bay here because I was told by some of the condo association members that the shore dive station, ladder, etc. are only for residents and guests of the condo complex. I am going to get some clarification of that at the next meeting in the spring.)

 

[Montana Tom]

Thanks for all the input. I think it’s unanimous, we’ll bring our gear. We normally bring our wetsuits as well,as we dive a nice slow pace and even in 80 degree water after 60 minutes it gets cold.

Do you think it is worth bringing them for only a few dives or how much is it to rent. I know renting is not favorable as you don’t know what others have done in them but I think we would survive.
Thanks again for all the help.

 

[tkaelin]

Renting wetsuits - ick. Find a way to bring your own thermal protection.

 

[Alucard]

Oh I know EXACTLY what others have done in them, which is why I won't rent that sort of gear.

Frankly, I don't wear neoprene at all - I wear a dive skin - and have only got cold after multiple days of 2 tank diving each day. But there again, I have some organic padding...