Trip Report Grand Cayman Trip Report: Lighthouse Point/Divetech

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NicKnit

Registered
Messages
12
Reaction score
43
Location
Detroit
# of dives
100 - 199
Hi all,

I've lurked for a long time but thought it was finally time to post a trip report, especially since I didn't find a lot of specifics on Divetech or Lighthouse Point when I was researching where to stay here. We returned yesterday from our first trip to Grand Cayman from April 13-20, and were definitely disappointed to leave!

We chose Divetech/Lighthouse Point as we wanted to stay on the west side to make doing the Kittiwake easier, and I prefer to stay somewhere with dive shop on site to reduce the hauling of gear. The shore dive opportunity was also attractive, although not a deciding factor for us. We were a group of 4, three divers and one snorkeler, and needed accommodations for one couple and two singles, so the Lighthouse Point condo worked well for us.

The condo: Very nice with comfy beds, good sized kitchen and plenty of space for us to relax, both inside and out. It was dark though as there is a window in the kitchen and then a sliding glass door on the other end of open kitchen/dining room/living room, so anytime we were there we had to have the lights on to see. Not a big deal for us, but if you like natural light, it is lacking there. We rented a minivan and appreciated the shaded parking spot under the building.

Dive sites: Our group did 12-18 dives each, including the Kittiwake, Stingray City dive, a night dive at Lighthouse Reef, and sites on the north and west side. I really enjoyed the variety of sites with walls, coral formations and reefs. The Kittiwake was my least favorite--this was my first wreck, and the angled tilt really gave me a headache--although 2 in our group did it a second time. While I'm glad we did Stingray City, it's not one I would do again (been there done that once is enough). My favorite site was Tarpon Alley, largely because we had a nurse shark join us for over half the dive and insist on photobombing pictures of everything else we found (plus we saw two Caribbean Reef Sharks). It's also one of my favorite landscapes--follow a tunnel or sand chute to emerge on the side of the deep wall. The reef dives were nice--nothing spectacular, but just nice. We often saw eels out swimming on the reef, lionfish, shark, turtles, lobster, crab, barracuda, although it wasn't especially fishy. Surface intervals were typically about 45 minutes so I was glad to be diving on nitrox since my Suunto computer is pretty conservative. My husband used 100s and had no problem getting nitrox 100s if he wanted them.

DMs: Divetech goes out with at least 2 DMs, with one leading the first dive and the other leading the second dive. A few days there was a third DM who would be at the back of the group. Their briefings are very complete with diagram on the boat to get a good sense of depth, profile, landscape and landmarks. I really enjoyed and appreciated their briefings. While we dove everyday, the DMs changed every 2 days or so. They are not really chatty but efficient and professional and as we got to know them we really enjoyed everyone.

On the Boat: We got spoiled as the first 5 days we had 6 to 9 divers on board, so there was plenty of room (36' Newton boat I think). Our last day had 15 divers, which was starting to feel cramped (especially since the water was rough). Their boat hulls are pink, so it was always easy to spot in the harbor. For surface intervals there are orange slices and water. I bring my own water bottle with ice to save on cups but also to have really cold water the whole time. We started to bring along something bready to snack on, as well as orange slices only go so far.

Each day we took a van from Lighthouse to the harbor or dock (10 min drive), they would load our gear bag on the boat. We set up our own gear, including between dives. The crew was available to help set up gear, and check to make sure tanks were turned on before entering the water. At the end of the two-tank trip they would carry bags back to the truck, we'd get back in the van and go back to Lighthouse Point. Gear arrived on a separate truck, we'd rinse gear and store in a locker on the first floor of the condo building or bring up to our patio to dry.

Making reservations: I did most of my communication via email. When we arrived, several requests hadn't been communicated to the shop (my husbands request for 100s, changing person #4 from diving to snorkeling) despite acknowledgement of those requests. It all got handled, but I was glad to arrive early enough to get our requests handled before we started diving.

Food: We are pretty low key when it comes to food. We ate lunch at the condo everyday and went out for dinner most nights. With one vegetarian in the group not every restaurant worked well. Some only had meat options (Heritage Kitchen) or offered a pretty boring-looking salad (West Bay Diner). For us meat eaters though, we enjoyed everything we tried. I especially enjoyed Craft's pulled pork fritters. Macabuca had a great setting and good food, although weird service (we had 2 waitresses who each seemed to think the other one was doing the serving; drinks, dessert and the check each took three requests to make happen). Liberty's Restaurant was a nice find and our vegetarian had a really nice looking pile of vegetables there.

Topside activities: The snorkeler and I took a morning off to go to Cemetery Beach and snorkeled there. A few fish, porcupine fish, nurse shark. If you didn't dive it would be nice, but if you are used to diving it was underwhelming. The beach was really nice though with seagrape trees for shade. Also stopped at the post office in Hell to mail some postcards and the Turtle Farm, which was really light on education and seemed sad to us. We did some shopping in Camana Bay and downtown Georgetown as the cruise ships were leaving.

Holiday: We were there on Good Friday, which is a public holiday. A lot of businesses were closed, including Fosters Grocery, tourist activities and shops, although restaurants were open.

Overall, we really enjoyed the week, from the diving to the accommodations to food and the people. The diving was consistently good, although rarely amazing. I don't see Grand Cayman becoming our go-to place, but if/when we return, I would definitely stay at Lighthouse Point and dive with Divetech again.
 
Nice report @NicKnit , thanks for posting and I’m glad that you enjoyed this trip. We really enjoy Lighthouse Point as a shore dive and the shop is excellent. I see that you met “Fin” the nurse shark. I met her several years ago when she was maybe 3-4 feet in length and she adores photobombing. That’s her as my avatar when she was just a puppy.
 
Thanks for the report. Divetech is one of my favorite ops so it's nice to get some current info about them.

I have to add that on our last trip to GC we also went to the Turtle Farm and paid the extra to go into the the back part (pool/slides, shark tank, lagoon and beach, and a few other things.) Although as you noted, snorkeling isn't diving, snorkeling in their lagoon is the best snorkeling I've done in years, as far as being able to see lots of sea life.
 
Sounds like you had a great time. The guys and gals at Divetech have a great reputation in the industry down here and it is more than well deserved! Isn’t Finn awesome? She is very special!!!
 
Great report. Glad you enjoyed Grand Cayman. DiveTech is a great outfit. For your vegetarian friend, you were staying at the site of the best veggie restaurant on the island - VIVO, so hope you got a chance to eat there. On some days the diving on GC actually is amazing, so come back again!
 
Glad to see a review with Divetech; they've long had a fine reputation on Scuba Board, yet I don't see all that many detailed trip reports about diving with them. Couple of follow up questions - did you book the diving, condo. and vehicle rental as a package deal? I'm a fan of 'turn key' trip arrangements, and it makes life easier. Got any topside pics to post, like of the room?

Are there good places to eat or other points of interest in walking distance from where you stayed, or is it pretty much drive to get wherever?

Richard.
 
Are there good places to eat or other points of interest in walking distance from where you stayed, or is it pretty much drive to get wherever?
Richard.

The closest restaurant other than VIVO which is on the premises, is Macabuca Bar & Grill (very popular place, and another good shore dive location) about a half mile up the road. The only other places to eat that are almost within walking distance are West Bay Diner (1.5 mi), Heritage Kitchen (1.5 mi), and Liberty's (1.75 mi), all on the local, cheaper, more casual end. And Al Fresco - more upscale (1.25 mi). For sights you are near the turtle farm and the car museum (across the street from Macabuca). I'd definitely get a car.
 
@NicKnit thank you for the great trip report, we've never stayed at Lighthouse Point condos but it really looks like a nice facility. Vivo is a lovely restaurant and Divetech is an excellent dive op. That is true of many Cayman dive ops, but DT also has a good reputation for tech diving and they are also well-known for the programs they offer for kids and families.

Regarding that dive day when the boat felt too crowded to you, they are currently working without one of their boats. In January, one of their dive boats was moored at the Kittiwake while carrying passengers when they were rammed by a boat traveling at high speed with no one at the helm! Happily no one was injured which is rather a miracle because divers and snorkelers were in the water at the time, but the damaged Divetech boat is still being repaired, see the link below:

Boat captain describes harrowing moments before Kittiwake crash

The Kittiwake is an interesting dive because it is such a big boat but there's not a lot of coral encrustation or fish life around it in my experience. There are other, more interesting IMO wreck dives around GC so don't discount wrecks just because of one experience. The Oro Verde is hardly recognizable as a wreck any longer but it is an easy, fun dive and loaded with corals and fish life!

And if you ever get the chance to visit the sister islands, the Tibbitts is a very interesting wreck and I really enjoy the diving off of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. They aren't the most exciting destinations for a non-diver, although Brac has installed several facilities for both shore diving and snorkeling. You would need a car for that, but there is little traffic and no roundabouts and driving on the left is easy there. And I would think that the all-inclusive dive resorts on the Cayman sister islands would be able to accommodate a vegetarian diet, but you would have to check.

@drrich2 one of the nicest things about the Lighthouse Point shore dive is that the reef is very close to shore. The mini-wall is only about 300 feet from the dock and the main reef is not too far beyond it. And since we've just celebrated Earth Day I should mention that the submerged "Guardian of the Reef" statue is a popular photo destination.

Another nice thing is that they are not very far from the other nearby shore dives like Turtle Reef at Macabuca, Hepps at Coconut Bay, and Cobalt Coast. And not too far from the more popular tourist areas like Seven Mile Beach and George Town and also the Eden Rock and Sunset House shore dives. But remember that you are usually expected to buddy dive in Cayman, they are not very welcoming of solo divers. If you are staying at LP you might be able to hook up with some other guests for shore diving.

If you are traveling alone, they do offer some one-bedroom accommodations but I don't know if these have any kitchen facilities, see the link below. https://www.divetech.com/couples.

Eating in Cayman without access to a kitchen or a meal plan can get very expensive, but you do need a car at LP and there are a lot of good food choices at a variety of price ranges on GC, not so much on CB or LC.

I know that you often travel with non-diving family and the 2 bedroom LP condos are on the water but not on the beach and again you would need a car. There are 3 bedroom condos with a house reef at nearby Coconut Bay.

I have never stayed at the Grand Caymanian Holiday Inn, but it is also on the water but not on sandy beach, and it might be a good choice for non-diving family. Divetech has a shop there and they provide transport to the boats. You would have free access to their LP shore dive if you are boat diving with them. You would also need a car if you stayed at the HI because it is remote but again it's not a great distance from the more popular GC attractions. They also offer free shuttles during the day to GT and 7MB and (I think?) also to Camana Bay. It's pretty easy to get to Camana Bay from the 7MB area.

Car rental is one of the few bargains we have found in Cayman and our credit card includes rental insurance, except liability - so the prices are good - but of course there is that pesky "drive on the left through the roundabouts (and sometimes heavy traffic) which isn't always popular. Happily my husband doesn't mind it but I am not a fan.

Like so many other dive destinations, there are things that might work for you and things that may not, so you just have to figure it out and make your best destination decisions!
 
Totally awesome to see this one of the best get their well deserved kudos. Just curious who among the posters has actually has first hand experience? I have yet to have had the opportunity but know them from local reputation. I only know them from DMs they have employed who have the best things to say. How do the rest of them base your comments just to make them legitimate and not what you read online.
 

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