I have been to Cayman Islands 9 times about 20 years ago and was only a snorkeler. Now I have over 1,000 dives under my belt and I am going for 9 days to Grand Cayman the end of January. I will have a car and I would love some input on the best shore dives, not to be missed and also boat dives and maybe the best dive company to hook up with. I will be staying at 7 mile beach for 4 days and then 5 days in Bowden Town. Sorry on the spelling. Please give me any good info so I don't have to waste a lot of time. I do have some friends there and will be diving with them some but will also be on my own with 1 dive buddy for most of the trip. Thanks in advance. Aruba Bob
Heading to Cayman Island first time as a diver
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EastEndDiver
Contributor
Shore diving - Eden Rock/Devils Grotto (dive when no cruise ships in )
Macabuca also called Turtle Reef/Farm
Sunset House
Divetech Lighthouse Point
Cobalt Coast
Dive Ops - All are good pretty much all offer the same services some will pick up on 7 mile beach ,Bodden Town you will have to drive.
I own on Island in Bodden Town let me know if you have any specific questions.
Macabuca also called Turtle Reef/Farm
Sunset House
Divetech Lighthouse Point
Cobalt Coast
Dive Ops - All are good pretty much all offer the same services some will pick up on 7 mile beach ,Bodden Town you will have to drive.
I own on Island in Bodden Town let me know if you have any specific questions.
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Arguably the best shore dive on the west side is Turtle Reef - a few mins drive north of SMB. Sundivers is on-site for tanks - Ollin shares space with Cracked Conch so has some info on their website.
Nearby is Lighthouse Point another good dive. Divetech is there and they also boat dive from there or nearby. One they do not to be missed is Ghost Mountain but almost all the dives in that area are good since a lot of them are off the North Wall. A little farthereast is Cobalt Coast - Reef Divers is there.
Dropping down SMB - Cemetery Beach is a good snorkel, or really shallow dive. Most boat operations will pick you up at most resorts/condos along SMB - boats are kept in one of several marinas behind it. Evreybody has their favorites - mine are Anbassador Divers, Indigo Divers or Neptune's Divers. There's not a bad choice due to competition. Good dives in the area include Orange Canyon, Big Tunnels, Aquarium (shallow 2nd dive) Trinity Caverns, Heoo's Wall/Arch and about 50 more. Some of the North Wall is less diveable in winter so the boats move west.
Then down in Georgetown Eden Beach is OK but suffers from decades of being 50 yds. from the cruise port. Cheeseburger Reef is another dive in the area - off Lobster Pot Dive Center which books Wall to Wall, Deep Blue or Off the Wall
Don Fosters sits on the end, their shore dive is Devil's Grotto which is connected to Eden Rock. They have most of the cruise contracts.
A few minutes south is Sunset House - there's 2 shore dives there - or one long one. The Mermaid in 55', a small wreck farther out and a shallower wall even farther out. It's a dive resort, has a good outdoor restaurant and the Cathy Church photo operation on site.
Another few minutes south of there is Smith's Cove a locals beach with a shallow dive. No facilities there so rent tanks at Eden Rock - most of the other shore sites don't allow removal from the property..
There's no shop near Bodden Town. Or any shore dive I'm aware of (it's pretty shallow) My buddy used to stay there annually and drove out to Ocean Frontiers to dive, it's on the south side of the East End. Or back to Georgetown. The dive to do with OF is called Babylon - it's on the north side and I've seen it listed on a top 50 dives in the world lists. If they're not doing it when you;re there try Tortuga Divers on the north side at Morrittt's.
As far as dive sites - there's over 365. www.idivecayman.com lists many with videos. The Kittiwake is the signature dive wreck - put down as a dive a few years ago and Stingray City the best 15; dive there. It's a lot of fun. I've done about 1/2 of these if you want a short list - Top 10 Dives - Wall to Wall Diving
pick a diveop you like from the list: www.cita.ky
Nearby is Lighthouse Point another good dive. Divetech is there and they also boat dive from there or nearby. One they do not to be missed is Ghost Mountain but almost all the dives in that area are good since a lot of them are off the North Wall. A little farthereast is Cobalt Coast - Reef Divers is there.
Dropping down SMB - Cemetery Beach is a good snorkel, or really shallow dive. Most boat operations will pick you up at most resorts/condos along SMB - boats are kept in one of several marinas behind it. Evreybody has their favorites - mine are Anbassador Divers, Indigo Divers or Neptune's Divers. There's not a bad choice due to competition. Good dives in the area include Orange Canyon, Big Tunnels, Aquarium (shallow 2nd dive) Trinity Caverns, Heoo's Wall/Arch and about 50 more. Some of the North Wall is less diveable in winter so the boats move west.
Then down in Georgetown Eden Beach is OK but suffers from decades of being 50 yds. from the cruise port. Cheeseburger Reef is another dive in the area - off Lobster Pot Dive Center which books Wall to Wall, Deep Blue or Off the Wall
Don Fosters sits on the end, their shore dive is Devil's Grotto which is connected to Eden Rock. They have most of the cruise contracts.
A few minutes south is Sunset House - there's 2 shore dives there - or one long one. The Mermaid in 55', a small wreck farther out and a shallower wall even farther out. It's a dive resort, has a good outdoor restaurant and the Cathy Church photo operation on site.
Another few minutes south of there is Smith's Cove a locals beach with a shallow dive. No facilities there so rent tanks at Eden Rock - most of the other shore sites don't allow removal from the property..
There's no shop near Bodden Town. Or any shore dive I'm aware of (it's pretty shallow) My buddy used to stay there annually and drove out to Ocean Frontiers to dive, it's on the south side of the East End. Or back to Georgetown. The dive to do with OF is called Babylon - it's on the north side and I've seen it listed on a top 50 dives in the world lists. If they're not doing it when you;re there try Tortuga Divers on the north side at Morrittt's.
As far as dive sites - there's over 365. www.idivecayman.com lists many with videos. The Kittiwake is the signature dive wreck - put down as a dive a few years ago and Stingray City the best 15; dive there. It's a lot of fun. I've done about 1/2 of these if you want a short list - Top 10 Dives - Wall to Wall Diving
pick a diveop you like from the list: www.cita.ky
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I think that you guys have already answered the OP's questions quite well! I will echo the comments that when you stay on 7MB and want to boat dive, there are many fine quality dive ops to choose from and they will pick you up.
When you stay in Bodden town, you will have to drive to the shore dives or to the boat dive ops. We often stay in Bodden Town and it is a great area for snorkeling but not for diving. When we want to boat dive from there then we head to the East End to dive with Ocean Frontiers or Tortuga, because traffic is so easy going East.
If we want to shore dive then we head toward West Bay or George Town for the sites mentioned, with Sundivers at Turtle Reef (Macabuca) being our favorite.
We try to avoid rush hours when we go West and we attempt to avoid heavy cruise ship traffic around George Town and some of the more popular tourist destinations. We definitely try to avoid the crowds when we dive the popular sites of the Kittiwake (boat), Stingray City (boat), and Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto (shore). There are web sites that post the number of cruise ships and passengers expected each day and that can be helpful. Sometimes Saturday and Sunday are good days for the more tourist attraction sites.
We always use this one to try to plan shore and boat diving in West Bay to avoid dealing with the masses that scurry ashore from the cruise ships - especially when more than 1 ship is in Port:
Ship Schedules - Port Authority of the Cayman Islands
Alucard
Contributor
I could do the Macabuca/Turtle Reef dive site every day of a trip and I don't think I would get bored. So much to see in either direction, or you can swim out to coral head covered in really nice corals further out toward the big wall. Lighthouse Point is fun because of the statue - nice photo ops.
I tend to prefer dive ops that go out of the West Bay Dock - they tend to be more prepared to "go north" when conditions allow - it's a lot shorter boat ride than those based further south. I enjoy the Kittiwake dive a lot, which is off Seven Mile Beach - most of the west side ops can take you there.
I tend to prefer dive ops that go out of the West Bay Dock - they tend to be more prepared to "go north" when conditions allow - it's a lot shorter boat ride than those based further south. I enjoy the Kittiwake dive a lot, which is off Seven Mile Beach - most of the west side ops can take you there.
FYI, there are some good causal places to eat in Bodden Town like the Czech Inn (awesome burgers!), the Grapetree Café (yummy fish!), and Rankin's Jerk Pit for chicken and other jerk recipes. We stay at the Turtle Nest Inn and we can walk over to the Czech Inn and Grapetree and we can buy beer and other beverages at places that are right next door. .
You can also drive East for sit-down restaurants like Tukka, Over the Edge, and the Lighthouse, and there are other casual food stand places on the End End.
If you are staying at a place with kitchen facilities then there are grocery and liquor stores in nearby Savanah where you can stock up on your way to Bodden Town. Keep in mind that most stores are closed on Sunday.
One of our favorite memories of our recent trip to Grand Cayman was the Friday Night Happy Hour at the Outpost Bar at Pedro St. James Castle. It was a beautiful sunset evening (pic below) and the crowd was a mix of locals and visitors just relaxing and having fun, and Seven Fathoms Rum were the featured liquor.
We also enjoyed the musical comedy performance by The Barefoot Man at the Wyndham Reef Resort on Thursday night.
Have fun!
WOW!!! Thanks for all the great advice! My Cousin owns a timeshare on 7 mile Beach and goes every year. So he will hook me up with the boat dives but this really gives me a lot of great advice for the snorkeling and the shore dives. Also the eating places. I have a full kitchen in both air B&B's so thanks on the info for the grocery stores. I fly in on Sunday afternoon so I will just plan on hitting the grocery on Monday. I am really looking forward to some great diving there. I will turn 55 in March so my goal is to dive 5 Islands this winter. Over Thanksgiving we went to the Maldives for 2 weeks. Now I am headed to Grand Cayman for 12 days. Then in Feb I will go to Bonaire for the 8th time for a week and then March I will go to Curacao for 12 days and that will be the 12th time. Thanks again for the great advice. Aruba Bob arubabobsnorkeling.com
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