Is east or west better Grand Cayman diving?

[divematt]

3 couples have asked me to join them in a week long diving trip to the east end of Grand Cayman. I'm an experienced diver. They're staying at The Reef Resort and diving with Ocean Frontiers. From what I read here, the resort is fine as is the dive operator. I know I'll be far away from everything whether I like it or not. Now for the questions.

Is it worth diving only a few days at the east end and dive a few days at the west end?

Is diving better enough at one end or the other to dive only at that end?

Is the diving so similar that it makes sense to just dive one end or the other on separate trips?

Will I miss something by diving only the east end?

Should I rent a car to be able to eat at a wide choice of restaurants or will I find enough at the east end without a car?

Will I be bored at the "quiet end" if I stay there without a car rental and just dive there?

Should I blow off this trip and come back and stay at the west end and dive the west end?

Is $87.00 a night in an oceanfront suite by myself a good enough deal to just go to the Reef Resort and quit asking all of these questions and just dive with Ocean Frontiers?

Sorry for all of the redundant questions, but I've dived all over the place except for Grand Cayman and I think I got a pretty good deal to try it out. I just want to do it right the first time.

Thanks

 

[WannaLaguna]

3 couples have asked me to join them in a week long diving trip to the east end of Grand Cayman. I'm an experienced diver. They're staying at The Reef Resort and diving with Ocean Frontiers. From what I read here, the resort is fine as is the dive operator. I know I'll be far away from everything whether I like it or not. Now for the questions.

Is it worth diving only a few days at the east end and dive a few days at the west end?

Is diving better enough at one end or the other to dive only at that end?

Is the diving so similar that it makes sense to just dive one end or the other on separate trips?

Will I miss something by diving only the east end?

Should I rent a car to be able to eat at a wide choice of restaurants or will I find enough at the east end without a car?

Will I be bored at the "quiet end" if I stay there without a car rental and just dive there?

Should I blow off this trip and come back and stay at the west end and dive the west end?

Is $87.00 a night in an oceanfront suite by myself a good enough deal to just go to the Reef Resort and quit asking all of these questions and just dive with Ocean Frontiers?

Sorry for all of the redundant questions, but I've dived all over the place except for Grand Cayman and I think I got a pretty good deal to try it out. I just want to do it right the first time.

Thanks

Hey Matt,

I can answer all your questions for you. I used to live and work there as an instructor.

The east end is a looooooong way from anything. You'd have to drive to Savannah (south sound) to get any food or groceries.

The sites on the east end are very nice and the reefs are in better condition because the are less impacted by divers. I would however highly recommend the west side of the island too. Some of my favorite dives are on that side.

Andy's car rentals is right outside the doors of the airport across the parking lot.

Dives to do on the west side:

Shore Dives:
1. Eden Rock ( Devil's grotto) (shore dive located right in Georgetown)
2. Cracked Conch (pronounced KONK) (Turtle Reef) (Shore dive located across the street from the Turtle Farm Ask for Tom or Donny)
3. Sunset House (Mermaid from every dive magazine is located in 55 feet of water just off the shore) (GREAT Bar - My Bar, have the chicken Tikka Marsala)
4. Stingray City - a must! I worked with those rays everyday....amazing!

Boat dives on west end:
1. Big Tunnels
2. Orange Canyon
3. Trinity Caves
4. Oro Verde - shipwreck
5. Doc Polson - ship wreck
6. Ghost Mountain - rarely done

Food:

Depending on the kind of food you like you can find a great mix. Here are my favs in order:

1. Coconut Joes - jerk chicken sandwich
2. Cracked Conch/Makabucca Tikki Hut - Chicken avocado sandwich and FRIES!
(favorite shore dive - head out to the drop off and follow the way to the left...you'll come across a cave filled with tarpon, very large silver fish, people mistake them for sharks at first glance.)
3. hammerheads - MARGARETTAS! (be careful! they sneak up)
4. Lonestar - Instructor/Diver hangout - locals mostly - Chicken wings
5. Sunset House/ My Bar - chicken tikka get the HOT!
6. Deckers - a little higher end very cool though
7. Kiabo out at Rum Point

I have a TON of video from everydive site. I'll post what ever you are interested in seeing.

You'll have a blast there...but bring a lot of $$$ its an expensive island.

Dive safe,

Jeff

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Is it worth diving only a few days at the east end and dive a few days at the west end?

Is diving better enough at one end or the other to dive only at that end?

You can choose to split your diving if you want but the reefs really are healthier in East End. Sea conditions are often calmer on the west side so if you get seasick you might prefer diving west.

Is the diving so similar that it makes sense to just dive one end or the other on separate trips?

Will I miss something by diving only the east end?

Grand Cayman is the tip of an undersea mountain. Sharp wall drop offs characterize the diving all the way around the island. Shallow dives are either run along the top of the wall or else just a bit closer to shore.

If you only dive East End you will miss out on wreck diving. There are a few wrecks on the west side and plans for a future sinking of the Kittiwake on that side of the island.

The west side has several dive operations with easily accessible shore dives. They rent tanks on-site and can set you up with any needed rental gear. There are no shore diving operations in East End.

The other thing you will miss if you stick to East End is sitting in traffic. The developed west side of Grand Cayman has very real rush hour traffic for morning, lunch, and evening commute times.

Should I rent a car to be able to eat at a wide choice of restaurants or will I find enough at the east end without a car?

Will I be bored at the "quiet end" if I stay there without a car rental and just dive there?

Within walking distance is... well, not a lot. There is another resort next door. Both resorts have on-site restaurants. There is a restaurant (Portofino) nearly two miles down the road and a bakery outlet for breakfast goodies across the road. A rental car is strongly recommended.

There are several dining options scattered around the eastern districts but you will need a car for them. Check out this recent thread about where to eat in East End.

There is a grocery store (Foster's Food Fair) across the road from The Reef Resort. It is a smaller market but they certainly have all the basics. You will pass larger full-size grocery stores on the drive out to East End. They have an ATM accessible 24 hours a day which dispenses Cayman dollars or US dollars.

There is not much nightlife in East End. If you are content to simply lie on a beach after dives then it won't be a problem. If you are looking to go out to nightclubs and such then a car is needed.

Should I blow off this trip and come back and stay at the west end and dive the west end?

Is $87.00 a night in an oceanfront suite by myself a good enough deal to just go to the Reef Resort and quit asking all of these questions and just dive with Ocean Frontiers?

Don't blow off the trip. Just shut up and dive.

 

[divematt]

Thank you (both of you) for such excellent information. This is what makes Scubaboard such an awesome resource.

Here's what seems to make sense to me:

I'll definitely rent a car. It sounds like if I want to eat at other than the 2 next door resorts, I'll need one anyway. Plus, to visit, shop, or dive at the other end, I'll need one.

WannaLaguna, Are all of your favorite restaurants that you listed on the west side? If so, I'll look closer at the list Drew provided while on the east side and try both.

If I do choose to dive a couple of days to some of these west sites, which operator would you guys recommend that is easy to get to and park at when coming from the east side? Please take into consideration that I like to dive my computer, not surface collectively with a group of beginners, would prefer an operator not at the farthest west end if it helps getting there from where I'd be driving, and may offer some shore diving.

I don't mind missing wrecks as there are plenty here in S.E. Florida, but the shore dives sound nice for an afternoon.

If the hassle of driving a rental car just to do a couple of days of diving out west and having to fight the traffic mentioned is not worth it, and there is enough diving to see in 9 days at the east end, mention that I should just save the whole west end for another trip by itself.

If it's no more difficult than Cozumel to dive the far north and far south sites, I'd like to dive both in Grand Cayman during the same trip. I've been to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman too, but 7 days in Brac was enough. If there are walls and reefs of similar structure at each end and the only difference are the wrecks and that the west is dived more often, then maybe it may not benefit the trip out west? I don't mind wind, and wavy seas if that helps.

Once again, a huge thanks to any information. Research and planning can benefit a dive trip to a new location enormously.

 

[WannaLaguna]

Thank you (both of you) for such excellent information. This is what makes Scubaboard such an awesome resource.

No worries you are very welcome. GC is one of my favorite little rocks

WannaLaguna, Are all of your favorite restaurants that you listed on the west side? If so, I'll look closer at the list Drew provided while on the east side and try both.

When I lived and worked there I worked out of the West side and didn't get a lot of free time to hang out east. Others will be better resources for the east end

If I do choose to dive a couple of days to some of these west sites, which operator would you guys recommend that is easy to get to and park at when coming from the east side? Please take into consideration that I like to dive my computer, not surface collectively with a group of beginners, would prefer an operator not at the farthest west end if it helps getting there from where I'd be driving, and may offer some shore diving.

I don't mind missing wrecks as there are plenty here in S.E. Florida, but the shore dives sound nice for an afternoon.

For my money ( and experience) I can recommend 1. Divers Down 2. Sunset House. There is parking at both locations. Sunset has a large parking lot outside of their hotel and Diver's Down picks people up right on Seven Mile Beach.

The drive from East to West is very nice along South Sound into Georgetown. It will take you between 30-40 mins (if you drive the speed limit) Don't forget you drive on the WRONG side of the road down there and they rent cars with steering wheels on both the left and right hand side of the car....that takes some getting used to...not to mention the round abouts (intersections with no traffic lights or obvious rules

Definitely make it up to the Cracked Conch for their Conch burger@@

have fun and dive safe!!

Jeff

 

[jextract]

Thanks, guys, for the very informative posts. My wife and I will be at GC in July. How would you split up your diving east vs. west? We're staying at the Reef out east.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[billinwilliamston]

Thanks, guys, for the very informative posts. My wife and I will be at GC in July. How would you split up your diving east vs. west? We're staying at the Reef out east.

Thanks in advance!!

Let me start by saying that, at the Reef, you are as far away from the diving in the South or West as you can be and still be on land.

Even if I didn't like the diving better, I would dive the East End more than other parts of the island because of the convenience factor. Since you're staying at the Reef, if you're going to catch a morning dive boat, diving South or West means fighting rush hour traffic. The 30 - 40 minute relaxing drive described previously can easily become well over an hour of competitive stop and go. Fighting people who are trying to get to work for a very limited amount of road space is not my idea of vacation.

You can get picked up at the Reef, have a leisurely ride to the dive boat and be in a hammock (or on a second dive boat) by about 1, or you can fight morning rush hour traffic, drag your gear to a dive shop or dock, throw your wet gear back in the car after diving, and drive the 1/2 hour plus back. If you dive both morning and afternoon in the West or South, you can have the special bonus of getting to deal with the evening rush hour as well. Add 14,000+ cruise ship passengers cluttering up G'Town and SMB on some days and the East End sounds pretty good to me.

I'm not saying not to dive the West or South, but be aware of the hassle involved when you're staying that far East. We generally stay next door at Morritt's and we do enjoy making a day out of going to Sunset House, Devil's Grotto and/or Turtle Reef. Many times we'll sleep in a little, make the more leisurely post-rush hour drive to town, suck down a tank or two at one of the house reefs and have an apris-dive libation or two (or seven).

Check the port authority web site PORT AUTHORITY OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS when planning trips to town as the number of cruise ship passengers on any given day varies between a little over 14,000 and 0.

I'm sure not everyone will agree, but that's my $.02 worth.

 

[divematt]

Sounds like my trip to The Reef Resort will include diving in the morning and the afternoon out east if it's that big of a hassle. If I take the car rental to the west/north/south, it will be early and for all day. I'll just use the car rental for those all day trips and restaurants to the west end. I can always take another dive trip to just the west end on another date.

Any other "not to miss" things to do at the west end, that can be done during a mostly east end dive trip?

Thanks

 

[jextract]

Thanks for the tip, Bill. Do you have a favorite house reef or two? Where would you suggest we target our West Coast diving? Would you recommend staying west, primarily diving west, and driving east a few days instead?

 

[dwatts]

I was on the East End last summer with my family and another family. We stayed in a rental house but I probably would have preferred staying at Rum Point (Morrits) or at Reef Resorts. Anyway, here are my thoughts...


GETTING AROUND
We rented a Jeep from Andy's (they are EXCELLENT). Do it...you won't regret it! We were told how bad rush hour can be in GC. Well, I live in Atlanta where traffic ALWAYS sucks so diving in GC did not seem as bad as I expected. Even driving on the wrong side was OK. :cool2:


DIVING
On day 2 we drove back over to the west end and visited Hell (just a photo stop). From there we went to the dive shop at Turtle Reef (at the Cracked Conch) for a shore dive. The weather was iffy due to an approaching storm. My wife had to return (she was VERY nervous to begin with :nervous: ). Since we started as a 3-some and a DM/guide, the DM took my wife back while the other guy and I continued the dive. It turned out to be incredible! Tons of tarpon that swim right along with you! :fish: VERY COOL!

Over the rest of the week, I dove on the East End with Ocean Frontiers and Red Sail (Tortuga). Both were great, although I might give a slight prefer towards OF. I think Tortuga did a very good job but I felt that OF simply took us to better sites.

Late in the week my wife still needed a guide...and one that could coach her along. So we dove with Neptunes Divers on Seven Mile Beach. We dove the Oro Verde and another site. They were absolutely the BEST dive operation for my wife. The sites were close but very nice. We saw several turtles (my wife's favorite).


FOOD
On the East End there are only a few shops and grocery stores. Fortunately, there's one close to the Reef Resort.
There weren't many restaurant choices. The LightHouse is excellent but very expensive. Unless you're taking a date I would probably pass on it. Oh, and speaking of eating, if you do the shore dive at Turtle Reef, you will enter literally right off the deck of the Cracked Conch. After the dive, just sit on the deck, have a burger and a couple of drinks. The bartender and waitress treated us VERY well.


OTHER
This may not fit your desires but we also did the String Ray City tour. OK, we had two families so this was a must-do thing. Actually, it turned out to be a blast!

If you do schedule a dive trip with Tortuga, then try to do a morning trip and plan to spend the afternoon at Rum Point. It would be a good, relaxing afternoon :beer: after a morning dive with Tortuga.

By the way, since you dive in FL be prepared to see less marine life. We definitely have seen more fish diving in the Keys than in GC. With that said, diving in GC is different and was absolutely worth every penny (ummmm... dollar).

As Bill mentioned, check with the Port Authority's web site for the cruise ship schedule. Mid-week seemed to be when the fewest ships were in. Also, remember that most ships ask their passengers to return by late afternoon. We found that an afternoon dive meant that we could enjoy dinner along 7MB. Lunch would have been TOO crowded...but dinner was fine.


SUMMARY
Overall, I preferred the diving on the East End. The walls were easy to get to and very cool! However, I would definitely try to get in a shore dive or two.

If/when I go back to GC I would probably prefer to stay at either the Reef Resort or at Morrits. I would plan to drive to the West end a couple of (full) days. That's my 3 cents.

Enjoy and have fun!