Just back - not the best impression - this one is a definite skip it

[redacted]

Not carry on....clothing you wear. ??

Prohibited item in "carry-on" include what is on your body. Lead will set off the detector.

 

[dmoore19]

I don't understand why you would want to carry on 10# of lead to keep from paying $2.00 to rent it.

 

[danvolker]

I don't understand why you would want to carry on 10# of lead to keep from paying $2.00 to rent it.

I am not the one griping about it....I;m fine with bringing 100% of my gear, except tanks. If the trip is worthwhile paying to enjoy, it's worth bringing the RIGHT gear for. I will rent old style lead weight....I will ONLY use my Halcyon wing and steel backplate, and my regs, and my fins, mask, etc...No F**ing way I would rent the offerings available in BC;'s and fins from ANY shop in Cayman, or most other tourist destinations in the world.
Its like with cycling--if you are a real cyclist, and you go on a "dream cycling vacation" in Italy, you DO NOT rent a bike in Italy--you use the race bike you have been training on, ( meaning you ship it UPS or DHL or whatever) and you know this bike like the back of your hand...this is the bike you will get the most enjoyment out of...this is the bike you will enjoy the trip the most with, because you will be at "the top of your game" with it....

 

[Stoo]

You were only about 75 to 80 miles off..(Brac & LC).........& you'll never top Dominica's diving(in the Caribbean), stick to it, even though it's a 'witch' to get to.....btw, I quit going to GC in '93(it was 'bad' back then--can only imagine what it's like now)

Same here, more or less. I worked there briefly in the early 1980s and it was a very high traffic area then. You simply can't run hundreds of thousands of divers, many of them with borderline competence, over any given hunk of reef and not have it adversely effect the corals... which in turn effects, everything else.

I've often thought that popular dive destinations should treat their sites the way farmers treat their fields... rotate them. Every few years, just stop diving a hunk of reef for a few years and let it recover, then "rediscover" it.

 

[Lopez116]

Same here, more or less. I worked there briefly in the early 1980s and it was a very high traffic area then. You simply can't run hundreds of thousands of divers, many of them with borderline competence, and not have it effect the reef.

I've often thought that popular dive destinations should treat their sites the way farmers treat their fields... rotate them. Every few years, just stop diving a hunk of reef for a few years and let it recover, then "rediscover" it.

Cayman does this with it's moored dive sites. Every few years they'll remove the mooring buoy and allow the site to replenish itself. As far as shore dive sites with operators on site - they never close the house reef.

 

[KathyV]

...I've often thought that popular dive destinations should treat their sites the way farmers treat their fields... rotate them. Every few years, just stop diving a hunk of reef for a few years and let it recover, then "rediscover" it.

They have done that in the past with the popular Mary's Place reef in Roatan, They have closed it for a year at a time and then reopened it with limited access (each dive operation gets one trip per week - or something like that.)

 

[dmoore19]

You asked about musings on the subject, I answered with my thoughts on the matter. I don't care about cycling so I can't comment on that. I bring all my own gear except tanks and weights, I don't own any of either. Seems like there were a couple that were complaining about paying to rent weights. I don't want to give up any of my allotted weight for lead, it just seems foolish. If I can't get a bag under 50# then something I packed gets left behind. I have 1 personal item, 1 APPROVED size carry on bag and 1 checked bag. I don't have any intentions of wearing 10# of extra weight on me to avoid a $2.50 charge to rent weights. The discussion is a long way away from BP/W and split fins so I don't know why you even brought it up. When I go on a trip that is a trivial charge that I wouldn't even think about.

I am not the one griping about it....I;m fine with bringing 100% of my gear, except tanks. If the trip is worthwhile paying to enjoy, it's worth bringing the RIGHT gear for. I will rent old style lead weight....I will ONLY use my Halcyon wing and steel backplate, and my regs, and my fins, mask, etc...No F**ing way I would rent the offerings available in BC;'s and fins from ANY shop in Cayman, or most other tourist destinations in the world.
Its like with cycling--if you are a real cyclist, and you go on a "dream cycling vacation" in Italy, you DO NOT rent a bike in Italy--you use the race bike you have been training on, ( meaning you ship it UPS or DHL or whatever) and you know this bike like the back of your hand...this is the bike you will get the most enjoyment out of...this is the bike you will enjoy the trip the most with, because you will be at "the top of your game" with it....

 

[diversteve]

One word - Babylon.

Babylon | Scuba Diving in East End | iDive Cayman

Too bad your group leader didn't know about it. It's not an easy shore dive though, somewhat difficult entry and a long surface swim out. And an hour drive from the west side.

Eden Rock (actually Devils Grotto) is a different dive when the silversides are in early summer. Otherwise it's pretty tired.
Those big cruise ships just out front should've been the first clue. Not that you had much choice.

Silversides in Devil's Grotto, Grand Cayman, June 2013 (colour) on Vimeo

Kharon, your group leader needs a new travel agent...

May 31-7 we will be in Grand Cayman diving the east/north using Morritts because they have an operator on the west side, Redsail

Tortuga at Morritt's and Red Sail are very different operations. Red Sail is also the cruise line operator for Disney and one other. So unless you're getting a package deal I'd look for one of the smaller operators who limit their trips to 6-8 divers max per boat. Anyone on this list should work except Fosters - the other cruise op:
http://www.cita.ky/what-to-do&fk_category=7 Wall to Wall, Indigo, Ambassador or Neptune's all make my recommended short list. Heard good things about DNS Divers also but IDK them.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Did the OP ever say where they stayed while on island?

 

[nipi]

Prohibited item in "carry-on" include what is on your body. Lead will set off the detector.

Kharon - you could have bought your weights on ecayonline at minimal cost at the start of your trip & then sold them (or given them away) at the end like I suggested you do with a tank.