More About Shore Dive Options on Grand Cayman

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Here’s another vent for Reef Divers....they want to sell us afternoon dives ahead of time...5 for $200.00. Good deal as at pos, it would be $65/Dive.

I have no problem paying this, but they won’t allow these 5 afternoon dives shared with a spouse? That is an extremely poor biz decision imho....so they lose $200.00. We have 20 friends booked and four couples passed on the 5 dives due to this alone...that’s $1000.00 they tossed away?
 
One more comment about public access.

Cayman law is about the fact that all beaches are public access, not the entire shoreline.

"The seaward boundary of a landowner‟s or tenant‟s property is, in tidal waters, the mean high water mark. Between the mean high water mark and the low water mark, known as “foreshore”, the land belongs to the Crown as does anything below the sea up to the limit of territorial waters."

As Cayman gets very little in the way of tide, the whole foreshore thing is a bit academic when away from the beaches.

In addition, dive ladders are not public access and are owned by someone. That someone has the right of saying who is permitted to use it or not, and what equipment they need to be using (or where they get it from).

So... if you can get into the water without crossing private land, and not make use of any private property on site (dive ladders, showers, etc.) then you are completely free to dive using whatever equipment you want.

I, personally, would like to use the dive ladders, because the idea of trying to get out of the water on ironshore, is not a pleasant one for me. I am prepared to pay for tank rentals when I do this. There may be spots where the ironshore makes it ok to get in and out, of course, but they tend to be fairly rare.
 
Some thoughts from a “quasi”-resident (we own property on Grand Cayman and spend about 5 months out of the year on island, but it seems to be increasing every year)….

No one owns the reefs. I'm sure the dive ops are speaking metaphorically or colloquially when they refer to the reef as “our” reef. (The one minor almost-exception is the man-made cement pot reef at the Marriott. But I have snorkeled there many times and they do not and really cannot control who snorkels there. They can and do, however, restrict you from using their beach chairs, as they should.). There are many government mandated marked paths to the shore between properties on SMB. There were some cases where the properties (condos and hotels) were blocking the pathways. The government has started to crack down on this, in support of the notion that the shore is open and accessible to everyone.

There are locations where you would need to walk across private property to access the reef (e.g., Macabuca/Turtle Reef) and you would be using private property if you used their ladders, rinse tanks, etc. But we snorkel at turtle reef with no problem, and my guess is that if you showed up to dive with your own tank, no one would even notice. That said, I rent my tanks from the dive op when I dive there, and I think that is appropriate as I use their water hose, rinse tank, benches, etc., as others here have mentioned.

The whole issue of paying the on site dive op for your tank seems to me to be a pretty minor issue (at least for folks like me who do not own their own tanks). I’m going to pay someone, so it might as well be the on site dive op – and we’re not talking big money. I have dived with many of the locals, and they all have rented their tanks from the on-site dive op – so it does not seem to be a big deal for them either.

For any other publicly accessible shore dive locations, you can either rent a tank from divers Supply (and they can tell you about places to dive) or get your own tank filled at Pure Air in Georgetown (which is where I get my pony filled for $3).

Another benefit of residence is that many of the dive ops that run boat dives offer resident rates (I have received them from Red Sail, Living the Dream, Neptunes, and Dive Tech). For example, with Red Sail it costs me CI 40 for a two tank boat dive, and CI 25 for the monthly lion fish hunt two tank dive. As I prefer boat diving, I think this is a great deal – just a few dollars more than renting tanks for shore diving, and I can max my dive time on the reef.

Regarding healthcare, one of the reasons we chose to buy on Grand Cayman was the quality of the healthcare system there. We unfortunately are not getting younger, and we find we need more and more healthcare services each year. I am on Medicare, but have a supplemental policy that covers me for health care outside the US (along with many other extended coverage benefits both in and outside the US, such as no deductibles and greater coverage for more services). My wife has used the health care system there and has received more effective treatment than she has received in the US (and we live near Boston, the medical center of the universe). We also have a dog, and the veterinary care there is great as well.

I wouldn't let the shore diving situation be the thing that determined whether to spend the rest of my natural life (and perhaps even some of my unnatural life) in the Cayman islands. So far we love it here, and more so every year.
 
Totallly agree about CCR, was only referring to standard tanks. We don't make CCR divers use our tanks either :) Also agree about locals owning tanks. Its too much hassle when you can rent them easily enough whenever they want. That why I can't understand the point of this thread. Unless you have your own which most people do not you have to rent (unless you have really good friends). If you are going to a place that rents tanks anyway why wouldn't you want to just get them there anyway??? Maybe some folks just think it enhances their experience to be lugging tanks in and out of cars and lugging them across parking lots when they are already at the location but not I am definitely not in that category. Will I do it at a place with no option absolutely!

Are you really trying to understand the situation? If so, I'll try to explain it as I see it.

Someone with their own tanks (or tanks rented elsewhere) should have no need to go into your shop. They should be able to walk around the building, get in the water, and dive. If they want to go into your shop and buy something or rent something - then great! But they shouldn't have to. AFAIK your shop does not own the reef. Do the Caymans deed out portions of the ocean? Does your shop own the reef? I ask that in earnest. You're in a different country than I'm used to, so I guess it's possible. If the answer is yes, then that changes things. If it's no, then...

Trying to force someone to buy something from you merely because your business is nearest to that person's destination is shady. At a minimum, such a practice will harm your reputation if word of it gets out.

If I were the diver in question, I'd rent from you because that would be the most convenient thing to do. I don't live there, and I don't want to try and travel with scuba tanks. It seems unlikely that local divers would be renting tanks anywhere... unless they're worried about all their money weighting them down once they got in the water - sometimes you have so much you just have to get rid of it! It only takes 6-8 dives for it to be a better financial decision to own tanks instead of renting. Of course there's a lot of assumptions in that 6-8 like the type of tank, price of tanks in that area, price of rentals in that area.

I have seen plenty of shops that will refuse to fill tanks they don't own. While I don't like that, I would still say that's totally legitimate. I probably wouldn't like it if a boat op refused to let someone bring tanks that person owned on a boat dive. However, I think an argument could be made for that being legitimate.
 
They should be able to walk around the building, get in the water, and dive.
And there it is - the dive ops tend to own the property facing the water, not just the building but the land. So you will be walking across their own private property in order to get to the water. Are you saying that they don't have the right to make conditions on that?

Also, the "get in the water" part is non-trivial for most Cayman shore dives. You either need a dive ladder or a pier, either of which are owned and maintained by that company.

You are right - once in the water you are on public "land", but until then, you are both on the private property of a business and/or using their stuff to get into the water.
 
First of all I don’t have a shop. But I do have dozens of tanks. My point is that I don’t understand why people are complaining about using an op’s facilities when their business is a shore diving business. They maintain the property so people can come and rent tanks etc in exchange for giving those guests easy access. If it’s public dock or whatever yes get the tanks wherever, but if you are using private facilities I still don’t understand what the issue is. If there is access not on the private property fine but if you walk around the building and use their ladder why shouldn’t you pay? They are paying rent and maintenance and it is not because they have money to burn. I don’t feel comfortable taking advantage of someone else’s property. For me personally it is disrespectful but if someone else feels comfortable taking or using it not my issue. No one is forcing anyone to do anything If you don’t want to pay for the service offered by the shop simply don’t go. I think that is true anywhere in the world and no we don’t own the reefs. Anyone can get to any of them with a walk and a swim. Whether or not it is over Ironshore or up a ladder is totally the individual’s choice.
 
@caydiver: Do you know how much a tank fill costs as a private person (as opposed to a dive op). If were to go to a place like Sundivers with my tank and ask for a fill, what would the cost be?
 
We get our air fills from the dock the boat runs from. They charge us $4.40 CI for the air (we supply the manpower). I have no idea if they have any private customers. Air Supply might be cheaper. Obviously Nitrox is more and is off site so for ops there is also the cost/time of bringing tanks to and from the supplier. Interestingly your question made me realize that we are not in a position to shop around for the best price either, we are tied the op that runs "our" dock and rightly so. I don't know if Sun Divers would fill your tank so obviously cannot say how much it would be. Divers Supply may or may not still fill tanks, Air Supply might be the only option for someone who does not have "friend" in the business but anyone who does probably just borrows a full tank anyway. Most folks here that are divers know at least one person in the business and can "borrow" a tank. A couple of beers or a bite after the dive is a usual payback even though it costs more than renting the tank, but its not about a few dollars.
 
I guess the reason for my question was to try to work out how much money a diver would save if they didn't rent tanks, but just got air fills. I mean I know you have the cost of maintenance on the tank - VIPs, hydro etc. If it's a dollar or so a dive it may just not be worth it.
 
I guess the reason for my question was to try to work out how much money a diver would save if they didn't rent tanks, but just got air fills. I mean I know you have the cost of maintenance on the tank - VIPs, hydro etc. If it's a dollar or so a dive it may just not be worth it.

I think Pure Air was charging 7 CI (about $9 US) for an individual (non-commercial) walk-in customer. And they charge me 3 CI ($3.75) to fill my 13cf pony.
 

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