need help finding easy dives with small groups at grand cayman

[davidm]

title pretty much says it all - I need help finding easy dives with small groups at grand cayman - will be there in 2 wks. I was certified 6 yrs ago, did maybe half a dozen dives in Australia, and recently took a refresher course, but obviously still feel very much a newbie. am looking for easy dives with small groups so I can keep the anxiety down. thanks, David

 

[scottbeach]

You'll be happy to know that there are TONS of nice easy dives and virtually no currents to deal with. Close to shore and town are Eden's Rock, Devil's Grotto, and Paradise Reef. Farther out is the famous Stingray City, along with the Coral Gardens and others.

I'd recommend Neptune Divers. They work with small groups and better yet, they're AVID members of the Scubaboard!

www.neptunesdivers.com

 

[carlislere]

I want to add DiveTech on the Northwest side of Grand Cayman. Great shore dives and Turtle Farm is next door for the surface interval.
Eden Rocks, as mentioned, is a dive shop and dive site just south of the harbor in downtown Georgetown. That is an easy beach dive.
Have a great trip!

Ron

 

[miztflip]

Hey David,

I live and work here on Grand Cayman. Private message me and I'll be glad to help out. Being a dive guide I don't want look like an advert on the board.

Chris

 

[triggertravel]

EDEN Rock is my favorite easy dive in Grand Cayman

This one is shallow and a lot of fun!

 

[miztflip]

Eden Rock is OK. It is definately well known but is not the best easy shore dive in Grand Cayman IMO. I train students there atleast 3 days a week because is has confined openwater. There are spots like smiths cove and coconut harbor that are better because they have fewer divers and better growth. Turtle reef at dive tech is only a small grade higher but the quality to 100 fold. The mini wall remains one of my favorites.

 

[scottbeach]

I must be the only person on the planet who didn't find ANYTHING at Smith's Cove... hell, maybe it wasn't Smith's Cove (I've since seen pictures that matched where we stopped and it WAS the cove). But all I found were rock sides to a narrow cove with nasty current and horrible viz (sand mixed up). There were a few Sgt. Majors but never found a reef or any real wildlife, certainly nothing of the volume of Eden Rock or Governor's Reef. Where on the cove was the reef?

Originally posted by miztflip
Eden Rock is OK. It is definately well known but is not the best easy shore dive in Grand Cayman IMO. I train students there atleast 3 days a week because is has confined openwater. There are spots like smiths cove and coconut harbor that are better because they have fewer divers and better growth. Turtle reef at dive tech is only a small grade higher but the quality to 100 fold. The mini wall remains one of my favorites.

 

[miztflip]

Do you remember the mooring ball out of the cove and to the right? The dive site is actually located NW of this ball. If you find the correct site you will find alot more than just a few sgt. majors and rocks. In the 50ft range are a series of small swimthru arches that are loaded with macro. You could spend hours on the various small pinnacles and never see the half of it. Current is not a usual occurance in this area and the viz is in that 60ft range. This is much better than eden rock since port authority opened a new cruise ship mooring directly offshore of Eden rock. Today I swam right past the anchor for the ship just off the reef. Lately viz at eden rock has been 40ft or so. I do agree that Governor's reef is not bad as well.

 

[scottbeach]

Ah, we didn't venture out that way because there were 3-4 foot breakers coming into the cove, so we assumed that the site must be close to shore. I wonder how that area fared after last fall's "big wind". I saw shots of Smith's Cove the day after the storm that were not pretty at all, and couldn't have been good for the macro. Maybe someone has been there recently.

Originally posted by miztflip
Do you remember the mooring ball out of the cove and to the right? The dive site is actually located NW of this ball. If you find the correct site you will find alot more than just a few sgt. majors and rocks. In the 50ft range are a series of small swimthru arches that are loaded with macro. You could spend hours on the various small pinnacles and never see the half of it. Current is not a usual occurance in this area and the viz is in that 60ft range. This is much better than eden rock since port authority opened a new cruise ship mooring directly offshore of Eden rock. Today I swam right past the anchor for the ship just off the reef. Lately viz at eden rock has been 40ft or so. I do agree that Governor's reef is not bad as well.

 

[miztflip]

I dive it weekly and found that the only damage done by the hurricane was to the soft growth in 30ft or less of water. That was the same for the entire west side of the island. Very little was harmed that was found deeper. As far as wave action you must have caught it on a bad trip because it is only affected by southwesterly winds which are the rarest breed here. Definately give it another chance next time your down.

Safe Diving,
Chris