Seven Mile Beach - 1st Week Oct!

[FindingMenno]

IMO, it does not make sense to pay for guided shore dives when one could go boat diving for near the same price. The boat (wall) diving is much better than even the best shallow shore dive.
Night diving is a different issue. It's equivalent shore and boat based.

Grand Cayman's deep walls are a great dive, and what Cayman diving is famous for!
However I would like to put this comment in a bit more perspective as shore diving on Grand Cayman can be very good, and certainly has it's place in a diving trip to the island.

Shore diving is very dependent where you are on the island. In the Seven Mile Beach area you'll find that the reef wall (both the shallow 'mini wall' and the deep wall) are quite a swim out, and can basically only be done as a boat dive. However, as you go north from Seven Mile Beach you'll find that reef wall starts hugging the coastline, and you have access to the same beautiful reef but just a 5 minute swim from shore.

We find that shore diving is a very popular choice with divers who don't like boat rides, want to dive on their own schedule, want to extend their dive times beyond the hour usually possible on the boats, or take it slower for some photography.
Also on the deep wall dives, a free descent (or along a mooring line) to 60-70 feet is needed to get to the top of the reef, and for new divers or those who have been out of the water for while that might be a bit challenging. A few shore dives, where you can descend gradually following the bottom contour, can be a great start to diving on the island.

For full disclosure, I work at Divetech on the island. We offer both boat and shore diving, so I just want to add some broader perspective to this discussion from my experience with both. Our Lighthouse Point Reef was voted one of the 10 best shore dives in the world (we occasionally have boats from fellow island dive shops dropping in divers for a boat dive!), but from personal experience I would certainly recommend to do the shore dive at Macabuca/Cracked Conch too. The other shore dives on the island are great too, but haven't had the chance to try (yet!)....

 

[Tienuts]

IMO, it does not make sense to pay for guided shore dives when one could go boat diving for near the same price. The boat (wall) diving is much better than even the best shallow shore dive.

I don't disagree with you on the main wall vs mini wall diving. I find the main wall to be much better. However the main wall from the northwest point is quite close - easily accessible from shore, and is a great dive. Some of the best diving I've ever done in Cayman were guided scooter dives on the main wall at Lighthouse Point.

Ah, summer diving on the north wall. Nothing better.

I'd like to provide some perspective on this for those who are unfamiliar. As someone who drives a dive boat and guides customers in Grand Cayman, I encounter guests all the time who insists on diving the north wall, or particular sites like Babylon because they've read about it on SB or in magazines.

There are great north wall sites, and there can be oily-calm water on the north, but quite often it does have a bit more wave action than West Bay. This year we only had a handful of flat calm days up there. Also you have a limited amount of sites, and the tide outflow from north sound brings "the green monster" on some of the dive sites. This, plus longer transit times are why I personally prefer the sites in West Bay.

I mention this because we had 2 groups in this summer. Both requested they dive the north wall exclusively, and we obliged. On day 4 of their trips, we dove the Kittiwake in West Bay. On both occasions, the trip leaders found the conditions way better and immediately asked "why haven't we been diving here all week?"

To those unfamiliar, when you come to Cayman, dive with a reputable op, and trust your crew to use their judgement to take you to the best sites, rather than ask for something specific that may be not nearly as good.

 

[EastEndDiver]

I've been diving GC since 1980 and have spen t lots of time diving here most diving is weather dependent as mentioned above dive guides are the best source of info when it comes to deciding which sites are doable and worth doing re viz current etc. .

Re shore dives there are some good ones on Island I always enjoy Eden Rock I dive it every time I am on island Lighthouse point is nice but can have a horrendous current running.The launch ramp just up from Lighthouse point is a great dive I have asked at Lighthouse to rent a tank to do it but they refused Sundivers will rent one ,have done that dive many times and always great.Macabucca is one of my favorites because of the Tarpon I counted 54 yesterday nad lost count after that.

Sunset House to me is worn out more so than Eden.

 

[knucklebusted]

One week to go. Hope the weather holds out!

 

[EastEndDiver]

Hope you have better weather than I did was blown out for 4 days 2 weeks ago.

Have fun !!

 

[Saboteur]

One week to go. Hope the weather holds out!

Leaving today. Weather is perfect. Had several days when the surface was flat calm. Had one day on the north side where the water was like glass. Water is 88F even at 100 feet. No crowds and uncrowded dive boats. Hopefully you'll have the same.

 

[knucklebusted]

Lots of rain in the forecast all next week. I hope that isn't true of the whole trip!

 

[flyboy08]

Lots of rain in the forecast all next week. I hope that isn't true of the whole trip!

Just do 4 dives a day then........enjoy!

 

[tkaelin]

Rain should not be as big an issue as wind and thunder/lightening. We dive in the rain all the time. There would have to be very heavy rain squalls severely limiting vis to cancel a boat dive.

 

[Joneill]

Lots of rain in the forecast all next week. I hope that isn't true of the whole trip!

I don't pay much heed to advanced forecasts, especially for rain. Rain forecast in GC can mean rain somewhere on the island - many times it's very localized and beautiful everywhere else!