Shore Diving in the Cayman's with 14 yo

[dmendelson]

My daughter and I like to shore dive on our own schedule like is easy to do in Bonaire. We are going to the Cayman's from Aug 8 - 10, 2011. We can easily get to Little Cayman or Cayman Brac. We don't care much about the surface interval as long as the shore diving is good and easy. We do enjoy some boat diving, but we care more about being relaxed and doing our own scheduled. I am PADI rescue diver with 80+ dives. She will have PADI advanced open water diver by then and about 35 dives. We don't need fancy, just safe, relaxed, easy. We live in the US Northeast and can't possibly get enough tropical diving, so we are not terribly picky about what we see as long as we can get wet and there is something to see.

I think we want to go to Cayman Brac or Little Cayman to be more out of the way.

My questions are:
Where is the best shore diving in the Cayman's? Suggestions on where to stay. Do I need to rent a car? Can you shop and cook or are you mostly stuck with restaurants?

Thanks & Happy New Year!

 

[diversteve]

Aug 8 - 10, 2011

2 days? Why are you concerned about cooking/renting a car.
Maybe a golf cart - there's not much to see/do on either island.

Personally I'd stay somewhere with access to Bloody Bay Wall off Brac.

 

[Wiilldd1]

Sunset House has a nice shore dive where you can see the mermaid, a small wreck and is a nice night dive.
We have been out there before when the submarine has come by also.

Might be fun for your Daughter.

 

[Insta-Gator]

On Grand Cayman - also try Smith's Cove, Turtle Reef, Light House and Cobalt Coast. There's more but if you're looking at 2 days these will entertain you. You'll need a car or taxi to take you around. Grocery store is available, but won't save you much over some of the smaller restaurants for such a short trip.

 

[dmendelson]

Sorry - our trip is Aug 10 - 18th. 8 nights!

 

[Insta-Gator]

Sorry - our trip is Aug 10 - 18th. 8 nights!

That will be more fun. Still, if you're looking for something other than just diving, you may want to spend most of you time on Grand Cayman. My $0.02

 

[scubadada]

Hey dmendelson,

Given a week, I would probably go to Little Cayman, no shore diving but the best diving in the Caymans. If you really want boat/shore diving, I would suggest Cobalt Coast on Grand Cayman. They have great boat dives and also unlimitied shore diving at Cobalt Coast and Lighthouse Point. You may also want to try Turtle Reef at the Cracked Conch (Sun Divers) a great shore dive (better to the North but great Tarpin to the South).

Good luck, enjoy the Caymans,

Craig

PM with questions, I have fair experience on both Grand Cayman and Little Cayman

 

[Howard Kaiser]

Hey dmendelson...we've been cruising around Grand Cayman with two teenage boys diving for years, used to be real easy to shore dive on South Sound at Smiths Cove, Sunset House and Devils Grotto plus Seaview Hotel as well. As another post mentioned, Cracked Conch location is great and so is shore diving at Cobalt Coast if you can handle a bit longer surface swim. Depending on how much you want to haul tanks and weights etc, there are a number of other dives that can be done along West wall as well. With kids, I'd stick to Cracked Conch, Cobalt and Sunset House for safety purposes. Bear in mind that you need to really watch entries since even these locations can get rough in bad weather.When in doubt, sit it out. Even though you'll both have advance certifications, your daughter's relatively few number of logged dives should bear consideration. That is especially true for some sites mentioned like Smith's and others south of Sunset House that don't have dive operations nearby.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

The west side of Grand Cayman has several options for shore diving with services from an on-site dive op. Sunset House, Don Foster's, Eden Rock, Abanks, Divers Down, Cobalt Coast, Lighthouse Point, and Turtle Reef have on-site diving.

Cayman really is not set up for shore diving like Bonaire. Many places will not rent tanks to carry away.

 

[nipi]

Given a week, I would probably go to Little Cayman, no shore diving but the best diving in the Caymans.

Wrong. There is a ton of shore diving in Little Cayman. Stay at Paradise Villas (bed, bath, sofa bed, mini-kitchen), buy groceries from the store (or eat at the Hungry Iguana or the Blue Lagoon), rent a car from Perry (McLaughlin Rentals), get your tanks from Conch Club Divers & you can shore dive the whole of Bloody Bay & Jacksons (or Preston Bay if they are blown out).