Suggestions for must do dives in Grand Cayman

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Great deal! If you go to one of these dive resorts, no thinking or planning required. Dive, eat, sleep and repeat.
We were at LCBR last month and as always, fantastic week.
 
I think shore diving is the way to go with teenagers, plus not bad to the pocketbook.

Turtle Reef is one my top 5 favorite dives. You can do 2 dives at this location one going north that is a small wall and the other going south has a lot of big fish under some overhangs. Plus in-between dives there is a restaurant for your surface interval. Dive shop on location was great to work with and gives great directions about the site.
 
Agree re Turtle Reef.Great site and shop, good bar and restaurant. I dive there every afternoon and most nights when on GC. Easy access to the reef, dip tanks and drying rack.
Olin Miller who is an old time Cayman Dive Master, owns the shop. He is a little crusty and adds some local colour to the place.

His compressor room is magnificent. Cleaner than most operating rooms. If you ask him nicely, he will be proud to give you a tour.
 
Having dived with several ops on GC, I now do almost all of my diving with DiveTech, and they are great. They are not what I would call a concierge dive op, but they will help in any way you need if you ask. The DMs have really helped me to improve my diving technique by volunteering suggestions. I was impressed that they were even observing me. They always seem to come up with good dive sites, and in general there really aren't any bad ones. And you'll be in north wall season, so they will probably go there conditions permitting. Regarding sting ray city, personally I'm not a fan. We do it if we have visitors who want to do it, but I'd rather see rays on a "real" dive rather than what feels like a circus act. I second the shore dives at Lighthouse and Macabuca/Turtle reef. And the food at Macabuca is great. It's our default place to eat out. And if you like spicy Caribbean jerk chicken, don't miss Chicken! Chicken!. And their sister restaurant Cimboco is good as well - both less expensive casual places. And the steamed island style mahi mahi at deckers is the best I've had. We've eaten at most of the more expensive places, and to be honest I think there is an inverse relationship between the amount you pay and the quality of the food (well, except for Blue). For the local flavor at lower prices, check out heritage kitchen or west bay diner, and if you make a pilgrimage to the East end, eat at Vivine's Kitchen - you order at her back door and eat in her back yard. Forget the menu and just get the fried fish of the day.

Have a great stay!
 
Divetech at Holiday Inn will shuttle you to Divetech at Lightouse for boat and shore dives there - the Holiday Inn is on the south part of the shallow Sound so the only nearby dive is Stingray City in 15' which you should do once - it's a lot of fun.

Re: boat dive prices (vs. Roatan) yes they all sell 2 dives for around $100+ - most have mult-day packages to buy the cost down. Cayman is one of the most expensive islands in the Caribbean not counting your Holiday Inn room deal so expect everything to be a shock initially - dinner waterfront with a couple drinks easily exceeds $50/60 pp. There are cheaper options like KFC, Subway, even a Dominos that should actually deliver to the Holiday Inn as it's in West Bay

Google the cruise ship schedule and stay out of downtown the days their in port (most weekdays) Evenings after 5 and weekends you can take advantage of the shops/restaurants downtown - there's a Margarativille across from the cruise port as one example.

Besides Turtle Reef and Lighthouse Pt. there's a good dive at Cobalt Coast, All 3 the oposite direction (for you) from downtown. Plus Sunset House has a couple shallow dives - the mermaid and a small wreck. Mornings the tourist sub goes by also if you want to wave at the cruise tourists - the shop knows when/where. Lunch at My Bar there is good and reasonable.

In June the Silversides should be in at Eden Rock/Devils Grotto but it's 500' from the cruise port so pick your day/time or be willing to put up with the congestion to dive there. Many cruisers don't realize driving is on the other side so will step off the curb in front of you unexpectedly in town.

Like the others I don't see any reason not to go with Divetech on site for your dives. They have a couple of bigger uncrowded boats and everyone is going to pick you up/shuttle you to theirs anyway. Neptune's Divers would be another recommended choice but really they all provide the same good service, pickup, etc. - if you wanted to spend time calling/emailing you might be able to find a 6-8 divers max operator willing to go with the four of you - I've heard Ambassador Divers might. Here's the list: Cayman Islands Tourism Association - CITA Member by Watersports/Dive Sector
 
I agree, DiveTech should be our shop but my friend has chosen Cayman Turtle Divers since their prices are so good. What with 5 - 10 min boat rides, their outboard boats, while not my choice, will not be so bad for the wife. Oh well. Any note worthy concerns about this outfit? Send me a PM if needed as I don't want anyone's business to be hurt by negative posts.
 
looks like a relatively light cruise schedule that week:

Capture.JPG
Ship Schedules - Port Authority of the Cayman Islands

plus they start lining up for the tenders earlier if you wanted to sneak a dive in at Eden Rock around 3:30-4:00 - we did and had it to ourselves.
 
I agree, DiveTech should be our shop but my friend has chosen Cayman Turtle Divers since their prices are so good. What with 5 - 10 min boat rides, their outboard boats, while not my choice, will not be so bad for the wife. Oh well. Any note worthy concerns about this outfit? Send me a PM if needed as I don't want anyone's business to be hurt by negative posts.
I will not dive with Cayman Turtle Divers due to some less than ethical online business practices they have pulled in the past.
 
Don't know about their business practices, but just checked their boats on their website. No shelter from the sun or rain. The surface intervals might get awfully long without shelter. A number of very good operators including divetech, have already been mentioned on this post. Diversteve is right about cruise shippers. By mid afternoon they are heading back to their ships.
 
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