Where in the Caribbean should I go diving in mid-late November?

[mi000ke]

fingers-crossed that the storms keep missing Cayman!

Amen to that! We're down the last two weeks of Oct.

 

[Ironborn]

Everybody, thank you for your recommendations. I appreciate your help. I have looked into your suggestions.

@Trailboss123 I looked into Ocean Frontiers/Compass Point. The dive operation sounds great, but I will probably have to rule it out because of the high room rates ($240 per night), unless there is somewhere else to stay at a significantly lower rate within walking distance. I read that they offer round-trip transportation to and from one's lodgings for morning trips, but not for afternoon and night dives (which was one of the reasons for my interest in them), and I cannot rent a car (a long story).

@KathyV The main obstacle for me to stay on Grand Cayman at this point is the cost of lodging. I understand that GC is expensive, and I have no problem shelling out for the large amount of diving that I want to do. It's just that I don't want to waste money on unnecessarily fancy, expensive accommodations when I just need somewhere to sleep, shower, and store my luggage. (Keep in mind, I originally wanted to go on a liveaboard). It seems like the whole market for rooms on GC is geared toward fancy, expensive resorts, in which I have zero interest. Is there anything cheaper and more basic than those? Like a Grand Cayman Motel 6? I just need a place to sleep, shower, and store my luggage, from which it would be convenient for a dive shop on the West End/7MB/etc to pick me up and drop me off. I looked into Sunset House and decided against them as a dive operator, and they don't say on their website what they charge for just lodging.

@drrich2 I read your Cayman IV Aggressor trip report with great interest. I noticed that they often did 2-3 dives in a row at the same dive site. Why? I understand the importance of diving a site for a night dive during the day for the purposes of familiarization and easier navigation during the night dive, but it seems like they repeated sites during the day as well. Did you find that doing 2-3 dives in a row at the same site became repetitive? Do you feel that it detracted from the overall experience, i.e. would you have preferred a larger number of dives at a wider range of sites? Also, you mentioned that they only did 3 dives on one day because of the time it took to cross to Little Cayman - is that normal?

 

[KathyV]

Everybody, thank you for your recommendations. I appreciate your help. I have looked into your suggestions...@KathyV The main obstacle for me to stay on Grand Cayman at this point is the cost of lodging. I understand that GC is expensive, and I have no problem shelling out for the large amount of diving that I want to do. It's just that I don't want to waste money on unnecessarily fancy, expensive accommodations when I just need somewhere to sleep, shower, and store my luggage. (Keep in mind, I originally wanted to go on a liveaboard). It seems like the whole market for rooms on GC is geared toward fancy, expensive resorts, in which I have zero interest. Is there anything cheaper and more basic than those? Like a Grand Cayman Motel 6? I just need a place to sleep, shower, and store my luggage, from which it would be convenient for a dive shop on the West End/7MB/etc to pick me up and drop me off. I looked into Sunset House and decided against them as a dive operator, and they don't say on their website what they charge for just lodging.

Yes, there are more economical options but perhaps not as convenient for a heavy dive schedule and I'd recommend someplace with food prep options, it is very expensive to eat out 3 times a day on GC - and how hard is it to prepare a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich and then go out for one or two meals a day or order a pizza?

I've just deleted my original, long-winded response about TNI because I just saw that you will not be renting a car, you shouldn't try to stay on the East End, or North side, or Bodden Town without a car. West Bay and 7MB is your best option, there is lots of stuff within walking distance, good, cheap public transportation during the day, and lots of taxis.

See my note below about Paradise Pointe, it may work well for you. Good luck!

 

[KathyV]

@Ironborn I have thought of another place that you should check out, take a look at Paradise Pointe. It is north of 7MB on ironshore not sand, but close to 7MB I think the dive ops will pick you up, @Divetech Cayman is that correct?

We have never stayed there but I have heard good things about them as an economy lodging.

Paradise Point Apartments - UPDATED 2017 Condominium Reviews (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) - TripAdvisor

 

[drrich2]

On both the Cayman Aggressor IV and Sun Dancer 2 (Belize), it was standard practice to do 2 morning dives at site 1, then 2 afternoon dives and an evening or night dive at site 2. I didn't find it particularly repetitive; a person can head out in a different direction or work along at a different depth (say, 60 feet dive 1, 40 feet dive 2, depending on whether topography allows) and get a different experience. A night dive is different from a day dive even at the same site.

It's my understanding this approach (2 site 2, 2 or 3 site 2) is pretty typical.

Richard.

 

[KathyV]

On both the Cayman Aggressor IV and Sun Dancer 2 (Belize), it was standard practice to do 2 morning dives at site 1, then 2 afternoon dives and an evening or night dive at site 2. I didn't find it particularly repetitive; a person can head out in a different direction or work along at a different depth (say, 60 feet dive 1, 40 feet dive 2, depending on whether topography allows) and get a different experience. A night dive is different from a day dive even at the same site.

It's my understanding this approach (2 site 2, 2 or 3 site 2) is pretty typical. Richard.

That has also been my experience on most liveaboards, not just Aggressors. They will move the boat if the site seems unsatisfactory in some way but they always try to pick a second site that offers multiple options and will also serve well for a night dive.

 

[EastEndDiver]

As Kathy mentioned about Turtle Nest Inn there is also the option of staying in one of the condos which has 2 Bedrooms 2 1/2 baths and plenty of room for 2 couples .

Any questions about the condos feel free to ask...I own there.

Cayman Accommodation :: Turtle Nest Inn, Grand Cayman - Accommotaion Beachfront holiday

 

[Hoag]

FWIW, This was posted on the Explorer Ventures FaceBook page this morning:

Now that the weather has calmed down in our Caribbean destinations, we have a chance to finally come up for air (no pun intended - really) and get back to our regularly-scheduled programming!

Caribbean Explorer II weathered the passage of Maria with no problem, and is back in St. Kitts, awaiting guests boarding this Saturday. We're happy to report that St. Kitts only experienced minor damage from either Irma or Maria. The airport is open, the streets are cleaned, the leaves are still on the trees and the hotels and other businesses are open. We don't have any information as yet on how our favorite dive sites in St. Kitts fared, but we don't anticipate a significant amount of damage. The Saba Conservation Foundation should be in the water this week in Saba, and we'll post more when we hear back.

Turks & Caicos Explorer II arrived back in Provo yesterday, after cutting our previous charter short and sheltering in a protected bay in Haiti during Maria's passage. Though the island experienced damage from Irma, Maria only had limited effect on Provo, unlike points east such as Grand Turk. The airport in Provo is open, businesses are open, and hotels will be opening again over the next couple of weeks. Capt. JF Chabot reported after Irma that there is obvious sedimentation to the reefs at French Cay as well as the expected damage to sea fans and barrel sponges, with sites at West Caicos and NW Point a bit better. Interestingly, old reef structure in the sand channels is termporarily visible, and we've seen some species uncommon in the area - large schools of ocean trigger fish and horse eye jacks, huge trunk fish, and goliath grouper. Based on past experience, we anticipate the sedimentation to decrease fairly quickly, with the reefs back to normal in 1-2 months. We'll be back on charter on October 7, after a previously-scheduled maintenance week.

As always, our thoughts are with all of our friends and many others in the Caribbean, US and Mexico that continue to deal with the natural disasters of the past few weeks. We hope that life returns to normal as quickly as it possibly can.

 

[Ironborn]

I've just deleted my original, long-winded response about TNI because I just saw that you will not be renting a car, you shouldn't try to stay on the East End, or North side, or Bodden Town without a car. West Bay and 7MB is your best option, there is lots of stuff within walking distance, good, cheap public transportation during the day, and lots of taxis.

Yes, I figured that out, and as a native Manhattanite, I would probably be more comfortable closer to civilization in 7MB, West Bay, or Georgetown.

Do the dive shops on that end of the island tend to have a bias in favor of the dive sites on that end of the island, since they are that much closer?

 

[Ironborn]

@Ironborn I have thought of another place that you should check out, take a look at Paradise Pointe. It is north of 7MB on ironshore not sand, but close to 7MB I think the dive ops will pick you up, @Divetech Cayman is that correct?

We have never stayed there but I have heard good things about them as an economy lodging.

Paradise Point Apartments - UPDATED 2017 Condominium Reviews (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) - TripAdvisor

Thank you for the suggestion. I looked into it. It is $130-$140 per night - more expensive than the Holiday Inn or Grand Caymanian resort, the cheapest I could find at $120ish.