Cayman diving advice

[scubadada]

...I find the boat diving in the Caymans to be far less regimented than say, Bonaire.

Yes, I have often dived independently with my buddy in the Caymans.

I have only dived with Dive Friends in Bonaire. They want you to stay, at least loosely, with the group. Once back at the boat, you are simply responsible for ending the dive at the hour limit. I have always found this a little strange as nearly everyone is diving independently on shore dives.

 

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

We have been to Cayman Brac 5 or 6 times.

There is a ton of shore diving on Cayman Brac. With the exception of a possible boat trip to Little Cayman, we exclusively shore dive. It is my overall favorite place to dive in the western hemisphere.

If you shore dive, you can go to many places that the dive operators will not go by boat because it is too far around the island.

The only downside is that the diving infrastructure is far less developed then that on Bonaire.

The issue I had was no one renting more than 1 tank at-a-time, logistically that is painful

 

[icouldcarelessbutdont]

Of all the shore sites, I like Cobalt, Lighthouse and Turtle reef best as it is an easy swim to the main wall. Not too bad a swim at Sunset either. Too much boat traffic near Eden Rock to want to go out to the wall.


No boat dive op actually focuses or insists on valet. They offer this kind of service as many divers seem to want or expect it. If you let them know before the dive or when you get on the boat, most DMs will be delighted to let you do as much work as you want to. (less work for them)

They will do or check Oximeter readings for the divers for safety reasons, and each dive op has a routine as to how they want divers to enter and exit the water.

Most ops will let you do your own dive as long as you have a buddy, are not doing anything stupid or dangerous, stay in NDLs, and you are back at the boat within time limits.

If you mount your reg or BC backwards, struggle with setting up, check your gear 10 times before getting wet etc., you can be sure you will be diving with the DM guide.

I find the boat diving in the Caymans to be far less regimented than say, Bonaire.

The only reason to be on a boat in Bonaire is diving the sites you cannot get to from shore though, and since we boat dive year round we like to simply not be on a boat while on vacation. It's why we've come to the conclusion places like the Caymans are a quick trip, do some of the checklist dives on their boats and bail out of there.

 

[divezonescuba]

Cdws, the Cayman Scuba Police recommend one tank that so that groups cannot have uncertified divers dive. If you are regular customers and the shop knows you will not do that then the dive shop can bypass that recommendation at their discretion. We all had two or more each per diver on our last trip. The issue then becomes if they have enough tanks.

 

[cgills]

OK people have mentioned various shore dives, but not in one list.

Staying on the west side of the island, going north to south, you have:

• Cobalt Coast
• Turtle Reef (aka Macabuca)
• Lighthouse Point
• Eden Rock / Devil's Grotto
• Sunset House

Each of these has an onsite dive shop that will rent you tanks and weights. Definitely no valet service at any of these - you sign the waivers, pick up your tanks and weights and are on your own.

Of those I think Turtle Reef is my fave, although it got hit pretty hard by a storm last year in February and it's only starting to recover to be the site we knew and loved. The fish are there, but the sponges and seafans aren't yet.

We have two underwater statues - the Lighthouse Point and Sunset House sites, and Sunset House has a small transporter wreck that often has some nice critters.

There are a lot of west side dive ops - some will take you to the north wall when conditions allow, but I find that the condition of the reefs is better on most boat dives than the shore dive. You can contact each and ask about whether they insist on valet or not, and then make your decisions based on the answer. Some ops focus more on the tech side, while others are more for the mass market.

You forgot Don Fosters!

 

[Alucard]

You forgot Don Fosters!

I did! Apologies. I have never dove it - what's it like as a site?

 

[Catito]

We're looking at Cayman as another destination for diving and have some questions for those experienced in it. Here are a two things to consider though:

1. We believe Bonaire is the absolute gold standard for divers, we adore shore diving because all we do is boat/drift diving here in South Florida, so we're always up for doing mostly shore diving if possible. In 10 days we did 47 dives in our most recent trip to Curacao, we dive.

2. We do not like the idea of "valet" service, any part of it. We don't mind you loading and unloading our gear from the boat, but no one sets our gear up, no one else rinses it, and we store all our own gear. Yes, we bring all our own gear.

That being said, is there a ton of shore diving in the Cayman Islands? If so, is there equivalent to drive and dive type packages you find in Bonaire and Curacao? If not, what is a better boat operator who won't get twisted with divers who refuse the "valet" part of the service? Where is the better place to stay for peace and quiet? We don't care to hang out with other tourists after diving and we generally prefer to cook our own food since we're on strict diets for training, which means accomodations that are like apartments or places with a kitchen/kitchenette.

Thanks in advance.

Go to the East end. Ocean Frontiers. They offer valet but do not care if you opt out. They let you dive alone or with a guide. They give you 60 mins. Great group. Not very many on the boat. Apartments right by the dock. A good restaurant up the coast.

 

[Catito]

Go to the East end. Ocean Frontiers. They offer valet but do not care if you opt out. They let you dive alone or with a guide. They give you 60 mins. Great group. Not very many on the boat. Apartments right by the dock. A good restaurant up the coast.

...and we stay at Compass Point

 

[Saboteur]

…