Trip Report Grand Cayman 6/21-28/08

[fah]

Just wanted to give a quick report on conditions in Grand Cayman. This is my 4th dive trip to Grand Cayman, having previously dove only the West wall sites, this time I stayed in Rum Point in a rental villa and dove the north wall and east end. I dove with Redsail sports for all dives and used the rum point and Morritts locations for departure. Despite some of the bad press Redsail seems to get in some of these forums, I was quite pleased with them. 48' V-hull boats with freshwater showers and dry enclosed areas for shirts and sunglasses. 3 man/woman crews with one onboard at all times and 2 divemasters in the water with the usual 2 groups of 6-8 divers in buddy pairs or groups. Typical profile was 100' wall dive followed by 50-60' reef dive after about 45 min. SI. Usually ran no more than 20 min to sites, one was longer. Water temps 85F surface 80F at 100'. I wore a skin shirt and bathing suit and was warm. Air temps in upper 80's F with mucho humidity. Vis was 100'+ except one inshore reef where it was only about 60'. North and east walls are more vertical dropoffs than the more sloping west end walls with plenty of swimthroughs, healthy coral and sponges and many fish. No sharks, but I did see turtles, Spotted Eagle rays, stingrays and large groupers and snappers,huge lobsters and a single scorpion fish, in addition to the miriad of small colorful chromis, butterfly fish and sgt majors. Seas were rougher than in SMB area but were no more than 2-3 ft in the worst areas, certainly alot better than some of the offshore dives I have done in North Carolina. Topside, the SMB area is crowded, but east end is still largely undeveloped and pretty. Food was good, Lighthouse resturant is great, but expensive, same with upstairs rest. at the Caibo Yacht club. Portifinos near Morritts was good also. Over the Edge was better priced, but food was okay but not up to par with the others. Sorry no pictures, I sold my underwater camera when I realized I was spending more time trying to take pictures than enjoying my dives!

 

[edpdiver]

Glad to hear you had a good trip. I went to Grand Cayman's East End last summer (my only dive trip to Grand Cayman), and I thought that the diving was very good. I would recommend Compass Point as a place to stay. Ocean Frontiers is the on-site dive center, and they were excellent. I have heard that Morritts was good, too. My experience diving was similar to yours.

Here are my photos to give a sense of the diving: lots of swimthroughs and really nice underwater topography.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/erwin_poliakoff/sets/72157603844438493/

When I think about the trip, I feel like it is time to head back.

 

[drewuw]

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Grand cayman and were considering staying at compass point. I was wondering how the rooms and hotel's food. The pricing for ocean frontiers and compass point seem pretty competative. It appears the boats leave from the dock. is there any gear storage on site or do you take everything back to your room? did you have a car as part of the package and if so did you do any shore diving? Please give me any info you can, I would surley appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks Drew

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thnx for the report

 

[sixgears]

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Grand cayman and were considering staying at compass point. I was wondering how the rooms and hotel's food. The pricing for ocean frontiers and compass point seem pretty competative. It appears the boats leave from the dock. is there any gear storage on site or do you take everything back to your room? did you have a car as part of the package and if so did you do any shore diving? Please give me any info you can, I would surley appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks Drew

The best online price I got for Compass Point was with Orbitz and it was their summer splash special (which includes a car rental). As far as diving you need to contact Ocean Frontiers directly.

 

[edpdiver]

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip to Grand cayman and were considering staying at compass point. I was wondering how the rooms and hotel's food. The pricing for ocean frontiers and compass point seem pretty competative. It appears the boats leave from the dock. is there any gear storage on site or do you take everything back to your room? did you have a car as part of the package and if so did you do any shore diving? Please give me any info you can, I would surley appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks Drew

Hi Drew,

Compass Point was a nice condo to stay in and the dive operation is great. You roll out of bed and onto the boat. The divemasters were very helpful, and they set everything up for you if you want. There is no lugging of equipment at all, as I recall. Check with them to make sure, though. There was no shore diving that I heard of, although there is some good snorkeling (I had heard) south of Compass Point.

There is no onsite restaurant, but a number of very good restaurants can be found within a 5-10 minute drive. We bought breakfast supplies at a nearby market and ate breakfast in our room, which had good rudimentary kitchen supplies. We prepared about half of our lunches, and ate the other half out. I rented a car, but not as part of a package. A car is essential. Not too outrageous on the pricing, especially for the Caribbean as I recall.

Hope this helps.
Erwin

 

[drewuw]

Hey Erwin thanks for the info. do you remember any of the names of the restaurants that you enjoyed? or any scenic places on the island that are a can't miss.

 

[diver918]

edpdiver....those are some great pics....

 

[edpdiver]

Hey Erwin thanks for the info. do you remember any of the names of the restaurants that you enjoyed? or any scenic places on the island that are a can't miss.

Hi Drew, sorry it has taken me a while to respond. I have been in Wakatobi (Indonesia), and the internet is flaky, to put it mildly. I hope that the post reaches you in time to be of use. With respect to your questions, here is what I remember.

The Lighthouse is a moderately pricey, but good restaurant. I think that most of the entrees were Italian. The setting is wonderful (nice and romantic) with a beautiful view of the ocean. I think that it is south of Compass Point (my recollection is that it was a 10-15 minute drive).

Portofino's is a very nice restaurant just a 5 minute drive north of Compass Point. The food was Italian and other stuff, most of the other stuff being Indian or Pakistani (I am not sure which). We ate dinner there at least 3 times, also had lunch there. We really liked this one. Price was very reasonable. Also has a nice ocean view (ate outside, although inside seating is available).

Vivine's Kitchen is a nice little place (we only ate there for lunch) a little north of Compass Point. Mostly fried food entrees, but done nicely. Seating is on picnic benches overlooking the coast.

The upstairs restaurant at the Reef Resort was okay, but nothing special. Other people have given it better reviews than us, so we may have caught it on an off night. On the other hand, the beach bar at the Reef Resort was a very nice lunch spot. Excellent sandwiches.

Finally, you asked about "can't miss" scenic places. Really, we did not venture more than 5 miles from Compass Point. While it was pretty coastline, it was not stunningly scenic. That should not be a deterrent, as there is lots to do, and it is a very nice coastline without a lot of commercial development. Maybe others know about particular spots that really are in the "can't miss" category.

edpdiver....those are some great pics....

Thanks very much diver918 (if that IS your real name). I am really getting into the underwater photography a lot. So much so,that my wife and son pretty much hate me as a dive buddy. If you want to see some more recent photos, here is what I have posted so far from my very recent trip to Wakatobi. 2008 Wakatobi - a set on Flickr