1 Day in Grand Caymen for a Dive

[Stivo]

ok... to follow up, here are some links on eden rock and general cayman diving.

enjoy.

http://www.saintbrendan.com/cdnmar04/travel3.html
http://www.edenrockdive.com/3.htm
http://www3.sympatico.ca/loki.sails/adv4.html
http://www.divecayman.ky/

 

[kman458]

royal crib has shore excursions that include diving. we are going to be there the end of october and will book the diving with rc. i think i was told that they use red sail but i could be wrong. it is on the royal crib web site. it shows it as being $85.00 per person if you have your own equpiment.

 

[SoCalOffshore]

Grandeur of the Seas has NO dive options, for some reason, as their other ships do. Neptune Divers has emailed me and said they can accomadate us with a 2 tank PM dive. We will meet thier boat on Public Beach at 7 mile beach. May even have time for Eden Rock or save it for the next trip. Thanks all for the info.

 

[diversteve]

With the timeframes you're talking about, I'd consider a shore dive at either Eden Rock or Sunset House followed by an afternoon Stingray City trip. Eden Rock is a few hundred yards from where the cruiseboat shuttles land. Sunset House is about a mile - a quick cab ride, too far to walk - south. There'll be lots of cabs waiting when you get off the cruise ship tender at the port.

Eden Rock is famous for their grotto's - swimthroughs - although the coral is very much beat up and missing. There's lots of rubbish in the water, when you see how close it is to your cruiseship, you'll understand why.

Sunset House has a good reef off their property and the famous Mermaid at 50'. They also have a great bar/grill right off their dock for a quick lunch. Of the two, I'd say Sunset House is definitely the better dive, although they both have great facilities including changing rooms, lockers, rentals etc.
Also Cathy Church U/W Photography gallery is in the main house if you have time.

Then I'd make arrangements for an afternoon Stingray City trip. Last year we dove with TIDivers and we got to their boat around 1pm. It's about 15 mins. to SRC so you'd have plenty of time to get back to your ship. The DM will call the dive after 45min anyway as the squid will have run out and the Stingrays will have wandered off by then, there's not much else to see there except a sandy bottom and occasional moray.

In my experience there was only certain mid-week days that everyone dove SRC, although that may be different at your time of the year. Most of the dive ops on Cayman have their own vans and will pickup/drop you off just about anywhere downtown or along Seven Mile Beach.

Like they say SRC is the most fun you can have in 15' of water. Don't sign up for the cruise ship SRC trip though, they're overcrowded with snorkelers and they go to Sand Bar, not SRC - they're two different areas within about 1/4 mi. of each other.

If you're set to dive with Neptune, ask them to go north for the first dive, Trinity Caves or Big Tunnels or anything in that area is nice. Or off the North Wall if you have time.

A great dive for the second, shallower dive is the Aquarium if you'd like to swim amongst hundreds of tropical fish. It's not likely they'll want to go around the North for an SRC dive but you could ask.

You won't have time to do any East End dives given your timeschedule. It's too far away by road, plus you'd have to rent a car, a cab ride would be incredibly expensive. It's probably about a 45min drive.

Steve

 

[kman458]

Grandeur of the Seas has NO dive options, for some reason, as their other ships do. Neptune Divers has emailed me and said they can accomadate us with a 2 tank PM dive. We will meet thier boat on Public Beach at 7 mile beach. May even have time for Eden Rock or save it for the next trip. Thanks all for the info.

if you look at the excursions there is more than one for diving. look at the ones near the bottom. i thought the same thing because it did not show for the rhapsody which is the ship we will be on. i looked at them before i posted to double check.
here is the listing:
Scuba Dive Without Equipment

Approximate Duration: 4 Hours 30 Minutes
Adult: 85.00 (USD) | Child: 85.00 (USD)

To experience the ultimate in Cayman diving, your first dive will be along the famous Cayman Wall, where you will see huge coral formations and vivid marine life. Your second dive will be on a coral reef or one of the shipwrecks along Seven Mile Beach. At either spot you'll enjoy crystal-clear water and colorful fish. This is an experience certified divers wont want to miss. This is limited to certified divers who have been on a dive within the last two years. You will be required to present proof of certification.

Note: Tank and weight belt are included for all divers. Minimum Age: 12 years old.

This tour is available on the Brilliance of the Seas, Enchantment of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Nordic Empress, Rhapsody of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas.


= All participants on this tour are required to complete a waiver and/or release form. This document will be distributed by the tour operator prior to commencing the tour.
= To fully participate may require extended periods of walking over even and uneven surfaces, steep terrain and/or water activity in a slight current. There may be steps, inclines, cobblestone surfaces, and extended periods of standing. Participants with physical limitations should take this into account.

 

[diveborg]

Grandeur of the Seas has NO dive options, for some reason, as their other ships do. Neptune Divers has emailed me and said they can accomadate us with a 2 tank PM dive. We will meet thier boat on Public Beach at 7 mile beach. May even have time for Eden Rock or save it for the next trip. Thanks all for the info.

You should have a good time with Casey and Keith. I did in March.

 

[SoCalOffshore]

Good info Kman. I called them before your post and the guy said no dives. Although, he didnt speak very god english. I think i will just stick with Neptune Divers on Grand Cayman, then I know i will be diving! I need to take a trip back to GC, when is the best time of year for diving and weather? I would like another trip before next summer.

 

[bluwolf]

Well, regrettably, we are back from our trip. Always hate it when a good vacation is over.

As for the diving in GC, had a great time with Nepune Divers. Luckily, we were able to dive Sting Ray City. Now THAT was awesome! If the weather's right, you should definitely try it. Also did a wall dive and saw a hammerhead shark. Totally awesome. Highly recommend Neptune, you'll have a good time.

The ship anchored right on schedule at 7:00am, we were on the pier at 7:30, and althought there was indeed quite a bit of traffic in Georgetown, but we were on the beach at 8:00am. Casey picked us up at around 20min to 9, and believe we were on the boat at 9:00am. Think we were back around 12:30 or so, and back on board the ship by 1:30. And all this while lugging all our own gear.

Wish you luck on your trip, SoCal.

 

[caymaniac]

I quess if I only had one day on GC to dive, I would use "Fisheye" and dive 'Stingray City' and a dive on the North Wall.

Caymanaic

 

[JCARR]

I just read your trip report. So disreguard this post.

Make sure you are on the first tender off of the ship. The cruise ships cater to the cruise provided tours and will want to take that batch of people first. We camped out about 30 minutes prior to the first tender. Being first in line we made the first trip. There were several snotty people who thought they should be in front of us because they were on a tour, hold your ground. We dove with Neptune divers and they were great. Just know where you want to go because they will ask and take you there.

After our 2 tank dives Neptune dropped us off at Eden Rock, we had lunch and we made one shore dive. Lots of neat swim throughs at Eden Rock. After the shore dive it was a 1 block walk back to tender.

Don't take a dive knife with you as you will not get it back on the ship. Have fun.