Advice on Grand Cayman 7 Mile Beach

[Anaconda40]

My wife gets motion/sea sick very easily. On our trip, someone recommended a product called Bonine. She took it every day starting the day before we left and never had one problem.

 

[Chris Brown Tech]

Just got back from cayman yesterday. I stayed at Cobalt Coast (DiveTech), very convenient for a 6000' wall thats about a 15 min swim out. We got the boat out each day and swam back in, as with tech gear and multiple bottles it was NOT a doable or enjoyable experience to swim out and back. For our single tank fun dives, it was perfectly OK.

I dont think its an issue where you stay on GC. Most of the hotels and dive shops provide shuttles, so I would recommend picking the hotel you like the look of, same for the shop and go from there.

BTW - Stingray city dive (not the snorkel) is a must do. We went with red sail, they were awesmoe and will pick up / drop off from SMB

 

[nipi]

I would not suggest a place to stay at the far southern end of West Bay Road (such as Harbour View). Unfortunately this area has seen an increase in property crimes and violent street crime such as assaults and robberies. It is located quite close to an area of high crime and drug activity (Dog City). I would not recommend walking in this area after dark.

I don't often disagree with Drew's comments but I don't think you can say staying at Harbour View is any more dangerous than anywhere else on West Bay Road. You're just as likely (or unlikely) to get burgled staying at a condo further north up the beach & if you think we can't walk back to Harbour View from say the Wharf after dark then we really are in trouble. Yes - Dog City is a dodgy area nearby but no tourist would need to go there. We don't want to be recommending (for example) people not to stay at the Turtle Nest in Bodden Town because Mostyn's was held up the other day & a few unsavoury characters sometimes hang out around Gun Square.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I'm not the only one pointing out real problems in this area of the island.

Treasure Island and Cayman Reef are top targets of Burglars

"Inspector Anthony White of the RCIPS... revealed that the area around Captain’s Bakery, Helen Drive and St. Matthews University residencies on the West Bay Road is where the highest number of robberies, have taken place in the Seven Mile Beach tourist corridor.
...close proximity to the Watler’s Road area which has been a source of problems for the police.
... more assaults were now taking place during these robberies.
... residential as oppose to commercial properties were the ones most frequently targeted
...most burglaries did occur when owners were home with 65 percent happening as people were asleep."

Property crimes don't typically make the headlines, but this region is a hot spot for burglaries, prowlers, thefts and the like.

I will not let my family walk in this area during hours of darkness.

 

[PatW]

I just got back from Little Cayman. We had a few systems go through whilst I was there. The seas tended to be rougher than last year.

I do get sea sick. But even this year, Little Cayman at its worst was not as bad as most days on the east coast of Florida.

At Little Cayman, it is a 30 minute boat ride to the wall on the north side of the island. You also have a 40 minute surface interval. I have done something like 22 boat rides there and I have not gotten anywhere near quesy.

Most days on Little Cayman, the seas were very close to being flat.

If you can find a dive operator at Grand Cayman who is close to the dive sites, your son should be fine on the boat. On Little Cayman, the north side tends to be calmer than the south side (at least in the summers).

There are advantages to boat dives vs shore dives. Many places talk about "unlimited shore dives" but no one ever does them. That is because the diving is way off shore and too much of a swim to be practical. Another thing, is if you get in some current, it is easy to get going a ways. With a boat, if worst comes to worst, they will always up anchor and come and get you. Another advantage with boat dives is you have a dive master in the water with you. You also should get a pretty complete briefing. At Little Cayman Beach Resort, they even draw a map up on the board complete with depths and points of interest.

I would suggest that you give some thought to doing boat dives at Grand Cayman.

As for shore dives, you might be able to find something. I managed to get a good look from the air and it looks as though there are some places where the reef gets in close to shore. But you still need parking and beach access to do the shore dive and I don't know if such things exist.

 

[RussL]

I'm not the only one pointing out real problems in this area of the island.

Treasure Island and Cayman Reef are top targets of Burglars


Property crimes don't typically make the headlines, but this region is a hot spot for burglaries, prowlers, thefts and the like.

I will not let my family walk in this area during hours of darkness.

As they say, "ignorance is bliss." I spent a week in GC a couple of weeks ago in the CocoPlum condos which are directly behind the St Matthews University residences. I walked all over the place, including to/from the Kirk grocery store and never had any issues. Granted, I don't go walking around at night anywhere in which I'm not familiar.