AM or PM diving in Grand Cayman

[KathyV]

One more factor to consider, what time is your flight home? I try to book afternoon flights home so that we can do the morning dives the day before without worrying about the "wait to fly" rule. We usually want to do the dives on the last day and we may have already paid for them.

I still think asking the dive op if they will be flexible is a good idea. Everybody in the party should have an opportunity or two to enjoy their ideal vacation day.

 

[emtee63]

Follow up on the AM/PM diving. We went diving 3 days with Indigo Divers in July. The first 2 days we did the PM 2 tank dives and the last day we did AM. I did not notice a discernible difference in the diving between the times. The wife and daughter (as well as myself) enjoyed not hurrying early in the morning to get ready, eat, and get going. We flew out at 1:00 the day after our last dive or we would have chose to dive in the afternoon. When in Cayman, PM diving is great!

 

[Doctorfish]

Different strokes. I've never noticed a dramatic difference in light or sea life AM vs PM.


If you go boat diving in the AM, that leaves the afternoon free for a shore dive +/- a night dive.

 

[scubadada]

It's been a few years since we have been to GC. We are going to dive with Indigo and have the choice of AM or PM 2 tank dives. Anyone have good first hand knowledge of AM vs PM diving in GC? (Water conditions, amount of sea life, etc) I am fine with the AM diving but my wife and daughter would prefer to sleep in a bit. Thanks in advance for any input.

Hi @emtee63

I would do both, AM and PM, and throw in a couple of night dives

 

[Doctorfish]

I agree completely with scubadada

 

[AggieDiver]

If I had to pick between morning or afternoon diving, I would rather ride the boat and dive in the AM while it is cool and lay in a hammock in the shade when it gets hot later in the day. But as was said above...I would be inclined to do both AM and PM dives.

 

[Tienuts]

We like to visit Cayman in the late fall for our anniversary and we have found that the dusk comes quickly and you may need a flashlight because things can start getting dim during the second dive. It is more pronounced when we are further south and closer to the equator - like Bonaire - where there is very little twilight there during the fall.

Hi Kathy,

With all due respect, I think you are mistaken about this. The closer to the equator one gets, the more even the daytime and nighttime become. In winter our sunsets are later than yours, but in summer they are earlier. A quick google check shows on the winter solstice, the sunset is 5:55 PM for Grand Cayman, versus the summer solstice which is 7:06 PM. Compare this with a place higher in latitude, Boston for example, where the winter solstice sunset is 4:16 and the summer solstice sunset time is 8:25.

This map does a great job of graphically illustrating the sunlight map of the earth for different times of year. Day and Night World Map

Also the Cayman Islands does not participate in Daylight Savings, so this effects things somewhat, but since we do these activities based on the local time of day, it's sort of a moot point.

To the op: I work in Grand Cayman, and have never observed any sort of pattern in regards to better conditions on morning diving versus afternoon diving. The sea does what she wants.