Any good house reefs in GC/LGC/ ??

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divergal65

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Messages
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Location
California
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200 - 499
Hubby and I are looking at Caymans for next dive trip, and wish to maximize dive time while staying shore based.
We've been spoiled by easy shore access at our two previous trips to CocoView in Roatan and Buddy divers in Bonaire, so we're interested in any and all feedback regarding house shore dives in the Caymans.
We saw Sunset house has a nice one, just wondering how it compares.
TIA,

Divergal
 
Having stayed at both Cobalt Coast and Sunset House (and CoCoView), I have to say Cobalt Coast/Divetech has better shore diving by far. Not only is there more to see (admittedly, Cobalt Coast doesn't have a bronze statue) but, it's easier to get in and out, and you have two shore diving locations to choose from.

The first location is out from the pier at Cobalt Coast Resort. It's excellent for night diving, too. And far easier to reach than going through the grass and the crud at CoCoView. There is a "mini-wall" close to shore. The top of the wall is about 20'-25'. At night, that's a great place to find octopi and spotted morays. (Also at night, tarpon hang around the end of the dock where you enter and exit.) During the day, I usually see at least one turtle and often schools of squid. The "mini-wall" drops down to the sand at 45' to 50'. From there, coral fingers point the way to the wall, which starts about 80' and drops down to somewhere around 6,000'. The mini wall is a great place to see turtles, porcupine fish, snappers, trunkfish, drums, etc.

Divetech has another shop about a mile down the road and around the bend from Cobalt Coast, at Lighthouse Point. If you're staying at Cobalt Coast or have a dive package with Divetech, they're great about shuttling you and your gear back and forth. Lighthouse Point is at least as colorful and as full of fish and critters as Cobalt Coast. Here, too, there is a mini-wall close in and the wall is about a 1/4 mile out from shore. Lighthouse Point is very close to the Turtle Farm, so it's no wonder that I have always seen at least one turtle on every shore dive there.

Cayman is a breezy place, except during much of the summer. When the waves get too high for shore diving at Cobalt Coast, the water is nearly always much calmer, and divable, at Lighthouse Point. For boat dives, that's another advantage Cobalt Coast has over Sunset House ... more than one dock. Most of the time, you'll dive the north wall, which has some wonderful sites. But, when the weather doesn't cooperate, the boats tie up at West Bay and you'll dive the northern part of the west wall. When that happens, Divetech loads gear into pickups and divers into jitneys and you'll commute a short distance to the dock from the shop.

Both Divetech shops (at Cobalt Coast and Lighthouse Point) have have weights, tanks, nitrox, dunk tanks (separate tanks for cameras and lights), showers and restrooms and all the rest of the stuff you'd expect at a resort dive shop. While neither Sunset House nor Cobalt Coast have quite the 24 hr. convenience for nitrox tanks and O2 gauges as CoCoView, if you plan ahead for a night dive, it's not a problem. Before the Divetech shop closes, my wife and I just get a couple of tanks, check them and log them and put them in our lockers. If you want to dive with air, the tanks are available at any time.

---------- Post Merged at 02:52 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:43 PM ----------

I forgot to mention that comparing Cobalt Coast diving to CoCoview, I still like Cobalt Coast better. Yes, CoCoView has two walls, which is very nice. Cobalt Coast and Lighthouse have two directions to go on the mini-wall. CocoView also has the Prince Albert. You won't find any wrecks at Cobalt Coast or Lighthouse Point, and compared to the Prince A, the old landing craft at Sunset House is just a wreck in name only. But, while visibility can often be a problem at CoCoView, it is never an issue at Cobalt or Lighthouse. Cobalt Coast and Lighthouse have more variety in fish and critters, too.
 
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I'd have to agree with you on the water clarity at CCV - some days when the current was running out, it dropped to maybe 25 or 30 ft. and we almost got lost after the dropoff dive on Newmans wall. Hubby won't admit he was lost - "I was just testing your navigation skills, honey" he said. What is it with men and not admitting when they're lost?? :wink:
We'll definitely have to consider Cobalt Coast now. Thanks for all that info.
 
If you're not looking for an AI resort there's a couple of other options in the NW Point area also:

These condos are off Hepps Wall:
Grand Cayman Vacation Rental | Cayman Sunset at Coconut Bay - the complex is called Coconut Bay, there's other rental units there also - here's one: http://www.caymancondogetaway.com/ Look on vrbo.com also, we found 3 or 4 rentals in that complex. Stingray Watersports is onsite for tanks etc. You could also probably walk to Turtle Reef from there.

Another option off Bonnie's Arch is:
North West Point Vacation Rental - VRBO 258058 - 2 BR Grand Cayman Condo in Cayman Islands, First Floor Oceanfront Condo in Top Location! Price Reduced! - there's one other rental there also. (it's a small complex)

Lighthouse Point is a condo complex also. I think there's 1 or 2 rental units there as well.

You'll want a car at Cobalt Coast unless you plan to stay/eat/dive there. It's in a pretty quiet residential area. If you need tanks for other shore dive sites, Divers Supply in West Bay rents them. Divetech, Sunset House (and most other operators) won't let you remove tanks from their property.
 
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Wow, Coconut Bay condo looks really nice - thanks for that link.
If we go that route, we'll probably have to get our own dive package - any suggestions?
I've heard Indigo divers has a really nice, small operation that can take you anywhere- Kittiwake, Sting ray City....
 
Take a good look at the Cobalt Coast website. I highly recommend the meal plan, but not the "all inclusive." If you're there to dive, then you'll find that you won't be leaving the place often and you'll be taking your meals there for time and convenience -- whether you have a car or not.

Breakfast buffet is included with your room. Lunch -- if you're diving in the afternoon, there's no time to go out for lunch. But, you can have soup and a salad or a burger or fish and chips at the restaurant on site. (Unlike the "take it or leave it" buffet a CoCoView -- which really wasn't all that bad -- at Cobalt Coast's restaurant, you have a very nice selection to choose off the menu.) For dinner -- same thing. With the meal plan (and the All Inclusive) you can choose an appetiser or salad, an entre and a dessert -- if you have room. The menu is varied ... continental ... Caribbean coconut and jerk ... U.S. steaks, burgers and fries ... excellent Indian curries ... and daily specials that are excellent. The soups are gourmet and as good as anything at the Ritz.

The cost for the meal plan is $60 per person per day. Cayman restaurants are expensive. On our first visit to Cobalt Coast, my wife and I went out on our own ... without the expense of a rental car. (We did that at Sunset House.) We ended up paying more at local restaurants than we would have with the meal plan. We've been doing the meal plan ever since.

As for the quality of the food in comparison to CoCoView -- like the difference between an Army mess hall and four-star restaurant. And, I'd give it at least two stars above Sunset House.
 
Wow, Coconut Bay condo looks really nice - thanks for that link.
If we go that route, we'll probably have to get our own dive package - any suggestions?
I've heard Indigo divers has a really nice, small operation that can take you anywhere- Kittiwake, Sting ray City....

I've stayed at Coconut Bay 2 or 3 times. It's nice without being super luxurious. No granite counter tops but the prices are pretty reasonable. If you are into shore diving Divetech have very reasonable unlimited air/nitrox packages for a week. (6 days nitox $180 http://www.divetech.co/prices.htm )
 
Hi divergal65,

For what it's worth, I have 10 trips and 182 dives off Grand Cayman since 1997. I've been to Cobalt Coast twice and would return in a second. The boat dives on the package are very good with 1 hour run times. The North Wall dive sites are incredible, my personal favorite is Ghost Mountain. You have the option of guided or unguided diving. The shore diving sites at the resort and Lighthouse Point are very good. They have a great DPV dive from the resort to Lighthouse Point covering prisine, undived reefs. They also have a humbling CCR experience that my son and I found to be a blast. I would also plan on diving Turtle Reef from the Cracked Conch Restaurant and Sun Divers. This is a great dive in both directions and a really good night dive.

My current favorite GC site is on the East End, Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers. The diving is fantastic and effortless. They do not meet your requirement for easily accessible shore diving though I hear it's fine for the very adventurous. To be honest, I would love to dive Babylon from the shore at our favorite spots.

You can't go wrong, enjoy,

Craig

Sorry, PS: Personally, I would not stay in Georgetown and spend my time diving there. The diving on both ends of the island is much, much better.

Sorry PPS: I would strongly consider the meal plan at Cobalt Coast and they have an all inclusive option including your drinks. The restaurant is fabulous and has excellent food. Having a quick, delicious lunch before afternoon dives is a great option, it's a long way into town. When we went, we also did afternoon boat dives with a personal friend at Cayman Diving School/Cayman 6 Pack Divers. When you are going on a night dive, they will pack you your dinner for your return. Lastly, I would recommmed renting a car so that you can enjoy Cayman away from the NW end. Given the reasonable cost of the food plan, we ate a couple of meals in West Bay/SMB/Georgetown.
 
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It looks like either Cobalt coast or condos on the west end look like what we want.
Does CC have any condo type units where you have the option of staying in to eat? I guess we're so spoiled by Buddy dive and CCV - actually at CCV we stayed at a beach house - BH12, so we ate most of our meals there. We had one dinner at the CCV restaurant - a tough steak and some mushy potatoes, and we're glad we cooked our own food.
We also want to stay in a quieter place, so all your suggestions are spot on. We'll visit SMB, but either CC or the coconut bay or Bonnie's arch condos sound more up our alley.
We'd like to get at least 3 or maybe 4 dives/ day in , including night dives, so the convenience of the shore dives is pretty important to us.
 
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Bonnie's arch and armchair reef are two places where you need to trespass but should be cool dives. I haven't trespassed since the 90s.... Smith cove has a decent dive and if you're adventures there is another dive from there that is a heck of a swim. Other posts picked up some great advice but no one has mentioned turtle reef yet off cracked conch. It's my favorite goto dive on the island. Afternoon is best with the sun lighting up the shadows. You can also get to hepps pipeline from there just be careful of currents, they usually aren't much but can be problematic on big swims.
 
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