Any good house reefs in GC/LGC/ ??

[diversteve]

Bonnie's arch and armchair reef are two places where you need to trespass but should be cool dives.

Not really...

The condo overlooks the Bonnie's Arch dive site, on the island's Northwest point. There are dive operations approximately 1/2 mile from condo. There is access to Bonnie's Arch dive site and Wall Dives directly from property.

but no one has mentioned turtle reef yet off cracked conch.

because:

so we're interested in any and all feedback regarding house shore dives

There's at least a 1/2 dozen other shore dives also but they don't have a resort/condo behind them.

 

[gb_williams]

Does CC have any condo type units where you have the option of staying in to eat? ....
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.

Most of the rooms at Cobalt Coast are suites with a wet bar, a microwave, coffee maker and a small refrig in the sitting room. You'll find that groceries (like everything) on Grand Cayman are expensive. Cobalt Coast's restaurant is very good. If you go with the meal plan, it will spoil you.

Being in a mostly residential neighborhood away from George Town and Seven Mile Beach, Cobalt Coast is very quiet. It's a nice, safe area to go for a quiet walk in the evening if you're not night diving. I do three or four dives a day -- the two-tank boat dive in the morning, an afternoon shore dive and a night dive at Cobalt Coast and/or Lighthouse Point.

About the boat dives: I've never felt cramped for space on the boats. They're spacious and comfortable. (Although, not as easy to reboard in choppy seas as the center well ladders at CoCoView.) The Divetech DM/Instructors are excellent. They do the most thorough and humorous dive briefings I've seen. Their hand-drawn maps of the dive sites are very accurate and easy to remember and follow. They will give you just as much or as little help as you want, but they are very vigilant to access each diver's ability. If they're comfortable with your skills, they will allow you and your buddy to go on your own.

The sites and the sights you'll see on the boat dives very different from the mini-wall dives, and IMO well worth doing. The wall sites off Roatan are nothing in comparison to the bottomless indigo blue you'll see in Cayman. Like Roatan, the wall is where you'll see the larger critters like reef sharks, nurse sharks and spotted eagle rays. The reef architecture of sites like Ghost Mountain and Princess Penny's Pinnacle is amazing and only available by boat.

 

[divergal65]

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: 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.

@diversteve

first, thanks for your really thoughtful replies, you read very carefully and know exactly what I was looking for.
But I'm having a little trouble getting a hold of the rental agency that controls the reservations there. I've tried emailing them and have only had my email bounced back with the message that there is no such user at the email address given.

I also tried this site:
Coconut Bay

and sent them an email twice in the last two weeks and have never received a reply.

Would you or anyone else with experience with this resort happen to know if there is another way to contact this condo resort?
Thank you so much
DG

PS: I've also asked for info from Cobalt Coast/ Divetech and have yet to wait longer than 3 or 4 hours before I get a detailed reply, and a couple times received a reply within 10 minutes.

 

[diversteve]

The owner of Stingray Watersports has 6 condos he can access for his guests - at 10% off if you book dives with him also. I think they may all be too big for you but it's worth checking. StingRay Water Sports® - #1 for diving on the Cayman Islands - Accomodations IIRC he owns two of them, he offered them to us once.

If you like the idea of diving with Divetech - Rental.htm might be an option. They're all 2BR though. And seemed a little pricey.

Divetech won't let you take tanks off-site though so if you need them - Divers Supply in West Bay is the closest for rentals. Divers Supply (Cayman) Ltd. | Facebook

Also for food there's a Foster's in West Bay - the last one on the list: Foster's Food Fair

I don't really know anything about this condo except I believe it's just east of Cobalt Coast. West Bay Vacation Rental - VRBO 427687 - 1 BR Grand Cayman Condo in Cayman Islands, Affordable Perfect Cayman Hideaway at Villas Pappagallo #7 - it's going to be really quiet out there. This implies you can shore dive from there:

Having the best of all worlds, diving off shore is considered to be some of the best around, the beach is protected by the reef for excellent snorkeling,

 

[divergal65]

Talk about prompt replies!!
I already emailed the manager at the villas Pappagallo, and enquired about diving there. We'll see.
Thanks again

 

[Ambassador Divers]

Divergal65

Villas Pappagallo is indeed a beautiful place to stay and even snorkel. Shore diving there is possible but very impractical. There is a barrier reef in front of the property. Directly off the dock approximately 500 meters through a channel in the reef is a moored site called Ghost Mountain. It's a VERY long swim on a good day. Although I know some locals who have done this, I would never recommend diving this site from shore.

 

[cgills]

Divergal65

Villas Pappagallo is indeed a beautiful place to stay and even snorkel. Shore diving there is possible but very impractical. There is a barrier reef in front of the property. Directly off the dock approximately 500 meters through a channel in the reef is a moored site called Ghost Mountain. It's a VERY long swim on a good day. Although I know some locals who have done this, I would never recommend diving this site from shore.

Would agree very strongly about this. It is a long swim out to any decent reef, over some very shallow terrain at times. You would need to tow a flag due to the fact local boat traffic is NOT accustom to divers in that area.The other places mentioned. Cobalt Coast, LightHouse Point, Turtle Reef, and Coconut Bay are far better suited for what your looking for.You don't mention what time of year your looking to visit the island. Unfortunately those mentioned, other than Sunset House, are all on the Northwest Point of the island that is subject to winter storms, wind, and rough seas. If your plan is to do a lot of shore diving, take that into account when planning your visit to the island.

 

[divergal65]

@ambassador divers and cgills,

Thanks for that info:thumbs_up:

We are planning on going some time in the summer , between June and early August, hopefully before any bad weather hits. I think we'll stick with either CC or the Coconut Bay condos. I was able to contact D Heard at Sting Ray divers and he gave some info for the condos at coconut bay, so now we'll just see what our budget will allow and go from there.
It looks like CC will be a little more expensive, - The StingRay divers owner quoted a real good price for a week rental of tanks/weights for shore diving , and we might just arrange for boat dives through Indigo divers (they sound really good from other reports), and when I compared ALL the costs, we can get 10 days worth of diving at Coconut bay for the same price as 7 days at Cobalt Coast.
However, since its still early, we'll keep looking around...

 

[Alucard]

Something else for you to factor into your costs - on days that you boat dive from Divetech, you have unlimited shore diving from their sites (which presumably would include a free night dive).

Behind the resort, across the road, they have 2br condos - if you get a car, this means that you can do breakfasts there, have the option of lunch at CC between dives, or back in the condo, and then have your choice of what to do for dinner.

Add me to the list of folks that enjoys diving with Divetech - I did my OWC there and a Nitrox course - very impressed with the professionalism, willingness to work with you, and sense of humor of the staff. If you are curious about some of the more advanced types of diving, you just hang around and you will see rebreathers and trimix and even apnea diving. Kind of fun, even though it's not something I have the funds to try.