Are the Grand Cayman reefs damaged?

[luvspoodles]

Hello,
We went to Grand Cayman in July, and fell in love with the beautiful reefs, especially the dramatic dropoffs on the North Side. Were any of the reefs damaged? Was Eden Rock damaged? Also, how are the divemasters and diveshops doing? Have the divemasters had to leave? We really enjoyed getting to know some of them, and we felt to sad when we thought of them possibly having to leave due to no pay. They do not get enough as it is! Anyway, I have seen pics of the island but I have not heard about the reefs. Thanks!

 

[RSoper]

Hi There,

I have not dived at Eden Rock yet, but have done quite a bit at Don Fosters since Ivan (shore diving that is,) and there is not much damage that i could notice below 30ft. On the wall itself i could not see any damage.

I dived Orange Canyon the other day and could see no difference at all.

With regards to DM's, most of the Sunset House crew have stayed, i heard there was only one person at Eden Rock, Don Fosters seem to have a full contingent of staff, most of the Red Sail personel seem to have left. Can't speak for any of the other companies.

 

[luvspoodles]

Hi There,

With regards to DM's, most of the Sunset House crew have stayed, i heard there was only one person at Eden Rock, Don Fosters seem to have a full contingent of staff, most of the Red Sail personel seem to have left. Can't speak for any of the other companies.

Do you mean there was only one person at Eden Rock working, or one that left? If the first is true, how awful!

 

[RSoper]

Do you mean there was only one person at Eden Rock working, or one that left? If the first is true, how awful!

Not too sure, just what someone told me, but i got the impression apart from management there was one person left working as a DM / OWSI.

 

[Turtle Gal]

Spoodles, Nancy at Divetech in Westbay,Also near Cobalt Coast, Did an article in the Cayman net news Friday oct 22 About diving and the reefs and what kind of damage Nancy and her staff has seen.WWW.caymannetnews.com Turtle Gal

 

[ianr33]

There is some interesting info on Ocean Frontiers website http://www.oceanfrontiers.com/

Some damage for sure,but the article points out that hurricanes are a natural event,analagous to forest fires and can actually improve the long term health and diversity of a reef.

 

[luvspoodles]

Thank you very much for the great articles. Now, we'll just have to go back to see the neat stuff that the hurricane may have created!