assorted Little Cayman questions

[zf2nt]

Thanks,
I realise that there is a high degree of cooperation between dive-shops, as we have here in Grand Cayman also, but my question was whether you had actually been diving with Paradise divers recently as I had heard on the grapevine (or marl road as we call it in Cayman!) that they were no longer operating at all?
Rumours are often wrong so I was just looking for some local corroboration.
Any ideas?

Well, I just looked in their logbook (on their web page) and see an entry dated November 23. That's last week, so recent enough! The entry gives kudos to divemasters Rod and Liz for some great dives, so that tells me that (a) they definitely are running their own boat this year; (b) Liz went back to work for Paradise Divers instead of Conch Club, which is what she was doing last winter.

 

[CJ's]

Well that's good news, hopefully I'll get over there before too long for a quick break!

CJ

 

[progressweasel]

I just got back from Pirate's Point two weeks ago and I connot recommend it highly enough. You get to dive your computer at your pace. The food is top notch and if you have a dietary request you can let Gladys and her crew know and they will accommodate. I just looked at my logs and saw that my average dive time for the second dive of the day was over 70 minutes with a few over 80. So I can tell you that they are not chasing anyone out of the water. Generally, you only get two dives a day but if you want a good balance of relax to dive I think this is hard to beat. If you want to dive like crazy then Pirate's Point may not fit the profile.

HTH,

Adam

 

[Damselfish]

So I just came back from LCBR. To answer one of my own questions, the "recommended" dive profiles given are now 110'/50min, 60'/60min, and 60'/60min for the afternoon dive. No one turns into dive nazis if people are a little late or stretch those profiles within reason. We still got back (just) in time for lunch. The only comment made (politely but understandably) was when much of the boat did like 80min on the first dive one day and they simply asked those folks to be back on the boat by a certain time on the second dive. Very laid back across the board compared to my past visits and I was content.

I was sad to see they paved the runway! And I was surprised at the amount of algae cover on many sites.

 

[zf2nt]

And I was surprised at the amount of algae cover on many sites.

Yes, the algae growth is depressing. I just got here last Thursday (will be on LC until mid-March) but have already toured all the north shore sites. All the way from Joy's Joy out to the tip on Jackson Bay that algae is heavy above about 60'. This is the worst I've ever seen it on LC. But I remember that last year it was very heavy at Joy's Joy and around the west end of the island until one magical day in January when it suddenly disappeared. Nobody could explain why, but it just went way...overnight. I honestly expect the same thing will happen this year.

It's strange...you don't notice the algae on the wall. It's only where there is a sloping topography, or at least an area which is exposed to the sunlight, where the algae has managed to grab on.

The good news is...for the first time in a couple of years the Booby Pond doesn't stink, and all the egrets and whistling ducks have come back. I wish I understood what happend the past two years, but I'm sure glad to see it's back to normal this year.

Bruce