Cayman Dive Experiences - Second Visit

[caymaniac]

Agreed! My absolute favorite dive on LC is to wade out from shore down by Eagle Ray Roundup, drop down at Meadows and then follow the west side of the inner sand channel all the way out to the mooring ball at Nancy's Cup of Tea. I then go down the chute to the west, take a tour around the round-about, then tool back towards Jackson's along the wall. It's a trick to manage depth so as not to exceed NDL, but I can usually make it through Jackson's to the wall at Cumber's Caves, come back over the sand channel, and then surface just offshore from the "parking lot" by the Cumber's Caves entry. The only dives I've ever had that beat this are all the way to PNG!

Bruce

Wow, what a great dive thqat would be! That sounds true! I will say that I had a number of dives that beat LC on the Ribbons off Australia, but PNG totally overides the senses.
Most people don't know that there is a split off LC between Jackson's Bight and Bloody Bay and some DM's call the whole thing Bloody Bay.

 

[zf2nt]

Wo
Most people don't know that there is a split off LC between Jackson's Bight and Bloody Bay and some DM's call the whole thing Bloody Bay.

Well, part of the problem there is that many of the DM's on LC only last a year or two before Island Fever sets in and they take off. Thus they never really get to know the place.

Mixing Bowl is the place where Jackson's Bight meets Bloody Bay, and the transition between the two is very abrupt. The mooring pin for Mixing Bowl is in the hardpan on the Bloody Bay side, but by only 20' or so. That pin is in 18' of water (hence the alternative name for this site of "Three Fathom Wall"), and you only have to swim out about 30' before you hit the sheer drop-off of Bloody Bay Wall. If you then follow the wall to the east, it curves around and ends after about 50', at which time you notice the staggered drop-off which is characteristic of Jackson Bay. If you go inshore, you will see a little mini-dropoff running inland for several hundred feet, perpendicular to the wall. At the bottom of that slope is the beginning of the Jackson's Bay inner sand channel, which then continues to the east almost unbroken all the way to Eagle Ray Roundup.

Mixing Bowl was for me the last site on the north wall to finally become available as a shore dive. I spent several days in the brush between the road and the shore trying to hack a trail open with a machete so that I could park on the road and walk over to the water's edge. I made several false starts which led into impenetrable brush, but finally found a way to open up a pathway. Now it's an easy game to do Mixing Bowl from shore--something the dive boat operators tell the tourists is absolutely impossible.

With this opening at Mixing Bowl, another loop I like to do is to start at Mixing Bowl and swim east along the wall to Sarah's Set, then come out there take the trail through the brush there back to the road. These are both easy entry/exit places, since there is no fringing reef east of Mixing Bowl.

 

[Jamini]

I’ve been diving in the Caymans and many other Caribbean islands for close to 20 years and I find kimdave0’s comments to be pretty much spot on.

Weather is a large factor and 90% of the time the winds are out of the east, creating high seas and turbulent conditions on the eastern side of the island. On a rare day, the diving on east end would be comparable to the north wall, but 90% of the time the north wall will be far calmer and generally better diving than east end. In fact, depending on the site it’s almost comparable to Little Cayman except the wall starts much deeper, around 60 feet. The west side is consistently calm although I found many of the sites to be over-dived, causing reef damage and artificially tame fish.

I’ve read all the hype about Ocean Frontiers on several of the boards and that’s why I gave them a try. Like the original poster, I was very much disappointed. I am not surprised to see the locals giving them high praise, since I am sure they receive special deals for doing so. A lot of the other rave reviews I’ve read seem to come from people with timeshares in East End, promoting their on site dive shop and protecting their investment. But from someone with over a thousand logged dives and no dog in the race, Ocean Frontiers is an average operation at best, with fairly crowded boats to sites not any better than the north side and at significantly higher prices. I’ve made the drive from Seven Mile Beach several times and it’s at least an hour each way during the week with all the commuter traffic. Last time I was there gas cost about $5/gal. so that was obviously a factor driving 40 miles round trip. With gas and tips factored in, my wife and I spent over $700.00 for three 2-tank dives with Ocean Frontiers. That is more than a 2 day package on Little Cayman, including lodging, food and airfare!

There is no significant difference in quality of diving between the north and east sides of the island, and I wholeheartedly agree that Bloody Bay Wall on Little Cayman is in a whole different league than anywhere on Grand Cayman. I’ve stayed at Little Cayman Beach Resort, Pirate’s Point and Southern Cross Club. Of the three, I prefer Pirate’s Point, mostly because of their exceptionally good food, although they are by far the most expensive. Southern Cross Club has the best prices (except Mc Coy’s, a dump) and much better food than Little Cayman Beach Resort, which has the worst food and pretty high prices.

So here is my completely unbiased recommendations for the Caymans, based on over 1,000 dives, 200 or more of which in the Caymans…

Grand Cayman:
Off the Wall or Wall to Wall, who I think may be affiliated. They charge $80 for a 2-tank and offer free transport to and from Seven Mile Beach. They go to the west, north and south sides of the island and take 8-10 people on boats the same size as Ocean Frontiers, who take more like 20+ people.

Neptune’s, who take only 8 people but on a much smaller boat. I prefer a larger boat with more room for camera and video gear. Otherwise, I’d rate both companies equally.

Little Cayman:
They all go to the same sites and use similar (Newton or comparable) boats. It’s the cost and quality of the rooms and food that make the difference.

Pirates Point wins hands down if price is not a factor. They are at least 30% higher than the others. Their rooms and food is much higher quality than any of the others. No comparison.

Southern Cross is my preference because their rooms and food are better than the others except Pirates Point and their prices are much lower. You can always go over to a different resort and have a meal there if you want. Just don’t purchase the meal package and go ala carte, that way you can bring snacks or eat at other resorts if you want.

Little Cayman Beach Resort and McCoy’s are the worst, for different reasons. McCoy’s is really run down and not all that cheap either. Little Cayman Beach Resort is way too expensive considering the small somewhat rundown rooms and terrible food.

I’ll try to dig out some of my old dive photos and see if I can post them to show the differences and show exactly what I am saying, particularly about the north vs. east diving comparisons on Grand Cayman. But like I said, I don’t live there, don’t own anything there, and don’t have any reason to pick one place over the other except doing a lot of dives and many of them in the Caymans.

I've also found some great shore dives on both islands over the years and I'll dig up my log books and post some of that too if anyone is interested. One of them is on the north side of Grand Cayman called Babylon, about 100 yards from shore but one of the best dives on the whole island, even better than most boat dives. I have found a few 'secret' spots on Little Cayman too over the years.

 

[Alex777]

<< I am not surprised to see the locals giving them high praise, since I am sure they receive special deals for doing so. >>

That is completely untrue and unfair! I could as easily suggest that you have received some under-the-table favor from the dive ops you praise, although I (like you) have no evidence that is what's happening. I have never been affiliated in any way, directly or indirectly, with any dive op, and have never "received a special deal" for giving any dive op high praise. I have done close to 1000 recreational dives in the Cayman Is. and have developed some strong opinions about sites and operators, with which others are free to disagree. But to suggest that I am being bribed for my opinions is defamatory of me and the dive op (Ocean Frontiers) and goes beyond civilized debate.

<< I’ve been diving in the Caymans and many other Caribbean islands for close to 20 years and I find kimdave0’s comments to be pretty much spot on. >>

Do you REALLY think that the East End dive sites are "not any better than the west side"? That was 1 of kimdave0's key points. Have you dived the West Side recently?

<< They go to the west, north and south sides of the island and take 8-10 people on boats the same size as Ocean Frontiers, who take more like 20+ people. >>

I say again - OF takes a maximum of 12 on their boats.

<< I’ve made the drive from Seven Mile Beach several times and it’s at least an hour each way during the week with all the commuter traffic. >>

If you live S of George Town, you can get there in 45 minutes without traffic. If you live just to the N of GT (say at the Marriott), it will take maybe 55 minutes. If you live well out into the West Bay area on SMB, you will get stuck in rush-hour traffic and should forget about East End diving.

Another reason for some to avoid the East End would be the relatively windy conditions. If, for example, you are prone to seasickness, you may want to stick with West End diving.

 

[TSandM]

A good friend of mine did a week in Grand Cayman, and had nothing but unstinting praise for the Ocean Frontiers dive op. So, like everything else, it may be individual preference or isolated experiences.

 

[ianr33]

The best recreational dives I have ever done were with Ocean Frontiers. I actually prefer the East End of Grand Cayman to Bloody Bay Wall as it has more features. (Admittedly I have only done 2 dives on LC )

 

[Alex777]

Hey, Jamini, are you able to confirm for us that you have never discussed posting here with any of the dive ops you are praising, including Neptune's, Off the Wall, Wall to Wall, Pirate's Point & Southern Cross Club? Just wondering.

I can assure you I have never had any discussion about any sort of internet post with any member of Ocean Frontiers.

 

[markrovner]

Welcome to Scubaboard, Kimdave.

I too am just back from Cayman, and i stayed and dived exclusively with Ocean Frontiers. I respectfully disagree with all of your assertions about them -- in fact, I have never dived with an operation that i respect or liked more, and the high proportion of people we met who were repeat customers is ample testimony to their appeal. I not only logged 14 dives with them over the past week, I was so impressed with them after a day or two i signed up for my rescue diver certification, which i managed to squeeze in between dives.

n terms of crowding, we NEVER had more than 10-12 people on any dive, and they permitted divers with computers to pretty much dive their own profile if they chose. yes it was windy and rough a couple of days, but that was only an issue when you were getting back in the boat -- which wasn't a big deal.

I did my open water dives on the west side in 2005, and have logged 12-15 dives on the west side and north wall. The east side is amazing in comparison. i do admit i was jonesing to go back to Ghost Mountain on the North Wall, but by and large the east side dives are incredibly dramatic. Did you go to Grouper Grotto?

I am sorry you had a bad experience with OF. Their reputation is as the best dive op on Grand Cayman and I have to say I have only superlative things to say.

I

 

[markrovner]

I am troubled that these attacks are coming from posters who are both new to Scubaboard, and who seem to share contrarian views about OF and the east end.

Full disclosure: i live in Washington DC and do not own property on Grand Cayman, nor, sadly for me, do i get any special deals from anyone, and have the credit card debt to prove it.

I made two roundtrips this week between east end and georgetown -- both times took about 35 minutes each way. Undeniably Georgetown has a nasty rush hour, but we were given ample warning about times to avoid. By the way, why in the world would you want to stay in cruise ship hell -- have you really BEEN to the east end? It's kind of paradise...

I think your accusation that people talking up Ocean Frontiers have some sort of vested interest is a little silly. Have you looked at them on Tripadvisor? 5 out of 5, with tons of reviews. As best as i can tell, most if not all dive ops have special deals for locals, as well they should.

And again, while i do not doubt your credentials, it seems odd to me that both contrarian posts regarding Ocean Frontiers are coming from brand new Scubaboard members.

I I am not surprised to see the locals giving them high praise, since I am sure they receive special deals for doing so. A lot of the other rave reviews I’ve read seem to come from people with timeshares in East End, promoting their on site dive shop and protecting their investment. But from someone with over a thousand logged dives and no dog in the race, Ocean Frontiers is an average operation at best, with fairly crowded boats to sites not any better than the north side and at significantly higher prices. I’ve made the drive from Seven Mile Beach several times and it’s at least an hour each way during the week with all the commuter traffic. .

 

[cmalinowski]

I did my first trip with Ocean Frontiers, staying at Compass Point, in 2006. I absolutely loved them and thought they were the best dive op I've ever used. It was great diving. They let us do our own profiles and were friendly and just all around good fun.

I went back in 2007 and had just as great an experience. I liked them so much, that I decided to purchase a condo at compass point. Now, you can say that I'm arguing for CP/OF because I have a vested interest. And while that is somewhat true, I ponied up ~$300k because I believe in how good they are. I wouldn't do that unless I had an amazing belief in their quality.

I am far from wealthy and this was an investment that needs to help a good deal in paying for itself. I wouldn't have risked that much money (and my wife wouldn't have let me) if I didn't think that they were that good.

So, take this for what it's worth... just my opinion. I am sorry that some did not enjoy their experience with OF, but I think that is the exception more than the rule... or at least I'm gambling that that is the case.

Take care all,
Chris