Caymans vs. Dominica

[gummie22]

I've been to Grand Cayman twice and to Dominica. Cayman is definitely easier to get to and the diving is great. But Dominica is an awesome, total island experience. Not only will you have really great diving, but topside, IMO, it's the most beautiful island in the entire Caribbean. Hot and cold waterfalls, natural bathtubs, hiking, eating fruits off the trees in the bush, the rainforest... I could go on and on.

Both are great places to visit. And for a quick trip, Cayman is probably your best bet. But don't cross Dominica off your list. It just takes a little more planning and patience to get there -- but well worth it!!!!

 

[Puck]

Check Spirit Air out of FLL, you could get to lots of great dive sites -- I think they even have a flight to San Salvador in the Bahamas -- go dive with some hammerheads and see some great reefs.

 

[divingjd]

Cayman Air also has a few jet flights (737) each day from Grand Cayman to Cayman Brac. We just went there in February. If you take the puddle-jumper, you are severly limited on baggage weight: 50lbs total. If you have more, you pay extra and it probably goes on the next flight (or the one after that). It always gets there, and not in an unreasonable amount of time, but I always get antsy when I get separated from my luggage. We didn't have too much trouble getting to Grand Cayman from Detroit, but found it hard to avoid the long layover in GC.

Little Cayman diving is awesome, we went there several years ago and did one morning's dives over there this year. Macro life is good, the reefs are spectacular, and the diving is very relaxed. The diving in the Brac is just a little less good. I would say that it meets all of your diving objectives. The one drawback could be the travel plans.

I can highly recommend Little Cayman Beach Resort and Divi Tiara on Cayman Brac. From what I've heard, there really aren't any bad resorts on either island.

 

[OCDinNC]

How does the diving in Caymans compare to that of the Florida Keys?

Just spent a week on Grand Cayman at Cobalt Coast. The shore divies were pretty good but not great. There was one area you could get to on their pittly 80's which had really nice coral and great schools of fish.

Boat dives were with Dive Tech, which is onsite there. Good organization, some very highly trained instructors. Did a rebreather experience. Didn't really like it, but that's neither here nor there.

The boat dives (2/day) were good. One deep wall dive, then a reef. The walls are spectacular. Trinity Caves, Ghost Mountain... Ooh. When you can float along at 130', looking down at the vast expanse under you, it's like flying over the mountains, only through water instead of air. Quite breathtaking (figuratively, luckily). The shallow reefs were variable. Some better than Keys, some not. But the vis was definitely better than I've had in the Keys, though in fairness my only trips to the Keys have been in winter months , when I am told the vis is sub-par anyway.

Cayman is definitely worth the trouble, though the other posters are right about it being pricey. The food is expensive. They zap all foreigners on money and banking transactions to the tune of 25%. That way the Caymanites (or whatever they're called) don't have to pay any income or property or sales taxes! Wow, that's a concept we should try...

If you want exceptional shore dives, I hear Bonaire is your place. That's on my list. Of course, so is most every other body of water deeper than 10'.

 

[OCDinNC]

PS: Oh, if you're going for wrecks, do the Keys and save money.

 

[Damselfish]

Just spent a week on Grand Cayman at Cobalt Coast. The shore divies were pretty good but not great. There was one area you could get to on their pittly 80's which had really nice coral and great schools of fish.

Did you only shore dive at Cobalt Coast or go to Turtle Cove? (the other DiveTech shop.) Turtle Cove is much better, good diving at CC is a long swim.

 

[OCDinNC]

We also did a few dives at Turtle Cove, You're right; it's much nicer. The schools of tarpon were great. Just a bit of a hassle waiting for transportation to and from, but worth it.

 

[trigfunctions]

Dominica is incredible. The diving and the topside activities are both outstanding. You can dive on beautiful volcanic outcrops in the morning and hike in the rainforest to a secluded waterfall in the afternoon.