Cobalt Coast/Lighthouse Point in mid September

[Spookydad]

We are headed to the Caymans on a cruise leaving Galveston September 12, 2010. My daughter and I will be doing our first dive through a resort course. I am trying to avoid the cruise crowds by booking myself. After a lot of research, we have settled on Divetech at Cobalt Coast because of good reviews and Elanore has been most helpful with my questions. It is worth it to us to drive a little bit further to get a good dive.

I have been reading about the weather up there so my questions are...

How risky is booking at that location in mid September? (We will be there on Thursday the 16th.)

Is the beach across from the Turtle farm (not the park) close enough to miss the weather if it is bad?

We will only have one shot at getting this right so I would like to minimize the risk vs rewards.

Thanks

Neil

 

[Alex777]

We are headed to the Caymans on a cruise leaving Galveston September 12, 2010. My daughter and I will be doing our first dive through a resort course. I am trying to avoid the cruise crowds by booking myself. After a lot of research, we have settled on Divetech at Cobalt Coast because of good reviews and Elanore has been most helpful with my questions. It is worth it to us to drive a little bit further to get a good dive.

I have been reading about the weather up there so my questions are...

How risky is booking at that location in mid September? (We will be there on Thursday the 16th.)

Is the beach across from the Turtle farm (not the park) close enough to miss the weather if it is bad?

We will only have one shot at getting this right so I would like to minimize the risk vs rewards.

Thanks

Neil

Mid-September is the absolute height of the hurricane season, so there is a substantial risk. See the Chart on my web site (link below).

Turtle Reef is across from the Turtle Farm. It is a good shore dive site but there is no beach there. Sometimes, when the weather is too windy for diving at Cobalt Coast, Turtle Reef is still diveable. No guarantees though.

 

[Spookydad]

We live in Houston so we always have one ear tuned to the weather report. The eye of Hurricane Ike went right over our house so I am fully aware of the hurricane risk. If a hurricane is bearing down on the island, nobody is going diving!

I was asking about the general prevailing winds. I have read it gets too rough as fall goes on and the best times are May through July.

Neil

 

[diversteve]

Afaik there's no beach in that area. All the gray areas in this image are ironshore. And it's tall, in some areas you can't get to the waterline - see the shadows?

Turtle Reef is the collection of small blue boxes in the NW corner of this photo - the Boatswains Beach/Turtle Farm complex is south of it. fyi, the dive operation at Turtle Reef is owned by SunDivers now. Divetech's other location moved to Lighthouse Point a couple years ago.

There's no beach at Cobalt Coast either. At least not one you can walk into the water from.

 

[Alex777]

We live in Houston so we always have one ear tuned to the weather report. The eye of Hurricane Ike went right over our house so I am fully aware of the hurricane risk. If a hurricane is bearing down on the island, nobody is going diving!

I was asking about the general prevailing winds. I have read it gets too rough as fall goes on and the best times are May through July.

Neil

Yes, it does get rougher as Fall goes on. I can only guess, but I would say there might be too much wind to shore dive at CC 1 day out of 2 during the fall. Turtle Reef (as noted, not a DiveTech location) might get that rough 1 day out of 7. Others may have different opinions.

 

[Damselfish]

I've stayed at CC once when it was blown out just about every day, and that was in April. Turtle Reef (was still Divetech then) was perfect every day. So there are odds but you just never know.

I imagine the new Divetech location at Lighthouse point will have similar conditions to Turtle Reef given it's location? What's good about Turtle Reef though, is that sheltered channel you enter in.

 

[gb_williams]

My wife and I spent a week at Cobalt Coast in November last year and a week in February the previous year. I can't speak for September, though. In November, shore diving at Cobalt Coast was accessible one day of the seven. However, we dove afternoons and nights at Lighthouse Point without any problems. What's great is that Divetech will shuttle you to Lighthouse Point and back to Cobalt Coast, mostly at your convenience.

The boat dives in November and February were out of West Bay. Again, Divetech shuttled everyone and all our gear to the dock (about a 15 minute ride). The diving on the West Wall was very good and there was very little chop. Once, in February, it was calm enough to dive the North Wall -- which is always superb.

If you want to dive the North Wall, come back in late May through July.

In any case, in three week-long trips to Cobalt Coast, we have never been disappointed. (Except when my wife's clothes took a side trip to Guatemala, thanks to Delta Airlines.) The resort and Divetech are all first class. And, for what it's worth, if you're there for diving, then I would highly recommend purchasing the meal plan. Not only is it much more convenient, it's also less expensive when you consider all the costs -- rental or taxi, plus meals, plus conversion to Cayman dollars. And, best of all, the food is great!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Alex777]

I imagine the new Divetech location at Lighthouse point will have similar conditions to Turtle Reef given it's location? What's good about Turtle Reef though, is that sheltered channel you enter in.

Agreed. The entry in windy conditions is a bit easier at Turtle Reef, but only a bit. In any event, the OP wants a resort course so NO site will be suitable if the wind is up.

 

[RussL]

I just got back from a week of diving with my family in Grand Cayman. We did some shore diving at both Dive Tech locations. The staffs at both locations were very friendly and helpful, and neither place was very crowded. I personally liked the dive at the Lighthouse Point location better than Cobalt Coast (the wall was more interesting), plus it's a few miles closer to town. Both locations have a mini wall (from 40' to 65') not far off shore with buoy markers to help you navigate to/from the pier. The staff at each location provide a good briefing of the underwater topology to orient you before diving. There was very good visibility at each location and no current on any of our dives. We came across a sea turtle on the Lighthouse Point dive which was a treat.

We thought the weather might be bad as the weather forecast on the internet indicated thunderstorms every day. However, it was basically sunny all week with an errant thunderstorm here and there, mostly off shore. So, don't let weather reports scare you unless there's a hurricane on top of the island.

One other thing, we rented out BCs/regs while in Cayman and the rental gear at Dive Tech is all ScubaPro which was nice.

Good luck, have fun and dive safe.