Coconut Bay Condos, Stingray Water Sports & Diving Hepp's Wall & Pipeline

[tkaelin]

I am booking my next trip to GC with a 4 nite stay at Coconut Bay Condos. Was able to find r/t air from NYC for $270 nonstop. Coconut Bay is located next to the Cracked Conch/Turtle Reef. Would love to hear from anyone who has stayed and dived at CBCs. Excellent reviews for both(CBC & SWS) on TA. For those who have dived from CBC to Hepps, would welcome any tips or advice. I have been diving Turtle Reef and Lighthouse point and we will hit both on our trip. Anyone done Bonnies Arch from the shore? Is it worth doing and how do you access? Thanks. TK

 

[diversteve]

Bonnie's Arch condos has a ladder but I believe it's private property so not sure if you have access unless staying there. I've seen it in the vrbo listing for one of the condos. It was a vertical ladder but didn't look too difficult.I thought I remembered it being in concrete also but maybe not:

There are 2 paths that access the shore and a portable aluminum ladder that hooks to the shore

Edit: found it: - pics of some stairs and the ladder: Cayman Islands Divers Paradise 1st Floor... - HomeAway Northwest Point

snorkeling directly in front of the condo amongst the beautiful coral reefs or, taking the short 5 minute swim out to Bonnie’s Arch to experience a world class dive. EIGHT dive sites accessible right from the shore at Bonnies Arch. There are dive operations within approximately 1/4 mile from condo.

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the info. I will ask when I get on the island. TK

 

[cgills]

Coconut Bay's ladder is fixed into the cement/ironshore. It is straight up and down , and rather short. After a short trip across the hardpan, the mini wall there is stunning, but it is a bit deeper than that at Turtle Reef/Macabuca. StingRay Watersports does have a rinse tank, bench for set-up, and walkway down to the ladder there.

It's my understanding talking to Bonnie's Arch owners in past, that their ladder there is removable, and owners of condos there are required to take it out and store after each use. Use from outsiders is prohibited.

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the info cgills

 

[Doctorfish]

IMO, Hepp's, Turtle Reef are generally better dives than Bonnie's.
Not worth the bother of diving Bonnie's if you can access these other sites.

The arch itself is kind of interesting but that's about it for the dive site. Have only done Bonnie's from a boat so do not know condo rules re entry from shore.

 

[howswedeofme]

We stayed at CBC and did Hepp's Pipeline 3 times during the week in between quite a few boat dives. We thought about going out to the main wall, but loved the mini wall so much, we didn't think the extra swim would be worth it. We went to the left and to the right, and I liked the swim to the right (i.e., away from Macabuca/Turtle Reef) better. The top of the mini wall is just teeming with fish (lots of juveniles) and usually a turtle or two. Don't scoot through the hardpan too quickly. We saw quite a few neat fish/critters in there. I thought it was easier to get in and put my fins on in the water than to try to climb down with fins on or jump in. It can get a little surgey by the ladder. When you check in, let Duncan know you want to dive. He will put tanks out by the shower/dunk tank each day to use. You settle up at the end of the week for the tank rentals.

 

[tkaelin]

Thanks for the post and info. Just the type of info I was looking for. Did you see any other guests diving at CBC?

 

[howswedeofme]

We didn't see any other divers, just people out on the CBC "beach" drinking coffee in the morning and not coffee in the afternoon to catch the sunset Everyone was very friendly to us though and always asked if we saw anything good, if we had fun, if we were enjoying the property, etc. We were pretty lucky to get dives in off the property when we were there in January 2016. It can be choppy that time of year. Oddly enough, we didn't get any shore dives in from Lighthouse Point because it was too rough there. Funny how different the water can be that close together. Hopefully we can get a few in next time - I love the reef at Lighthouse Point, as well.

If we had more time we would have probably done a dive out on Hepp's Wall, but because we were fitting a random extra shore dive here and there either before or after two tankers, we wanted to stay shallow to maximize our bottom time. I also was a little hesitant about being stuck out that far if current kicked up.

Duncan was great to work with as far as getting the info on logistics when we got there. We told him when we were leaving and he stopped by that morning for us to pay our tank rental bill. The property itself is generally in great condition. It was quiet but not stuffy feeling around the pool areas. The pools were on the cold side but I have heard that they turned up the heaters (or maybe added heaters?). We still went in and just toughed out getting used to the water. We plan to stay at CBC again on our next trip.

 

[tkaelin]

We are heading down in June. CBC website states the pools are not heated so in Jan they would be pretty cool. They should be warm and toasty in June. On the weather and wtere you can dive it is amazing just in West Bay the difference there can be between those two sites. On our last trip last June, we were staying out at OF and our second day of boat diving was canceled due to wind and rain squalls coming out of the south. When they announced the cancellation, we grabbed our gear and drove all the way around to Turtle Reef. We got our dives in as it was in the lee of the wind and just in that short drive we were outside the heavy rain bands and had mostly cloudy weather with some drizzle. Thanks again.