Conflicting Info on Shore Diving East End of GC

[michtx]

Hi ianr,

I did my open water certification dive on Lake Travis - small world.
40 mins at 100', cool. I see the twin tanks - Great photo.

I've read the UW topography around Babylon is spectacular, are there fewer critters compared to west side?

Understand the comments and concerns about remote location and lack of expert guide. We are conservative, very safety conscious, have UW comm systems and one of us is a rescue diver who always carries an EPIRB. If we wind up on the East side, we'll do a day or more of shallow dives before heading to the wall when weather and conditions permit. I get the impression the shallow reef dives are high quality there too.

 

[ianr33]

Yes,the topography around Babylon is spectacular. In places long ridges run downwards. Where these ridges have a horizontal area there is a mass of life sucking up the sunlight. In other areas the walls are overhanging.Lots of black coral and huge sponges. As the non moored areas in particular are not dived much the corals are pristine.

Diving here takes a lot of effort but its totally worth it. Diving a single tank,if you turn the dive at 1500 psi you can follow a compass heading all the way back to shore for a perfect profile. If you are lucky you get 3 dives in one. Wall at 100 feet,sandflats at 50 feet or so and shallow reef.

Not a huge amount of critters on the walls generally.The top of the wall is teeming with life, presumably as there are (very mild) currents there. Always a (small) chance of seeing pelagics off in the blue. On the Babylon dive we saw a huge Turtle down below.Must have been at 150+

Hi ianr,

I did my open water certification dive on Lake Travis - small world.
40 mins at 100', cool. I see the twin tanks - Great photo.

Look closely and you can see 3 tanks. Would have to check but total dive time was probably 2 hours. The Cayman Walls were what sucked me into tech stuff! When I win the lottery I'm going to get a rebreather and see what 300 feet looks like. I'm told a light is handy at that depth to bring out the colors ,but otherwise not needed. A little different to lovely Lake Travis!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Not sure if this is still the case, but this house rental (near Babylon and Northern Lights) lists tank rentals and air compressor in the garage as being available for rent to guests. ScubaShack

I confirm there is a compressor at this location. It is owned by some friends.

 

[nipi]

Hi nipi,

We're looking at the Azure Breeze or Northern Lights.

The only places I know that will let you rent tanks & take them off site (one per card) are Sundivers (Cracked Conch), Divers Supply, Eden Rock & Don Fosters, all a good distance from North Side. Nearer you you could try the Red Sail shop at Rum Point - they used to rent tanks but not sure whether they do any more. Or try phoning Tortuga Divers at Morrits or Steve at Ocean Frontiers to see if they will rent to you.

 

[nipi]

The south side of the east end doesn't have any shore diving spots with the wall as close as babylon and no easy entries.

Wrong - if the winds are out of the north & you don't fancy diving the north coast, the whole area from the anchor on the fringing reef off the new "malecon" in East End past Blowholes to the white house in Half Moon Bay is diveable from shore.

 

[CJ's]

The Lobster Pot Dive Center will also rent tanks and allow you to take them off site.
Grand Cayman Dive Operator - Scuba Training | Boat Dives | Shore Diving | Cayman Diving - The Lobsterpot Dive Center

 

[michtx]

I've almost got all the details worked out. We will be staying at Scuba Shack, but his compressor is on the fritz. There's a chance it will be fixed by our trip, but I do have a Plan B & C for tank fills just in case.
Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[croyo]

Wrong - if the winds are out of the north & you don't fancy diving the north coast, the whole area from the anchor on the fringing reef off the new "malecon" in East End past Blowholes to the white house in Half Moon Bay is diveable from shore.

...as I said, on the south side you're not going to find the wall as close as it is to shore as babylon. Also there are no entries as easy as babylon. It is a very rocky ironshore entry to any site in half moon bay, and then a decent swim to the mini wall. Much of the coast further east is ironshore bluff; extremely difficult to bring gear over. The only decent entry would be near the anchor but there you're not going to find much decent diving as the closest site is a rather small area of topography called The Arch.

This is all only safe to even try if there is no residual east-southeast swell rolling through, which can still happen with a north wind.

 

[jerrycsr]

I dove Babylon with Ocean Frontiers. I wanted to come back and dive it from shore so I took a picture looking toward the shore from the dive boat to help me locate it. Here it is:

A couple of shots of Babylon from down under. Beautiful dive.

 

[jerrycsr]