Cruise Divers in Grand Cayman

[Deepreefer]

I would recommend getting out of the Georgetown harbour area and get a couple of shore dives at Lighthouse Point in West Bay. The deep wall is close and awesome and then a second dive on a really nice miniwall. The local buses cost US$2.50/person each way and leave from the courthouse in town (2 minute walk from cruise ship) and take about 10 minutes. The West Bay shore dives are better than most boat dives from Georgetown.

We will be shore diving Cayman on Nov. 22 when our cruise ship is there (Celebrity Millennium). We are trying to decide whether to dive Lighthouse Point or Turtle Reef. We stayed at Cobalt Coast and dove with Dive Tech June 2007 and did Turtle Reef and Sea Fan Reef but have not done Lighthouse Point. We arrive at 8am with priority debarkation for excursions. Do you think we would have enough time for a shore dive at Turtle Reef, lunch and a visit to the Turtle Farm? Also we are concerned about transportation. Can you give exact directions for getting to the courthouse to catch a bus to either Lighthouse Point or Turtle Reef? How do we catch the bus back from either location? Do they run on a regular schedule? Also we will be bringing all of our own gear, except tanks and weights of course, will that cause a problem on the bus? We rode the buses there before and they were actually minivans. We had the joy of riding on the "Rasta" bus. It was a little spooky but got us there. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

 

[jac8724]

I'm gonna try to make the dive with Indigo, hopefully I get a ticket for an early tender, that cruise excursion "priority" is BS. Deepreefer- how did you get your priority debarkation without doing the cruise dive? I'm assuming to go to the main desk a few days before and ask? If we don't make it, we will continue on our way to shore dive around there, Lighthouse Point, Turtle Farm, or Cobalt Coast. After looking on a map, Cobalt Coast seems alittle far though....

We will have our own dive gear as well! Looks like we are in the same boat as you. I would also like to know where this bus departs from in case there is any problems with finding/waiting for taxis. Thanks so much for all your input! Its really helpful

 

[Deepreefer]

We have priority debarkation on excursions because we booked concierge class and that is one of the perks. It did not specify that the excursion had to be booked with the cruise line. I'm not sure of all of the specifics but since we are shore diving even if we don't get to Turtle Reef or Lighthouse Reef until 10 or 11 that is still plenty of time to dive and make it back to the ship. We want to be done diving and on our way back to the ship by 2pm rather than risk missing the boat. The reefs at Cobalt Coast, Lighthouse Point and Turtle Reef by the Turtle Farm may be a little further away but are worth the drive since they are not hit all the time by the tourists like us.

 

[jac8724]

I want to do 2 dives, so I really hope I get off the boat and up to West Bay by 9am so I get get two in, be heading back and in line for the cruise ship no later than 2pm. Worst case scenario, we miss the boat with Indigo, have to shore dive, and only get one dive in...that still isn't a bad day!