Dive sites for beginners in Cayman

[MarsAg99]

Howdy,
This is my first post in the forums. A little background about myself. I got PADI-certified about three years ago and did my first open dive in Cancun that same year. I loved the experience. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to dive since. This year, I do plan to dive though. So, now for my question. Can you all recommend any dive sites in the Cayman Islands for novice divers? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

Can you all recommend any dive sites in the Cayman Islands for novice divers?

A couple I can think of on Grand Cayman:

Stingray City - it's the most fun you can have in 15' of water. The only thing is that the rays do get a little aggressive, rubbing and bumping up against you to make you feed them. It can be a little disorienting. Best way to approach it is to watch for a little while before you move in to take the squid to feed them, they smell who has it and won't bother you if you don't.

Eden Rock/Devils Grotto is a fairly shallow, calm dive that ends a fair way out in some sand flats at about 40'. It's in Georgetown harbor so it's calm. Easy stairs right into the water also. Don't enter any of the overhead obstructed passages or caves and you'll do fine there. They cater to new divers as they're the closest dive op to the cruise port.

Sunset House has some fairly easy diving off their dock also. The famous Amphitrite Mermaid is well marked in 50' of water and there is a lot of shallower coral formations that you can dive right near the resorts dock area. They probably have one of the best dive oriented operations on Cayman.

A little more advanced, but still easy dive is Turtle Reef on the north west tip of GC. It's about a 20 min. drive from Georgetown. They have a mini-wall formation that can't be 40 yds. offshore that goes from about 25 to 65' - I was on the sand bottom at that depth. There is a lot to see there on the wall, coral and sponges everywhere, Tarpon hovering in the shadows, a couple of turtles and some Eagle Rays went streaking overhead near the end of the dive.

It's really easy access there too, they have a ladder that goes right into the water in a protected little cove, swim out to the buoy you'll see from the cove and drop down onto the mini-wall. Sometimes there's a little current but it usually runs along shore instead of out to sea.

If you're wanting to do some boat diving, be aware that most of the regular dive ops do a deeper first dive off the wall typically followed by a shallower second dive. Usually the afternoon 1 tank dives are shallower as people already have a gas buildup from their morning dives.

Also you might want to book with Red Sail Divers, they cater to the new divers off the cruise ships. It's more cattleboat diving than I like but you'll still go to a great dive site on the West side of Cayman, just not to a deep one. And I think they put two DM's in the water with the group.

One of the best boat dives we did was Aquarium, It was mostly 40' deep unless you went further down the sand channels. We were swarmed by fish there.

hth,

 

[Drew Sailbum]

As mentioned, Grand Cayman is really best known for those deep wall dives. The various shore diving locations have nice reefs in shallower waters.

Red Sail does have contracts with some of the cruise lines, but those boats are dedicated to the cruise shippers. A seperate boat takes out the folks who are staying on island. Regular profiles for Red Sail dives are a deep wall dive followed by a shallow reef dive, pretty much like everyone else.

Afternoon dives are more likely to be shallower profile dives. Call around to see what the various shops have planned and be flexible.

 

[CJ's]

It depends on your confidence levels and abilities really. If you are comfortable doing a shore dive on your own to get weights adjusted and get reaquainted with the underwater world then Eden Rock or Sunset house would be perfect for you. Generally calm seas, good vis and easy entry/exits.
On the other hand if you think you might benefit from a bit of TLC and extra attention from an instructor then you should talk to one of the many smaller dive operations who can provide this extra level of service. Some of these are flexible enough to provide a guided shallow wall dive (ie 50-60ft) to break you in gently without missing out on dive days!!
Try Red Baron Divers, Off the Wall, Neptune's Divers or of course Wall to Wall Diving.

Happy diving!
CJ

 

[Mantasscareme]

I think you might find this thread interesting: http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=118512. (The East End of the island mentioned in the thread is considered more challenging due to surge and current). I'm also a somewhat new diver, and I personally feel more confident doing boat dives with a DM than doing even the easiest shore dive with a buddy of equal experience. Some dive ops will allow you to stay on the crest of the wall at 50-70 feet, with a private DM if you choose (usually for an extra charge) instead of following the group down to 100 ft. It's always improtant to tell the DM about any special needs/ concerns before departing.