Diving Grand Cayman- Questions

[azspecter]

Hey guys-
We are taking a cruise where a port of call is Grand Cayman. I've never been before, but 5 of us wanted to book a couple dives outside of the cruise line. Questions:

1) Can you recommend a GOOD/REPUTABLE dive shop that will take GOOD care of us, but are good on price?

2) Will we need wetsuits? We're going 1st week in June.

3) What dive locations should we try to go to? I'm game for a great reef dive, any swim throughs, wreck dives- or anything that we can't see anywhere else that we'll never forget. Any suggestions?

I appreciate all the help!

 

[ryshannon]

I wore a full 3mm in Feb and was comfortable, in June should be ok in a 2mil or 3mil shorty.
We use Jason at ambassador divers They will have a boat that is just big enough for 5 divers and are excellent for Charters. Jason will pick you up & bring you back if you set it up with him prior. you can do both reef & wreck in Grand Cayman Give Jason a here is their website. Ambassador Divers Ltd., Grand Cayman Exceptional scuba diving in the Cayman Islands

 

[divesergeant]

azspecter,

Good choice booking outside the cruise line. They look after their bottom line more than they look after you!


Here's some answers...

1) Neptune's Divers (www.neptunesdivers.com) will take great care of you. Keith and Casey are both service and safety oriented. They take smaller groups, so be sure to book early with them. Tell Casey "Hi" from me!

2) A wetsuit shouldn't be needed. If you have a diveskin or rashguard you might want it, but I dive in beach shorts and tank-top and am fine. Make sure your bouyancy is good to stay off the reef and the rashguard becomes less of an issue.

3) There are many good dives that Neptune's can get to. Depending upon the weather they might dive the SMB area (ask for Bonnie's Arch) or the north (up there, everything's good)

When are you going to be there? Let us know how it went.

DS

 

[nipi]

Another vote for Ambassador - jason@ambassadordivers.com

 

[Wildbill]

I booked through the cruise line (Celebrity) and ended up with Red Sail. They were a great charter to dive with and very knowledgeable. One thing to think of using the cruise line bookings is that they (Dive Boat) will make sure you are back at port for the ferry back to ship. This a requirement of course of them, if you use a non-affiliated boat you stand the risk of missing the boat (Literally). I went in late Dec. and dove with only a sleevless T-shirt for protection of the BC straps and was fine.

 

[dpaustex]

I was just in Grand Cayman.

First, a place to AVOID is Eden Rock Dive Center. Went there two times, and was treated not too well.

I did boat diving with Deep Blue Divers (www.deepbluediverscayman.com) and was very pleased. They are a smaller operation, and I dove on both of their boats, and was treated very, very well. They run two 32ft Duskies, 8 divers max per boat. They will go where the wind is least. We were able to dive the North Shore two days, and the South Side one day, after the wind shifted (it was so rough on the west side, that the cruise ships had to go to the South side, and shuttle passengers into town).

Deep Blue has good rental gear, and the DM's lead the dives, pointing out cool stuff, and making sure no one has buoyancy problems (the drop off on one dive was 4000+ feet). We went to the less visited sites, and I was pleasantly surprised how laid-back these guys were, yet very conscious of safety, etc. Their prices are good, too (in line with everyone else's, at $99 per 2 tanks). Have fun, nice place to dive.

 

[azspecter]

THANK YOU! Everyone is suggesting these shops walking distance from the Cruise Ship docks. But then I read about all the snorkelers, the oil from the ships, etc etc. I REALLY want a secluded, quiet dive site, away from all that. I will certainly check these guys out. I appreciate the help!

 

[marshallkarp]

"First, a place to AVOID is Eden Rock Dive Center. Went there two times, and was treated not too well."

Don't know what happened in your situation, but I went to Eden Rock in June and was treated just fine. Sorry you had your bad experience, though.

 

[azspecter]

Well, all the pics I've seen of Eden Rock seem VERY bland, and not much to see. Maybe I'm wrong, I just didn't get a good feel of that place- too touristy?