Family trip to Grand Cayman

[hawkeye58]

Hi everyone, we're taking our newly certified 13 year old daughter to Grand Cayman at the end of July and we're staying at the Westin. My daughter is very comfortable and confident in the water. I've been diving since 1972 and my wife has been diving for six years now. Any recommendations on family friendly and "newbie" friendly dive operations would be greatly appreciated. What's a must see and what or who to stay away from. If there are threads already covering these topics, forgive me I haven't found them...yet!
Thanks a bunch for any and all suggestions!

 

[nshuff]

I am very interested in what people have to say also. My girlfriend and i our also staying at the westin on august4th.

Let me know what your experiences are while you guys are down there...

 

[gb_williams]

My recommendation is Divetech at Cobalt Coast. They have a kids dive program during July. Often, there are teen divers staying at Cobalt Coast during the summer with their families. Send an email to Dora at Cobalt Coast or Elenore at Divetech to see if there are other teens/families there during the time you're visiting.

In case it's not absolutely clear, after 5 trips to Grand Cayman and 3 of them with Divetech/Cobalt Coast, I'm really sold on the way they deal with divers of any age. But, in your case, especially with young teens.

 

[ScubaTigress]

Eden's Rock works with kids on a daily basis and were great with me when i was much younger... I'd definately recommend that, and it's in george town, bout a 5-7 minute drive from westin

 

[LynnB]

We did our dives with Don Fosters. My daughter was 12 and newly certified and my son was 13 with only a few dives. I was very please with them. This was in 2002.

 

[conman]

I was down in Grand Cayman back in Jun. I highly recommend Eden Roc on your first day of diving. You can tak e a cab from the Wyndham or their is a bus service to town for $2.50 per person. Eden Roc is a great place to get your scuba legs back and check your gear. The guys at the dive shop give an excellent brief and the dive is pretty good. It is a shallow swim out and on the outer edge of the reef will get down to around 45 feet. For boat diving I went with Wall to Wall divers. They will pick you up at your hotel. Once at the boat they will set up your gear. It was very nice. They take small groups which is nice. Our diving was on the North Wall which was amazing!!!! The dive guides gave us great tours. Have a great time!!!!

 

[THX1138]

Hi everyone, we're taking our newly certified 13 year old daughter to Grand Cayman at the end of July and we're staying at the Westin. My daughter is very comfortable and confident in the water. I've been diving since 1972 and my wife has been diving for six years now. Any recommendations on family friendly and "newbie" friendly dive operations would be greatly appreciated. What's a must see and what or who to stay away from. If there are threads already covering these topics, forgive me I haven't found them...yet!
Thanks a bunch for any and all suggestions!

I have been to GC many times, and dive with Neptune's Divers. They can pick up at Westin and are relaxed. Casey will be doing cert. for daughter of our friends diving with us in August.

By the way, across from the Westin is the Eats Cafe for breakfast, and Legends sports bar for dinner, that are cheaper alternatives if you want to eat away from the hotel.


Neptune's Divers, Cayman's Original 8 Divers Max

 

[tmp]

Cobalt Coast and Divetech all day long......Headed back in Oct for the third time. Cobalt Coast is small, tightly run operation by Dora and Arie - they are the BEST. As for DiveTech - they too are great. On our last visit we watched as one of their DM's worked closely - first in the pool with a guest that had MS....and then took her into the ocean for her dives....they are a smooth, friendly and attentive operation. Especially with a new diver I dont think you can go wrong...

 

[diversteve]

Turtle Reef is another easy shore dive just north of Seven Mile Beach. Easy entry through a protected cove and about 40-45' to the bottom of the mini-wall. We spent two whole dives there, there's lots to see. IMO, it's the best publicly known shore dive on GC.

Sunset House in south Georgetown is worth an afternoon also. Another easy entry through their salt water "pool" and signature dives under 60' - the LCM Nicholson and the Amphitrite Mermaid statue. Also check out the Cathy Church photo school/gallery on-site. My Bar there is a diver's spot.

Stingray City is the most fun you'll have in 14'. The dive, not the nearby snorkel. Most diveops will do it as an afternoon dive.

Besides Neptune's Divers, other small group-size operators often mentioned here are Wall to Wall, Off the Wall or Ambassador Divers. All (should) pick you up at the Westin.[user]Caymancase[/user] here is Casey from Neptune's. Since they only take 6-8 divers, you'll be 1/2 their business.

Red Sail is the on-site dive operator at the Westin. Red Sail - Westin Casuarina Resort and Spa. Fosters is downtown so when the cruiser's are in port daily, that's an issue. Neither would be my choice but I don't like diving with big groups/ boats - ymmv.

If you dive Eden Rock, they're about 100 yds. north of the cruise terminal so plan that for late afternoon or a non-cruise ship day. People who've not been there recently probably haven't experienced how 2-3 cruise ships in port change Georgetown now.

Google it, there's an on-line cruise schedule for Georgetown. We went thru there on a 2-ship afternoon - note that people often don't look your way as driving is on the opposite side - b4 stepping off the curb. By 5-6 things quiet down nicely if you want to explore some of the restaurant/shopping options downtown - some of the shops close when the last boat leaves.

One thing to mention when booking, typically the first dive on most 2-tanks is deep down the wall - 100' +/-. Some dives have a shallower option, others start around 60'. So mention your dauqhter's dive experience. Aquarium is a really good shallow dive at about 45'.

More info can be found in the Cayman Islands forum. I've moved this thread there now.

 

[Roombaguy]

Here you go:

Ship Schedules

Google it, there's an on-line cruise schedule for Georgetown. We went thru there on a 2-ship afternoon - note that people often don't look your way as driving is on the opposite side - b4 stepping off the curb. By 5-6 things quiet down nicely if you want to explore some of the restaurant/shopping options downtown - some of the shops close when the last boat leaves.