Feedback on Grand Cayman dive sites for new guidebook

[peek49230]

I went shore diving from Coconut Bay twice last December without being a guest there. One of the owners of Stingray Watersports lives there and if you call him in advance, he will leave out tanks and weights for you, air or nitrox. He also manages rentals for the condos at Coconut which are spacious and well priced for GC.

We dropped off our gear, parked up by the road, got set up, went diving and there did not seem to be any raised eyebrows. Fairly long swim out to the buoy at Hepps.

The ladder at Macabuca is marginally better and sheltered, but the reef itself seems to be in better shape at Hepps than further south at Turtle. Both are excellent dives.

I think the OP is still looking for suggestions re popular dives east and south end of island.

We will be staying there this New Years. Hopefully this guide will be out by then.

 

[Alucard]

I went shore diving from Coconut Bay twice last December without being a guest there. One of the owners of Stingray Watersports lives there and if you call him in advance, he will leave out tanks and weights for you, air or nitrox. He also manages rentals for the condos at Coconut which are spacious and well priced for GC.

He manages some of them, but not all.

I am an owner there (in the spirit of full disclosure) and I agree that they are spacious and well-priced.

And your point is exactly why I say that this is an open question right now that I hope to get resolved. Some owners have said that it's not for use by people who don't own or stay there, while others feel that it is fine. I will attempt to get that resolved, because it is a really nice shore dive, and I have posted before on this board that I recommend it to visitors.

The Strata (the owner's association) are the ones who own the dive station and pay to maintain the ladder, and while Stingray Watersports provides tanks and weights for a fee there, there is no formal association between the two.

I really hope that we can get some resolution on this.

Sorry to hijack this thread about the dive guide, but I feel I should correct information as it is posted.

 

[Doctorfish]

Aha, now I understand. I can see why this would be an imposition for owners. I will dive from Macabuca until there is clarification. Don’t want to step on any toes.

 

[KathyV]

Hi everyone. I'm reaching out for a little advice. I work for Reef Smart Guides and we're in the middle of completing a detailed dive and snorkel guide, including 3D site maps, for the Cayman Islands. We've got Little Cayman and Cayman Brac covered, but at present we only have about 10 sites mapped on Grand Cayman and they are all West Coast dives along the Seven Mile Beach area. We're looking to return to Cayman next month to map an additional 5 or 6 sites on the north, east and south coasts. We want some advice on which sites would make the best (and most useful) maps to complete and represent a decent cross-section of the diving there. We can't map every site of course, but we want to get make sure we hit the highlights. Several people had suggested: Babylon, Grouper Grotto, The Maze, Julie's Wall, Fish Tank, Bat Caves, Pedro's, Lighthouse Reef, Tunnel of Love. We're looking for some feedback on what might be considered the best of Grand Cayman's north, south and east coasts. Thanks!

Just a note to let you know that the Cayman government has just enacted legislation to expand their marine parks and environmental protection program that will extend the no-take and no-dive restrictions.

Ten dive sites, mostly off Grand Cayman will be closed to divers, see the link below.

It's great that they are taking action to protect the natural environment, but you probably wouldn't want to include a recently closed site in your new dive guide!

Ten Cayman dive sites to close under new Marine Park Enhancements

 

[caydiver]

 

[drrich2]

If any sites the guidebook authors were considering are about to stop existing as such for dive use, that's key info. and good to know.

If any of those sites are particularly popular with some divers, also good to know.

Dive tourists who visit once a year or however often bring business and money to the Caymans. Citing one's source when sharing news is a good thing.

 

[jgttrey]

Great. But this means very little or nothing to the diving visitors. If you are a regular that qualifies for local trips whether lionfish or whatever great. You know the drill. If you come here once a year and think you are missing out you have no idea. Local news has little involvement in the dive industry. Cut and paste from newspapers by folks who visit once s year is whimsical at best and perhaps a bit insulting to folks who call this home and actually stay abreast of changing regulations to stay in business. Is a whoop whoop to nonsensical posts worthwhile?

Huh?

Maybe I'm missing something, but guy posts asking for suggestions on dive sites for a guide book and gets lots of feedback. @KathyV helpfully posts a note that simply says "hey, might want to check this out - a few sites may be closed and you might want to make sure you don't include one on your guide."

What is "whimsical" or "insulting" about that? If, from your privileged vantage point, you have additional information, I'm sure it would be appreciated. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you're going out of your way to slam a seemingly helpful post from the kind of customer on which your livelihood depends.

 

[caydiver]

 

[jgttrey]

That is a reasonable thing to suggest, I just don't see the purpose of body slamming someone for pointing the potential issue, particularly when they just flagged a news report. If the info is wrong, it would be a public service to correct it.

KathyV and others on this board promote Cayman constantly. If your concern is impacting business, then a good place to start is not alienating "mere tourists" by suggesting they have no right to comment. If I didn't know better, and thought that all Cayman dive ops had such contempt for their clients, I would go elsewhere.

 

[caydiver]