First time diving in Grand Cayman!!

[billinwilliamston]

I would check and see if Ocean Frontiers is doing their three tank, all day thing. You do a deep wall (Babylon, if conditions permit), SRC and another dive. You'll also have lunch at Kaibo. Makes for a nice day of diving.

 

[divesergeant]

+1 on Ocean Frontiers.

Hi Bill, don't you wish you were up here in Michigan? Up to a foot of snow coming tomorrow, -4 degrees tomorrow night..... Surely that is lots better than the Keys!

 

[omar2828]

I did my OW certification in Grand Cayman, got 7 dives in total, though of those you listed only the kittiwake. I thought it was pretty cool, more experienced divers may have a different opinion. I went to stingray city but i didn't dive, at the spot i went to the water was really shallow, a pretty large group of people (several boats) but it was cool, worth going to, not sure if the diving it is worth it (you go to a different spot, nearby I'm assuming)... I dove with Ambassador Divers the whole time (did the stingray city trip with them too) i think they do snorkeling too... I did a night dive from shore at turtle reef too which was pretty cool.. turtle farm is, well a turtle farm, so they eat a portion of those turtles, some are released, i guess it depends on you if its worth it (wasn't a bad experience wasn't great)


---wanted to add that my experience with ambassador divers was great, they were knowledgeable about sea life and alert able to point things out i would definitely have missed w/o them (including an octopus on the night dive)

 

[caymaniac]

I did my OW certification in Grand Cayman, got 7 dives in total, though of those you listed only the kittiwake. I thought it was pretty cool, more experienced divers may have a different opinion. I went to stingray city but i didn't dive, at the spot i went to the water was really shallow, a pretty large group of people (several boats) but it was cool, worth going to, not sure if the diving it is worth it (you go to a different spot, nearby I'm assuming)... I dove with Ambassador Divers the whole time (did the stingray city trip with them too) i think they do snorkeling too... I did a night dive from shore at turtle reef too which was pretty cool.. turtle farm is, well a turtle farm, so they eat a portion of those turtles, some are released, i guess it depends on you if its worth it (wasn't a bad experience wasn't great)


---wanted to add that my experience with ambassador divers was great, they were knowledgeable about sea life and alert able to point things out i would definitely have missed w/o them (including an octopus on the night dive)

Welcome to the board.
There are many things to experience on a dive trip, I'm glad you had some good experiences. I'm always amazed at the beauty in the turtle shells, those Hawksbill that they have at the turtle farm (kind of expensive for what is there) are a bit stinky, other than that they are interesting. The Hawksbill that we have seen diving we have really enjoyed through the years. I convey that Stingray City should be dived, if you really don't like the stingrays after awhile there a some shallow coral heads that have life and are fun to investigate nearby.

 

[releck97]

Here's a little clip from our family charter to Sting Ray City with Epic Divers. Although I am a Dive Master, I still enjoy a trip to SRC once in awhile.

[video]http://www.flickr.com/photos/120177526@N06/[/video]

 

[caymaniac]

Here's a little clip from our family charter to Sting Ray City

Very cool. One thing nice about that dive is that it gives:

1 new divers a shallow test dive.
2. a good place to test your equipment.
3. a fun experience interacting with marine life.

 

[releck97]

Very cool. One thing nice about that dive is that it gives:

1 new divers a shallow test dive.
2. a good place to test your equipment.
3. a fun experience interacting with marine life.

and a couple of nice coral heads at shallow depth which are fun to explore.

 

[Kharon]

Babylon is a fantastic dive and doable from shore but note that the original poster of this thread seemed to have limited open water experience.

we all need to be careful of what we are recommending. For a newbie, boat wall diving with a good operator or shore diving at a well established site where there is a dive operation present would be the way to go.

Sorry. I was asking for myself. Should have made that clear. Going to GC with my local club early September for mostly shore diving. Babalon looked very interesting and just wanted to know, if it wasn't on the club list, if I should make the effort to dive it on my own.

 

[releck97]

Sorry. I was asking for myself. Should have made that clear. Going to GC with my local club early September for mostly shore diving. Babalon looked very interesting and just wanted to know, if it wasn't on the club list, if I should make the effort to dive it on my own.

Babylon is a swim but it is SO worth it! There are a myriad of shore diving sites on Grand Cayman, however, few are as spectacular as Babylon. The winds must be right for you to think about doing it..ie: no surf! The wall is so spectacular here. If you have good swimming ability and don't mind the snorkel out, take the plunge when you hit the wall and then scuba back in following one of the fingers back to shore. This makes for a great profile and takes care of your safety stop too. Enjoy!

 

[Romera]

I would recommend Ocean Frontiers Dawn Stingray Tour. It is snorkeling - not diving - but they only take six people and it goes out early before there are any crowds. At least when I did it last year we were the only people there. It is early as all get out - so it takes the commitment of getting up early - but my experience at dawn at stingray city with only six people was so much better than my other experience with stingrays and a couple of boatloads of people.