First time to GC 5/26-6/3 some Tips needed

[Damselfish]

All the boat dives aren't necessarily 100 ft wall dives, though that particular scenery is certainly something that stands out about GC. Many ops do a deep deeper wall dive for the first of a morning 2 tank, and the second dive will be shallower (as shallow as you would like, don't know.) It's been a long time since I dove with Sunset House but at the time they would do 2 shallow dives on one of the morning boats, they may have even insisted everyone do that one the first day. Some ops that run multiple boats may do the same, at least if they have the demand. Also, sometimes afternoon boats may do shallower dives. Really need to check with different ops.

I do agree that boat dives can often be more favorable for a new diver there than some shore dives.

 

[DandH]

While it's certainly possible to do a week of shallower diving on Grand Cayman, if you are a beginner who doesn't want to dive very deep at all I would suggest Grand Cayman is not the best destination to start with. You may be able to arrange shallower boat diving with the right op and do shallow shore diving, but it's not really what Grand Cayman diving is about. There are lots of places much better suited for a beginner wanting to do a bunch of shallow diving (whether boat or shore) and build up some experience.

I would also say that if you want to do the easy shore diving that is available on GC, staying on the East End of the island doesn't work too well because almost all that easy shore diving is on the West End. Most of this is at developed sites with dive shops and tanks on site. As far as any places at non-developed sites where you need to bring your own tanks, the one place you can reliably rent tanks to take wherever is also on SMB.

Blazinator - have you verified with Ocean Frontiers that they are currently renting tanks to take off site for shore diving? Maybe they are right now but historically they have not, same with most ops on Grand Cayman.

I was going to say something similar regarding the East End not being the best place for shore diving, but I was thinking that perhaps the resort was picked more for just general enjoyment/vacation rather than diving. The distance from the northeast quadrant over to Lighthouse point is about the two farthest points on the island.

 

[Blastman4444]

We did our first dive with Ocean Frontiers today we paid an extra $100 for a private DM he took us down to 87' the first dive and asked us if we were okay going down about every 20'. Which in the end we had no problems going down to 87'. We had a great dive, but my wife got sea sick on the boat so we are going to just going to do shore dives on the west side. We are thinking Eden rock and Turtle Rock, and Lighthouse. I didn't think it's much of a drive to the west side about 45min drive wasn't that bad if were going for the whole day.

 

[Codeman00]

We've decided to do boat dives all week with Ocean Frontiers and signed up for the East End package deal....$495 each for 5 - 2 tank dives and the Stingray City dive on Friday. I might add a night dive or two...we'll see . We'll try to stay at 70 ft or so on the wall dives and my gf said she would rather dive deep and have dive masters watching us than to dive by ourselves. Her main concern was not being experienced enough to help me in case something went wrong. I can't really argue or fault her for that....that's just being a good dive buddy.

I will report back in mid July.

 

[hul kogan]

I just returned from a week on GC this past Sunday. I dove the North and West sides of the island. As a little background, I had just finished up my OWD cert the week before we left. So this was my first experience in the ocean and I had never been deeper than 45'.

Needless to say, when we arrived at the first dive site and the DM explained that we'd be doing a 100' wall dive, my anxiety was rising steadily. I reminded Jerry (the DM) of my previous dive experience and he assured me that I'd be just fine and to just 'stick with him'. I knew that I just needed to get in the water and to the top of the reef (~50' down from the boat) and I'd hopefully feel better.

As it turns out, I couldn't have been more right! I made it to the top of the reef, ears equalized, everything in check, and I started to get into my groove. As we approached the edge of the wall my excitement/anxiety had pretty much equaled. When we went over the edge and I looked down at the blue abyss we were suspended above and the giant wall we were flanked by and I knew I was experiencing something truly amazing. We continued along the wall for about 10-12 mins (at ~100') and then back up the wall and on top of the reef for the remainder of the dive. It was a great first experience in the ocean, I was hooked.

Assuming you have a good dive op and DM, they should be able to pretty accurately judge your skill level just by talking with you. And then their thoughts will be confirmed after they see how you behave below the surface. My confidence in the dive op was founded on the recommendation by the LDS that I certified with and it was confirmed from the minute I stepped on their boat. Jerry must have felt confident in his assessment, otherwise he would have directed me to stay on top of the wall with the other DMs group. That first dive was exactly what I needed to build my confidence for the rest of the dives. By the end of the week, I was the first one jumping off the boat and down to the reef waiting for the other divers. It was awesome to see my confidence and skill level grow over just a week's time.

I guess my point is, certainly don't push yourself beyond your comfort zone. But don't allow your initial anxiety at the surface to dictate your whole dive. You never know how you'll feel when you get down there. If at any point during the dive you feel like you're pushing your comfort level then, by all means, ascend and get back to where you are comfortable. Your DM should talk with you about possible scenarios before the dive, so you'll have options when you get down there.

 

[Blastman4444]

The issue was he took us around slow and we didn't worry about slowing anyone else in the main party who went right down to 100 with the other DM we were able to do it on our own pace. Once I got equlized it really wasn't a problem I didn't even use a suit only had a shirt on the water was very confertable. I'm glad I didn't wear my 3mm didn't need it at all. I had more fun at Maggies Maze where we went though caves and canyon's that was the best and I saw more then I did on the wall. We were around 30-50' there I think still waiting on the email with our depths. I would be happy with just going back to maggies maze reef then the wall since my wife missed out on that dive from being sick. She was concerend about throwing up in the regulator eventhough it can be cleared she didn't want to deal with it. We picked up scoloderm TTM patch today in George town. You don't need a script here to get it they sell it over the counter. We had a script for it back at home but she tried to use the rist bands those didn't work at all. SHe is just too sensitive to motion sickness to use those. She has used the patch before just had a few side effects but should be okay. I'm going to try and call OF see if they have any open spots tomorow for stingray city if not we may end up doing a shore dive. Where not on this trip just to scuba we plan on parasaling and horseback riding as well. The reef resort has a sailboat we might rent take around the reef.