For best weather, diving -April or May

[Mychinita]

Hello, we are a diver/snorkeler couple, my husband being the diver. We are looking into going to Grand Cayman next year, after March. Our question is which month would be better for both of us? I like to snorkel in calm/flat clear turquoise waters and I love beautiful beaches.He has gone diving in Bonaire, Belize, Roatan, Palau and Philippines- does not like to dive in cold water. We think that Grand Cayman will have a lot to offer in activities both in and out of the water. We are thinking of a beach condo called White Sands, they look quite nice. Are there dive operators near there? Do they pickup? Or does he get himself there? We are planning on 2 weeks and he is thinking 12-15 dives. He likes small groups. He is in his 60s. Any recommendations on a dive operator that he will be comfortable with? Also, would May be a better month than April? Thank you so much!

 

[Trailboss123]

Others will certainly chime in before long. White Sands is located right where you want to be to fulfill your stated desires. Water temps in May should be a tad warmer than April- certainly won't be colder than April. That being said, the difference is likely minimal- a degree or so. There are a number of dive operators that would pick up your husband. I will let others chime in on that and make their recommendations based on his desire to be with an operator that caters to small groups. I am a big fan of Brad Nelson and Cayman University Divers. You would have to check with him, as to whether he would do a pick up or not. I have always driven to him, out of my own convenience and his- but his boat is quite close to where you will be staying, so he may very well do a pick up. Here is his website: Cayman University Divers

 

[mi000ke]

First, the question of Cayman dive op recommendations seems to come up about once a week on this board, so a search here will provide a lot of good information. But to summarize, what you will find is that pretty much all the ops are great, although everyone has their favorites.

Regarding small groups, I dive with both larger and smaller outfits, and in either case the actual group you would be diving with will be small, as they all limit the number of divers per guide. Recently I have been diving more with the larger boat operators as I find I have much more room on board. But sometimes one of the smaller outfits will accommodate my schedule better as they can often be more flexible, and their smaller boats also work well - and scheduling rather than size of operation is usually the way I decide on a particular dive op.

Regarding weather, you really won't find much difference between April and May. Hurricane season officially begins in mid-May, so if you want to be really safe, go for April. You will find West Bay, where White Sands is located, generally has very calm, warm and high visibility water that time of year.

I'm also in my 60s and while I keep telling (convincing) myself that I'm in better shape then the youngsters I often dive with, sometimes having someone help with putting the equipment on an off is not a bad thing. But again, all of the ops I've gone with will help with just about anything if you ask (although one operator insisted that they carry my equipment to and from the stern of the boat after I opined that a youngster like me didn't need help ).

Pretty much all of the dive ops will pick you up.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Testudo]

May kicks off rainy season in Cayman, so keep that in mind.

 

[Doctorfish]

I've not experienced dramatically different weather April vs. May.
All of the west side dive ops should pick up and drop off. They all provide more or less valet service. I personally favor large boat/small group operators and have had very good experiences with DNS and Wall to Wall. As Trailboss said, hard to find a bad op on GC, they would not be in business very long.

If you are looking for a condo at the north end of 7MB, I like Christopher Columbus and Anchorage but the condos on the north of 7MB are all on a nice stretch of sand
and have beautiful pool areas as well. Go for best price. Beware anything to close too the public beach as it can get busy and noisy.

Make sure you also do some shore diving up at Turtle Reef or Lighthouse. The miniwall is spectacular in that area and you can dive the main wall as well if prepared to do some swimming.

 

[Dish]

I agree with @Testudo ... rain starts to really kick in mid-May. Our most recent trip was during that time and we experienced quite a bit of rain. In fact, the day we decided to do both a morning and afternoon dive, several flights had to divert elsewhere because it was raining so hard, they couldn’t get the required visibility to land. Although our gear got a real good fresh water rinse!