GC Real diving even if arriving on cruise ship?

[caymaniac]

Well, coming in from the cruise ship you might look back and see this:

Diving at Sting Ray City you might see something like this:

Diving off the north wall you might get lucky and see this:

There are sponges on the walls to see:

And plenty of turtles:

Cayman is so diveable and tropical:

 

[gatorpharm]

How long of a swim is it? I have two strong junior swimmers in our group and how deep to begin the wall portion? They can only go 40 ft still. Thank you, Teri

 

[diversteve]

How long of a swim is it? I have two strong junior swimmers in our group and how deep to begin the wall portion? They can only go 40 ft still. Thank you, Teri

Some options you all might enjoy:

Eden Rock/Devils Grotto. Most of it is under 40' some as shallow as 15'. Scuba Cayman with Eden Rock It's downtown near the cruise tender port so it's best to go when they're not in town - unless you like crowds. Find out when that is: http://www.caymanport.com/shipschedules.php Cayman is a day port so by about 4PM we had the place to ourselves.

Stingray City is 15' deep. It's a lot of fun.

There's a mini-wall just offshore at Turtle Reef - maybe 40 yds. to the ball. It's good all the way down and bottoms out at between 40-50' into a sandy area. From there you can also swim across it (long swim) out to the drop at the main wall but we really enjoyed just diving the mini-wall. Go south and you'll run into a big school of tarpon in the shadows. Cracked Conch Grand Cayman Shore Diving

Both Lighthouse Point and Cobalt Coast are shallow for a long way out - eventually you'll get out to the main wall. Grand Cayman scuba diving

Sunset House is decent diving fairly close in. Sometimes there's a little current there. Since it's all ironshore cliffs you have to hit your exit point if you get caught in it. The Mermaid is 50' so just outside your jr. divers range. But there's a lot of shallower reef closer in. Shore dive the Caribbean waters world class

Smiths Cove just south of there is supposed to be another shallow dive - I've never been there. For tank rentals (most ops won't let you remove them) go to Eden Rock. Divers Supply in West Bay rents tanks also. Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Smith's Cove of Cayman Islands, Caribbean

You might ask an operator if they could dive the first couple of decks of the Kittiwake. It's a snorkel site also and almost breaks the surface. IDK if there's an age limit. It's a boat dive. The Official Website for the Kittiwake Shipwreck - Home

 

[80cf]

I second Eden Rock. Its an easy 150-200 yards from shore,and about 45 ft max. My wife and I did 3 tanks off the cruiseship and were back in plenty of time. Very inexpensive fun....

 

[Doctorfish]

If there are 5 of you, some of the small operators will allow you to charter a boat so you dive at your time and terms. I would go for a 2 tanker on the North Wall. Ist dive on the wall, second either at Stingray City or another North wall dive. ( I personally would take a pass on Stingray City, too contrived. ) I would also look at DNS and Wall to Wall as potential operators. There are others as well.

---------- Post added April 17th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ----------

If you are on GC for the first time, I would go by boat out to the wall and not bother shore diving. GC is famous for it's walls, the shallow shore dives are good but not unique.