Going to Grand Cayman JUNE 27

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You should consider a day trip to the east end. Excellent dive operator: Ocean Frontier - www.oceanfrontiers.com

If you want to see some recent pictures: www.stebler.us.

The trip from seven mile beach takes about 45 minutes but it is definitely worthwhile. It the windward side of the island, therefore a little bit rougher seas. But you get rewarded by pristine walls and reefs. Enjoy!

Ray
 
Originally posted by MissAmberDiva
Is sunday a good day to go to Stingray city? I want to go there when the least amount of cruise ship people will be dumped off there.

Much on the island is closed on Sundays. Grocery stores and multiple shops in Georgetown will be shut for the day.

And in some bizarre Caribbean logic, Stingray City is essentially closed (reserved for locally owned operators) on Sundays. So Sunday is a great day to go... if you can find a boat to take you out there. I know of none, but if you find one I would be interested to know who makes that run on Sunday.
 
Drew-
My travel agent booked me with Don Foster's. I am going Saturday the 29 and Mon the 1st on a two tank dive and I saved Sunday for the stingray city dive. They have me down for that, so Sunday is the day I should be going.
:dazzle:

Amber
 
Hey Drew,

I've worked here for over a year now and have never heard of Stingray City being reserved for local operators on Sunday.

Even if it was reserved for local operators most all qualify as local operators because the law states that they be at least 51% Caymanian partnered.

Anyway either sat. or sunday is a great time to get out there. Alot less hassle with the cattle boats and more action with the rays.

Look out for the hammerhead, I saw a six footer out there last tuesday afternoon cruising about 20 feet outside the snorklers. They never even knew it was there. Kinda Cool.
 
I just got back from GC yesterday and dove Stingray with Don Foster's. It was great. Foster's indicated that they run Stringray trips daily and did not mention not running Sundays.

By the way, I got to dive Devils Grotto and Eden Rock on this trip and loved it. The swim throughs are a blast and I highly recommend this as a cheap shore dive. Also Eden Rock dive shop is very reasonable as we were getting Nitrox tanks ( #1 hang over cure) for $12 US per tank. We ended up doing 3 tanks with one night dive and loved every one.
 
Just wondering what you thought of them? I have read a lot of negative things about them on this board and I was kind of worried that I chose the wrong place. :upset:
Amber
 
I like Don Fosters. While they don't have any six packs, I didn't find any of the boats to be cattle boats and the staff are generally quite helpful and friendly. I liked the fact that they have a drop tank on deep dives (I only went on West wall dives, no north wall)and they will pick you up and drop you off from Treasure Island. They do run the Stingray City boats as a combination dive/snorkel; however, on both times I have been, it have been an average of around 12 divers and 2 or 3 snorkelers.

The only knock that I have with Foster's is they don't offer nitrox. Because many of the morning wall dives are fairly deep (80' to 100' profiles) I like the extra safety factor of nitrox. Plus as I am old, out of shape and tend to drink a bit, I love it as a hang over cure as well. Their package prices are fairly reasonable (the best deal is the 2 x 2 tank for $120, unlimited shore diving) The wreck of the Cali out front of the dive shop is a fun dive; however, as there is boat traffic around, you must drag a torpedo around which is a little bit of a pain.

I do want to mention that the Devils Grotto/Eden Rock is a great shore dive. Lots of swim throughs and a little deeper than the Cali area.

If you have your own transportation, you can hop around the island and take advantage of several good cheap shore dives ($8 US for tank and weights for air) In my opinion, GC is only second to Bonaire for number of good shore dive sites.

I got a car from Budget for $23 US daily on orbitz.com and loved the freedom that it provided.

Bottom line is that unless you insist on using nitrox, then you will likely not be disappointed with Fosters.
 
I was in Cayman 3 yrs ago and stayed next door to Treasure Island and dove with Treasure Island Divers for 5 days.

My only complaint is that they will go out in large parties and the sites they hit will be close and heavily dived. You will usually be with inexperienced divers and the divemasters will choose sites with them in mind. The diving is still relatively superb in spite of that.

The whole west side of the island is so heavily developed, however, that you're almost always in traffic if you want to get anywhere by car. The "tourist-trap" environment is a little depressing there.

I'm returning to Cayman this year and intend to stay away from the western side of the island (7-mile beach) and will instead be exploring the East End.
 

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