Grand Cayman East Coast in March?

[dberry]

We're fairly late in planning a 7-day trip in March 2023 and want to finalize things before the rooms get filled. We like the dive/stay combos at Compass Point on the east side, but have only been there in the summer. What should we expect in terms of weather in mid to late March? In particular, does anyone know about possible changes in currents / wind that might keep the boats from going to the Northern / Northeastern dive sites?

On the bright side, we found lots of flights from the east coast (US) to Grand Cayman and it looks like my daughter can get a non-stop from JFK for ~$350. It'll cost me more from PHL, but not terrible.

Happy 2023 everyone!
Thanks.
Don

 

[Doctorfish]

Might be a bit rough but if you can't dive NE there is always SE.

 

[scubadada]

I've been to Compass Point/Ocean Frontiers twice, once in September and once in November/December. We did the majority of our dives in September in the north and the majority of the dives in November/December in the south. Both trips were excellent. It's a huge advantage to be able to go north or south depending on the conditions. We saw the majority of Reef Sharks at sites in the southeast corner, which we visited on both trips.

 

[dberry]

When we were there in June it was mainly South, but I wasn't sure if that was just that week, or if there are normal, seasonal patterns. We can't work on getting all 55 dive sites if the boats can't get there

 

[Doctorfish]

Better to dive where the conditions are good than to fuss about some artificial goal. The DMs at OF will take the boats to the best sites for any given day and weather conditions.

 

[dberry]

Better to dive where the conditions are good than to fuss about some artificial goal. The DMs at OF will take the boats to the best sites for any given day and weather conditions.

True, but I didn't say we would ask them to take us to sites with lousy conditions. Rather we'd like to hit as much variety as possible, and would consider going to Grand Cayman in a different month, if that meant getting to dive new (to us) sites.

 

[tkaelin]

The only iffy weather month that I am aware of is December with northers but that should not affect OF as others have said they have lots of dive options due to their location. You should be fine in March.

 

[Doctorfish]

I'm not being critical, just pointing out a personal preference. I've been on a dive boat many times where a diver or group of divers lobbies for a specific site because of a review in a magazine, a prior experience or wanting to check it off a list; and the captain has gone there even though the current may be up a bit or the viz isn't perfect, resulting in a mediocre dive.

IMO variety and diving different sites is not the highlight of Cayman. I personally could, and do, dive the same site every afternoon when there. (Turtle Reef). You never know what you are going to see on any given dive.

 

[tkaelin]

On one of our trips to OF, in May, they cancelled the AM boats due to localized severe thunderstorms over the east end. We jumped in the car and dove the westside Turtle reef for the day. Great day. The point being there will be lots of options even if you do find an odd day here or there of bad weather. Hurricane season is another story but that is not your issue.

 

[Doctorfish]

I just looked at the historic weather conditions for GC for March and the average is 3 days of rain, temps in the mid 80s and winds out of the East 20-24 KPH. Should be lovely.