Grand Cayman Expertise Please, OW Referral and Diving North Shore or Rum Point

[Doctorfish]

For a student diver, a shore op might be better as she would only have to cope with the diving and not the other boat related distractions. Happy Fish at the Turtle Reef site has very good instruction and a great shallow protected shore dive with easy access. It's a bit far from Old Man Bay, but worth consideration.

 

[diversteve]

Thanks for all of the Information, I will be sure to check out the smaller dive ops when I have the chance.

Another question, because of the walls is 100 ft a customary depth for one of the 2-tank dives? I have been to that depth before (albeit only once), so I can dive that deep but would prefer to dive in more the 60-70 foot range.

That's pretty typical for most operators. Ambassador runs a 2-tank afternoon trip where both dives don't exceed 60'.

2nd morning dives will be shallower. Some ops only do 1 tank in the afternoon - often combined with cert. dives - you'll get your own DM - so tend to be shallower sites.

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For a student diver, a shore op

Or Sunset House. It's considerably closer - you won't have to drive thru Cruise central (downtown Georgetown) and they have the Salt Water pool.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Use the by-pass roads and you don't have to go through Georgetown.

 

[diversteve]

I thought about that after I posted...it's still a shorter drive though. For a new jr. diver getting certed it might be better also - IIRC it was pretty shallow off the salt water pool vs. a fairly quick drop to 30' or so once out of the cove at Turtle Reef. Might be a little calmer at Sunset House also.

Of course that makes Eden Rock the best choice if it wasn't 100yds. from the cruise port...lol.

 

[EastEndDiver]

Just go when no cruise ships in :

http://www.caymanport.com/shipschedules.php

I wish they make this a sticky for the Cayman forum!!

 

[ianr33]

Another question, because of the walls is 100 ft a customary depth for one of the 2-tank dives?

Yes. The standard Divemaster led dives will go to 100'. The top of the wall is around 50-60 feet on the East End. This makes for a nice dive in it's own right, but may or may not fit in with the Dive Ops plans. Check with them first and tell them what you want to do.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

For East End ops, it is indeed only Tortuga or Ocean Frontiers. There are no other operators in East End, Old Man Bay, or Rum Point areas. Rental gear is no problem, and courses are normally priced to include gear. No discount for bringing your own.

Both TD and OF will typically do dives 1 & 2 in the shallow 22ft deep dives sites inside the barrier reef. This provides for generally quite calm water. Dives 3 & 4 are normally outside the reef at the regular dive sites. Sea conditions vary according to wind strength and direction. Waves of 1-3ft are considered relatively calm seas.

In my humble experience teaching diving on East End it is easier to go by boat in East End rather than from shore on the west side. I've done both. Surface support is more readily available from a boat.

 

[NE_SSI_Diver]

Sorry for asking so many questions in someone else's thread, but I was going to start my own and was beat to it .

Okay, so a couple more questions regarding dive ops. Steve, you recommend three, and I have checked them all out, but can't find and significant differences.

Ambassador: I like the boats that they operate and also the close proximity to my hotel.

Wall to wall: I could not fin it's location so no comment there, but The 3-tank dive is very intriguing. I also noticed that their dive plans seem more flexible than Ambassador's. I think I'm leaning towards them at the moment.

Neptune: nothing significant that I noticed about them, but I can't find a reason not to use them.

I would greatly appreciate some more insight on the different ops. I would love some information which can only be given by people with experience with the ops. If they are as close as they seem, then tell me which one you would use.

Thanks for all of the information that all of you have given and I can promise more questions will follow .

 

[EastEndDiver]

Having used them all I would use Ambassador then Wall to Wall .But my all time favorite is DNS diving which I now use on a regular basis.

 

[splishysplashy]

Don't forget that as a junior open water diver your daughter will have depth restrictions and different needs to older divers- my advice would be to talk to the dive ops mentioned and see which are going to be more accommodating to your specific requests- for example regular and varied dives with shallower profiles, or ability to pick up near to your rented house. Personally, if the dive ops on the east end can accommodate your needs, why drive all the way to town?? The east end has the best diving on the island- and both dive ops are safety orientated and will not take out a young diver in rough weather or strong currents. The one exception would be the kittiwake- worth the drive to the west-side!