Grand Cayman North Sound Dive Op thoughts

[chibracdiver]

Hey guys, it's been awhile since I have been to Grand and need to hear your recommendations regarding diving the North Sound. I am looking for a small boat (6-8 divers), I will probably be solo, have 300+ dives and definitely want to dive on the north side. It's been 7-8 years since I dove there, I have been diving on the Brac and Cozumel the last few years, but with my basketball team playing in the Cayman Classic in November and my wife being a huge Grand fan everything fell into place. Thoughts...

 

[FindingMenno]

Hi, there is no diving in the North Sound, as this is all pretty shallow and murky. The only spot being dived there would be the 'original' Stingray City.
There is of course diving along the North shore of the islands, but that would be done with dive boats running out of West Bay or the East End.

In my opinion, I wouldn't get too much focused on diving the North Wall, but doing the best dives based on the conditions at the time. Working on Grand Cayman and diving both, I don't think there's much between West or North. I would say North has a bit more interesting reef topography, whereas West offers more in terms of marine life. North can get murky on outgoing tides as the Sound empties out along the north shore. Also it requires quite a bit of a longer boat ride. which not everybody appreciates, certainly in 'winter' as we get higher waves pushed along the north shore by the stronger easterly winds.

I know the north wall has this kind of 'hype' here on Scubaboard. While it is certainly a great dive, I feel this 'hype' leads to visiting divers often blindly following internet advice, and thus missing out on the best dives that operators would recommend based the conditions at the time.
For example, last year we had a big group over who only wanted to dive North. Halfway through their week we did the Kittiwake wreck, a West side dive. After that, they only wanted to dive west the rest of the week...

 

[Alucard]

There are several ops that will go out of Morgan's Harbour in the Sound to get out to the North Wall when conditions are right - it's a far shorter boat ride than having to go around from West Bay dock, but it id doable.. I have done that several times. I agree, though, there there is no real diving in the sound itself.

 

[diversteve]

www.cita.ky for most of your options,

 

[chibracdiver]

Hi, there is no diving in the North Sound, as this is all pretty shallow and murky. The only spot being dived there would be the 'original' Stingray City.
There is of course diving along the North shore of the islands, but that would be done with dive boats running out of West Bay or the East End.

In my opinion, I wouldn't get too much focused on diving the North Wall, but doing the best dives based on the conditions at the time. Working on Grand Cayman and diving both, I don't think there's much between West or North. I would say North has a bit more interesting reef topography, whereas West offers more in terms of marine life. North can get murky on outgoing tides as the Sound empties out along the north shore. Also it requires quite a bit of a longer boat ride. which not everybody appreciates, certainly in 'winter' as we get higher waves pushed along the north shore by the stronger easterly winds.

I know the north wall has this kind of 'hype' here on Scubaboard. While it is certainly a great dive, I feel this 'hype' leads to visiting divers often blindly following internet advice, and thus missing out on the best dives that operators would recommend based the conditions at the time.
For example, last year we had a big group over who only wanted to dive North. Halfway through their week we did the Kittiwake wreck, a West side dive. After that, they only wanted to dive west the rest of the week...

Sorry, I didn't mean North Sound. My bad. I have dove a few times with a couple of small dive ops, one left out of the Yacht Club and the other from the west side. I have dove the Kittiwake twice. The first dive was within a couple of months of the sinking and then we dove it again the following year. Both dives were screwed up by bad divers in the party. One diver should never have been diving inside the ship and the other diver got spooked and took off without signaling us that he was having issues so I would like to dive it again so I can enjoy it.

I am also not that guy on a dive boat...you know, the guy that tells the Captain where to go. I leave that up to the Captain to make the proper decision. He/she has the knowledge on what conditions are for that given day so I just go with the flow. Thank you for your input.

 

[FindingMenno]

There are several ops that will go out of Morgan's Harbour in the Sound to get out to the North Wall when conditions are right - it's a far shorter boat ride than having to go around from West Bay dock, but it id doable.. I have done that several times. I agree, though, there there is no real diving in the sound itself.

Correct, there are a few operators who occasionally dock boats there in the calmer summer months.

 

[Doctorfish]

Most of the west side operators move north when the weather allows and many keep their boats at The Cayman Yacht Club allowing access via the north sound.

IMO North slightly better than West but I am not unhappy if conditions preclude going there.
There are many excellent dives on the West and my absolute favorite is Northwest Point.

By the way, Reef Divers and Dive Tech rarely have their boats at Cobalt or Lighthouse. They almost always use the Yacht Club or West Bay dock.

.

 

[FindingMenno]

I am also not that guy on a dive boat...you know, the guy that tells the Captain where to go. I leave that up to the Captain to make the proper decision. He/she has the knowledge on what conditions are for that given day so I just go with the flow. Thank you for your input.

Not trying to accuse you of being 'that guy'!
I also believe doing some research in advance when going on a dive trip is a good thing. I just think it is waste of a good dive day when divers insist on doing a certain dive they have been reading up online, when local experience tells you that conditions will not be the best for that dive. It can also lead to some pretty nasty scenes on a dive boat unfortunately... that doesn't make anybody's day nicer in what should be an enjoyable activity!

 

[mi000ke]

I would say North has a bit more interesting reef topography, whereas West offers more in terms of marine life.

I totally agree with this. Both are great, but for the reasons above. I happen to prefer west side, but it's all good.

Diving north is a crap shoot based on weather. In past winters I've not gotten north more than once. But this past winter we dove north about half the time. When the north was happening we would go from either safehaven or the yacht club (depending on the dive op) otherwise same ops would go off west bay. Captain's choice. Either way you'll have a great dive.

 

[tkaelin]

I think you received good advice already. I have had great dives all over the island. Weather, where you are staying and what kind of trip it will be usually dictate where your diving will be. I like both staying on the East End staying and diving with OF and staying in a condo up in West Ba. Two completely different trips and experiences. East End is unique and all boat diving. Uncrowded and uncrowded dive sites. Will Spend some time up at Rum Pt. I like the whole East End vibe.

I also enjoy now staying at a condo up in West Bay with fantastic shore diving right on site. We shore dive almost exclusively when staying up in West Bay, diving Hepps, Turtle Reef, Lighthouse and Eden. Will spend some time on 7MB. The West has a different vibe than East End, but still enjoyable. We manage to avoid cruise ship crowds while still enjoying what the West side has to offer.

Enjoy your trip