Grand Cayman Shore Dives for Cruise Group: Need Input

[Zsuzsika]

I need some input and hoping you can help with a trip to Grand Cayman I have planned for June 2010. I will be leading a dive goup of about 10 divers from a cruise in Grand Cayman - as this will be our first opportunity to get wet, I think we are going to dive from shore. It's also more economical, considering we are doing boat dives in all the other ports of call.

I have done some of the shore dives below, but not all of them. I am hoping you can give me your input on the list I have here - I know this list is old, and know that some of the sites might no longer be easily accessible (like Seaview which I understand now has condos on the property).

I would like to know how far these sites are from town (so I know what transportation issues are involved) and what there is topside nearby - for food and drinks, beach, etc. I would also like to know how much of a surface swim it is to the dive site. Finally, I'd like to know your opinion of the site which were good which to avoid.

About my group: Some experienced divers with hundreds of dives and a few with less than 60 dives. No newbies.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

1) COCONUT HARBOUR RESORT

2) SUNSET HOUSE

3) SEAVIEW HOTEL

4) EDEN ROCK DIVE CENTRE

5) ABANKS DIVE CENTRE

6) DON FOSTER'S DIVE CAYMAN

7) BOB SOTO''S REEF DIVERS PIER

8) CEMETERY

9) DIVETECH PIER

10) COBALT COAST RESORT

 

[Roombaguy]

Hi,

Close to town your best choices are Eden Rock & Sunset house. Eden Rock being walking distance from where you will get off the cruise ship. (+-10 minutes walk) Sunset would be +-30 minutes walk or a short taxi ride. Don Fosters is between Eden Rock & Sunset House, so would also be a good choice. I have never dove with them so cannot comment any further. All others you will need a taxi/van to get there. Cobalt Coast would be +-20 minutes by taxi to get there.

If you are 10 divers, you may be able to negotiate a better deal with a dive operator and even have them pick up your group. May be worth a shot. For a shore dive close to town, I would personally go with Sunset. From shore, you have the mermaid and there is a small wreck (its an old barge) which can easily be seen on the same dive. You can also swim out a bit further and go out to the wall (its not a vertical drop at that location, but still very nice). Its a good swim, but if your group wants to do a deep dive, its worth it. Sunset is also a good place for lunch at the MyBar!

Hope this helps.

M.

 

[diversteve]

1) COCONUT HARBOUR RESORT
no idea, never been there.
2) SUNSET HOUSE
It's in South Georgetown so a short cab ride away. Too far to walk esp. with gear. The dives are as described above, for food My Bar there is a divers hangout. There's also a better restaurant on the property but we didn't eat there. The Cathy Church photo school/gallery is also there.
3) SEAVIEW HOTEL
No longer exists, it's condos now.
4) EDEN ROCK DIVE CENTRE
I thought this dive site was very tired due to all the cruise traffic it's seen over the decades, also it's extremely shallow - we never broke 40' You can't really get much deeper without going under your ship and there didn't appear to be much out there except sand - and junk that's fallen overboard. The only interesting part would be the Devils Grotto swimthroughs to the south.
5) ABANKS DIVE CENTRE
Not sure where this is..
6) DON FOSTER'S DIVE CAYMAN
It's the current cruise boat dive operation. The shore dive there is the south end of Devils Grotto - also accessible from Eden Rock. They call it Casuarina Pt. It's also shallow.
7) BOB SOTO''S REEF DIVERS PIER
Soto's didn't survive the last hurricane. Not sure what's there now.
8) CEMETERY
Cemetary Beach is on the north end of Seven Mile Beach. There are no facilities there so you would have to arrange for tanks at one of two diveshops that rent them, one is in West Bay. I believe you would pass the other on the drive out there but I'm not positive. Other posts in this forum have more details.
9) DIVETECH PIER
Ok, there's Lighthouse Point, the newish 2nd Divetech location. It's a shore dive only off a condo complex. Not sure what food options are there.

The old Divetech location is Turtle Reef, IMO the best shore dive in that area. It's now run by Olen Millers Sun Divers. It's a short swim out to a mini-wall that drops to about 50' It's a good vertical wall with lots to see. Look for Tarpon schooling to the south and watch overhead, big pelagics often use it as a shortcut. We saw a group of Eagle Rays go flying overhead once.

A healthy swim across the sand flat and you would come to part of the North Wall afaik. When Divetech was there, they rented scooters to get out there, not sure if Sun Divers does also. Or if they'd have 10 scooters...lol.

Cracked Conch Restaurant is upstairs from the diveshop. The real Divetech "Pier" is at Cobalt Coast. It takes you out far enough to be out of the shallows there.

Not much else is out there, its' a residential area. Probably a 20-30 min. ride from the port depending on traffic downtown - which will be bad if you're not first off the ship.

Georgetown is small and often 2-3 ships moor there daily. Also plan time to be tendered in as I haven't heard that the cruise dock is finished yet - maybe not started yet?
10) COBALT COAST RESORT
It's a really shallow dive for a long way out. They used to have an option where they took you out to the wall and dropped you off for the drift/swim back in.

Food options there would be their restaurant. It's in the same residential area as Turtle Reef just farther north.

One thing to know about most of these locations is that they typically own the land down to the waters edge so you rent tanks from them while there and usually won't be allowed to remove them from the location - especially on a one day dive.

A lot of cabs on Grand Cayman are vans so two of them might work for your group - depending on how much gear you all have.

Descriptions/photos for most of these sites can be found here: http://www.shorediving.com/Earth/Caribbean/Cayman_Islands/index.htm

Of course there's always Stingray City...

 

[Alex777]

1) COCONUT HARBOUR: Destroyed by Hurricane Michelle in 2001 & never rebuilt (yet).

2) Agreed.

3) Agreed.

4) EDEN ROCK DIVE CENTRE: Max. depth here is actually 65'.

5) ABANKS DIVE CENTRE: right beside the Paradise Grill, very close to the Cruise Ship Terminal. Useless for diving; they don't have a clue ...

6) Agreed.

7) BOB SOTO'S REEF DIVERS PIER: Lobster Pot Divers is there now. A good dive op with small boats.

8) CEMETERY REEF: a decent snorkelling site, but a complete waste of time for diving.

9) DIVETECH PIER: there are no food options there. Go to Macabuca, 1.1 miles down the road to the West. (Hint: on an AL80 with decent air consumption, you can swim 1.1 miles in about 60 minutes ... ).

10) TURTLE REEF: on the main wall, the sand channels & swim thrus are at 90 - 100', not 50'. SunDivers don't rent scooters.

 

[diversteve]

10) TURTLE REEF: on the main wall, the sand channels & swim thrus are at 90 - 100', not 50'. SunDivers don't rent scooters.

I meant the little mini-wall just off the cove. Where the ball was. (is?)

 

[Papa_Bear]

Cheese Burger reef and Smith Cove are worth adding to the list!

 

[Alex777]

I meant the little mini-wall just off the cove. Where the ball was. (is?)

Sorry - my mistake. I misread your post. Yah, the mini-wall has a max. depth of about 60 -65 feet.

 

[diversteve]

No problem, I didn't do that bad not having been there since just b4 Ivan.

 

[Zsuzsika]

Thanks for all the information! Very helpful.

I am thinking that Turtel Reef is where we will go, but I have a couple of questions to those of you that have done the big wall (which is what I would like to do). Both my husband and I are good with air, have lots of experience diving from shore, so a hardy surface swim wouldn't deter us from going out, but I am not sure about the others in my group. How long does it take to swim out to the big wall as opposed to the mini wall? What are conditions like - we're going in late June?

This place appeals to me since we can enjoy a drink and snacks afterwards at the restaurant, and it sounds like a nice dive. I have not been to this site before, but have done dives at Seaview, Eden Rock, Sunset House - all very easy dives. A few people in the group have done these same dives too, so how would the shore dive at Turtle Reef compare?

Thanks again for all your good feedback.

Suzi

 

[Alex777]

The main wall is 300 - 350 yards (metres) from the entry point, I would say. It takes about 10 minutes to get out. Usually, I swim out at 15' to conserve air. Conditions do not depend on the time of year. You may encounter current at any time; plan accordingly. The current runs N to S or S to N; you will be swimming on a heading of approx. 300 degrees.