0garibaldi0
Registered
Just sharing my experience of my first dive trip, newly OW certified.
Grand Cayman culture - the locals here are maniac drivers and street signs were often non-existent, making navigation tricky. Posted speed rate changes pretty frequently and the police will ticket you if you speed. But it didn't take long to figure out how to get from one side of the island to the other. Some locals were not nice. But everyone in the shops/hotels/diving ops were friendly. During August, the place is a steam room. Hurricane Irene didn't affect the island and it only rains in short spurts despite the weather forecasts. It was mostly sunny and HOT. The food was way over-priced and I wasn't too impressed, except the seafood generally was good. But we didn't come here for the food. On Sunday, all the shops close down.
Stayed at Compass Point and dived with Ocean Frontiers and Dive Tech. With Dive Tech, we did the shore dive for the littlewall at Lighthouse with a guide which was a good beginner dive for newbies. The conditions at the bottom were calm but the surface was choppy. With Ocean Frontiers we did a couple of boat dives and my newbie skills were really pushed. My deepest depth was 40ft until diving with OF when it went to 90 ft and diving through mazes and tunnels. Grouper's Grotto was the best dive with lots of fish and dramatic underwater formations. I don't think diving Stingray City was worth it, especially if you're not going to come back often.
Compass Point was awesome (I have no other point of reference to compare them to). The rooms had everything we would need including a well-equipped kitchen. But the washer and dryer was the most convenient feature for me. All the staff here were really helpful.
Our stay was too short. Minimally, this should have been a one-week trip. I would love to come back here!! What I learned: Get my own BCD and regulator! It's going to be more economical in the end. Dive within your limits despite what the pro's tell you. I didn't follow the guide through some of the tunnels because I didn't feel comfortable.
Grand Cayman culture - the locals here are maniac drivers and street signs were often non-existent, making navigation tricky. Posted speed rate changes pretty frequently and the police will ticket you if you speed. But it didn't take long to figure out how to get from one side of the island to the other. Some locals were not nice. But everyone in the shops/hotels/diving ops were friendly. During August, the place is a steam room. Hurricane Irene didn't affect the island and it only rains in short spurts despite the weather forecasts. It was mostly sunny and HOT. The food was way over-priced and I wasn't too impressed, except the seafood generally was good. But we didn't come here for the food. On Sunday, all the shops close down.
Stayed at Compass Point and dived with Ocean Frontiers and Dive Tech. With Dive Tech, we did the shore dive for the littlewall at Lighthouse with a guide which was a good beginner dive for newbies. The conditions at the bottom were calm but the surface was choppy. With Ocean Frontiers we did a couple of boat dives and my newbie skills were really pushed. My deepest depth was 40ft until diving with OF when it went to 90 ft and diving through mazes and tunnels. Grouper's Grotto was the best dive with lots of fish and dramatic underwater formations. I don't think diving Stingray City was worth it, especially if you're not going to come back often.
Compass Point was awesome (I have no other point of reference to compare them to). The rooms had everything we would need including a well-equipped kitchen. But the washer and dryer was the most convenient feature for me. All the staff here were really helpful.
Our stay was too short. Minimally, this should have been a one-week trip. I would love to come back here!! What I learned: Get my own BCD and regulator! It's going to be more economical in the end. Dive within your limits despite what the pro's tell you. I didn't follow the guide through some of the tunnels because I didn't feel comfortable.
