Just a heads up this is a fairly long report, and it covers my whole trip from diving to food and hotel were we stayed.
Grand Cayman trip report from 8/9-16th 2003 (Warning Very Long)
Well it finally had come after a long hot summer working Texas I finally got a chance to relax and have someone else take care of me instead of the other way around. Well the night before I went on vacation I met up with Mike Kane of GUE who was in Dallas to teach a DIR-F class, and from the thirty minutes of presentation and then the time spent at Razoos talk make me want to sign up for the class next time he comes to Dallas, because he it such a all around great guy, instructor, and has a great enthusiasm for diving and making people diving even better. (Mike if you have copies of any pictures or videos from DIR-F Dallas let me know because I would like to see them)
Before I get to the trip report let me say in advance that I wish I was able to do a little bit more on this trip then I got to. For example I would have loved to dove with Neptune Divers and Caymancase from this board, along with Drew Sailbum because I here some much from on the board, it would have been good to put a face with the name. I will say one thing that next time I come down, which hopefully will be in a year (maybe for sport divers submersion trip in late 04) I will get to meet up with you. It just was in the cards this time, and im sorry.
Saturday (8/9/03):
Well on Saturday morning we got early (4 a.m. to be exact) to drive to DFW for the first leg of our journey. On the flight to Miami it was a little bumpy because of going through some storms over the panhandle and central Florida. Once we landed at MIA we only had about 30 minutes till our next flight so we had to move quickly from terminal B to E and made it with about 10 minutes to spare but the airport at Miami is currently under renovation and is a bit of a mess to get through. Well after all recent reports of luggage getting lost and other items our flights to Cayman were very smooth and unremarkable except for the landing was a little rough because of the need for a grease the numbers landing then put the plain in full reverse so that it does run off the end of the runway and into the water (ala Cozumel style and all of luggage made it, and the surprising thing was that the bags with scuba gear didnt get searched but the ones with clothes did (go figure). The Airport also is like Cozumel in that it is a single runway that once you land; you have to taxi back up to get to the terminal. Once we got out of the airport and checked into the hotel we decided to rest as in it had been a long day and we hadnt gotten much sleep the previous nights. Before we went out to dinner we checked out the hotel and then went out to dinner (see report below)
In Grand Cayman we stayed at the Westin Courisiana about half way up on Seven Mile Beach, which is an excellent hotel for divers and non-divers alike. We choose the Westin because of my mom who likes the facilities offered on Westin properties and that we got a very good deal on our stay. There were only a couple of minor things but a call down to the front desk and it was taken care of.
Sunday (8/10/03):
To day started out as a lazy day because we didnt get up and about till about noon. For the afternoon we spent it out on the beach getting some sun and snorkeling. I personally went for a walk south along the beach till I got south of the Hyatt complex by about 5 minutes (basically from the Westin if you look south I walked as far south as you can see beach before it disappears around the bend, which is about a mile and change. Once I got back to the hotel I got my fins and mask and went out to explore the area north of the hotel. What I found was that at one time there must have been a pretty good reef there but because of the amount of sand from the beach and erosion over the years has buried it. If you go about 150 yards out from the hotel the reef comes back up and there are a good number fish and corals (brain mostly) starting up. After about 200 yards the water gets to about 20 feet and you can see a lot but not up close. After I went out swimming on the reef I laid out to work on my tan. Once I started to get a little bit of color it was about dinnertime so I went in and got ready to go out for the night.
Diving Day #1: Monday (8/11/03)
Now for the east side Grand Cayman diving report. We dove with Ocean Frontiers for 3 days while we were on GC. Our mornings began at about 6 am so that we could be out front of the hotel by 7 am for the shuttle to the east side. We usually got to OF around 8 am and the boat normally departed the dock around 8:30 am, diving from around 9- 11:45 and back at the dock around noon, then finally back to the hotel around 1:15.
All I have to say about Ocean Frontiers is that they are absolutely top notch; I could see why they have won so many awards. I couldnt find anything I didnt like about them at all everyone from there reservations people (Isabelle, and Jennifer), the desk staff (Jennifer) to the crews (mentioned below) on the boat are very professional, and would recommend them to anybody (and all levels from OW and higher). Before we even got to the operation to dive they impressed me by Frazier calling us at our hotel confirm we would be diving the next day, night before we were scheduled to dive (Now that service). Hey Mike. if you reading this I gave Frazier a hard time for you, and he says he will take a care of you next time you come down.
In the morning we were picked up by Claire in one of the shuttle vans, OF is the only operation that I know that picks ups its customers from the west end and SMB, yet another plus (one thing I didnt here was the willy call over the radio that is mentioned on there website by Jennifer). One our first day of diving we were about the ocean hawk which is a v-hull cabin cruiser that supports 12 divers plus 3 crew. Even though the boat was full it wasnt very crowded except for when everybody was gearing up to get in. The crew for our first day were Chris (Zippy, he got his nickname from a British couple who said that he looked like a British kids cartoon character Zippy the pinhead, apparently the character was bald and had a zipper for a mouth and he looked like him), rob, and matt (boat driver) from OF are wonderful and very informative, this is some of the best diving I have done to date, and already cant wait to come back to explore more of the east end of grand Cayman. Chris is from England (south of London), rob and matt are both from Canada (Vancouver area)
General Conditions: Seas 2-3 and Sunny strong wind out of the west.
Dive #1 Julies Wall: on the north side dive 60-100 for 30mins (40mins computer divers)
Julies wall is named after a former long time employee of morritts Tortuga divers who found the site and got to name it. This wall begins at about 60 feet, were we dropped in there was a canyon that cut down to our max depth of the dive. Right out off the bat as soon as we made the turn out of the canyon there was a good amount of black coral which in this patch had a rust color look in it, but was still very beautiful. While getting a good look at the black coral noticed next to it a brain coral that looked like it was either being over run by the black coral or it was dieing (couldnt tell very well). There are lots of coral and barrel sponges in this wall, which made for some very good diving. After time on the wall we ascended to the top of the reef were we found all of the wildlife had been because was hadnt seen any on the wall. Im not very good at fish identification but I saw a lot of juveniles with half purple and orange bodies, but I do know there were a lot of grunts on this wall. Man I should have brought a camera I could have easily burned a 36 roll or memory card in a hurry. Overall was a good dive.
My Profile:
Max depth 105 41 minutes
Nitrox 30.8 mix
Temp 86 degs from surface down (Microphrene is more then enough insulation, a 3 mm would be overkill)
Notes: 12lbs weight was a little over weighted but manageable. This was run as a multi level dive 15 mins @ 105-90, 20 mins @ 50-60, 1 minute deep stop @50, 2 minutes @ 30, then a 3 min hang at 15 feet.
Dive #2 Little bluff reef 30-60 for 40 (50 for computer divers)
Little Bluff reef is named after the small bluff that is onshore directly parallel from the site. At this site there are three distinctive fingers in this site that are carved in to the reef not like the others on the site that slope in these fingers are like mini walls. This reef was really alive with a lot of different fish from grunts to angels, and long with a wide variety of coral (finger corals to brain coral) and a lot of sea fans. On this reef some of the brain corals looked like they were being overrun by black corals or were dieing because there were pieces of them missing/decayed with a with white and black edge to the missing/decayed /ing pieces.
Lots of mini fish and coral but it looks like either part of the reef is dieing or was suffering from coral disease because a lot of the brain coral was dead or dieing. This site was a very good site to end a first day of diving in Grand Cayman.
My Profile:
Max depth 50 51 minutes, nitrox 31.2
Water Temp: Same as previous
Notes: Again a multi-level but turned out to more or less a square profile) 35 mins @ 45 50, 11 mins @ 25-30, 5 mins @ 18 Feet. A little bit over surge on SS but not bad but some people had a little trouble, was like watching a trapeze act
Rant Warning
<Rant>
OK I dont know what it is about people and especially those with cameras who cant stay off the dang reef. I had to stop counting the number of times I saw people hit the bottom of the reef or just crawl over or through it to take a picture. There were more then one photographer doing this, they just didnt have any buoyancy control at all. One last thing if I see another diver with split fins roto-tilling the bottom Im going to go nuts, its just sick to see how much stuff the drag up from the bottom. The most surprising piece was the two ladies that rode over with us in the shuttle who were recently OW certified who I thought were going to crash into the reef didnt and the ones that I thought would stay off the reef just tore it up (man I would love to know who those peoples instructors were because I would give them a earful).
</Rant>
Diving Day #2 Tuesday (8/12/03)
General Conditions: calmer then yesterday waves around a foot maybe 2 Winds out of the SW.
Again today we were on Ocean Frontiers Ocean Hawk, but today the crew was Delwin, and Brian (he had a family from England onboard who was completing there open water check out). Today the boat wasnt as full as we only had 9 or 10 divers, but I didnt see anybody on the boat that we dove with yesterday. Today there were two couples, and the family doing their open water checkout.
Dive #1 Site Mcclurrins Wall: 100 Max 30 min (40 for computer divers).
This site was named for the house that is direct onshore from the site. Were the mooring ball was for this site is directly over the wall, and if you were drop off directly off the back of the boat you might end up in several hundred or thousand feet of water. After dropping in I descended to top of the reef were the coral heads begin at about 60 feet from there we followed a cut in the coral formation to our planned max depth. Once we got to depth we followed the wall and saw a lot of corals sea fans and sponges of all types. Just at the end of our time on the wall we saw a giant lobster that must have been at least 24 long. Once we ascended to the top of the reef there was a wide expanse of smaller corals that had lots of fish swimming through. I was in aw at the wide variety of formations corals and fans, the camera we got for today was well worth it and cant wait to see what they look like (Its time to get a camera for underwater because there was so much I saw but it would be great to share it with others).
My Profile:
Max depth 100 41 minutes, nitrox 31.5
Water Temp: 86 degrees
Notes: dropped 2 lbs from belt and buoyancy was just right at the final part of the Safety stop. 15 mins @95-100, 20 mins on top of the reef at 60-40 SS 1 min @ 30, 2min @ 20, 3 mins @ 15
Dive #2 Site: Fish Tanks: 60 max 40 mins (45-50 for computer divers)
Moving back towards the protected channel we OF is based we stopped at a reef that was teeming with life, this particular reef got its name because of the wide variety of fish it that inhabit this area. The site is a gently sloping area running from about 30 60+ feet till it reaches the wall. The reefs that are in the area are just a bunch of fingers and bowl areas were the coral, fans and sponges. The fish were very active in this area and seemed to follow us including a juvenile barracuda who was very inquisitive and came almost into range were I could touch him. On this dive the other people on the boat were taking photos of the reef, this couple really impressed me when they hovered right over the sandy bottom to take a couple of there photos and they didnt kick up the bottom at all. The other couple was doing a reef survey for the reef organization. Finally was the family they were finishing up the last requirements for open water cert. My ascent this time as for my buddy was rather slow because both of us were dealing with some sinus squeeze that was being very hard to clear so we took our time ascending to the hang lines so not to blowout a sinus. Once back on the boat there was a round of congratulations to the family who completed their cert and were very happy to be done, they also commented they were ready for some more diving. That ends yet another good day of diving. The more time I spend here on Cayman the more I want to stay here because this is paradise, and Im jealous of the people who come down here to live and work it must be great for you all.
My Profile:
Max depth 57 47 minutes, nitrox 32.4
Water Temp: Same as previous
Notes: ascent from this dive was slower because of a slight squeeze in sinus that was very slow to clear. 39 mins @ 57 30, ascent to 15 3 min, then 5 mins @15
Wednesday 8/13/03: Yesterday my dad and I were having some problems equalizing so we took it easy today, werent planning on diving today anyways but this would a good time to tour the island. Well the day first started off heading north to the turtle farm but once we got there we discovered that the cruise ships were in and it seemed like all of the passengers were there so we by passed the turtle farm (maybe we will make it back there before we leave this coming Saturday) and headed to HELL, but unfortunately without a handbag. It was crowded with cruise ship passengers but we managed and I got a few nice pictures of the rock formation. After the photos we went inside to the gift shop were I got a couple of postcards and sent one of them to my co-workers back in Texas, then I also got a To Hell and back t-shirt and was checked out by the devil and when finished was told to get the hell out. From there we went back down SMB (seven mile beach) to catch the road toward the east side. Once we got on the road to the east side we made a stop at the blowholes to watch them in action. For the about 30 minutes we were there the holes were semi active as it was the slack tide when we were there, but still managed to get some really good pictures. From there we headed across the island to rum point via the island cut across. Before we got there we found a little local gift shop were we found a couple of shirts that we liked. Once we got to Rum Point we found that it basically was a tourist type place with not a lot to do besides the onsite restaurant and red sail set up for various items. As there wasnt much in the way of anything else and the water there didnt have much of a reef or anything we headed back on the road back toward the cut across and stopping in a couple of spots to take photos of the scenery that appealed to us.
On our way back across the island cut across we went to the Queen Elisabeth II botanic gardens. Once inside the gardens there is a trail that you can follow that is about a mile (takes about 45 60 minutes to complete). On the trail there are lots of items marked, while making our way to the iguana enclosure we came across one of the rare Cayman blue iguanas in the wild and it was big and a nice blue. While on the trail I was able to see and take photos of a wide variety of native plants and animals to the Cayman islands, it is truly a great experience, so if you rent a car or get a tour with the gardens as a stop it would be highly recommended (Bring water as the area is out in the open and the heat will take a bit out of you, FWIW).
After we left QE II Botanic we continued on the island cut through following the road south along the coast from breakers all the way to south sound were we came up to Georgetown from the south. Once we found some parking we walked north along the coast road (dont remember the name of it), the good thing was that when we got there the cruise ships were leaving so that we didnt have to deal with all of the traffic from them. We first went into the black beards rum company to take a look at what they had and to try samples of the cakes, etc try to figure out which ones we are going to bring home along with some bottles of rum. From there we continued north to the jewelry shops near the national museum, while my mom was looking as jewelry I stayed out side and watched them bring the deep explorer sub up to its trailer were its stored at night next to the older decommissioned sub that is on display. While looking at the current sub to see its set up, from the looks of it is a rebreather set (1 ata I think) of some sorts, but the interesting part is that the gas supply is 4 K-bottles strapped to the side of the sub. After they were done we saw a Tortuga Rum company shop and thought we would go in to compare them to black beards but when we got to the door found that they were closed because of a family emergency (every shop because the company is family rum) so that item was scratched and we come back to them later in the week. On our way back to the car we passed the hard rock café were is stopped in to so that I could get my requisite guitar pin (I do this in every city that I visit, or try to, its sort of a collection thing, and so far I have almost a dozen and a half) which in this case was a sailboat guitar, also as this year is the 500 anniversary of the finding of the Cayman island they had a anniversary pin that I picked up. After getting my pins we headed back to get the car and get some dinner (see report below).
Grand Cayman trip report from 8/9-16th 2003 (Warning Very Long)
Well it finally had come after a long hot summer working Texas I finally got a chance to relax and have someone else take care of me instead of the other way around. Well the night before I went on vacation I met up with Mike Kane of GUE who was in Dallas to teach a DIR-F class, and from the thirty minutes of presentation and then the time spent at Razoos talk make me want to sign up for the class next time he comes to Dallas, because he it such a all around great guy, instructor, and has a great enthusiasm for diving and making people diving even better. (Mike if you have copies of any pictures or videos from DIR-F Dallas let me know because I would like to see them)
Before I get to the trip report let me say in advance that I wish I was able to do a little bit more on this trip then I got to. For example I would have loved to dove with Neptune Divers and Caymancase from this board, along with Drew Sailbum because I here some much from on the board, it would have been good to put a face with the name. I will say one thing that next time I come down, which hopefully will be in a year (maybe for sport divers submersion trip in late 04) I will get to meet up with you. It just was in the cards this time, and im sorry.
Saturday (8/9/03):
Well on Saturday morning we got early (4 a.m. to be exact) to drive to DFW for the first leg of our journey. On the flight to Miami it was a little bumpy because of going through some storms over the panhandle and central Florida. Once we landed at MIA we only had about 30 minutes till our next flight so we had to move quickly from terminal B to E and made it with about 10 minutes to spare but the airport at Miami is currently under renovation and is a bit of a mess to get through. Well after all recent reports of luggage getting lost and other items our flights to Cayman were very smooth and unremarkable except for the landing was a little rough because of the need for a grease the numbers landing then put the plain in full reverse so that it does run off the end of the runway and into the water (ala Cozumel style and all of luggage made it, and the surprising thing was that the bags with scuba gear didnt get searched but the ones with clothes did (go figure). The Airport also is like Cozumel in that it is a single runway that once you land; you have to taxi back up to get to the terminal. Once we got out of the airport and checked into the hotel we decided to rest as in it had been a long day and we hadnt gotten much sleep the previous nights. Before we went out to dinner we checked out the hotel and then went out to dinner (see report below)
In Grand Cayman we stayed at the Westin Courisiana about half way up on Seven Mile Beach, which is an excellent hotel for divers and non-divers alike. We choose the Westin because of my mom who likes the facilities offered on Westin properties and that we got a very good deal on our stay. There were only a couple of minor things but a call down to the front desk and it was taken care of.
Sunday (8/10/03):
To day started out as a lazy day because we didnt get up and about till about noon. For the afternoon we spent it out on the beach getting some sun and snorkeling. I personally went for a walk south along the beach till I got south of the Hyatt complex by about 5 minutes (basically from the Westin if you look south I walked as far south as you can see beach before it disappears around the bend, which is about a mile and change. Once I got back to the hotel I got my fins and mask and went out to explore the area north of the hotel. What I found was that at one time there must have been a pretty good reef there but because of the amount of sand from the beach and erosion over the years has buried it. If you go about 150 yards out from the hotel the reef comes back up and there are a good number fish and corals (brain mostly) starting up. After about 200 yards the water gets to about 20 feet and you can see a lot but not up close. After I went out swimming on the reef I laid out to work on my tan. Once I started to get a little bit of color it was about dinnertime so I went in and got ready to go out for the night.
Diving Day #1: Monday (8/11/03)
Now for the east side Grand Cayman diving report. We dove with Ocean Frontiers for 3 days while we were on GC. Our mornings began at about 6 am so that we could be out front of the hotel by 7 am for the shuttle to the east side. We usually got to OF around 8 am and the boat normally departed the dock around 8:30 am, diving from around 9- 11:45 and back at the dock around noon, then finally back to the hotel around 1:15.
All I have to say about Ocean Frontiers is that they are absolutely top notch; I could see why they have won so many awards. I couldnt find anything I didnt like about them at all everyone from there reservations people (Isabelle, and Jennifer), the desk staff (Jennifer) to the crews (mentioned below) on the boat are very professional, and would recommend them to anybody (and all levels from OW and higher). Before we even got to the operation to dive they impressed me by Frazier calling us at our hotel confirm we would be diving the next day, night before we were scheduled to dive (Now that service). Hey Mike. if you reading this I gave Frazier a hard time for you, and he says he will take a care of you next time you come down.
In the morning we were picked up by Claire in one of the shuttle vans, OF is the only operation that I know that picks ups its customers from the west end and SMB, yet another plus (one thing I didnt here was the willy call over the radio that is mentioned on there website by Jennifer). One our first day of diving we were about the ocean hawk which is a v-hull cabin cruiser that supports 12 divers plus 3 crew. Even though the boat was full it wasnt very crowded except for when everybody was gearing up to get in. The crew for our first day were Chris (Zippy, he got his nickname from a British couple who said that he looked like a British kids cartoon character Zippy the pinhead, apparently the character was bald and had a zipper for a mouth and he looked like him), rob, and matt (boat driver) from OF are wonderful and very informative, this is some of the best diving I have done to date, and already cant wait to come back to explore more of the east end of grand Cayman. Chris is from England (south of London), rob and matt are both from Canada (Vancouver area)
General Conditions: Seas 2-3 and Sunny strong wind out of the west.
Dive #1 Julies Wall: on the north side dive 60-100 for 30mins (40mins computer divers)
Julies wall is named after a former long time employee of morritts Tortuga divers who found the site and got to name it. This wall begins at about 60 feet, were we dropped in there was a canyon that cut down to our max depth of the dive. Right out off the bat as soon as we made the turn out of the canyon there was a good amount of black coral which in this patch had a rust color look in it, but was still very beautiful. While getting a good look at the black coral noticed next to it a brain coral that looked like it was either being over run by the black coral or it was dieing (couldnt tell very well). There are lots of coral and barrel sponges in this wall, which made for some very good diving. After time on the wall we ascended to the top of the reef were we found all of the wildlife had been because was hadnt seen any on the wall. Im not very good at fish identification but I saw a lot of juveniles with half purple and orange bodies, but I do know there were a lot of grunts on this wall. Man I should have brought a camera I could have easily burned a 36 roll or memory card in a hurry. Overall was a good dive.
My Profile:
Max depth 105 41 minutes
Nitrox 30.8 mix
Temp 86 degs from surface down (Microphrene is more then enough insulation, a 3 mm would be overkill)
Notes: 12lbs weight was a little over weighted but manageable. This was run as a multi level dive 15 mins @ 105-90, 20 mins @ 50-60, 1 minute deep stop @50, 2 minutes @ 30, then a 3 min hang at 15 feet.
Dive #2 Little bluff reef 30-60 for 40 (50 for computer divers)
Little Bluff reef is named after the small bluff that is onshore directly parallel from the site. At this site there are three distinctive fingers in this site that are carved in to the reef not like the others on the site that slope in these fingers are like mini walls. This reef was really alive with a lot of different fish from grunts to angels, and long with a wide variety of coral (finger corals to brain coral) and a lot of sea fans. On this reef some of the brain corals looked like they were being overrun by black corals or were dieing because there were pieces of them missing/decayed with a with white and black edge to the missing/decayed /ing pieces.
Lots of mini fish and coral but it looks like either part of the reef is dieing or was suffering from coral disease because a lot of the brain coral was dead or dieing. This site was a very good site to end a first day of diving in Grand Cayman.
My Profile:
Max depth 50 51 minutes, nitrox 31.2
Water Temp: Same as previous
Notes: Again a multi-level but turned out to more or less a square profile) 35 mins @ 45 50, 11 mins @ 25-30, 5 mins @ 18 Feet. A little bit over surge on SS but not bad but some people had a little trouble, was like watching a trapeze act
Rant Warning
<Rant>
OK I dont know what it is about people and especially those with cameras who cant stay off the dang reef. I had to stop counting the number of times I saw people hit the bottom of the reef or just crawl over or through it to take a picture. There were more then one photographer doing this, they just didnt have any buoyancy control at all. One last thing if I see another diver with split fins roto-tilling the bottom Im going to go nuts, its just sick to see how much stuff the drag up from the bottom. The most surprising piece was the two ladies that rode over with us in the shuttle who were recently OW certified who I thought were going to crash into the reef didnt and the ones that I thought would stay off the reef just tore it up (man I would love to know who those peoples instructors were because I would give them a earful).
</Rant>
Diving Day #2 Tuesday (8/12/03)
General Conditions: calmer then yesterday waves around a foot maybe 2 Winds out of the SW.
Again today we were on Ocean Frontiers Ocean Hawk, but today the crew was Delwin, and Brian (he had a family from England onboard who was completing there open water check out). Today the boat wasnt as full as we only had 9 or 10 divers, but I didnt see anybody on the boat that we dove with yesterday. Today there were two couples, and the family doing their open water checkout.
Dive #1 Site Mcclurrins Wall: 100 Max 30 min (40 for computer divers).
This site was named for the house that is direct onshore from the site. Were the mooring ball was for this site is directly over the wall, and if you were drop off directly off the back of the boat you might end up in several hundred or thousand feet of water. After dropping in I descended to top of the reef were the coral heads begin at about 60 feet from there we followed a cut in the coral formation to our planned max depth. Once we got to depth we followed the wall and saw a lot of corals sea fans and sponges of all types. Just at the end of our time on the wall we saw a giant lobster that must have been at least 24 long. Once we ascended to the top of the reef there was a wide expanse of smaller corals that had lots of fish swimming through. I was in aw at the wide variety of formations corals and fans, the camera we got for today was well worth it and cant wait to see what they look like (Its time to get a camera for underwater because there was so much I saw but it would be great to share it with others).
My Profile:
Max depth 100 41 minutes, nitrox 31.5
Water Temp: 86 degrees
Notes: dropped 2 lbs from belt and buoyancy was just right at the final part of the Safety stop. 15 mins @95-100, 20 mins on top of the reef at 60-40 SS 1 min @ 30, 2min @ 20, 3 mins @ 15
Dive #2 Site: Fish Tanks: 60 max 40 mins (45-50 for computer divers)
Moving back towards the protected channel we OF is based we stopped at a reef that was teeming with life, this particular reef got its name because of the wide variety of fish it that inhabit this area. The site is a gently sloping area running from about 30 60+ feet till it reaches the wall. The reefs that are in the area are just a bunch of fingers and bowl areas were the coral, fans and sponges. The fish were very active in this area and seemed to follow us including a juvenile barracuda who was very inquisitive and came almost into range were I could touch him. On this dive the other people on the boat were taking photos of the reef, this couple really impressed me when they hovered right over the sandy bottom to take a couple of there photos and they didnt kick up the bottom at all. The other couple was doing a reef survey for the reef organization. Finally was the family they were finishing up the last requirements for open water cert. My ascent this time as for my buddy was rather slow because both of us were dealing with some sinus squeeze that was being very hard to clear so we took our time ascending to the hang lines so not to blowout a sinus. Once back on the boat there was a round of congratulations to the family who completed their cert and were very happy to be done, they also commented they were ready for some more diving. That ends yet another good day of diving. The more time I spend here on Cayman the more I want to stay here because this is paradise, and Im jealous of the people who come down here to live and work it must be great for you all.
My Profile:
Max depth 57 47 minutes, nitrox 32.4
Water Temp: Same as previous
Notes: ascent from this dive was slower because of a slight squeeze in sinus that was very slow to clear. 39 mins @ 57 30, ascent to 15 3 min, then 5 mins @15
Wednesday 8/13/03: Yesterday my dad and I were having some problems equalizing so we took it easy today, werent planning on diving today anyways but this would a good time to tour the island. Well the day first started off heading north to the turtle farm but once we got there we discovered that the cruise ships were in and it seemed like all of the passengers were there so we by passed the turtle farm (maybe we will make it back there before we leave this coming Saturday) and headed to HELL, but unfortunately without a handbag. It was crowded with cruise ship passengers but we managed and I got a few nice pictures of the rock formation. After the photos we went inside to the gift shop were I got a couple of postcards and sent one of them to my co-workers back in Texas, then I also got a To Hell and back t-shirt and was checked out by the devil and when finished was told to get the hell out. From there we went back down SMB (seven mile beach) to catch the road toward the east side. Once we got on the road to the east side we made a stop at the blowholes to watch them in action. For the about 30 minutes we were there the holes were semi active as it was the slack tide when we were there, but still managed to get some really good pictures. From there we headed across the island to rum point via the island cut across. Before we got there we found a little local gift shop were we found a couple of shirts that we liked. Once we got to Rum Point we found that it basically was a tourist type place with not a lot to do besides the onsite restaurant and red sail set up for various items. As there wasnt much in the way of anything else and the water there didnt have much of a reef or anything we headed back on the road back toward the cut across and stopping in a couple of spots to take photos of the scenery that appealed to us.
On our way back across the island cut across we went to the Queen Elisabeth II botanic gardens. Once inside the gardens there is a trail that you can follow that is about a mile (takes about 45 60 minutes to complete). On the trail there are lots of items marked, while making our way to the iguana enclosure we came across one of the rare Cayman blue iguanas in the wild and it was big and a nice blue. While on the trail I was able to see and take photos of a wide variety of native plants and animals to the Cayman islands, it is truly a great experience, so if you rent a car or get a tour with the gardens as a stop it would be highly recommended (Bring water as the area is out in the open and the heat will take a bit out of you, FWIW).
After we left QE II Botanic we continued on the island cut through following the road south along the coast from breakers all the way to south sound were we came up to Georgetown from the south. Once we found some parking we walked north along the coast road (dont remember the name of it), the good thing was that when we got there the cruise ships were leaving so that we didnt have to deal with all of the traffic from them. We first went into the black beards rum company to take a look at what they had and to try samples of the cakes, etc try to figure out which ones we are going to bring home along with some bottles of rum. From there we continued north to the jewelry shops near the national museum, while my mom was looking as jewelry I stayed out side and watched them bring the deep explorer sub up to its trailer were its stored at night next to the older decommissioned sub that is on display. While looking at the current sub to see its set up, from the looks of it is a rebreather set (1 ata I think) of some sorts, but the interesting part is that the gas supply is 4 K-bottles strapped to the side of the sub. After they were done we saw a Tortuga Rum company shop and thought we would go in to compare them to black beards but when we got to the door found that they were closed because of a family emergency (every shop because the company is family rum) so that item was scratched and we come back to them later in the week. On our way back to the car we passed the hard rock café were is stopped in to so that I could get my requisite guitar pin (I do this in every city that I visit, or try to, its sort of a collection thing, and so far I have almost a dozen and a half) which in this case was a sailboat guitar, also as this year is the 500 anniversary of the finding of the Cayman island they had a anniversary pin that I picked up. After getting my pins we headed back to get the car and get some dinner (see report below).
