SFScuba
Guest
Hi all,
Just returned from Grand Cayman (first time there). Thanks everyone who provided information directly and via archived posts here at Scubaboard. It really helped us out in our planning.
Dive Portion of the Trip
Total Dives: 8 (Day Dives Sun-Tues, Stingray City and Night Dive Thurs)
Dive Operator:Off the Wall Divers (http://www.otwdivers.com/).
About the Dive Operator/Off the Wall Divers
I would highly recommend Danny and Off the Wall. Very personal service, professional and fun to be out diving with. We had 6-8 people out on the day dives. I don't think Danny typically takes more than 8 out. Danny is the owner/operator and his wife Marnie dove with us on the weekend. They will do pickups if needed. Danny tends to leave a little early (8AM start), but usally this meant that we were moored in better locations.
Prices were competitive with other places. He has 2 boats. I think through March, he keeps one on the Seven Mile Beach/West Side off Public Beach with many of the other dive outfits and then moves it over to the marina on the North Sound during the summer. From what I understand, I think this is because the wind makes North Side diving hit or miss during the winter months, but once the wind shifts, things get better during the summer. But, I may be mistaken.
We chose Off the Wall Diving because we like diving with smaller groups and had heard some good things about it. Danny was very good about letting buddy teams maximize their dive times. We will dive again with Danny the anytime we're back in Grand Cayman.
Highlights from the Dives
The 2-tank Dives followed a typical pattern: Deep first dive off one of the walls followed by a shallower 2nd dive near Aquarium/Daqs. There was never any current that we had to worry about.
Day 1: Took it easy on our first day diving one of the walls (90 Ft) and Aquarium (50 ft). We saw a turtle and lots of critters on the first dive. The big find was a Southern Ray on the second dive. Your typical Parrot Fish, Tangs, Butterfish, along with an eel or two if you look hard. The tube sponges are pretty cool, I hadn't seen many of those before.
Day 2: First dive was Big Tunnel on the North West side which was also part of our deep dive certification. This spot was amazing! Descended through a canyon and worked our way down the wall to 130 feet. All sorts of life. It was neet to see the little blinnies (sp?) peeking out of their holes. Also spotted a big lobster on the way back up. Second dive was the Doc Polson Wreck in about 50 feet of water, a former cable laying boat fairly intact. You can swim inside the boat, there's a open large hatch on the stern. The wheelhouse is also intact and you can swim through. Saw a large green moray inside the hold as well as juvenile damsels.
Day 3: Orange Canyon off the North West point, named after the orange sponges that can be found there. We dove this down to about 95 feet and followed three different canyons. Lots of things to see along the way. We ended up at the large pinnacle which has a tight swim-through underneath. Pretty cool! Second dive was another site at Aquarium at around 50 feet. We saw a few trunk fish here which have a funky shape to them and took it easy exploring the nooks and crannies.
Stingray City: This is a must do dive. You get to dive Stingray City in the North Sound (just off the northern reef that fringes the sound) - not the Sand Bar which is where all the crazy snorkelers go (read hundred+ people). The site arose because fishermen used to clean there catch in the area after coming in and this attacted the rays who were up for some easy dinner. This is a shallow dive-we maxed a 13 ft. There are an estimated 24 Sourthern Rays resident in this area. We probably saw up to 10-12 at one point. There are also two resident Green Morays to watch out for. It was amazing to swim with so many rays at one time.
Night Dive: We moored on the bow of the Oro Verde in 50 feet of water, a so-so day dive, but alive at night. Lots of Tigertails which I think are related to sea-cucumbers? Like something out of an alien movie. We also got to see/feed some of the barrel coral by attracting bloodworks with our lights to their polyps. The highlight of this dive was spotting an octopus along the wreck and watching as it changed color three times.
Overall, some of the best diving we have done so far and we were able to complete our Advanced Open Water while down there.
Topside Portion
We stayed at Treasure Island Condos at the start of Seven Mile Beach, with another couple we know. This was a very convenient location, close to town and restaurants. The pool bar/Billy Bones can be loud on the weekends. A small sand beach but mostly hard coral shore. There is a small reef where you can snorkel. One thing to beware of is the traffic. It can be pretty bad going up and down Seven Mile Beach. We had our own kitchen and grocery shopping was convenient at Fosters or Kirks. We did go out to eat as well:
Aqua Beach: ~$8-$10 US. for sandwiches. A typical beach bar, at the table was Blacked Mahi-Mahi sandwich, Pulled Pork, and Jerk Chicken. All quite tasty and reasonably priced. They had a great caramel cake dessert as well. On the main road, no water view.
McCoy's: ~$15-$25. US I had the BBQ ribs and chicken very tender, but probably enough to feed 2 or 3. A sit-down place with good atmosphere. They have some good pastas and platters. Try their mango creme brule.
Champion House: ~$8-$15 US. More of a local joint. They have conch fritters, curries, and fish. A little off the beaten path in Georgetown. I would highly recommend trying this place out for a more local taste.
Hammerheads: $8-$15 US. On the north end of Georgetown. A typical beachbar where we had dinner our last night. Fish and Chips, Burger, Sandwiches. They have a happy hour as well. We caught a beautiful sunset that last evening.
Antica Gelateria: We went to this place twice, 20 flavors of gelato available each time and there are different flavors daily. A cool and creamy dessert treat.
Overall, we had a great trip and would definitely do it all again.
A few questions we had as first timers with our answers after:
Transportation: Grand Cayman is easy to get around, I'd recommend a car. We rented a car through Andy's and used the Cayman Activities Guide Discount Code: CAG20 which I think got us another 10% off. We got in too late to pick up our car at the airport, but they came and picked us up at our hotel the next morning. This came out a lot cheaper than the big name places.
Money: No need to change money, eveyone takes US and all the places took credit cards. We brought about $300 in cash and still had money left.
Groceries: The groceries are more expensive than in the US, but the stores are your typical large groceries and still more reasonable than eating out.
Let me know if there is any other information I can provide.
Just returned from Grand Cayman (first time there). Thanks everyone who provided information directly and via archived posts here at Scubaboard. It really helped us out in our planning.
Dive Portion of the Trip
Total Dives: 8 (Day Dives Sun-Tues, Stingray City and Night Dive Thurs)
Dive Operator:Off the Wall Divers (http://www.otwdivers.com/).
About the Dive Operator/Off the Wall Divers
I would highly recommend Danny and Off the Wall. Very personal service, professional and fun to be out diving with. We had 6-8 people out on the day dives. I don't think Danny typically takes more than 8 out. Danny is the owner/operator and his wife Marnie dove with us on the weekend. They will do pickups if needed. Danny tends to leave a little early (8AM start), but usally this meant that we were moored in better locations.
Prices were competitive with other places. He has 2 boats. I think through March, he keeps one on the Seven Mile Beach/West Side off Public Beach with many of the other dive outfits and then moves it over to the marina on the North Sound during the summer. From what I understand, I think this is because the wind makes North Side diving hit or miss during the winter months, but once the wind shifts, things get better during the summer. But, I may be mistaken.
We chose Off the Wall Diving because we like diving with smaller groups and had heard some good things about it. Danny was very good about letting buddy teams maximize their dive times. We will dive again with Danny the anytime we're back in Grand Cayman.
Highlights from the Dives
The 2-tank Dives followed a typical pattern: Deep first dive off one of the walls followed by a shallower 2nd dive near Aquarium/Daqs. There was never any current that we had to worry about.
Day 1: Took it easy on our first day diving one of the walls (90 Ft) and Aquarium (50 ft). We saw a turtle and lots of critters on the first dive. The big find was a Southern Ray on the second dive. Your typical Parrot Fish, Tangs, Butterfish, along with an eel or two if you look hard. The tube sponges are pretty cool, I hadn't seen many of those before.
Day 2: First dive was Big Tunnel on the North West side which was also part of our deep dive certification. This spot was amazing! Descended through a canyon and worked our way down the wall to 130 feet. All sorts of life. It was neet to see the little blinnies (sp?) peeking out of their holes. Also spotted a big lobster on the way back up. Second dive was the Doc Polson Wreck in about 50 feet of water, a former cable laying boat fairly intact. You can swim inside the boat, there's a open large hatch on the stern. The wheelhouse is also intact and you can swim through. Saw a large green moray inside the hold as well as juvenile damsels.
Day 3: Orange Canyon off the North West point, named after the orange sponges that can be found there. We dove this down to about 95 feet and followed three different canyons. Lots of things to see along the way. We ended up at the large pinnacle which has a tight swim-through underneath. Pretty cool! Second dive was another site at Aquarium at around 50 feet. We saw a few trunk fish here which have a funky shape to them and took it easy exploring the nooks and crannies.
Stingray City: This is a must do dive. You get to dive Stingray City in the North Sound (just off the northern reef that fringes the sound) - not the Sand Bar which is where all the crazy snorkelers go (read hundred+ people). The site arose because fishermen used to clean there catch in the area after coming in and this attacted the rays who were up for some easy dinner. This is a shallow dive-we maxed a 13 ft. There are an estimated 24 Sourthern Rays resident in this area. We probably saw up to 10-12 at one point. There are also two resident Green Morays to watch out for. It was amazing to swim with so many rays at one time.
Night Dive: We moored on the bow of the Oro Verde in 50 feet of water, a so-so day dive, but alive at night. Lots of Tigertails which I think are related to sea-cucumbers? Like something out of an alien movie. We also got to see/feed some of the barrel coral by attracting bloodworks with our lights to their polyps. The highlight of this dive was spotting an octopus along the wreck and watching as it changed color three times.
Overall, some of the best diving we have done so far and we were able to complete our Advanced Open Water while down there.
Topside Portion
We stayed at Treasure Island Condos at the start of Seven Mile Beach, with another couple we know. This was a very convenient location, close to town and restaurants. The pool bar/Billy Bones can be loud on the weekends. A small sand beach but mostly hard coral shore. There is a small reef where you can snorkel. One thing to beware of is the traffic. It can be pretty bad going up and down Seven Mile Beach. We had our own kitchen and grocery shopping was convenient at Fosters or Kirks. We did go out to eat as well:
Aqua Beach: ~$8-$10 US. for sandwiches. A typical beach bar, at the table was Blacked Mahi-Mahi sandwich, Pulled Pork, and Jerk Chicken. All quite tasty and reasonably priced. They had a great caramel cake dessert as well. On the main road, no water view.
McCoy's: ~$15-$25. US I had the BBQ ribs and chicken very tender, but probably enough to feed 2 or 3. A sit-down place with good atmosphere. They have some good pastas and platters. Try their mango creme brule.
Champion House: ~$8-$15 US. More of a local joint. They have conch fritters, curries, and fish. A little off the beaten path in Georgetown. I would highly recommend trying this place out for a more local taste.
Hammerheads: $8-$15 US. On the north end of Georgetown. A typical beachbar where we had dinner our last night. Fish and Chips, Burger, Sandwiches. They have a happy hour as well. We caught a beautiful sunset that last evening.
Antica Gelateria: We went to this place twice, 20 flavors of gelato available each time and there are different flavors daily. A cool and creamy dessert treat.
Overall, we had a great trip and would definitely do it all again.
A few questions we had as first timers with our answers after:
Transportation: Grand Cayman is easy to get around, I'd recommend a car. We rented a car through Andy's and used the Cayman Activities Guide Discount Code: CAG20 which I think got us another 10% off. We got in too late to pick up our car at the airport, but they came and picked us up at our hotel the next morning. This came out a lot cheaper than the big name places.
Money: No need to change money, eveyone takes US and all the places took credit cards. We brought about $300 in cash and still had money left.
Groceries: The groceries are more expensive than in the US, but the stores are your typical large groceries and still more reasonable than eating out.
Let me know if there is any other information I can provide.
