Grand Cayman Vs Cayman Brac

[Quetzal]

We will be staying on Cayman Brac Nov 6 - 13 then on to Grand Cayman Nov. 13th-17th. Is there any don't miss it dive spots on Grand Cayman after I've did a week of diving on Brac and one day on Little Cayman? If so who would you recomend doing this dive with?

We will be staying at Sunset house.

Someone on a previous post suggested.

http://www.walltowalldiving.com/index.htm
http://www.neptunesdivers.com/index.html
http://www.indigodivers.com/index.shtml
Are any of these close to Sunset House?
I will probably dive w/ Sunset House but I'm not sure they will do "THE DIVE" I would like to do or that y'all recomend.

 

[Damselfish]

I've done the 3 tank trips on the Manta a couple times, nice boat (big boat, but we never had many people on it.) Best diving I did while staying with Sunset house. I always found their regular boats crowded, slow and uncomfortable. If choosing between West or South sites on their regular dives, I usually enjoyed the interesting southern reef sites more enjoyable than the heavily dove west wall sites they went to. The west is better the further north you get, but I don't think they tend to go that far north.

And I think Stingray City is worth doing once if you haven't done it.

 

[gasgirl]

We usually dive with Red Baron Divers. Max of 6 divers per boat. Lots of bottom time since you dive your computer profile. Nick and Patrick always seem to know the best spots given the prevailing conditions but they are also open to requests. They are both very nice guys and very safe divers!

We were there in September and it was very slow so Red Barons had their boats out for maintenance part of the time we were there. We ended up diving with Sunset House and we can recommend them as well. Mike, the dive op manager, is very knowledgeable and willing to help. The staff is very easy-going and it was a lot of fun to dive with them. They were also willing to take us wherever we wanted to dive as long as the conditions were suitable. However, it is a bigger boat and they do cut your bottom time short even if you have a dive computer.

We talked to some of the guests at Sunset House and they wished they had rented a car to be able to drive to Seven Mile Beach (there is no beach at Sunset House). The Public Bus seems quite unreliable and the taxis are quite expensive. Also, if you have a rental car, you can take your gear and do shore diving at Eden Rock and Turtle Reef (very economical compared to boat diving). Both these dive sites also make great night dives (nurse sharks and octopus!).

Stingray City is one of those "must-do" attractions if you haven't done it. Having said that, the vis in September was horrible, and the water was a really murky green. Apparently, there is a run-off problem that lasts several days whenever it rains since Ivan. So, don't go to Stingray after it rains and don't go when there are cruise ships in port.

Have a great trip!

 

[champ]

Best Dive is Babylon from shore on the north side. A couple of idea's for something different ... Go to the dive shop next to the Turtle Farm, rent a scooter and do the dive right in front of the shop. Go all the way out to the deep wall, turn left turn, cut back to the shallow wall after 1500 psi, follow the shallow wall back to the shop - but remember to stop at the Tarpon Cave (loads of big Tarpon). The dive shop on the East End used to do a shark dive program. Eden Rock is an easy shore dive at night. Eagle Ray Rock is great shore dive if you are willing to swim (easy entry just a long swim, note you want to swim to the second bouy furthest from the beach) - cool canyon and wall dive.

 

[padiscubapro]

We will be staying on Cayman Brac Nov 6 - 13 then on to Grand Cayman Nov. 13th-17th. Is there any don't miss it dive spots on Grand Cayman after I've did a week of diving on Brac and one day on Little Cayman? If so who would you recomend doing this dive with?

We will be staying at Sunset house.

Someone on a previous post suggested.

http://www.walltowalldiving.com/index.htm
http://www.neptunesdivers.com/index.html
http://www.indigodivers.com/index.shtml
Are any of these close to Sunset House?
I will probably dive w/ Sunset House but I'm not sure they will do "THE DIVE" I would like to do or that y'all recomend.

I have been going to Grand cayman for about 20 years now and my favorite dive site is Delias Delight.. It is the last "deep" site before the no diving zone on the north side (its east of rum point).. The mooring is in about 60fsw of water. I have done this site from the Manta several times.. Once you get beyond recreational depths this site is absolutely incredible.. A couple of years ago during Zero Gravity I did a 4 hour dive on this site (max depth about 300fsw) and it still wasn't enough, the top of the wall was being cruized by spotted eagle rays and some sharks...

 

[diversteve]

We will be staying on Cayman Brac Nov 6 - 13 then on to Grand Cayman Nov. 13th-17th. Is there any don't miss it dive spots on Grand Cayman after I've did a week of diving on Brac and one day on Little Cayman? If so who would you recomend doing this dive with?

We will be staying at Sunset house.

Someone on a previous post suggested.

http://www.walltowalldiving.com/index.htm
http://www.neptunesdivers.com/index.html
http://www.indigodivers.com/index.shtml

Are any of these close to Sunset House?
I will probably dive w/ Sunset House but I'm not sure they will do "THE DIVE" I would like to do or that y'all recomend.

If you're staying at Sunset House aren't you also diving with them? On their boats? If not, most of the diveops on Cayman will pick you up with their shuttle. Not sure how that would play at SH though since you'd be going with a competitor. Maybe you could walk across the street and wait for them.

Since SH is south of Georgetown, they more than likely either go South or up along the West Side. It's all good diving, but imho the best is the North West, which they may/may not want to take you up to due to the distance.

The "best" dives (again imho) on GC are:

Big Tunnel
Orange Canyon
Trinity Caves
Bonnies Arch.

Best shallow 2nd dive:

Aquarium

Good divesites:

Blackies Hole
Hepps Wall

Sites to avoid:

Governors Reef
Peters Reef

I second Champs recommendation, go to the Turtle Reef location - it's actually Divetech's other shop - and rent scooters and go out to the North Wall. There's also a mini-wall on the way out that makes a great second dive, it's close by, shallow and pretty interesting. You'll go right over it as you head out north. There's tarpon in the shadows and lots of coral/fish to see. It's a good two dive afternoon. The Wall is awesome, you can hang out over it and look down 2-300' - sometimes in the distance you'll see big Pelagics coming in to feed. We saw some Eagle Rays go screaming over our heads one morning out there.

You'll need to rent a car to drive up there, or pay a big cab fare. The local bus service is local owner/operators with mini-vans and it's not reliable, probably less so post-Ivan.

Last but not least, do Stingray City - It really is "the most fun you can have in 15' of water" Bring your cameras...

Note: this is all pre-Ivan, but from what I've read nothing much has changed divewise.

I like Sunset House, next trip to Cayman we'll probably stay there. It's really all about divers. Check out the Cathy Church gallery in the basement of the main house. And get your picture taken with the Mermaid. My Bar's great for lunch.

P.S. Bring lots of cash - Cayman's pricey....

 

[Quetzal]

What is the deepest the Manta and for that matter various dive boats in Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac will allow you to dive? 130 fsw?

I have been going to Grand cayman for about 20 years now and my favorite dive site is Delias Delight.. It is the last "deep" site before the no diving zone on the north side (its east of rum point).. The mooring is in about 60fsw of water. I have done this site from the Manta several times.. Once you get beyond recreational depths this site is absolutely incredible.. A couple of years ago during Zero Gravity I did a 4 hour dive on this site (max depth about 300fsw) and it still wasn't enough, the top of the wall was being cruized by spotted eagle rays and some sharks...

 

[champ]

The Cayman Tourism Alliance set a limit of 100 ft. As far as I know, all the dive shops follow this rule. I did not mind the 100 ft limit, the dives were great - no pressing need to go deeper. The dive boats all gave very good dive briefs before the dive and pointed things out during the dives. However, most dive boats limited your bottom time to an extreme even for those with computers. I did not have a single dive where the dive master was not banging his tank at me to surface when I still had over 1200 psi. I always felt cheated out of quality dive time but I'm sure there were people on the boat happy that dive master would not let me stay down all day.

 

[padiscubapro]

The Cayman Tourism Alliance set a limit of 100 ft. As far as I know, all the dive shops follow this rule. I did not mind the 100 ft limit, the dives were great - no pressing need to go deeper. The dive boats all gave very good dive briefs before the dive and pointed things out during the dives. However, most dive boats limited your bottom time to an extreme even for those with computers. I did not have a single dive where the dive master was not banging his tank at me to surface when I still had over 1200 psi. I always felt cheated out of quality dive time but I'm sure there were people on the boat happy that dive master would not let me stay down all day.

Nope ~2 years ago the rules changed..

In general you are limited by two things, your certification AND the highest staff instructor at the facility you are using... The facility must also infor cita about their intensions

If you use someone like divetech, they have full trimix instructors and CAN run boats for technical divers as deep as they are certified to go... When its a recreational boat, its usually around the 130fsw limit but there are excptions..

Some shops place further limits on the divers (thats THEIR decision, no such rule), if you are not allowed to what you want to do (and are crtified to do), look for another operator..

 

[Makin Raider]

I would agree with Champ on Babylon, having just got home this morning from a week at GC and this being my fourth trip to the CI since Jan 2003 I would definately say north and east side. Ocean Frontiers is the best dive op on island IMHO. Even though you are staying in south sound I would make the trek out there on wednesday the 16th for their three tank, Ocean Safari. The usual plan is Babylon is first tank, stingray city is the second, lunch at the Kaibo Yacht Club which is phoned in from the boat (they have a menu on the boat) then a shallow reef dive on the northeast end such as Snapper Hole or Chub Hole. It's trip that is in high demand and is so worth the dive to the east end, plus it's a good way to sight see the island. Hope this helps.

P.S. I highly recommend dinner at the Grand Ole House, they had an amazing Rum Festival last week!!!