Holiday Inn and DiveTech - Any Feedback?

[Trailboss123]

Looks like I have a lot to learn.

Do the dive ops or some dive ops rinse and store your gear after a days' diving? Are there dive lockers at some dive ops?

I dove with a GC operation once where they would sit you at the back of the boat and put on your bcd for you and you would just stand up and giant stride in. That was nice, but I don't think that operation rinsed/stored gear. I'd have to get accommodations with a balcony in that case?

I prefer small boats rather than large boats.

Sunset House provides outdoor shower, rinse tanks and dive lockers to keep everything in. You can even store tanks in them, which I did, as I like to get out on dawn dives before breakfast and the shop hasn't opened yet. Or to store for night dives. Once the shop closes around 5 or 5:30pm, tanks are no longer available, so you have to get them beforehand and store them. You are schlepping all of your own stuff down to the boat each morning or down to the gear up area for shore diving though- no one is doing that for you. So, you will want to make sure you bring your mesh dive bag for that. You will need one anyway, if you are going to be traveling around the island and doing other shore dives. Shore dive is an easy giant stride in and a ladder back out.
All of the other shore dive sites commonly mentioned on the Cayman forum provide lockers for storing personal items while out diving and are also easy entry and exit dive sites with rinse tanks and showers.

 

[KathyV]

You know how when you're driving in Mexico, and the police will pull you over and say you did this or that wrong, then say you need to go to the police station with them or you can take care of it on the spot with USD? Maybe "shaken down" is not the appropriate phrase?

Usually a shake-down is when you get stopped by the police and then are let go only if you pay them a bribe. I have heard tell of that being relatively common in Mexico, for example.

Well, I haven't been to Mexico for a long time and maybe that's a good thing! No, that won't happen in Cayman.

 

[KathyV]

Looks like I have a lot to learn.

Do the dive ops or some dive ops rinse and store your gear after a days' diving? Are there dive lockers at some dive ops?

I dove with a GC operation once where they would sit you at the back of the boat and put on your bcd for you and you would just stand up and giant stride in. That was nice, but I don't think that operation rinsed/stored gear. I'd have to get accommodations with a balcony in that case?

I prefer small boats rather than large boats.

I am only describing our dive experiences but perhaps others have more information.

I don't know of any op that rinses and stores your gear for you on Cayman but several of them provide a version of valet diving that includes schlepping your gear for you. At the Reef Divers ops at Cayman Brac Beach Resort and Little Cayman Beach Resort, the divemasters set up and switch your tanks for you and they rinse down and maintain your BCD, weights, and regulators. You just have to put your mask, fins, and snorkel into a mesh bag, dunk it in a rinse tank and hang it to dry in the equipment room. Then dunk your wet suit and booties and hang them up to dry, too. If you have a camera or non-integrated computer then you are responsible for taking care of those.

When you are on the boat, you put on your weight belt (unless it's integrated) walk to the stern, sit down and put on your mask and fins and the DMs carry your tank and BCD to you and help you into it, so you just have to stand up and step off the back. When you return to the boat they take it off you and switch tanks for you. I think that several other Cayman dive ops offer similar services.

I believe that the Reef Divers at Cobalt Coast is a little different, but I am not certain of the process although we have dived with them - without staying there. They do carry your rig to the back of the boat and help you into it, but I think that you probably have to carry your gear off the boat and maintain it - because you will need to access to your gear for the onsite shore dives in the afternoon, evening, and at night.

Plus, Grand Cayman is a much larger and more populous and developed island than Brac or Little and so security is probably a bigger issue of concern. In general GC has a low crime rate and I have never felt endangered there, but GC is not a tiny rural community like Little Cayman or Cayman Brac.

 

[Divetech Cayman]

I contacted Dive Tech back in 2016 when I was considering taking some tech courses. I did not get a good feeling from them.

Among other things, Emma-Jane Nicholsby wanted to charge me $60 per fill of double al80s for air. That's 30 per fill for an al80. Absurd.

In fact, her email indicated that dive tech wanted $1200 for the air, x50, and x80 gasses alone for TEC 40, 45, and 50. This did not include any helium. They were not going to give me credit any unused gases, essentially recharging me for the same gas I did not use with the next fill. Since in tech diving, you normally keep a 1/3 reserve barring emergencies, that's a lot of money.

Needless to say, I did not do my training with them.

Hi divezonescuba,

Thanks for your comments, and I'd like to specifically address this.

Divetech underwent a change of ownership in late 2015. In 2016 there was a lengthy transition period as the new owner carefully analyzed the old business practices to see what was working and what wasn't.

One of the things that was looked hard at, and completely overhauled, was the tech and rebreather side of things. Among some of the changes that were made to benefit the tech diving customer:

• We did a careful cost analysis to figure out exactly what consumables cost Divetech. In some areas we found we were selling items for less than what it cost us. In other areas we were drastically overcharging, and we reduced the customer prices. It became pretty clear very quickly that grade-E air fills were priced way too high, and we are pleased to say we only charge $.10 per cubic foot for grade E air.
• For open-circuit tech, we also changed our pricing to a per cubic foot model, instead of flat rate filling.
• For helium and deco gasses we switched to a pre-banked gas system, which makes our gasses cheaper to make, and allowed us to reduce our customer costs on helium and O2 enriched gasses.
• Our tech fill station was redesigned to reclaim unused helium gasses, and give partial credit back to customers for gasses they returned to us.

Doing business is very expensive in the Cayman Islands. Everything needs to be shipped by ocean freight to us, which is expensive. Rush items need to be shipped by air, which is very expensive. Every item that arrives on this island is assessed a 30% import duty. Helium and Oxygen are not filled on island, but bottles are shipped here.

This causes some sticker shock to guests when the realize the cost of their consumables is higher than what they are used to in the states. But with our revamped practices, we are able to mitigate some of this, and keep the tech diving affordable.

I'd also like to reiterate that Divetech is now under new ownership. The new owner, Joanna Miktuowicz, is a young, hands-on owner-operator who cares deeply about the success of her business, and more importantly about the satisfaction of the guest. She works 7 days per week out with her employees, on the boats, teaching classes and guiding dives. Joanna has put together a great team that I am proud to be a part of. Take a look at our public reviews and you'll see our customer feedback reflects this. The new Divetech is only getting better and better.

Let me know if you have any questions, publicly or privately if you choose at tony@divetech.com.

Kind regards,
Tony Land
Divetech General Manager

 

[Alucard]

I don't know of any dive op on the island that will rinse your gear for you. Frankly, I wouldn't want that - it's my gear and I am picky about having it rinsed off properly.

Cobalt Coast used to have lockers for gear for guests staying at the resort - I can't remember if someone said they were still there or not.

One thing I notice about drying gear, though - once the sun goes down if it isn't dry already it won't dry overnight outdoors - the humidity is far too high. I tend to let gear drip and dry during the day and then bring it in just after sundown to the air-conditioned room to continue drying.

 

[KathyV]

I don't know of any dive op on the island that will rinse your gear for you. Frankly, I wouldn't want that - it's my gear and I am picking about having it rinsed off properly.

Cobalt Coast used to have lockers for gear for guests staying at the resort - I can't remember if someone said they were still there or not.

One thing I notice about drying gear, though - once the sun goes down if it isn't dry already it won't dry overnight outdoors - the humidity is far too high. I tend to let gear drip and dry during the day and then bring it in just after sundown to the air-conditioned room to continue drying.

This tripadvisor review for Cobalt Coast says that the dive lockers are being replaced with a better method for storing gear as part of the current renovations that were scheduled to end this month, but I don't know the current status.

Trip Leader's Perspective - Review of Cobalt Coast Grand Cayman Resort, West Bay, Cayman Islands - TripAdvisor

 

[Damselfish]

Don't forget Ocean Frontiers on the East End - they are full valet. No separate lockers. They put your gear on the boat and I think you set it up the first time. After that they take everything off the boat, wash it, store it in a locked drying area, and will have it waiting for you on the boat for whichever is your next dive. If you want to haul your own stuff around and clean it I don't think they're going to stop you, but that's not what they're set up for.

 

[jgttrey]

Looks like I have a lot to learn.

Do the dive ops or some dive ops rinse and store your gear after a days' diving? Are there dive lockers at some dive ops?

I dove with a GC operation once where they would sit you at the back of the boat and put on your bcd for you and you would just stand up and giant stride in. That was nice, but I don't think that operation rinsed/stored gear. I'd have to get accommodations with a balcony in that case?

I prefer small boats rather than large boats.

Look at Indigo Divers. Very nice operation if you prefer valet dive service and Chris and Kate are super folks.

6 divers max. Comfortable boats. Pick you up at your condo/hotel. They'll store your BCD/Regs/etc. and do all the set up for the dives. Not sure about whether they'll deal with your wetsuit, to be honest. I prefer to deal with my own gear, but Indigo is top notch if you're looking for a low-friction dive experience.

Thumbs up on DiveTech too, for that matter. Not as valet-oriented and the boats are bigger, but great folks and a first class operation, if you don't mind wrangling your own gear (unless that's changed in the last 2 years).

Cobalt Coast is nice and has a very good built in shore dive, current allowing. Don't have experience with the onsite operator, Reef Divers. Until a couple of years ago that was a DiveTech location. The downside is that it is a pretty long haul to anywhere. The restaurant is good, but if you want to venture out, you have to have a car and it's still a tedious drive.

 

[mi000ke]

Look at Indigo Divers. Very nice operation if you prefer valet dive service and Chris and Kate are super folks.

6 divers max. Comfortable boats. Pick you up at your condo/hotel. They'll store your BCD/Regs/etc. and do all the set up for the dives.

Yes they are a great outfit. Living the Dream also provides small boats, valet service and will also rinse, store and set up gear. They bring your gear to you as you sit on the dive platform and take it off there when you get back on board. My back likes this.

I'm guessing there are other dive ops on GC that do this as well.

Dive Tech is not what I would call full valet service, but they are a great dive operation and more than willing to do just about anything you ask regarding set up, donning and doffing gear, carrying your gear to and from the boat, etc. I'm local, so have not stored gear with them, but I would not be surprised if they did that as well. They have ample rinse tanks on shore to do your own rinse. And they are home to one of the best shore dives on the island.

 

[Damselfish]

agree, it seems I've heard over time a number of small ops mentioned will take care of gear somehow rather than making you haul wet gear back to your hotel every night, or have some kind of better way to deal with things.

I've dived with Divetech on a number of visits back when they were at Cobalt Coast, and also at Turtle farm, and always though they were a good op. But they were never a valet op, more of a "real divers deal with their own gear" op. But they would certainly help when asked and of course they had appropriate lockers/facilities for you to use.