diverswifey
Contributor
Anyone been to South Caicos and Little Cayman and can compare the diving for me? Thanks !
Little Cayman vs. South Caicos- anyone compare?
- Thread starter diverswifey
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
AggieDiver
Contributor
I will let you know in March.
OP
diverswifey
Contributor
aggiediver- I assume you are going to SC in March? We are scheduled to go in November but had planned to go to LC this past Christmas (would have been first time there) and could not go due to covid restrictions. IF the CI start to reopen I am wondering whether we should go there or go ahead to SC. I am not the diver- I am the trip planner- husband loved Grand Turk diving (twice) and enjoyed Cayman Brac about 5 or 6 years ago. Thanks for your reply... and if you have been to Grand Turk and LC. can you compare them? Thank you.
AggieDiver
Contributor
I have never been to any of the T&C islands yet, but we are going to South Caicos in March 2022. I have been to LC many times, and it is my favorite place to Dive in the Caribbean. The typical diving in LC is similar to the west end of the north side of Cayman Brac, except the dives are overall shallower in general on LC. From what I have read online, I expect the diving on SC to be similar to the diving on Brac in depth and wall structure type. I have not been able to get any confirmation on whether the diving there is drift diving or if they dive from moored locations and when the preferred seasons for calm waters are. I have asked both here and on Tripadvisor in response to folks posting about the SC diving, and nobody has responded.
Damselfish
Contributor
I would just stick with your SC reservations, November is not that far off and there have been too many false starts with Cayman reopening. The latest plan may have a chance of sticking, but it still hangs on meeting their vaccine goals. And then who knows what the flight options will be in the beginning. (I personally won't bother planning anything Cayman until they are actually open with no quarantine for vaccinated travelors. Not worth the headache to me.)
I've done a fair bit of diving on South Caicos, but it has been about 20 years. So my knowledge of infrastructure (or lack thereof) is useless, but from a diving perspective, there are shallow patch reefs on the bank that are in about 15 feet of water. They are awesome and you shouldn't miss them just because they are shallow. Had my first manta swim over my head (within inches apparently) there, but I missed it because I was looking at an itty-bitty juvenile smooth trunkfish at the time.
Along the edge of the bank, where most of the moorings are, is 40-60 feet generally before dropping off the wall into about 7000 feet. The wall is not as shallow or as close to shore as it is in Grand Turk. We didn't do any drift diving, unless we were doing blue water freediving. There are plenty of areas to dive in the ridge before the wall in the 40-60' range, and when I was there the coral was fantastic. I'm almost afraid to go back to see what it looks like now.
There were certainly areas that would be high flow during peak tidal change, but I don't remember ever really having to worry about it. We may have just planned around the tide and I don't remember though.
Along the edge of the bank, where most of the moorings are, is 40-60 feet generally before dropping off the wall into about 7000 feet. The wall is not as shallow or as close to shore as it is in Grand Turk. We didn't do any drift diving, unless we were doing blue water freediving. There are plenty of areas to dive in the ridge before the wall in the 40-60' range, and when I was there the coral was fantastic. I'm almost afraid to go back to see what it looks like now.
There were certainly areas that would be high flow during peak tidal change, but I don't remember ever really having to worry about it. We may have just planned around the tide and I don't remember though.
PatW
Contributor
I dove there about 14 years ago. I had just been certified. We dove Long Key just south of South Caicos. We dove in about 30’ at the shallowest. The reef slopes to the wall at about 85’. The wall drops off to really deep reputedly 7,000’. The reef is good because it is swept with nutrient free water from the depths. Every time we went to the wall, we saw sharks - either reef sharks or black tips, My wife has seen schooling eagle rays. And I have seen schooling rays in Grand Turk. The shark population may be less now with the shark finning going on. I forget how the fish population was - local fishing can clobber grouper and snapper populations.
My wife considers it to be the best diving in the Caribbean (well it is actually the western Atlantic but close enough). I think Cayman Brac is the best —- gets the nod for piller coral, elkhorn coral and staghorn coral and the really nice south walls,
The island was pretty nonexistent as far as tourist infrastructure went and I bet it has not improved.
Oh, like the Caymans, the visibility is beyond superb.
Also, the currents are generally close to nonexistent. If you go at the right time of the year, the humpbacks come through and you dive to whale song, So is it as good? If it isn’t, it is still really close.
My wife considers it to be the best diving in the Caribbean (well it is actually the western Atlantic but close enough). I think Cayman Brac is the best —- gets the nod for piller coral, elkhorn coral and staghorn coral and the really nice south walls,
The island was pretty nonexistent as far as tourist infrastructure went and I bet it has not improved.
Oh, like the Caymans, the visibility is beyond superb.
Also, the currents are generally close to nonexistent. If you go at the right time of the year, the humpbacks come through and you dive to whale song, So is it as good? If it isn’t, it is still really close.
OP
diverswifey
Contributor
Thanks all !!! Aggie- just fyi, we went to Grand Turk the week of Thanksgiving of 2018 and the week of Christmas 2020 and had stellar weather both times- we especially enjoyed Thanksgiving time so we are going to South Caicos the week of Thanksgiving this year (it is a good week for my husband to be off work- luckily I am retired so I don't have to plan around school any longer). He loved how close to shore the diving was (10-15 minute boat rides or less compared with some places where the ride to the dive sites was long, choppy or hard on his back after a few days) in GT and I think SC will be similar. The water was very calm and very clear and they tied up to mooring balls- not drift diving. He loved the Blue Waters Divers outfit- super nice folks- and one of the reasons we returned there (so many islands, so little time so we don't repeat many places). I bet you will love the TCI's once you get through to the smaller cays. Salt Cay is still on my bucket list.
PatW - I always try to choose "off the beaten path" vacation locations, be it for dive trips for husband or just a non-dive vacation- one of the reasons I am attracted to SC is that there are pretty beaches there with swimming access for me (as the "non diver", Cayman Brac was relaxing but certainly not a place to love the beach or swim from the shore) , gorgeous water and a country where we have enjoyed ourselves and felt very safe ( in GT, not Provo)- I am glad it is not touristy or we would not be going there!!! We are also adventurous enough to rent a jeep and see the whole island and just enjoy the beauty of it all. Can't wait !
PatW - I always try to choose "off the beaten path" vacation locations, be it for dive trips for husband or just a non-dive vacation- one of the reasons I am attracted to SC is that there are pretty beaches there with swimming access for me (as the "non diver", Cayman Brac was relaxing but certainly not a place to love the beach or swim from the shore) , gorgeous water and a country where we have enjoyed ourselves and felt very safe ( in GT, not Provo)- I am glad it is not touristy or we would not be going there!!! We are also adventurous enough to rent a jeep and see the whole island and just enjoy the beauty of it all. Can't wait !
Similar threads
