Looking to take FULL advantage of Cayman diving!!!!!! :)

[zf2nt]

I'd book the afternoon boats if you want to dive afternoons. There is no shore diving right at LCBR, it (along with SCC and Conch Club) are in a shallow grassy lagoon. A few people on here have talked about doing lots of shore diving on LC but I think it's a little easier when you're local. First you will need to make sure LCBR is letting you take tanks off site for shore diving - their packages may say something about unlimited tanks for shore diving but in reality pretty much no one staying there ever does it so I'd verify that. Then you need to get to other places to shore dive - unless you're going to carry your dive gear on one of the bikes this probably means a car rental, which are expensive on LC.

Damselfish has it exactly right. There is almost no place on the north shore I don't regularly visit via a shore dive, but it took me a long time to learn how to do it. And I have a truck at my home on LC to carry me and my gear to the entry points. It definitely can be done, but the logistics are difficult for a short-term visitor. If you are staying at one of the resorts (including LCBR), you can arrange for them to take you over to the Cumber's Caves/Jackson Wall entry point and then pick you up later, but that's probably the only shore entry point they would be willing to show you. And that's as it should be! You really need a guide to show you how to pick your way through the fringing reef at the other entry points before you try it on your own.

Bruce

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I personally enjoyed diving with Ocean Frontiers www.oceanfrontiers.com on the East End of Grand Cayman. It's in a pretty remote part of the island, giving you that "outer island" feel, but it doesn't require the extra flight. The dive op is very professionally run, the people are friendly, and the reefs are in excellent condition. There are a lot of swim throughs and caverns (no special training required), as well as deep, or not so deep, diving off awsome walls. I have not been to Cayman Brac, so I can't honestly say that one's better and one's worse, but I can say that I enjoyed diving the East End of Grand Cayman.

In terms of accommodations: The Reef Resort www.thereef.com.ky , which is served by Ocean Frontiers, is downright luxurious (all beachfront condominiums) at a reasonable price, and has great snorkeling right off the beach that you can check out on your off-gas day. Ocean Frontiers also operates its own resort, Compass Point, which is cheaper. I have not stayed there.

I just got back from diving a week with Ocean Frontiers. I can second that! It is a first class operation! As far as accomodations, we stayed at the Morritt's, which is right next door to the Reef Resort. The Morritt's was very nice. We checked out the Reef as well, and that's a beautiful resort also. Compass Pointe looked o.k., but it's very small