McCoy's Dive Lodge in Little Caymans?

[Hintermann]

Having made the decision to stick to going to the Cayman Islands in January 2014, I am now wondering whether I should change the dive operator to use while on the land based trip to Little Cayman. At present I have a provisional booking with Little Cayman Beach Resort and their in-house Reef Dive Center. But they have told me that in January they cannot guarantee going around to the north shore to dive the Bloody Bay Wall - the main reason I am going to Little Cayman.

I have just found out that there is (or used to be - not sure if it still exists) a small dive operator based on the islands north shore and right over the BBW - called Sam McCoy's Dive & Fishing Lodge. There is a website but it seems outdated and is not very informative. From what few reviews I found, I gathered that they are clearly downmarket compared with the likes of Pirate Point or Little Cayman Beach Resort. But if they are clean, safe and reliable, I don't mind roughing it a bit if it means certain diving over the BBW.

Has anyone had any recent experience with McCoy's Dive Lodge or know someone who has? I would be very grateful for any information about this outfit.

 

[AggieDiver]

I could be wrong, but I don't think McCoy's is in business anymore. A couple of things to keep in mind about conditions on the north side is that whether or not the Aggressor comes over isn't just decided by how rough the crossing could be, and Reef Divers not going around to the north side isn't just decided by how rough the ride around the west end of the island will be. When the conditions on the north side are rough, the currents can come up and the visibility can get very poor very rapidly. So even if it were possible to get to the BB Wall from some place like McCoy's, the conditions may be such that you would not enjoy the diving much and would end up with a poor impression of the place.

My advice is to stick with your current plans and enjoy your diving. It is unlikely that you will be totally unable to dive the north side due to weather. You may miss a few days if the weahter comes up, but I would be surprised given your planned itenerary if you were completely unable to see the BB wall during your trip.

 

[Joanybelle]

I've been to LC several times...3 times in January. I've NEVER had a bad trip to LC. The last time I stayed at LCBR (1 1/2 yrs ago) the seas were particularly rough ONE DAY for boat travel around the west end of island heading to Bloody Bay Wall. No worries...Reef Divers loaded us up on the van for the 5 minute ride across island for a shore dive. It was a little bit of a swim out, but was a great dive! Unless you are incredibly unlucky enough to have horrible weather all week, you will dive BB several times. And it is spectacular! Go. Just go. You'll be happy you did. BTW, Sam McCoys is closed.

 

[Hintermann]

Thank you both. I am probably being silly but the prospect of going to the Cayman Islands and not diving the BBW seemed terrible. But as you say, with a whole week of liveabaord diving followed by 3 full diving days in Little Cayman, I'll have to be incredibly unlucky to miss BBW.

I also looked at the Captain's Log archive link supplied by diversteve and it looks like the Cayman Aggressor makes the crossing opportunistically. That would mean that we have 3 or even 4 nights during the liveaboard week that the journey is possible for diving the BBW on the following day. With that plan and the land based dives to follow, I hope that I'll be OK.

 

[Doctorfish]

McCoy's is long gone so there is no operator based on the north shore. LCBR Reef Divers almost always can get their boats around but no guarantees in January.

 

[keyshunter]

Hintermann,
You should remove McCoy's from your list unless you are interested in purchasing an old, run down fish/dive camp.

Jan., Feb., and March are generally the windiest months in the Caymans, as they are here in the Keys. I have been on LC for a week or more when we never were able to get around to dive the north (Bloody Bay) side. This is fine with me, as I really like diving the south side of LC. If the north side of the island is too rough for the LC boats to dive, it is very highly unlikely that the Aggressor will make the trip, which covers about 70 miles of open ocean.

If diving, Bloody Bay Marine Park is an absolute must, you probably should consider scheduling your trip for sometime later in the year.

 

[zf2nt]

McCoy's is long gone so there is no operator based on the north shore. LCBR Reef Divers almost always can get their boats around but no guarantees in January.

Well...you've got to take this one with a grain of salt. I have a house on Little Cayman, on the beach, just before the boats make their turn to the north to go to Bloody Bay Wall. There are lots of days in the winter when I see one of the dive boats come boldly down the coast, ready to head to the north side. I know it is too rough over there, and moreover I know the dive boat captain knows it as well. But they make a valiant try anyway, then turn around and head back to the south shore after the guests beg the captain to give it up and go back. It's good for tips, because the captain made such an effort. And the reason I know this is...I used to DM on the boats, years ago.

The good news is that I can only find two instances in my log book, going all the way back to 1998, when there was a stretch of longer than 4 days where the boats couldn't get to the north shore.

Bruce

 

[beaverdivers]

We had some great times at McCoys; sorry that they are no longer in business.

They maybe still doing the Sat. night BBQ.

Bruce, are there any private guides that take people out from the North side?

Have you done shore dives from the North side?

If someome had the guts, it would be nice to see a new dive resort at MCoys.

 

[Hintermann]

.

If diving, Bloody Bay Marine Park is an absolute must, you probably should consider scheduling your trip for sometime later in the year.

Well, I have decided to keep my January booking and hope for the best. I have to be in Miami anyway.

But I do have other chances. I was planning a Caribbean dive spot for a few days in early May 2015 before joining the Rocio del Mar liveaboard. At present I was looking at Bonaire because it would be a nice contrast to Socorro but if I don't make it to BBW this coming January, I can always change the pre-Socorro visit to Little Cayman.

PS: Sorry if this is a stupid question but are the winter winds affected by the lunar cycle? I just looked up the Lunar Calendar for January 2014 and 16th Jan is a Full Moon night, right in the middle of my liveaboard. Since the Aggressor usually tries the crossing at night, the timing might be against me.

 

[zf2nt]

We had some great times at McCoys; sorry that they are no longer in business.

They maybe still doing the Sat. night BBQ.

Bruce, are there any private guides that take people out from the North side?

Have you done shore dives from the North side?

If someome had the guts, it would be nice to see a new dive resort at MCoys.

Well, there is always the Bloody Bay Dive Resort (coming soon)! (Yes, Chip McCoy's sign is still up on the front if the old lot where Chris McCoy and ex-wife Laura used to live, even though the McCoy's sold that property long ago.)

But in answer to your question, nobody I know takes people out on the north side. Even if I had a work permit to do it, I would want to do DLD's from shore. There's just too much chance of people getting trashed on the fringing reef. Personally, I do all my dives from shore over there and haven't gone out on one of the boats in many years. The only site I can't reach is Cascades, and that's just because I'm too lazy to swim all the way out there.

I once grilled Perry McLaughlin about why they didn't develop Little Cayman for shore diving the way Bonaire has been developed the last few years, and his answer was that all of the shore entries were through private property. I guess he is right, though I do think there's a little strip down by the entry for Cumber's Caves which is public land.

Bruce