More About Shore Dive Options on Grand Cayman

[Damselfish]

The point being that solo diving whether from shore or not is not offered really offered here as freely as in other places and it is not a secret. However the original post is about obscure rules and other ridiculous comments. I would still like to know where and when so we can address the issue or else why were the comments made about things that happened decades ago in the first place.

The original post was actually about shore diving tanks. And the thread digressed, as many do.

So I just saw these statements on current websites -

"Per Cayman Islands regulations, outside tanks may not be brought in for diving." I think there's general agreement if you're using someone's property or facilities in any way, they are within their rights to get something for it, or to say you can't use them. But there's that "regulation" thing again.

and on another:
"There is no charge to use our shore facility" - which might mean they are ok with outside tanks? (Not they have to worry much, since they're hard to get )

And it's been mentioned, Stingray Watersports is ok with outside tanks - guess they're breaking those "Cayman Islands regulations"?

 

[Damselfish]

CITA has a bunch of requirements that it requires its members to adhere to: Safe Diving Standards | Cayman Diving, Dive Caribbean | Dive Cayman

There may be requirements in the insurance policies that the dive companies are required to carry as part of their membership of the CITA.

And then there are the things that dive operators choose to make their standards.

CITA has a bunch of requirements and recommendations. A lot of things are recommendations, if they're mentioned at all.

If something is against the dive ops chosen policies, or maybe their insurance, that's what they should say.

Whether or not it is law is rather immaterial to me - some dive ops might claim it is in order to try to put off someone who is doing their best to go against the Dive OP's chosen policies. It may be bending the truth, but if it deals with someone that is being a bit obnoxious then maybe it's worth bending the truth a little. If a dive op isn't wanting to work with you under a certain specific set of conditions, then it really doesn't matter why.

Perhaps immaterial to you, but not everyone. To me part of this is about the principal of the thing.

Besides the practical example Rich mentions, most people simply dislike being told something that's not true, even if it doesn't impact them directly. Maybe the root cause is that Cayman gets too many casual divers they're afraid to set loose and it's just easier to "bend the truth", maybe it's because it's inherently conservative. But that is little comfort to the people it affects without good reason, or people that want to come there and would like real information, or people that are simply partial to honesty. There's got to be a better way to handle this than lying. Anyone remember the Bob Soto "Gold Card?"

Either way - when you visit a country and ignore the way things are done and insist that things are done your way is the ultimate arrogance, in my book.

I don't see ignoring or insisting or arrogance, as much as confusion created by ops "bending the truth" however suits them, and unhappiness about policies that don't make sense in their time. I can't think of anyplace that hangs their hat on the rules and regulations excuse so much where it's not actually true. Sure other places have restrictions, some more restrictive than Cayman. But they're generally actual restrictions, not ops passing the buck for their choices.

But to come back to the broad subject of this topic - with the exception of solo diving and the laws I outlined above, then the Cayman Islands are as restrictive as most other dive destinations. It's quite possible that there are some divers on the fringes who want to go outside those - they need to find somewhere else to go, but for the rest, the place feels safe and free to dive.

Things that people have complained about in the past may not be issues anymore, at least not very often. But while old restrictions (depth/time/computers/nitrox/guided diving/whatever) may have faded, the _pattern_ remains. Solo diving is just a current example. It's become acceptable in some other places, especially if someone is appropriately certified/equipped. In Cayman, "against the law/regulations" tends to get thrown out as the reason, never mind that there seems to be an op on Brac at least that is ok with it. And no actual law or regulation that anyone can cite. (The CITA doc doesn't mention the word solo, and mentions buddies only with regards to unsupervised wall boat dives - and that one is fuzzy as to whether it is a requirement or recommendation. There's lots of mention of "discretion of the dive op.")

 

[caydiver]

As an op who is a member of CITA which means I have to adhere to certain insurance, training, and other guidelines I am told solo diving is prohibited. I knew this years ago when I came here as a visitor and had never heard of CITA. Because of past solo diving discussions I have asked the current Watersports chair and asked CITA by email where it is written. The response from both is that they do not know but it is not allowed. That’s good enough for me. I don’t care about the semantics. I want to run a good, safe business that follows local norms. If I choose not to be part of CITA I cannot take guests to The Kittiwake nor participate in many of the other things the association is involved in. I pay for membership and my insurance costs are greater than they would be if I was not. Just because I have not seen it in writing I am not going risk my op on ignoring it. It is not a secret as it has been discussed here an elsewhere several times. If a diver needs to see it written formally then this is not the place for them to choose. There are many ambiguities here in everything from what is actually the water line on the beach to who is in charge of the enforcement of certain areas — ie Marine Police, RCIPS, POA, etc. If solo diving is your thing this is not a great choice for you. However this topic is not the same as what this thread started out as. It started out with misinformation current shore diving and a lack of available info. So if you want to come shore diving in The Cayman Islands simply google what the shore ops have on offer and if you have additional questions call them. They won’t hide anything from you. On the sidebar about solo diving, whether or not you can find it in writing most ops are going to stick by the guidelines so this is not a great place to come. No secrets, no hiding except still for what purpose was the original post containing untrue commentary, at least in recent decades, made. There is no one hiding anything and for a new diver to come on a site to find helpful information and a place to go diving it is a huge misrepresentation and has a negative impact.

 

[Alucard]

And it's been mentioned, Stingray Watersports is ok with outside tanks - guess they're breaking those "Cayman Islands regulations"?

Stingray Watersports doesn't have a say in it, since they don't own the property. It is the STRATA (Condo Association) that owns and maintains the dive station and the ladder.