Need info on grand cayman.

[PaScubaGirl70]

Still planning first dive trip, and I would like any advice on the diving in Grand Cayman.
Is it good for my 1st ocean dive? I want no current, calm water, and short boat rides - as I don't know if I will get sea sick! We are planning to go somewhere in Feb 06. Any input would be appreciated!!
Thanks again

 

[H2Andy]

I want no current, calm water, and short boat rides

Cayman fits the bill nicely. also, Bonaire and Roatan would do nicely, in
my experience.

Cayman is about as expensive as the Caribbean gets... that's my only "but"
about it.

 

[CameronMartz]

Still planning first dive trip, and I would like any advice on the diving in Grand Cayman.
Is it good for my 1st ocean dive? I want no current, calm water, and short boat rides - as I don't know if I will get sea sick! We are planning to go somewhere in Feb 06. Any input would be appreciated!!
Thanks again

My wife and I just had a wonderful time diving with Ocean Frontiers on the East End. The boat rides were definitely short (20 minutes to most dive sites), and though that side of the island gets a little more wind, their jetboat is the most stable ride I've ever experienced on a dive boat.

They offer great packages including accomodations in their wonderful condos, The Compass Point. I realize that I did not post my trip report on SB, so here it is:

Diving with Ocean Frontiers
Making good on a delivery room promise to my wife and a post-Ivan pledge to Fraser Purdon, I took my wife to Grand Cayman last week for three days of diving with Ocean Frontiers. A diver before we met, my wife never dove frequently enough to get momentum going in her skill level. She always felt like a new diver every time we got out together, and I told her we’d change that after we felt comfortable about leaving our daughter for a vacation.

Though I had not met Fraser before this trip, I knew by his reputation that I couldn’t have made a better choice than to start with him and OF. Sure enough, Fraser made sure he was our guide for the first day of diving and built my wife’s confidence with just the right tact. He was very attentive both on the surface and underwater and very quickly became a great new friend to both of us.

Overall, OF has to be one of the best run companies I’ve ever seen, diving-related or otherwise. You can tell everyone there loves his or her job- they all work very, very hard while maintaining a pleasant “no worries” attitude.

I guess this is how OF can be such a model of customer service. For example, you turn your gear over to them when you check in to your room, and they handle everything else from there until you pick it up at checkout. Each morning, you arrive at the boat, and your gear is already set up on a tank. Even your wetsuit, booties, and fins are laid out like a butler did it- the only thing missing was a mint on my mask case. After the first dive, they switch your gear over for you on the surface interval. When you get back to the dock, they take your gear off the boat, rinse it and hang it all to dry for your next dive. This meant none of our usual filling the bathtub with dripping wetsuits and wings.

Their big boat, the Nauti-Cat, is a very roomy jet boat that takes a max of 12 divers to most dive sites in a smooth 20 minutes. It has a great platform on the back, as well as swing-out panels on both sides close to the water line for a short giant-stride entry.

Our first dives each day were to 100ft on the wall, which drops 6000ft into the darkness below. The second dives were shallower reef dives, though that’s where some of the coolest fish hang out. We didn’t get to see any hammerheads, but we did see plenty of turtles, eels, and rays. We also saw several juvenile drum fish, which are some of the most beautiful fish we’ve ever seen.

Their condos at the Compass Point were also spectacular. We spent many hours sitting on our balcony reading and even surfing the net via their broadband WiFi. In fact, I couldn’t have done the trip otherwise as I had just launched the online shop at DIVEFitness.com and needed to make sure everything was operating smoothly.

We’re making plans now to return for GUE Week 2006 at the end of February. If GUE weren’t going then, we’d be making plans to go anyway. If you are thinking of a dive vacation this year, you can’t go wrong with these guys!

Cameron

 

[Damselfish]

If you're really worried about the water conditions, Bonaire is always a good bet, short boat rides in a bathtub and lots of shore diving if even that is too much. Rarely currents. I think it's a really good place for a first trip.

Grand Cayman is fine too, though you are more likely to run into water that is doing something other than just sitting there, especially in the winter, and especially on the East or North sides of the island. The best diving is mostly east and north, but since it's your first time there you'll love the West too and that area is usually pretty calm. There are also some shore diving facilities in the west that provide pretty easy diving.

As far as currents, I understand being apprehensive about them but they are a reality of the ocean. You will probably find you really don't have trouble with a little bit of current once you've done it, you just check which way it's going and start against it if it's enough to matter, so you don't have a harder swim and use more air on the way back. The divemasters will cover this on boat dives. If they choose to do a drift dive because of a stronger current (unlikely in Cayman and really unlikely in Bonaire!) it is quite easy as long as you go with the flow and don't fight it.

 

[Kevin4diving]

Yep, Bonaire. Then you can shore dive without even getting on a boat. If Cayman Islands is a must, try little Cayman or Cayman Brac. The diving and lodging on GC is more expensive. Also Ambergris Caye, Belize is easy diving with very short boat rides.

 

[DeputyDan]

Sure don't want much do you.....

Short ride - no current - that's Bonaire Hands down...

 

[Drew Sailbum]

In Cayman you can expect clear water, though February it does drop down to about 79 degrees! (Brr....) Boat rides are generally short, but as Damselfish stated winter does tend to bring more chop on the north Wall and East End.

If you are seeking calmer seas, that is usually found around the west side. Winter occasionally throughs us a norwester' and the winds swing around. In that case, the west side operators will be diving around the south shore, and the East End operators will have the smoothest seas off the southeast tip of the island.

As a destination for beginners and more advanced divers alike, Cayman is highly regarded. Currents are generally not strong, and if you are diving with a guide he/she can give you some pointers to ease the work. Rarely there are some strong currents around the northwest point (near where some of the better west side dive sites are), but there are signs that an experienced crew look for to keep you out of a bad situation. So as beginners, I'd recommend that you confirm that an in-water dive guide will be available for any wall dives.

 

[DivingGator]

Grand Cayman is a great place for your first dives. The reefs are amazing with all the swimthroughs and wall diving. We stayed at the Hyatt just before Ivan and used Red Sail Sports as our operation. Red Sail Sports (www.redsailcayman.com) is a fantastic outfit and the dive masters really were helpful with my wife who doesn't dive often due her having problems equalizing. On the first day second dive the dive master even let my wife use her own mask to help her with equalizing. She purchased a mask before the trip that was too big for her to equalize easily. I can't say enough about red sail. Truely one of the best operators I have ever dived with.

If its your first time to Grand Cayman you should stay somewhere on Seven Mile Beach. From there you can dive the West and North side easily. Dives on the west side are a five minute ride. Lots of hotel/condo options and restuarants and seven mile beach is just beautiful. We would have gone back this year but decided to go to St Croix instead. We will be going back maybe in December but definitely in early 2006. Grand Cayman is one of our favorite Islands in the Caribbean.

 

[DivingGator]

Also a good website is www.tripadvisor.com. A great website for all your travels with hotel ratings, things to do, reviews and posts of peoples opinions on their trips/hotels. They also have a forum specific for the area your traveling to. It also has a great option that searches all the travel websites for pricing on hotels at the same time, so you don't have to search a bunch of sites one after the other. It does it for you.

 

[k9lwt]

I have heard good things about Red Sail, but I've dove with Ocean Frontiers and can say that they are great. The crew is extremely competent, fun, and helpful. I got my advanced open water with them a few years ago, then did a couple dives in 03' on my honeymoon. They are great-you won't be disappointed.