New subforums for the Greater Caribbean area?

[H2Andy]

I hate to break it to you folks, but The Cayman Islands are not a part of the Greater Antilles.

yeah, they are

the Greater Antilles are Cuba, Jamaica, the island of Hispaniola (composed of Haiti on the west side and the Dominican Republic on the east side) and Puerto Rico. the smaller islands in the vicinity of these four major islands are also treated as part of the group because they are made up of continental rock, distinct from the Lesser Antilles, which are volcanic or coral islands

the Lesser Antilles are divided into the Leeward Islands (from Dominica north), the Windward Islands (down from Martinique) and the Netherland Antilles (the ABC Islands and some smaller islands SW of Grenada)

then you have the Bahamas and the Turk and Caicos to the north

and the Bay islands to the south

and Cozumel, which is off Mexico

and that's about it for the Caribbean proper

 

[billinwilliamston]

This image seems to indicate otherwise: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...sIslands.png/800px-GreaterAntillesIslands.png

Ah yes, Wikipedia. The epitome of "garbage in, garbage out".

That being said, the article that goes with the photo link above says "The smaller islands in the vicinity of these four major islands are sometimes also treated as part of the group"

Encyclopedia Britannica defines the Antilles as "group of islands located in the Caribbean Sea and comprising all of the West Indies except the Bahamas. They are divided into two major groups: the Greater Antilles, including Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and the Lesser Antilles, comprising all the rest of the islands."

There appears to be two common definitions of Greater vs Lesser. Big islands vs. little islands and Puerto Rico and points West or not.

Once we learn where the "powers that be" hid the forums we're looking for, what difference does it make?

 

[parrotheaddiver]

Once we learn where the "powers that be" hid the forums we're looking for, what difference does it make?

Aaah so true.....I just want a Turks and Caicos forum/subforum El Orans started this and where is he now??? getting ready to jet off to Cozumel for some fun in the sun...

 

[El Orans]

Aaah so true.....I just want a Turks and Caicos forum/subforum El Orans started this and where is he now??? getting ready to jet off to Cozumel for some fun in the sun...

Shocking, isn't it.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

From someone living and working in Cayman for several years, not once have I ever seen a local reference to The Cayman Islands as being a part of the Greater Antilles.

We are the very peaks of an undersea ridge that stretches between eastern Cuba and Central America. That same ridge has the Swan Islands (Honduras) but is distinct from the formations that bring us Cuba and the Greater Antilles. "Our" ridge developed long ago from volcanic origins along the spreading plate boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates.

We have historic social ties with Jamaica, or course. By the same token we have social ties with the English speaking Atlantic coast of Central America and a few other islands. San Andrés (Colombia), Corn Island (Nicaragua), and the Bay Islands (Honduras) all have strong ties to Cayman.

We are a mishmash of cultures, with a geological formation different and distinct from the other islands of the Caribbean.

 

[H2Andy]

We are the very peaks of an undersea ridge that stretches between eastern Cuba and Central America. That same ridge has the Swan Islands (Honduras) but is distinct from the formations that bring us Cuba and the Greater Antilles.

that's not correct. you are in the same chunk of "mainland" as Honduras, the Swans, and Cuba and the other Greater Antilles

like Cuba (and the other Greater Antilles), you are not recent volcanic or coral in origin, and form part of the same "mainland" (most of it happens to be underwater)

or to put it another way, the Caymans and the Greater Antilles are the tops of the same mountain chain, with lots of water in between

there are other small islands scattered around that also are part of the same mountrain range; thus, they are techincallly part of the Greater Antilles

the Lesser Antilles are recent coral or volcanic islands ('recent" in quotations), and they're far off to the East

 

[Maladryne]

This is all very interesting, but... uhhh.... I'd kinda like to read some posts related to diving in the Caymans, and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out where I'm supposed to go to do that? Maybe there's another online forum some of you can recommend that I could join where they've already got this worked out, and I can do that?

 

[parrotheaddiver]

I agree it does at this point look like a cluster**** ...El Orans took all of our suggestions and put them in a big bowl and then drew them out I still don't know where to go to look for information on T&C or The Caymans as the above poster has pointed out....please reshuffle and try again let's try and keep it simple....for my simple mind :11:

OOPS ok ok I see the Cayman Island subforum now

 

[diversteve]

This is all very interesting, but... uhhh.... I'd kinda like to read some posts related to diving in the Caymans, and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out where I'm supposed to go to do that?

Um..right here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=453

It's the only subforum under Greater Antilles. Since you were able to post here you should've scrolled past it.

Unless you're trying to make a point in which case....:11doh:

Maybe there's another online forum some of you can recommend that I could join where they've already got this worked out, and I can do that?

There's D2D on Scubadiving.com. But good luck finding anything there as the posts run chronologically and are all lumped under Travel.

Really...how difficult is this?...

 

[jaybombs25]

Ranging from the Windward Islands in the south (Virgin Islands, St. Martin, St. Croix, Dominica etc.) and the Leeward Islands in the north (Martinique, Barbados Grenada, Trinidad etc.).

You guys kinda messed up the Windward Islands include only St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Vincent and Grenda.. Martinique is also considered part of it sometimes. Youw guys simply need to change around where you have windward and leeward and remove trinidad and barbados since they are NOT windward islands. and remove dominica and place it in the windward group..

A simple easy fix. But nice to finally have our own subforum!