North wall Grand Cayman

[cubalake]

Looking to dive the north wall on Grand Cayman in February. Any suggestions on places to stay and dive operations? Also, does February weather at the north end make diving difficult? Thanks.

 

[diversteve]

Weather will definitely make diving the North Wall difficult - sometimes impossible in Winter. As in most Caribbean destinations, the north side of the island takes a pounding during the winter months. The accommodation is that dive operators move their boats as far south as needed and shuttle you to them. You may not know that you don't have to stay on the North Wall to dive it either - except for proximity to the shore dives in the area. Which also will be blown out when the wall is.

For clarity which "North Wall"? The one between Northwest Point and the entrance to the North Sound or the one east of Rum Point to the East End? If the former, Cobalt Coast is the AI dive resort on the north side. Divetech is on-site there. They have a sister shop at Lighthouse Pt. a short drive west if you would like a condo instead. Both are good shore dives in addition. Divetech shuttles you between locations as needed, one may be diveable if the other isn't. Between them Turtle Reef is the other really good shore dive in that area - IMO maybe the best on Cayman - at least of the more known/easily accessible sites.

The "other" North Wall - extending east of the Sound also has some epic dives. Babylon being among the top. Arguably it's the better diving but will also be weather affected. Most of the west side operators won't run there on normal dives, too far, too much gas, many use the same boats for their afternoon dives etc. Some like Off the Wall do an all day "excursion" - they circumnavigate Cayman doing 3 dives and stopping for lunch at a restaurant with a dock.

Most of that area is house rentals until you get to Morritt's on the NE corner. They have Tortuga DIvers on-site - part of Red Sail. Red Sail also has a shop at Rum Point for Stingray City dives. From the Rum Point area it's an hour to drive around to the west side. On the SE corner is Ocean Frontiers - they're on the Compass Point condo complex. There's one food store in that entire area - probably closed on Sunday. And 1/2 dozen restaurants more or less.

Getting back to the west side which is what most people think of when they hear "North wall" - besides Divetech there are a lot of dive operators based at the marinas farther south along Seven Mile Beach that also dive the north wall if conditions are good. If not they'll generally move boats out of the sound and pick-up somewhere on the West Side. Most of the condos/resorts are along that area and since the dive operators all pick you up on request, that would be my choice. Know that parts of SMB are like South Beach now also - esp. closer to Georgetown when the 4-5 Cruise Ships are moored daily. Not where I"d want to be.

An example on weather - my b.i.l. was on Cayman last year - week after Christmas. He dove with Ocean Frontiers. Wanted to dive Babylon. The first 2 days they were shut down - all dives to the south. The next day it was flat calm so they went. By the weekend it was shut down again.

Look at Cayman Islands Tourism, Official | Cayman Islands for resort/condo options. There's also private consolidators - cicondos.com is one I've dealt with. To select a dive operator go to Cayman Islands Tourism Association - Things To Do In Cayman, Cayman Culture,Cayman Islands Watersports

There are really no bad operators - since all charge about the same they all provide quality service. The one differentiation is boat size and maximum divers per trip. Many offer 6-8 max on boats up to 40+ in length. Red Sail and Don Fosters downtown have the cruise traffic so theirs are larger.

Are we talking $150/day or $1500/day for accommodations - or less. On Grand Cayman you can find both pretty easily. Especially in February. The most affordable options are probably the suites - Sunshine or Comfort. Ambassador Divers is at Comfort Suites also - they're one I recommend at times.

Post if you have any questions.

 

[cubalake]

Thank you for the super informative answer to my question. I appreciate the time it took to write and all the suggestions.

Weather will definitely make diving the North Wall difficult - sometimes impossible in Winter. As in most Caribbean destinations, the north side of the island takes a pounding during the winter months. The accommodation is that dive operators move their boats as far south as needed and shuttle you to them. You may not know that you don't have to stay on the North Wall to dive it either - except for proximity to the shore dives in the area. Which also will be blown out when the wall is.

For clarity which "North Wall"? The one between Northwest Point and the entrance to the North Sound or the one east of Rum Point to the East End? If the former, Cobalt Coast is the AI dive resort on the north side. Divetech is on-site there. They have a sister shop at Lighthouse Pt. a short drive west if you would like a condo instead. Both are good shore dives in addition. Divetech shuttles you between locations as needed, one may be diveable if the other isn't. Between them Turtle Reef is the other really good shore dive in that area - IMO maybe the best on Cayman - at least of the more known/easily accessible sites.

The "other" North Wall - extending east of the Sound also has some epic dives. Babylon being among the top. Arguably it's the better diving but will also be weather affected. Most of the west side operators won't run there on normal dives, too far, too much gas, many use the same boats for their afternoon dives etc. Some like Off the Wall do an all day "excursion" - they circumnavigate Cayman doing 3 dives and stopping for lunch at a restaurant with a dock.

Most of that area is house rentals until you get to Morritt's on the NE corner. They have Tortuga DIvers on-site - part of Red Sail. Red Sail also has a shop at Rum Point for Stingray City dives. From the Rum Point area it's an hour to drive around to the west side. On the SE corner is Ocean Frontiers - they're on the Compass Point condo complex. There's one food store in that entire area - probably closed on Sunday. And 1/2 dozen restaurants more or less.

Getting back to the west side which is what most people think of when they hear "North wall" - besides Divetech there are a lot of dive operators based at the marinas farther south along Seven Mile Beach that also dive the north wall if conditions are good. If not they'll generally move boats out of the sound and pick-up somewhere on the West Side. Most of the condos/resorts are along that area and since the dive operators all pick you up on request, that would be my choice. Know that parts of SMB are like South Beach now also - esp. closer to Georgetown when the 4-5 Cruise Ships are moored daily. Not where I"d want to be.

An example on weather - my b.i.l. was on Cayman last year - week after Christmas. He dove with Ocean Frontiers. Wanted to dive Babylon. The first 2 days they were shut down - all dives to the south. The next day it was flat calm so they went. By the weekend it was shut down again.

Look at Cayman Islands Tourism, Official | Cayman Islands for resort/condo options. There's also private consolidators - cicondos.com is one I've dealt with. To select a dive operator go to Cayman Islands Tourism Association - Things To Do In Cayman, Cayman Culture,Cayman Islands Watersports

There are really no bad operators - since all charge about the same they all provide quality service. The one differentiation is boat size and maximum divers per trip. Many offer 6-8 max on boats up to 40+ in length. Red Sail and Don Fosters downtown have the cruise traffic so theirs are larger.

Are we talking $150/day or $1500/day for accommodations - or less. On Grand Cayman you can find both pretty easily. Especially in February. The most affordable options are probably the suites - Sunshine or Comfort. Ambassador Divers is at Comfort Suites also - they're one I recommend at times.

Post if you have any questions.

 

[Cayman Marine Lab]

Hi, please have a look at Cayman Marine Lab. We are North Wall diving experts taking clients to dive unmarked and untouched sites dive by no one else on the island. We shy away from the common west side diving and spend most of our time North unless conditions are dangerous. No need to worry about boat moorings as we leave from Tom's (the owner and marine biologist with over 30 years experience in Cayman) private canal outside his house. We offer a friendly and relaxed vibe which has kept our customers coming back for decades. Have a look at our website or trip adviser for more info.