open water for 14 year old in Grand Cayman?

[shodan]

Hi,
My wife and I both were certified years ago and have not really done any diving since our 14 year old daughter was born. We intend to have her take the classroom and pool instruction here in NY and then go to the Caribbean (thinking Grand Cayman) in early April to have her do her open water while my wife and I take some refresher classes.
I would appreciate any feedback on this plan. Is cayman an island that would be appropriate for a beginner? Are the currents strong? We would like a destination that has some other things going on to keep us (daughter especially) interested during non diving periods.
Thanks
Mitchell

 

[oly5050user]

pm sent

 

[NewEnglandTransplant]

There are many options for diving in the Cayman Islands. ALso great snorkelling. If interested in windsurfing then head to east end. Be sure to spend one afternoon at StingRay city. Some shopping in Georgetown although beaches area great so don't spend too much time inside.

A couple favorite snorkelling spots - cemetery beach and parrots cove.

Wide range of diving. Some current at times but not major.

Regards, D-

 

[catskill diver]

shodan - We spent time at morritts tortuga. The place was nice. You can find them on line - a time share set up. Whatever your opinion is of that type of situation this was o.k. and reasonable especially if you like to do your own cooking. Definatly rent a car - Stingray city is close by. The nice thing is its out of the way of the hustle of 7 mile. A grocery store across the street a internet cafe ( our kids found plenty to do ) and Red sail sports is right in the front. They had great rates when we were there. All three took a resort course - intro for $ 200 if that gives you any indication - it definatly wasnt advertised though. Fell free to contact me if you want more info.

 

[shodan]

follow up.
We went to cayman and stayed at the Westin.
Red Sail sports was on the premises and used their services for the week. My daughter took her open water dives with a Red Sail dive instructor named Jenny who was terrific. We did not do any of the deep wall dives as she is limited to 60 feet and we wanted to really respect the rules.
Sting Ray city was a highlight. They even paraded around a beautiful large moray eel.
Overall diving with red sail cayman was effortless and we really liked the people. We also found them to be flexible in terms of changing which dives we would do on which day.
We did note that the reefs on the whole were still terrific but, we felt that the impact of major development on the island had degraded them somewhat since we had been there years ago. We wondered if it was just our memories that were off but people on the island we asked blamed it on the development and the hurricane.