planning dives in Cayman Islands

[squidgirlie]

Hi everybody! This is such an incredible forum--I have learned so much! (Mostly during working hours--good thing my boss wears loud shoes so I know when to minimize this screen!)
So here's the beef: my boyfriend and I are both beginner divers. We are planning a trip to the Cayman Islands January 7th through the 17th. Half on Grand Cayman, half on Cayman Brac. I've already booked rooms (Turtle's Nest Inn / Walton's Mango Manor---anybody know anything about these?) and now I have to plan the dives.
I just don't know where to start!!! I definately want to hit Stingray City and Little Cayman, but I'm not sure which operators are the best. If anybody has any suggestions, I'm all ears......eyes....whatev. I'm especially looking to avoid crowds, so if anybody has any tips for that, please dish! (I know we picked the wrong season pricewise and crowdwise, but the airline tickets were DIRTY DIRTBALL cheap!!)
So thanks in advance for any info you'se guys and gals can electronically send my way!

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

My two friends and I will be on Cayman Brac on January 10 - January 15, 2003. We have chartered our own boat for the 11th, 13th and 14th. We plan to get over to Little Cayman once or twice. We did it through Cayman Brac Beach Resort. On the 12th we are diving with Divi Tiara on the refular morning two tank dive. Check this board under a Cayman Brac search and you should get some good dive site info. Our three divers range from a newbie (12 dives) to intermediate (30 dives or so) to me (80 dives). The folks at the Beach Resort and Divi Tiara were very helpful. Note that most of the people on the island are there for a week. They will tell you that they go over to Little Cayman once per week and do the Tibbetts wreck once per week but can't guarantee that they will do it when you want. Chartering a boat was the answer for us (cost $400.00 for 1/2 day). There are also some private boat owners on the isalnd who will do charters for you. Check out the web site at "thebrac.com". Just for reference we did Little Cayman two years ago and it was awesome. Bloody Bay Wall is not to be missed. It is a shear wall that starts at 20 feet or so. The vis was over 150 feet. Unbelievable chimneys, swim-throughs and schooling fish. If you can't get a guarantee of a trip over to Little Cayman let me know and we could probably bring you aboard our little charter for a day. Good luck! Tim Ingersoll.

 

[CJ's]

Hi Squidgirl,
Turtle's Nest Inn is in a beautiful location on the beach in Bodden Town, which is about half-way along the South coast of Grand Cayman. It's a long way from the hustle and bustle of Seven Mile Beach.
You will certainly need to rent a car if you want to get out and about a bit.
For diving you are closest to the East End which has superb diving but the seas can be quite rough at that time of year due to the prevailing Easterly winds. Not neccessarily the best choice if you not very confident divers but try www.oceanfrontiers.com if want to give it a go!

For more relaxing diving and for Stingray city dives you will need to get over to the West end of the Island. At this end the best diving is on the North wall, but like the East End it can get quite choppy. There are a lot of very good dive operators who only take small groups (8 divers max) and who try to dive on the North wall as much as possible: take their advice and if the weather is rough they will not take you out there but dive on either the West side or the south side of the island. The West side is fairly intensively dived but if you stick with a small group operation you can still get some great dives in and beat the crowds. Most of these operators will also be able to take you to Stingray City.

Look at www.divecayman.ky for a list of all dive operators on Grand Cayman but www.redbarondivers.com and www.walltowalldiving.com come highly recommended.

Enjoy!

 

[CTurtle]

Just got back last weekend from a week at Grand Cayman & had a great time diving. The dive operation that we went with was DiveTech. They were really great! Already planning on going back next year. Unfortunately we didn't get to StingRay City, but that's on the list for next year. My favorite dive was Bonnie's Arch. Of course the rest of the dives were amazing too, but at Bonnie's got to see LOTS of marine life (a couple of nurse sharks, moray eels, HUGH parrotfish & a sea turtle)! And you can't dive Bonnie's without rubbing the nose of Cayman's only salt water alligator for good luck!!
Hope you have a great time...

Cindy
:turtle:

 

[Drew Sailbum]

The Turtle Nest Inn is a small operation in the heart of Bodden Town. You will need a rental car to make the run to Georgetown or East End for diving.

As newbies seeking a small boat feel, you may want to check out Seaview Divers or Red Baron or Off the Wall or Neptune's Divers . All dive the west side of Grand Cayman.

 

[Bubblez]

I agree we'vedove with Danny, who runs OFF THE WALL DIVERS and he is dynomite:boom:

We even went out with just three of us so it was great. He's a really cool guy, X-bartender from Lonestar so you know he's a great guy.

He'll take his boat anywhere and he knows some of the best walls and wreck dives around. Have fun!!!

 

[squidgirlie]

Thanks guys/gals--you've been a ton of help! And thanks Tim, for the generous offer! I'm in the process of checking all of these operators out--anybody have any BAD experiences with operators there?
Thanks again--this place is so dreamy!:harthrob:

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

I talked to my dive-mates and the offer stands. It could help us defray the cost of the charter. Your cost would be whatever they charge for a two-tank. Let me know!

 

[rcoxhorns]

Based on my experience, they are all good, some better than others, but I would recommend not using TI Divers.