Shore diving on Grand Cayman

[PermanentlyNarced]

I am heading out to Grand Cayman on Saturday. I would like to do several shore dives since my dive buddy (my wife) gets seasick.

I have read on here that Turtle Reef is probably the best shore dive on the island. Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto is also a pretty good site. Are either of these sites large enough to do 2 days of shore diving (2 tanks each day)??

Unfortunately I will not be able to do Sunset House because it is closed to outside divers that week due to their Total Submersion event.

Are there any other shore diving sites around the SMB area that you would recommend?

Is there anyplace on the island that will rent tanks/weights and let me take them to another site (like Cemetary Reef)?

 

[wb416]

I am heading out to Grand Cayman on Saturday. I would like to do several shore dives since my dive buddy (my wife) gets seasick.

I have read on here that Turtle Reef is probably the best shore dive on the island. Eden Rock/Devil's Grotto is also a pretty good site. Are either of these sites large enough to do 2 days of shore diving (2 tanks each day)??

Unfortunately I will not be able to do Sunset House because it is closed to outside divers that week due to their Total Submersion event.

Are there any other shore diving sites around the SMB area that you would recommend?

Is there anyplace on the island that will rent tanks/weights and let me take them to another site (like Cemetary Reef)?

While doing quite a bit of boat diving also, I squeezed in over 5 days of shore diving at the Turtle Farm and enjoyed every dive. Secret was that I lingered a long time over select coral heads/formations checking out the macro life. There's allot to see there!

Maybe use your two dives at the Turtle Farm as an overview (1 dive in each direction), then start focusing on the small stuff. I had a great time!

Don't forget to head up to Cobalt Coast. They might still let "outsiders" come in and dive there. They used to have a small inflatable and for a $5 ride out to the wall you can do a slow drift back to the buoy and then head into shore.

Have a great time!

 

[billinwilliamston]

If you need more variety, try Smith's Cove and Spanish Bay Resort.

Smith's Cove is a public park, so you'll have to get tanks and info on where is best to go somewhere else. Spanish Bay is an all-inclusive and there was a coupon in one of the coupon books (the tall skinny one) for all day shore diving, drinking and eating for $45.00.

Spanish Bay is for sale and is closing in July, so they may no longer honor the coupon, I would call first.

Have fun!!!

 

[tvictory]

Make a deal with Divetech, which has shops at both Turtle Reef and Cobalt Coast. The Turtle Reef dive is good for many variations, including night dives. At either site you can also rent a scooter to go all the way out to the deep wall. Divetech also offers a dive it calls "West Bay Express", which is a one-way scooter trip from Cobalt Coast to Turtle Reef, escorted by a DM and trailing dive boat.

 

[wb416]

Make a deal with Divetech, which has shops at both Turtle Reef and Cobalt Coast. The Turtle Reef dive is good for many variations, including night dives. At either site you can also rent a scooter to go all the way out to the deep wall. Divetech also offers a dive it calls "West Bay Express", which is a one-way scooter trip from Cobalt Coast to Turtle Reef, escorted by a DM and trailing dive boat.

Do you know what type of scooters they use? Tow behind like an X-Scooter, Gavin, or Silent Submersion? Or something else that requires two hands?

 

[PermanentlyNarced]

While doing quite a bit of boat diving also, I squeezed in over 5 days of shore diving at the Turtle Farm and enjoyed every dive. Secret was that I lingered a long time over select coral heads/formations checking out the macro life. There's allot to see there!

That is good to know. I will be taking pics so going slow is no problem!

Spanish Bay is an all-inclusive and there was a coupon in one of the coupon books (the tall skinny one) for all day shore diving, drinking and eating for $45.00.

How is the shore dive there? Is there a lot of coral or a mini wall?

 

[Alex777]

<< How is the shore dive there? Is there a lot of coral or a mini wall? >>

Entry point is in a large cove formed by a breakwater. You swim out of the cove, across a hardpan flat, and arrive at the top of a mini-wall. Lots of coral up & down the mini-wall, which bottoms out at about 55'. Then, you can follow 1 of the coral fingers out to the top of the main wall. Or, you can choose to follow the sand flat instead. At the main wall, there are some really nice corals. Your max depth here is about 6000'

 

[Damselfish]

Do you know what type of scooters they use? Tow behind like an X-Scooter, Gavin, or Silent Submersion? Or something else that requires two hands?

when I did it in 2004 they were something like http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/SDOSC.html (don't recall for sure if they were Sea Doos.)

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Another shore diving option near Sunset House is the Don Fosters Shop. It is just up the road from Sunset House, but far enough from the harbour that the coral is in better shape.

 

[diversteve]

Do you know what type of scooters they use? Tow behind like an X-Scooter, Gavin, or Silent Submersion? Or something else that requires two hands?

We rented Apollo AV-1's from Divetech at Turtle Reef. I believe it was summer 2003. No floats so the diveshop mgr. asked us to drop them in the sand flat between the mini/big wall if they ran out of juice on the way back in so they could recover them. But they didn't. http://www.apollosportsusa.com/Products/UWVehicles/AV1_Scooter.htm