Grand Cayman Trip Report (Cobalt/Divetech)
Just back from a short-ish trip to Grand Cayman. We arrived around 3pm on Saturday and were in the water for a weight check by 5pm. We stayed with Cobalt Coast and did 4 days of diving with Divetech. In trying to keep the costs down, I did a few things differently than I have in the past - no car rental and a meal plan. I figured these choices would allow the focus to be squarely on diving/snorkeling, which worked out well.
Our shuttle driver was waiting for us as soon as we cleared GC customs and the ride to Cobalt Coast from the airport took maybe 15 or 20 minutes. The CC staff welcomed us and did a quick tour. As soon as we dropped our bags in the room, we went down and got setup with Divetech. As I was filling out forms, I had a hint of deja vu. It turns out that 2 of the staff members used to work at Dive BVI, and had actually been my DMs on my first real ocean dives 3 years (and 90 dives) ago. I took that as a good sign right off the bat. I asked if we could do a quick shore dive to check weights before the AM boat trip - my buddy had not been diving nearly as much as I have lately. Divetech was very accommodating and allowed us to take tanks and weights at 4:45, even though they closed at 5.
Our room at Cobalt Coast was very spacious and clean. The food on the meal plan was good, though a little repetitive after 5 days. Judging from what I could see, my theory of saving money on the meal plan was valid - transport & cost of other restaurants or grocery shopping would have cost more in the end. My only real complaint about the room was that the wifi signal was too weak to be usable - but all we had to do was sit outside and it was fine. And in fairness, I didn't bring this up with CC staff, since it really was very minor. The CC staff were responsive and helpful whenever I asked for anything. The staff kitten was adorable and the bar made a good Mai Tai!
Overall, the diving was excellent. I really can't say enough good things about Divetech. My buddy was having trouble equalizing and they went out of their way to help her. They actually drove to a store and brought back some sudafed (and didn't charge us double for the trouble). They allowed me to descend on the mooring line with her very, very slowly - which helped her clear more easily. Each DM was understanding and helpful. Divetech also was the right amount of hands-on/hands-off for me. 2 DMs were in the water on every dive and the briefings were very good, but no one was in the way or trying to micromanage anything. We ranged from 10-16 people on the boat and everyone dived a computer (they were provided if people didn't have them). We were allowed to dive to 60mins/5min ndl/500psi - whatever came first. I ordered 100s of nitrox for the mornings and they were always on the boat waiting for me.
The diving itself was a lot of fun. The first AM dive was a deep-ish wall and the second was a shallow reef. I had really hoped to see an Eagle Ray - one of the remaining items on my personal creature list. Well, we saw an average of 10 Eagle Rays on each wall dive, so that was awesome. I also saw my first Bearded Fireworms, Flamingo Tongues (dozens), and Masked Hamlet! We chose to do one optional guided PM dive - Stingray City. I'm kind of on the fence about the ethics of feeding dives - I can see both points of view. But it was a lot of fun to get to touch the rays and to see Psycho, the resident Green Moray. In addition to the boat dives, we did several dives on the Cobalt House reef, which was quite enjoyable. It was great to be able to take things slow and feel like we had the whole reef to ourselves. Tanks were always available, it was an easy swim straight out, and in retrospect I should have done even more shore dives.
Overall, the whole experience was great. Weather cooperated, and the water was clear and warm (~85/no wetsuit for me the whole time). The accommodations were comfortable and Divetech went above and beyond. I would definitely return to CC/DT.
