Trip Report Trip Report: Cayman Aggressor IV, April 28-May 5, 2018

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16.) This is important. I would've assumed that if weather prevented the crossing to L.C. & C.B., that the boat would focus on the 'very best' of Grand Cayman diving all week. If that's not true, could be a concern.

Richard.

Yes, I was surprised to learn from the captain that all or most of the East End of Grand Cayman is pretty much off the table for the CAIV unless there are very specific weather conditions (which he did not explain). He simply said that most of the East End is "too rough" for the CAIV, which I did not understand, since the smaller day boats of the East End dive resorts must routinely operate there. We instead spent the majority of Grand Cayman time on the west side, which most people here would probably agree is not "the very best" of Grand Cayman.
 
There are also a lot of wrecks in the New York/New Jersey area, so I would not have to travel at all, but I might wait until the weather improves.

When you check into those, compare visibility and temp. Partway up North Carolina, IIRC, a couple of currents meet, and it's warmer south of there. I've never dove further north than that; on the boat I spoke with a guy who'd dove New Jersey, and I believe he indicated it was colder with lower viz. North Carolina's offshore diving is popular for the sand tiger sharks, too, so if you want to see some big stuff worth taking a photo of, some sea life different from the general Caribbean assortment, well...

Richard.
 
Retracted post as I felt it was too much based on assumptions of diving conditions I have not yet any personal experience with (East End diving).
 
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Menno, since you're on Grand Cayman, and have a high dive count and work in the dive industry IIRC, it's interesting to me that you mention not yet having that personal experience. Are you talking about at a specific time of year or something, or have you just not done much east end diving?

If the latter, why not? Seems like even if your employer didn't operate out there, that curiosity to explore diving highly praised by some would eventually lure you out.

Richard.
 
Thanks for the trip report @Ironborn - I always appreciate the folks like you and @drrich2 who take so much time to share your experiences and go into great detail. We all benefit!

My biggest takeaway and it has already been alluded to is that dive sites and dive locations change constantly. I have to keep reminding myself of this and check myself when giving a definitive assessment of the diving in any particular place. I have been to Bonaire, Grand Cayman and Cozumel numerous times each. I have been to them at different times of the year, different years, the same year at different times and I have come away with the conclusion that every experience was quite different- even when diving the same dive sites in the same week. I had to remind myself of that after my recent Belize live aboard trip.

I have raved about dive sites to friends, only to have them question my sanity after diving there and then I have also had to question my own sanity and memory after diving them again myself at a different date.

I have over 200 dives at one dive site in the Puget Sound in Washington and whereas I can take you directly to 4 wolf eel homes or 3 Giant Pacific Octopus dens; I could swear that I am on a different dive site from week to week. Where did all of those nudibranch's go that were here last week?

I dive a lot of the same dive sites each month in the Channel Islands these days and they are ever changing and evolving. There were 40 sea lions here at Landing Cove two weeks ago and now they are gone? What's up with that?

Anyway, I have come to realize that my life and sea life are pretty dynamic and not so static. I am totally down with your desire to have multiple experiences and diversity. I am a person that likes change and variety. The only downside with never returning to the same place again, is that our experience will represent a very small sample size of what any given place really is.

Keep on diving and taking those awesome photos! None of the above comments are meant to discount that some places do get permanently or detrimentally degraded. That certainly happens and shouldn't be discounted.
 
...Bonaire does nonetheless have at least one place that I would enjoy visiting at such times. In contrast, Grand Cayman does not have the types of entertainment that I would enjoy when I am not diving, primarily at night.

Is that an oblique reference to the casino on Bonaire? No, they don't have gambling in the Caymans but I don't miss it; when we are in a place that has gambling we usually go to the casino only one night and that's more than enough for me - and I really don't care much for Las Vegas, but to each their own.

There's not much to do topside on Little Cayman and Brac besides relax and enjoy nature, although Brac is quite interesting topographically; but the diving is lovely and the atmosphere is peaceful and restorative - we love the sister islands and enjoy combining a trip to Little or Brac with a trip to Grand Cayman.

I not a big fan of the more developed and touristy aspects of Grand Cayman but I appreciate the fact that they are available when I want them - and that I can easily avoid them when I don't want the distractions. The island offers both fine dining and flavorful local cuisines. You can enjoy music, dancing, art, and performance entertainments when you want them (except on Sunday!) There is excellent shopping if that is of interest, spa experiences, and a world class white sand beach with astonishingly beautiful clear blue water. There are plenty of entertainment options which is nice for divers traveling with non-divers. And you can also spend time in quiet, rural seaside areas that are totally different from George Town and Seven Mile Beach, if that is your preference.

And yes, Cayman is expensive, but we have learned that there are many good options that help to mitigate the expense - and sometimes you get what you pay for!

...For repeat visitors to the Cayman Islands: why do you return there instead of trying other places? What would you say are the chief selling points that distinguish it from other popular Caribbean destinations?...

Why do you assume that repeat visitors return to Cayman instead of trying other places? I know of a lot of Cayman regulars, including me and others on SB, that have traveled and dived extensively in many places, but still enjoy returning to Cayman.

Let me counter the question, why are you so quick to dismiss a place when you haven't really had much chance to experience it?

And it's surprising to me that you've concluded that there is little or nothing of interest topside, especially at night, when you hardly had an opportunity to be topside.

You ran into some bad weather during your trip and that is unfortunate, we have had that experience on Cayman and elsewhere and it is disappointing - but that doesn't necessarily mean that the place is sub-standard.

You like wrecks but didn't dive Brac at all and missed the Russian frigate, which is the best Cayman wreck IMO. You did a handful of dives off LC but not in the best weather. Then you did most of your dives on the west side of GC because of weather, and most divers agree that is not the best Cayman diving. The North Wall and the East End generally have the best GC diving - but not in bad weather.

We were lucky and had absolutely perfect weather the week that we were on the Cayman Aggressor. We dived great sites off of all 3 islands and spent most of the week at LC and the diving was fabulous. After we got off the Aggressor, we spent the following week on Grand Cayman and the weather turned bad, and the diving was disappointing. I remember driving around GC and seeing the Aggressor moored off shore at some west side sites and thinking "I'm really glad that I am not on that boat this week!"

We buy travel insurance but the weather is always a risk, sometimes we win and sometimes we lose - it's like gambling! And the reefs are always prettier IMO when the sun is shining, and the less visited and more pristine sites are more likely to be available in good weather.

How many times have you been to Bonaire and Cozumel? Were all your trips to those destinations fabulous? I think we've been to Bonaire 7 or 8 times and Cozumel 4 times - and they were usually 14 day trips so we have spent some time on both of those islands. We enjoyed all our vacations there but some trips were better than others, it's just the way it is.

Actually, we disliked Grand Cayman the first time we visited because it was "too developed, too touristy, and too expensive" although we liked the diving. We didn't come back for a decade and then only because my husband had won free diving with Bob Soto's dive op - no longer in business. We again enjoyed the Cayman diving and during that trip we learned that good shore diving was available - but we still weren't too crazy about the more developed aspects of GC, and so we stayed away for another long time.

Then we got a great deal on the Cayman Aggressor and discovered the fantastic diving available around the sister islands. Also during that trip we came to recognize that there is a lot more to Cayman besides George Town and the 7MB, if you look for it. After that trip we decided that "Cayman might not be so bad after all" and we have come to love it more and more with each visit, so that's why we return.

We also like Cayman because we have met so many nice people there, you probably didn't have much chance to meet many locals because you were doing a LOB trip.

I've met loads of lovely people on Bonaire, but some of them will rob you blind if you give them half a chance. It was that way when we first visited Bonaire long ago, and it has only gotten worse.

I've met lots of friendly people in Cozumel, too - but I actually was robbed the last time we were there. No place is completely safe, but genuinely nice people combined with a friendly, safe environment is an attractive feature for a vacation destination IMO.

It's also nice to be able to drink the water and eat the food without worry, so those are also good things about Cayman, but that didn't stop us from visiting other places. But unlike destinations such as the Bay Islands of Honduras, we don't have to get immunized against tropical diseases before traveling, take malaria medications, or drench ourselves in chemicals to avoid disease-bearing mosquitos on Cayman, and I like that, too. We've visited Roatan twice and we took the precautions and enjoyed the trips - but I'd rather not deal with that if I don't have to - and it adds expense to the trip.

In comparing Cayman to Bonaire, we've had wonderful dives around Bonaire, with beautiful reefs and lots of sea life, but not much big stuff. Some tarpons, the occasional small turtle, and some large blue parrot fish is usually the biggest stuff we've seen.

In the Caymans we regularly see nurse sharks and reef sharks (but not a lot) but we also see loads of turtles, tarpons, groupers - including some giant groupers - eels, rays, lobsters, crabs, and more - and usually lots of reef fish. I have enjoyed reefs that were loaded with life as well as some that were rather sparse, both around Cayman and Bonaire and elsewhere. We've had both good vis and bad, lots of life or only a little life - on the same sites on different days - it varies. We've seen large animals and good reef life pretty consistently in Cozumel, but we didn't always have much time to enjoy it as we zipped by in the current!

I agree with @drrich2 that the Florida Keys are a great place to go if you want to see a lot of fish life, and there are some popular wrecks off South Florida, but the Florida waters will be colder and the vis may not be as good. The reefs are usually less impressive and you may have longer boat rides. There are positives and negatives about most places, but that is all part of the experience.

I think that you should continue researching and trying different locations and hopefully you will eventually find your "scuba home" but never-say-never because you may change your mind some day, we did! Thanks for sharing!
 
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Yes, I was surprised to learn from the captain that all or most of the East End of Grand Cayman is pretty much off the table for the CAIV unless there are very specific weather conditions (which he did not explain). He simply said that most of the East End is "too rough" for the CAIV, which I did not understand, since the smaller day boats of the East End dive resorts must routinely operate there. We instead spent the majority of Grand Cayman time on the west side, which most people here would probably agree is not "the very best" of Grand Cayman.

The Aggressor is a big, heavy boat and it cannot tie up on every mooring. The Captain has to select moorings that are rated for a boat that size - and that is especially important during rough weather.

As to why the Captain decided to leave the sister islands and head back to GC so quickly? I don't know for sure but that can be a really rough, deep water crossing - especially in bad weather. He probably would have had several miserably sick people hanging over the rails and vomiting during the entire trip back if he had delayed.
 
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I agree with @drrich2 that the Florida Keys are a great place to go if you want to see a lot of fish life, and there are great wrecks off South Florida, but the Florida waters will be colder and the vis may not be as good. The reefs are usually less impressive and you will often have longer boat rides. There are positives and negatives about most places, but that is all part of the experience.

On a 20-dive trip in 2013, I considered Key Largo to have around 50 foot viz., good but not on par with Bonaire, Belize or the Caymans. IIRC, roughly 30 minute trips out to the reef. Not a shore diving destination, or a 'sandy beach' destination, either. Quite fishy, and if you've got AOW the optional deep wrecks (e.g.: Spiegel Grove, Duane) offer variety (especially if you see a big goliath grouper hanging out). I've heard of weather 'blowing out' the diving at times; should I infer you're less likely to be unable to dive on Caymans trips? Not sure.

So as much as I enjoyed Key Largo, it's not the leader in everyone's destination check list. At the time, with an infant, ready access to good health care in case she got sick was important to me.

On a side-note, the most popular 'scuba homes' (preferred repeat dive destinations) include diverse offerings; my subjective impression from this forum is that in our larger region, Cozumel may be most popular (I don't see people starting 'roll call' threads or extensively reporting on dining options for many other dive destinations), Bonaire, Roatan (which is diverse enough to offer a range of experiences; CocoView Resort has a rep. for lots of repeat business) and the Caymans (if we can lump G.C. & the outer islands together). There's an old thread on scuba homes - Your Favorite Repeat Travel Destination. For those trying new places, Distinctive Florida & Caribbean Dive Destinations may hold interest.

I'm glad to see critical destination reports since they help calibrate prospective visitor's expectations to a realistic level.

Richard.
 
...I've heard of weather 'blowing out' the diving at times; should I infer you're less likely to be unable to dive on Caymans trips? Not sure...

No, you can certainly get blown out in the Caymans, and you can get days with beautiful vis in the Florida Keys! Conditions vary, but there are usually some options with decent if not stellar diving. Like diving the south side of Little Cayman, or the west side of Grand Cayman.

I am glad that we gave the Caymans a second chance after a long absence. We will be giving it our 9th chance later this year - and I hope that we have good conditions!
 
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I not a big fan of the more developed and touristy aspects of Grand Cayman but I appreciate the fact that they are available when I want them - and that I can easily avoid them when I don't want the distractions. The island offers both fine dining and flavorful local cuisines. You can enjoy music, dancing, art, and performance entertainments when you want them (except on Sunday!) There is excellent shopping if that is of interest, spa experiences, and a world class white sand beach with astonishingly beautiful clear blue water. There are plenty of entertainment options which is nice for divers traveling with non-divers. And you can also spend time in quiet, rural seaside areas that are totally different from George Town and Seven Mile Beach, if that is your preference.

Let me counter the question, why are you so quick to dismiss a place when you haven't really had much chance to experience it?

And it's surprising to me that you've concluded that there is little or nothing of interest topside, especially at night, when you hardly had an opportunity to be topside.

Actually, I had two opportunities to explore topside a bit. I had a few hours between my arrival and the CAIV's boarding time. I also had most of the afternoon and the night to explore Georgetown after we returned to port on Friday afternoon. As far as I could tell, Georgetown has Cuban cigars, expensive jewelry stores, and shops for touristy trinkets, and it turns into a ghost town at night.

The cigar stores were quite good; they had surprisingly reasonable prices (by Cayman Islands standards) for Cuban cigars, and they had wide selections, proper cigar storage, and some actual Cuban employees. Beyond the cigar stores, I saw nothing else that interested me, and now that we can have Cuban cigars legally in the U.S., the cigars alone are not enough of an attraction for me.

I don't think that I was quick to dismiss the place; I would instead argue that I simply did not see anything that persuaded me that it would be worth investing more of my limited vacation time and money to explore it further and give it a second chance.

My assessment that there is little or nothing of interest to me topside in the Cayman Islands is also based on sources other than my own admittedly limited observations, including input from friends who have been there and who told me that I would probably not like it, based on their personal knowledge of me and my own tastes. I am also going on what I have read in travel guides and other resources, including your posts and those of other Cayman regulars. The little bit that I did see validated what I had expected, based on that pre-trip input and research.
 
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