BettyfromToronto
Contributor
I booked this trip last October. We had wanted to go to Little Cayman Beach Resort because of the wonderful reviews here on SB but the special on their website was sold out and the price jumped to about $2500 per person; a little too rich for us. So we decided to try Cobalt Coast on Grand Cayman.
Left home on Saturday at 7am and it was 5C but luckily no rain. Flight was 4hr direct and totally uneventful except for the screaming kid in front of us. Amazingly there was no line at immigration and we were through in 5 minutes. Thought we'd have to wait for our dive bags but had them in about another 5-10 minutes. What an amazing start to our vacation.
But of course that is where it stopped. We got outside looking for our ride. No one was standing there with our name like we were told. After about 10 minutes Michael from Red Sail asked if he could help. He told us our van had just left. Our plane was on time and we were out front in about 10 minutes. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes for him to return. Kudos to Michael for helping out someone else's customer. Seems the driver didn't even know about us.
Cobalt Coast
Finally reached CC after a pretty 20 minute drive but had to wait another 10 minutes to get checked in by Ari the owner. He didn’t seem real friendly and no apologies for the mix up. We booked a one bedroom suite located on the second floor (Room 19) and it was really spacious. Got settled in our room and then went down for lunch. Good selection and huge portions. We were so stuffed we didn't finish everything. The resort is small; only about 22 rooms so I loved that everyone diving really got to know one another. There are people at CC that are not diving and others who are staying at other places but came to dive almost every day. On the last two days they had to add the second boat as we had 13 + 8 divers.
Diving with DiveTech:
Being from Canada we are allowed to lock our dive bags so we used them on the lockers we picked out by the dive shop. I believe if you don’t have one they give you one. Also if you don’t have a wet bag to carry all your stuff onto the boat; they give you one for the week.
Due to weather we could not get on the boats at the Cobalt Coast pier. I thought this would be a problem but actually it wasn’t that bad except for one day when my BCD didn’t make it back. It seems the equipment was all put into one truck (and I confirmed it was there before getting in the van) but then the staff moved everything from one truck to another and my BCD was missed. It was eventually found. When I made the comment about “why this is why I don’t like vanning” to Emma the dive shop manager while waiting; her response was “I cannot control the weather”. I told her I agreed but did say that “she is responsible for her customers gear though”. No reply to that.
They have 2 dive boats and we were on the larger boat called the Atatude. It is smaller than we are use to in Cozumel but it was nice and just a bit crowded with 16 divers + 3 DMs. Also no head which I thought I specifically asked about. On the first day the Captain pointed out all the safety items on the boat and was happy to point out that they had a trauma kit; not just a first-aid kit. We all laughed as we had two ER doctors on board so we felt covered.
Also I wasn’t use to the ride to the dive site only being 5-10 minutes. Not time to relax and get your gear set-up though they don’t rush you as they still have to draw the dive for the briefing. They drawings they do are well done and the briefings are very detailed. They want everyone to dive with a computer and if you don’t have one they give you one. You don’t get to dive your profile as everyone has a 60 minute rule...surface to surface including a 5 minute safety stop. This was fine for me on the deep dives but I hate coming up with lots of air on the shallower dives. We even tried to be first in and near last out but one DM called us on that.
The diving was nice since there was no current but the coral and fish cannot compare to Cozumel. The crew was fun and I enjoyed the time spent with them. There are 3 on a boat. All are instructors and one is the Captain for the day and they take turns playing the role of DM. Either as the lead guide or the one following from the back. I think they were all great and would love to dive with them again. Really enjoyed Jeni and Jo who wore a pink cowboy hat for her briefing on “Texas Hole”.
The weather co-operated and we were able to dive the North Wall as few times. While on the dive site called “Main Street” we were hoping to see hammerhead sharks going in/out of Stingray City; but no luck. Actually there was nothing large except for the odd turtle. A manta ray was seen the week before but no luck for us – manta or even eagle ray.
Shore diving was included but the waves were quite big at CC. I went in on day 3 with another couple and got beat up pretty bad trying to get in and out on the ladder. Lots of bruises to prove it. Hubby thought we were crazy for going in. Day 4 the 3 of us went to Lighthouse Point where the waves were better. Both are great shore dives. Much better than SCC in Cozumel but hubby finally joined us at LHP on day 5 but thought yes there was a nice reef but not as much fish as SCC. Can’t please everyone.
Airport home
I was forewarned here on SB that the airport is crazy on Saturday afternoons and CC wanted us ready to leave at 10:30am for a 1:40pm flight. When we arrived the security line was really long but there were only 8 people in the Air Canada line. Great! Not so. The couple already at the counter took another 14 minutes to be processed and then someone just came in and went to the front of the line. Probably first class or had priority boarding. She had 6 large suitcases and was another 10 minutes. After 35 minutes we still had not moved. It took 45 minutes to get to the counter and then it was only 2-3 minutes to drop off our dive bags being checked in and get our boarding passes. By then the security line was small and we did that plus immigration in only 10-15 minutes. Right inside the gate area were our friends holding us two seats. Wonderful. There were two planes boarding at the same time so there were free seats closer to the gates but we stayed put. Our friend’s flight was an hour after us but they were early as the rental car had to be back by 12noon or they would be charged another day. Thank goodness the rain stopped to board the plane on the tarmac. We left on time and were home in 4 hours (love the direct flights from Toronto) and then only 10 minutes through immigration.
Summary:
We liked CC but would we do it again? Probably not. It was nice and we enjoyed ourselves; however the price was 2.5x more than Scuba Club Cozumel and we didn’t feel it was worth it. The room was a suite so we enjoyed that. The food is good at SCC but was amazing at CC. The diving is mixed. CC gets it for no current and being able to do easier photography but SCC has it for beautiful reefs & lots of marine life.
Feel free to ask me anything either here or in a PM
Betty
P.S. I'd like to add a note that above I said the owner Ari didn't seem too friendly when we arrived however I would like to mention that he did become quite friendly and interesting to talk to. He also brought a sparkler in my key lime pie one night as hubby & I were celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary. He came out and had everyone join in "for he's the jolly good fellow" while he played his harmonica. Nice touch
Left home on Saturday at 7am and it was 5C but luckily no rain. Flight was 4hr direct and totally uneventful except for the screaming kid in front of us. Amazingly there was no line at immigration and we were through in 5 minutes. Thought we'd have to wait for our dive bags but had them in about another 5-10 minutes. What an amazing start to our vacation.
But of course that is where it stopped. We got outside looking for our ride. No one was standing there with our name like we were told. After about 10 minutes Michael from Red Sail asked if he could help. He told us our van had just left. Our plane was on time and we were out front in about 10 minutes. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes for him to return. Kudos to Michael for helping out someone else's customer. Seems the driver didn't even know about us.
Cobalt Coast
Finally reached CC after a pretty 20 minute drive but had to wait another 10 minutes to get checked in by Ari the owner. He didn’t seem real friendly and no apologies for the mix up. We booked a one bedroom suite located on the second floor (Room 19) and it was really spacious. Got settled in our room and then went down for lunch. Good selection and huge portions. We were so stuffed we didn't finish everything. The resort is small; only about 22 rooms so I loved that everyone diving really got to know one another. There are people at CC that are not diving and others who are staying at other places but came to dive almost every day. On the last two days they had to add the second boat as we had 13 + 8 divers.
Diving with DiveTech:
Being from Canada we are allowed to lock our dive bags so we used them on the lockers we picked out by the dive shop. I believe if you don’t have one they give you one. Also if you don’t have a wet bag to carry all your stuff onto the boat; they give you one for the week.
Due to weather we could not get on the boats at the Cobalt Coast pier. I thought this would be a problem but actually it wasn’t that bad except for one day when my BCD didn’t make it back. It seems the equipment was all put into one truck (and I confirmed it was there before getting in the van) but then the staff moved everything from one truck to another and my BCD was missed. It was eventually found. When I made the comment about “why this is why I don’t like vanning” to Emma the dive shop manager while waiting; her response was “I cannot control the weather”. I told her I agreed but did say that “she is responsible for her customers gear though”. No reply to that.
They have 2 dive boats and we were on the larger boat called the Atatude. It is smaller than we are use to in Cozumel but it was nice and just a bit crowded with 16 divers + 3 DMs. Also no head which I thought I specifically asked about. On the first day the Captain pointed out all the safety items on the boat and was happy to point out that they had a trauma kit; not just a first-aid kit. We all laughed as we had two ER doctors on board so we felt covered.
Also I wasn’t use to the ride to the dive site only being 5-10 minutes. Not time to relax and get your gear set-up though they don’t rush you as they still have to draw the dive for the briefing. They drawings they do are well done and the briefings are very detailed. They want everyone to dive with a computer and if you don’t have one they give you one. You don’t get to dive your profile as everyone has a 60 minute rule...surface to surface including a 5 minute safety stop. This was fine for me on the deep dives but I hate coming up with lots of air on the shallower dives. We even tried to be first in and near last out but one DM called us on that.
The diving was nice since there was no current but the coral and fish cannot compare to Cozumel. The crew was fun and I enjoyed the time spent with them. There are 3 on a boat. All are instructors and one is the Captain for the day and they take turns playing the role of DM. Either as the lead guide or the one following from the back. I think they were all great and would love to dive with them again. Really enjoyed Jeni and Jo who wore a pink cowboy hat for her briefing on “Texas Hole”.
The weather co-operated and we were able to dive the North Wall as few times. While on the dive site called “Main Street” we were hoping to see hammerhead sharks going in/out of Stingray City; but no luck. Actually there was nothing large except for the odd turtle. A manta ray was seen the week before but no luck for us – manta or even eagle ray.
Shore diving was included but the waves were quite big at CC. I went in on day 3 with another couple and got beat up pretty bad trying to get in and out on the ladder. Lots of bruises to prove it. Hubby thought we were crazy for going in. Day 4 the 3 of us went to Lighthouse Point where the waves were better. Both are great shore dives. Much better than SCC in Cozumel but hubby finally joined us at LHP on day 5 but thought yes there was a nice reef but not as much fish as SCC. Can’t please everyone.
Airport home
I was forewarned here on SB that the airport is crazy on Saturday afternoons and CC wanted us ready to leave at 10:30am for a 1:40pm flight. When we arrived the security line was really long but there were only 8 people in the Air Canada line. Great! Not so. The couple already at the counter took another 14 minutes to be processed and then someone just came in and went to the front of the line. Probably first class or had priority boarding. She had 6 large suitcases and was another 10 minutes. After 35 minutes we still had not moved. It took 45 minutes to get to the counter and then it was only 2-3 minutes to drop off our dive bags being checked in and get our boarding passes. By then the security line was small and we did that plus immigration in only 10-15 minutes. Right inside the gate area were our friends holding us two seats. Wonderful. There were two planes boarding at the same time so there were free seats closer to the gates but we stayed put. Our friend’s flight was an hour after us but they were early as the rental car had to be back by 12noon or they would be charged another day. Thank goodness the rain stopped to board the plane on the tarmac. We left on time and were home in 4 hours (love the direct flights from Toronto) and then only 10 minutes through immigration.
Summary:
We liked CC but would we do it again? Probably not. It was nice and we enjoyed ourselves; however the price was 2.5x more than Scuba Club Cozumel and we didn’t feel it was worth it. The room was a suite so we enjoyed that. The food is good at SCC but was amazing at CC. The diving is mixed. CC gets it for no current and being able to do easier photography but SCC has it for beautiful reefs & lots of marine life.
Feel free to ask me anything either here or in a PM
Betty
P.S. I'd like to add a note that above I said the owner Ari didn't seem too friendly when we arrived however I would like to mention that he did become quite friendly and interesting to talk to. He also brought a sparkler in my key lime pie one night as hubby & I were celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary. He came out and had everyone join in "for he's the jolly good fellow" while he played his harmonica. Nice touch
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