Just returned from a week on Grand Cayman (Feb. 18-25) and I'll give you the highlights and as many details as I can recall. Our base of operations was Morritt's Resort in the Collier's area (East End). Ocean Frontiers was our principal operator and supplier of tanks. Many of our dives were shore dives with lengthy swims. This type of dive should only be attempted by knowledgeable divers who are physically capable of completing them and are familiar with the terrain, conditions and dangers inherent in this type of diving. A plan which takes into account as many variables as possible is absolutely necessary before jumping into the water. You WILL NOT have any support from anyone other than your buddy(ies) should you encounter a problem and you will, potentially, be a LONG way from help.
Day One:
1) Shore dive in Old Man Bay (North side). We dove a couple of miles west of "Over the Edge" Restaurant, just a short distance west of the "No Dive Zone". There's a Church across the street from a little park (next to a cemetary). Picnic tables made donning and doffing of equipment super easy. No current, no surf. A good long snorkel out to the wall. Nice wall dive. O.K. reef coming back in.
2). Shore dive just north of "The Reef" Resort at "Turtle Pass". Sea conditions were calm, no surface current to speak of on the way out. As we prepared for our descent, we noticed fish zooming by us from North to South. As we descended, we hit this 2+knot current. After making it to the sand in about 55 feet of water we dove the lee side of the reef for a little while and then decided to abort the dive due to the current. By the time we hit the surface, the current had made it all the way to the top. After assessing the situation, we chose to snorkel our way with the current towards the cut at "The Reef". Albeit a long snorkel, it was relatively easy. We dragged ourselves out of the water at Morritt's, cleaned our gear and made the short walk down the street to retrieve our car. After conversations with a couple of the pros at "Ocean Frontiers", we learned that this point is infamous for it's changing currents. We'll think twice before attempting it from shore again. Sleep came awfully easy after this day.
Day Two: After a leisurely morning, we took off for Northwest Point and a day at Sun Divers. We hooked up with Sunny2012 for this dive.We arrived at "Cracked Conch" around 1:00 and rented our first tank.
1) We dove the Mini-wall at Turtle Reef. No real current, so we decided to head south to see the tarpon. After all the talk about the degradation of the reef from the "Dolphin Discovery", I did not notice much difference from the last few visits, spanning about 5 years. It's too bad that the efforts of the folks to protect the environment are hurting an operation such as "Sun Divers". After Dive #1, we headed down to "Havana House" to pick up some hand-rolled cigars for later and a stop next door at "Diver's Supply". We returned in time to "Macabuca" for the Monday night barbecue and ate our first course. After our "1st" dinner, we donned our gear and prepared for a night dive.
2). We chose to dive the Mini-wall again for our night dive. This time, we headed north. As the sun set, we enjoyed a fairly unspectacular, but nice dive. The exception being the bio-luminescent plankton! We had a good time lighting them up during the second half of our dive. We returned to the surface and had our "2nd" dinner at the "Macabuca" barbecue and enjoyed a couple of "ironshore" bocks before returning to our condo and our ridiculously good cigars.I'll continue the report a little later...
Good Diving!
Captain Rick
Day One:
1) Shore dive in Old Man Bay (North side). We dove a couple of miles west of "Over the Edge" Restaurant, just a short distance west of the "No Dive Zone". There's a Church across the street from a little park (next to a cemetary). Picnic tables made donning and doffing of equipment super easy. No current, no surf. A good long snorkel out to the wall. Nice wall dive. O.K. reef coming back in.
2). Shore dive just north of "The Reef" Resort at "Turtle Pass". Sea conditions were calm, no surface current to speak of on the way out. As we prepared for our descent, we noticed fish zooming by us from North to South. As we descended, we hit this 2+knot current. After making it to the sand in about 55 feet of water we dove the lee side of the reef for a little while and then decided to abort the dive due to the current. By the time we hit the surface, the current had made it all the way to the top. After assessing the situation, we chose to snorkel our way with the current towards the cut at "The Reef". Albeit a long snorkel, it was relatively easy. We dragged ourselves out of the water at Morritt's, cleaned our gear and made the short walk down the street to retrieve our car. After conversations with a couple of the pros at "Ocean Frontiers", we learned that this point is infamous for it's changing currents. We'll think twice before attempting it from shore again. Sleep came awfully easy after this day.
Day Two: After a leisurely morning, we took off for Northwest Point and a day at Sun Divers. We hooked up with Sunny2012 for this dive.We arrived at "Cracked Conch" around 1:00 and rented our first tank.
1) We dove the Mini-wall at Turtle Reef. No real current, so we decided to head south to see the tarpon. After all the talk about the degradation of the reef from the "Dolphin Discovery", I did not notice much difference from the last few visits, spanning about 5 years. It's too bad that the efforts of the folks to protect the environment are hurting an operation such as "Sun Divers". After Dive #1, we headed down to "Havana House" to pick up some hand-rolled cigars for later and a stop next door at "Diver's Supply". We returned in time to "Macabuca" for the Monday night barbecue and ate our first course. After our "1st" dinner, we donned our gear and prepared for a night dive.
2). We chose to dive the Mini-wall again for our night dive. This time, we headed north. As the sun set, we enjoyed a fairly unspectacular, but nice dive. The exception being the bio-luminescent plankton! We had a good time lighting them up during the second half of our dive. We returned to the surface and had our "2nd" dinner at the "Macabuca" barbecue and enjoyed a couple of "ironshore" bocks before returning to our condo and our ridiculously good cigars.I'll continue the report a little later...
Good Diving!
Captain Rick
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