I am a long time Grand Cayman visitor, but I keep going back, because I always have a good time, both above and below the water. The people are nice, the food is good, and the diving is as good as it gets, reliably. GC has been very stable in terms of weather conditions, regardless of the times of year that I have visited. So when my friend Glenn and I decided to do an early December trip, we didn't anticipate any out of the ordinary problems. Boy, were we wrong there!
We flew, as usual, on Delta from Knoxville to Owen Roberts Int'Í Airport [GCM], connecting through Atlanta. Be careful with your flight arrangements. These days, there are fewer flights, because the airlines want to fill the planes more. Glenn and I actually got bumped in March 2007, despite being at the departure gate at least 20 minutes before departure. We lost a whole day in GC, cooling our heels in Atlanta. Delta allows a second bag [e.g., for dive dear], but USAir charges for the second bag. And as I describe at the end of this report, get confirmed seat numbers and/or boarding passes before you leave home, to ensure you have a seat on the various flights.
On the other hand, Delta is convenient from Atlanta, because it gets you on the island by 12 Noon or 1:00 pm, depending on DST, which allows for at least one dive the day you arrive. We have found that very useful for equipment checkout.
We have been staying at Sunset House for several years now. It's a dedicated dive resort with on-site dive operation, Sunset Divers. There is an on-site restaurant, the Sea Harvester, and a great open air bar, My Bar, where you are likely to see a lot of locals hanging out. Frankly, My Bar is a big reason why we continue to stay at Sunset House. We love heading to the bar after dinner for a couple of drinks, before staggering off to bed.
The accommodations are OK, but not plush. If you want really nice rooms and bathrooms, as opposed to OK rooms and baths, then you might consider Cobalt Coast, which is on the northwest side of the island, is smaller, and newer. DiveTech, which is Cobalt Coast's on-site dive operation, is first rate; I have dived with them many times, and I love their operation.
Anyway, we arrived in GC on December 1, at 1:00 pm, got the rental (I have found that Budget is the best value), and got to Sunset House by about 2:30. It was rainy and windy, kind of unusual, but not unheard of. When it rains, it usually passes within a few minutes. This time however, it rained and rained. The rain, thunder and lightning, and surge made shore diving essentially impossible. That was a drag, because we didn't get any equipment checkout.
Dinner that night, dodging the rainfall, was at Edoardo's up on West Bay Road. This Italian bistro is an old favorite, which had really disappointed in our 2/08 visit. We decided to give it another shot, though, and everything was quite good. We recommend Edoardo's, especially the mussels, which is a signature dish, either as an appetizer or as a main course.
The next morning, we showed up at Sunset Divers with gear in tow. It was cloudy, windy, and about 65 degrees air temperature. Conditions on Sunset Reef were so bad that they had removed the ladders from the shore entry to prevent shore diving. That's how bad it was, all the way up to Northwest Point. We were told that they had been having funky winds and seas for a couple of months, with no end in sight. They were hopeful that we could get some west side diving by the end of the week, though.
Instead of boarding the boat right there adjacent to the shore diving entry point, the serious current and surge required us to board a minibus and ride about 10 minutes down South Sound Road to Red Bay Dock on the South side of GC. This was unique for us and we have been diving there since 1999. Conditions on the west side were so bad that everyone had moved their boats down to south side. Even the cruise ships were mooring on south side and bussing the passengers into Georgetown. Very, VERY weird.
Red Bay Dock is a breakwater-protected lagoon where the boats are moored and where the dock is. After idling out through the cut, we went to Japanese Gardens.
This was a shallow dive, because the deeper wall dives had too much "ripping" current running. "Japanese" apparently because of Asian-looking coral, although I didn't think it looked any different than other reef dives. There were several swim-throughs, which was nice. I initially had problems trimming -- I would feed air to the BCD but still sink down. I started thinking I had a BCD problem. When I checked the valve on the front of the BC, I found it to be loose. I must not have screwed it back tight when I cleaned out the BC after the last trip. I tightened it up by hand and was fine thereafter.
It was either on this dive or the next that we saw an eagle ray, about 75 feet away, swimming out toward the wall. A nice dive, max depth 58 feet for 39 minutes. Bear in mind that Sunset, as opposed to most other dive operations, uses 72 cu/ft cylinders, which cuts down dive time a bit.
Second dive was at Ned's Tunnels. Much like the first, with a lot of swim-throughs. With no sunlight, it was kind of dark and not as colorful, but having a flashlight on my rig a new addition was nice to have. Unfortunately, it does hang down, to the point that I would hold it up it I was passing close to coral. I kept playing around with BCD air to trim with. I was probably over-weighted.
Water temperatures were 79 to 82 degrees throughout the trip. I was usually just fine in my 3 mm Henderson wetsuit, but Glenn felt a little cold and used a hood or beanie on his dives. He also said he might get a 5 mm suit for such diving in the future.
When we finished, the minivan took us back to Sunset, where we had lunch at My Bar. I find the food decent, but not spectacular. It is convenient, however, and I tend to be ravenous after a morning 2 tank trip.
Normally, I would do at least 1 shore dive in the afternoon, but all the known shore diving [to me, anyway] is on the west and northwest sides, which were undiveable because of the surge/current conditions. It remained cloudy and windy, but if I could have, I still would have dived. Because I couldn't, I read a book out on the balcony/porch of our room. The Travelocity/Expedia prices for Sunset are for a courtyard room, but if you want to upgrade, you can do so for a room facing the water, with a balcony/porch. We have always done that and never regretted it. It costs about $40-50 more per night, but is worth it. Keep in mind that Sunset does not have a beach [iron shore], but does have a pool and hot tub.
That night we were off to Fidel Murphy's, an authentic Irish pub on GC. The food is good, if not great, but the prices are very reasonable. Great atmosphere. I got a steak dinner special, with Guinness to drink, for under $25 US. GC food can be quite expensive, but usually it's worth it. After all, youÃÓe on vacation, right? If you like the pub scene, Fidel's is a must.
The next day, it was back to south side. Laura's Reef was the first dive, with a little excitement to start things off. Glenn saw bubbles coming from my first stage. We called over divemaster Andy, who said my high pressure hose had failed and I needed to go get the spare reg on the boat. Fortunately, Adam was still on board, and he helped me make the changeover quickly. Nevertheless, Andy, who was going to guide the group through the multitudinous swim-throughs, had already left with the group. Glenn and I proceeded on our own, and found several swim-throughs, but I bet we missed a lot, too. Still, a good dive, 55 feet for 41 minutes. Very similar to the previous day's dives, and still shallow, because of current and surge on the deep wall. The borrowed Sherwood reg definitely didn't breathe as well as my Mares Abyss, and the shorter hose on the second stage pulled at my mouth. I spent a good part of the dive holding the second stage in my mouth with one hand, just to ease the pulling.
We then motored over just a couple of hundred feet and dove Bullwinkle East. Not surprisingly, very similar to the other nearby dives. There's supposed to be a coral formation that resembles the famous moose's head, but I didn't see it (I never do...<sigh>]. The shallowness did give us more bottom time, which is always nice. 51 feet for 52 minutes.
Dinner that night was at Decker's, which is very good we've been there 3 or 4 times now, and they do not disappoint. They have a large outdoor dining area, which is very comfortable. Recommended.
On Thursday, we finally got to go back to familiar surroundings on the west side. First stop was Eagle's nest a deep wall dive. Viz all over GC dive sties is almost always 100 feet plus, as it was on this day. We say an eagle ray and a turtle. Not a lot of fish life overall, though. I've noticed a reduction over the past few years, and I don't know why. Still, a fine dive. 102 feet for 42 minutes.
We stopped at Eden Rock on the way back for our second dive, which I objected to initially. After all, Eden Rock/DevilÃÔ Grotto is a shore dive; why are we wasting a boat dive on it? The answer is that the divemasters are usually looking for a quick and convenient shallow second dive, and Eden Rock is very close to Sunset.
As it turns out, I was glad to have dived Eden Rock, which I hadn't done since 2003. Because of its proximity to the harbor and the big cruise ships, Eden Rock has been overdived in recent years, and the coral shows it still. It was also a NOISY dive, with the big ships, passing boats, tenders, ferries and other watercraft passing right over us almost. Regardless, I enjoyed the dive. Found 2 swim throughs. The first was dark and silty, because previous divers had kicked up a lot of sand. Hard right turn and then a hard left turn, with the exit a tad tight. I found the second one, with divemaster Lauren right behind me. She went first and flew through it [I later learned that she was short on air]. Very pretty [the girl AND the swim-through], with sunlight [finally] shafting through the swim through and white sand on the bottom. I was pleased at the new coral growth in spots, but there still was a lot of blasted dead rock on this site. 40 feet on the sandy bottom for 52 minutes.
After a quick Sea Harvester lunch at My Bar, we actually got a third boat dive that day, laid on specially because of the lousy shore diving conditions. We went up past the harbor and dove La Mesa, a great shallow dive. A great third boat dive of the day. Literally, a mesa of coral around the mooring line. A ton of fish, and weird vertical temperature gradients all around the site. Divemasters Adam and Neill also pointed out the old transatlantic cable running past the site, apparently the last laid by the Doc Paulson before it was sunk. Doc Paulson is now one of GC's popular wreck dives. We saw a big crab, which was different for GC; usually one sees Caribbean lobsters. Except for alternating warm and frigid, a great dive.
That night, we tried the Lobster Pot for dinner, which is one of the oldest restaurants on the island. Frankly, a disappointment. Somewhat drab atmosphere, looking out over the working part of the harbor, so not very attractive sites to see. The food was mediocre at best, unlike the prices, which were quite expensive. Oh well. Lobster Pot not recommended.
Friday was our last dive day. We went first to Little Tunnel on the west side, a fine deep dive. We went through the "little tunnel" and emerged on the wall at 85-90 feet. Reef seemed in good shape. After we came shallow, divemaster Lauren spotted another swim-through, and we followed her back down to 65-70 feet for that. I was a little nervous because I was down to about 1000 or so at that point, but no worries. Fun dive. 99 feet for 42 minutes.
Last dive of the trip was at Royal Palms Ledge, located off shore from the site of the late and lamented hotel of the same name. Kind of a flat coral mound, with a trench running most of the way around it. As you move to about the 4 o'clock position relative to the boat, you have, literally, a ledge underneath which you swim. Very cool. Great dive. 55 feet for 54 minutes.
That night, we tried another new restaurant, Copper Falls, specializing in steak. It was OK, but I wish we could have gone to Pappagallo's [booked for private party that night], or Grand Old House [same]. There was nothing wrong with the place; maybe I just wasn't in the mood for steak.
We left the next day. A cautionary tale: we got to the counter to check in, and even though I had confirmed our air reservations, we were told they did not have seats for us. A couple of hours getting steamed later, Delta put us on the plane. Moral: have confirmed seats WITH SEAT NUMBERS OR BOARDING PASSES before you leave home. I confirmed the reservations, but apparently I needed to have actual assigned seat numbers, which was new to me.
Well, that's it. I lost about 30% of my diving, because of the lack of shore diving, but it was still well worth it. The weather on this trip was the worst I've had in 13 trips and nine years. I was told by the locals that it was very unusual weather for GC at that time of year. I tend to believe that, because I dove GC in December 2007 off a cruise ship and the conditions were fine. Nevertheless, I will probably stay away from early December diving there in the future. I have dived there in February, March, May, July, August and December, and the conditions have always been great, except for this last trip. Hey, 1 out of 13 ain't bad, and we still had a great time.
We flew, as usual, on Delta from Knoxville to Owen Roberts Int'Í Airport [GCM], connecting through Atlanta. Be careful with your flight arrangements. These days, there are fewer flights, because the airlines want to fill the planes more. Glenn and I actually got bumped in March 2007, despite being at the departure gate at least 20 minutes before departure. We lost a whole day in GC, cooling our heels in Atlanta. Delta allows a second bag [e.g., for dive dear], but USAir charges for the second bag. And as I describe at the end of this report, get confirmed seat numbers and/or boarding passes before you leave home, to ensure you have a seat on the various flights.
On the other hand, Delta is convenient from Atlanta, because it gets you on the island by 12 Noon or 1:00 pm, depending on DST, which allows for at least one dive the day you arrive. We have found that very useful for equipment checkout.
We have been staying at Sunset House for several years now. It's a dedicated dive resort with on-site dive operation, Sunset Divers. There is an on-site restaurant, the Sea Harvester, and a great open air bar, My Bar, where you are likely to see a lot of locals hanging out. Frankly, My Bar is a big reason why we continue to stay at Sunset House. We love heading to the bar after dinner for a couple of drinks, before staggering off to bed.
The accommodations are OK, but not plush. If you want really nice rooms and bathrooms, as opposed to OK rooms and baths, then you might consider Cobalt Coast, which is on the northwest side of the island, is smaller, and newer. DiveTech, which is Cobalt Coast's on-site dive operation, is first rate; I have dived with them many times, and I love their operation.
Anyway, we arrived in GC on December 1, at 1:00 pm, got the rental (I have found that Budget is the best value), and got to Sunset House by about 2:30. It was rainy and windy, kind of unusual, but not unheard of. When it rains, it usually passes within a few minutes. This time however, it rained and rained. The rain, thunder and lightning, and surge made shore diving essentially impossible. That was a drag, because we didn't get any equipment checkout.
Dinner that night, dodging the rainfall, was at Edoardo's up on West Bay Road. This Italian bistro is an old favorite, which had really disappointed in our 2/08 visit. We decided to give it another shot, though, and everything was quite good. We recommend Edoardo's, especially the mussels, which is a signature dish, either as an appetizer or as a main course.
The next morning, we showed up at Sunset Divers with gear in tow. It was cloudy, windy, and about 65 degrees air temperature. Conditions on Sunset Reef were so bad that they had removed the ladders from the shore entry to prevent shore diving. That's how bad it was, all the way up to Northwest Point. We were told that they had been having funky winds and seas for a couple of months, with no end in sight. They were hopeful that we could get some west side diving by the end of the week, though.
Instead of boarding the boat right there adjacent to the shore diving entry point, the serious current and surge required us to board a minibus and ride about 10 minutes down South Sound Road to Red Bay Dock on the South side of GC. This was unique for us and we have been diving there since 1999. Conditions on the west side were so bad that everyone had moved their boats down to south side. Even the cruise ships were mooring on south side and bussing the passengers into Georgetown. Very, VERY weird.
Red Bay Dock is a breakwater-protected lagoon where the boats are moored and where the dock is. After idling out through the cut, we went to Japanese Gardens.
This was a shallow dive, because the deeper wall dives had too much "ripping" current running. "Japanese" apparently because of Asian-looking coral, although I didn't think it looked any different than other reef dives. There were several swim-throughs, which was nice. I initially had problems trimming -- I would feed air to the BCD but still sink down. I started thinking I had a BCD problem. When I checked the valve on the front of the BC, I found it to be loose. I must not have screwed it back tight when I cleaned out the BC after the last trip. I tightened it up by hand and was fine thereafter.
It was either on this dive or the next that we saw an eagle ray, about 75 feet away, swimming out toward the wall. A nice dive, max depth 58 feet for 39 minutes. Bear in mind that Sunset, as opposed to most other dive operations, uses 72 cu/ft cylinders, which cuts down dive time a bit.
Second dive was at Ned's Tunnels. Much like the first, with a lot of swim-throughs. With no sunlight, it was kind of dark and not as colorful, but having a flashlight on my rig a new addition was nice to have. Unfortunately, it does hang down, to the point that I would hold it up it I was passing close to coral. I kept playing around with BCD air to trim with. I was probably over-weighted.
Water temperatures were 79 to 82 degrees throughout the trip. I was usually just fine in my 3 mm Henderson wetsuit, but Glenn felt a little cold and used a hood or beanie on his dives. He also said he might get a 5 mm suit for such diving in the future.
When we finished, the minivan took us back to Sunset, where we had lunch at My Bar. I find the food decent, but not spectacular. It is convenient, however, and I tend to be ravenous after a morning 2 tank trip.
Normally, I would do at least 1 shore dive in the afternoon, but all the known shore diving [to me, anyway] is on the west and northwest sides, which were undiveable because of the surge/current conditions. It remained cloudy and windy, but if I could have, I still would have dived. Because I couldn't, I read a book out on the balcony/porch of our room. The Travelocity/Expedia prices for Sunset are for a courtyard room, but if you want to upgrade, you can do so for a room facing the water, with a balcony/porch. We have always done that and never regretted it. It costs about $40-50 more per night, but is worth it. Keep in mind that Sunset does not have a beach [iron shore], but does have a pool and hot tub.
That night we were off to Fidel Murphy's, an authentic Irish pub on GC. The food is good, if not great, but the prices are very reasonable. Great atmosphere. I got a steak dinner special, with Guinness to drink, for under $25 US. GC food can be quite expensive, but usually it's worth it. After all, youÃÓe on vacation, right? If you like the pub scene, Fidel's is a must.
The next day, it was back to south side. Laura's Reef was the first dive, with a little excitement to start things off. Glenn saw bubbles coming from my first stage. We called over divemaster Andy, who said my high pressure hose had failed and I needed to go get the spare reg on the boat. Fortunately, Adam was still on board, and he helped me make the changeover quickly. Nevertheless, Andy, who was going to guide the group through the multitudinous swim-throughs, had already left with the group. Glenn and I proceeded on our own, and found several swim-throughs, but I bet we missed a lot, too. Still, a good dive, 55 feet for 41 minutes. Very similar to the previous day's dives, and still shallow, because of current and surge on the deep wall. The borrowed Sherwood reg definitely didn't breathe as well as my Mares Abyss, and the shorter hose on the second stage pulled at my mouth. I spent a good part of the dive holding the second stage in my mouth with one hand, just to ease the pulling.
We then motored over just a couple of hundred feet and dove Bullwinkle East. Not surprisingly, very similar to the other nearby dives. There's supposed to be a coral formation that resembles the famous moose's head, but I didn't see it (I never do...<sigh>]. The shallowness did give us more bottom time, which is always nice. 51 feet for 52 minutes.
Dinner that night was at Decker's, which is very good we've been there 3 or 4 times now, and they do not disappoint. They have a large outdoor dining area, which is very comfortable. Recommended.
On Thursday, we finally got to go back to familiar surroundings on the west side. First stop was Eagle's nest a deep wall dive. Viz all over GC dive sties is almost always 100 feet plus, as it was on this day. We say an eagle ray and a turtle. Not a lot of fish life overall, though. I've noticed a reduction over the past few years, and I don't know why. Still, a fine dive. 102 feet for 42 minutes.
We stopped at Eden Rock on the way back for our second dive, which I objected to initially. After all, Eden Rock/DevilÃÔ Grotto is a shore dive; why are we wasting a boat dive on it? The answer is that the divemasters are usually looking for a quick and convenient shallow second dive, and Eden Rock is very close to Sunset.
As it turns out, I was glad to have dived Eden Rock, which I hadn't done since 2003. Because of its proximity to the harbor and the big cruise ships, Eden Rock has been overdived in recent years, and the coral shows it still. It was also a NOISY dive, with the big ships, passing boats, tenders, ferries and other watercraft passing right over us almost. Regardless, I enjoyed the dive. Found 2 swim throughs. The first was dark and silty, because previous divers had kicked up a lot of sand. Hard right turn and then a hard left turn, with the exit a tad tight. I found the second one, with divemaster Lauren right behind me. She went first and flew through it [I later learned that she was short on air]. Very pretty [the girl AND the swim-through], with sunlight [finally] shafting through the swim through and white sand on the bottom. I was pleased at the new coral growth in spots, but there still was a lot of blasted dead rock on this site. 40 feet on the sandy bottom for 52 minutes.
After a quick Sea Harvester lunch at My Bar, we actually got a third boat dive that day, laid on specially because of the lousy shore diving conditions. We went up past the harbor and dove La Mesa, a great shallow dive. A great third boat dive of the day. Literally, a mesa of coral around the mooring line. A ton of fish, and weird vertical temperature gradients all around the site. Divemasters Adam and Neill also pointed out the old transatlantic cable running past the site, apparently the last laid by the Doc Paulson before it was sunk. Doc Paulson is now one of GC's popular wreck dives. We saw a big crab, which was different for GC; usually one sees Caribbean lobsters. Except for alternating warm and frigid, a great dive.
That night, we tried the Lobster Pot for dinner, which is one of the oldest restaurants on the island. Frankly, a disappointment. Somewhat drab atmosphere, looking out over the working part of the harbor, so not very attractive sites to see. The food was mediocre at best, unlike the prices, which were quite expensive. Oh well. Lobster Pot not recommended.
Friday was our last dive day. We went first to Little Tunnel on the west side, a fine deep dive. We went through the "little tunnel" and emerged on the wall at 85-90 feet. Reef seemed in good shape. After we came shallow, divemaster Lauren spotted another swim-through, and we followed her back down to 65-70 feet for that. I was a little nervous because I was down to about 1000 or so at that point, but no worries. Fun dive. 99 feet for 42 minutes.
Last dive of the trip was at Royal Palms Ledge, located off shore from the site of the late and lamented hotel of the same name. Kind of a flat coral mound, with a trench running most of the way around it. As you move to about the 4 o'clock position relative to the boat, you have, literally, a ledge underneath which you swim. Very cool. Great dive. 55 feet for 54 minutes.
That night, we tried another new restaurant, Copper Falls, specializing in steak. It was OK, but I wish we could have gone to Pappagallo's [booked for private party that night], or Grand Old House [same]. There was nothing wrong with the place; maybe I just wasn't in the mood for steak.
We left the next day. A cautionary tale: we got to the counter to check in, and even though I had confirmed our air reservations, we were told they did not have seats for us. A couple of hours getting steamed later, Delta put us on the plane. Moral: have confirmed seats WITH SEAT NUMBERS OR BOARDING PASSES before you leave home. I confirmed the reservations, but apparently I needed to have actual assigned seat numbers, which was new to me.
Well, that's it. I lost about 30% of my diving, because of the lack of shore diving, but it was still well worth it. The weather on this trip was the worst I've had in 13 trips and nine years. I was told by the locals that it was very unusual weather for GC at that time of year. I tend to believe that, because I dove GC in December 2007 off a cruise ship and the conditions were fine. Nevertheless, I will probably stay away from early December diving there in the future. I have dived there in February, March, May, July, August and December, and the conditions have always been great, except for this last trip. Hey, 1 out of 13 ain't bad, and we still had a great time.
