Turks & Caicos or Cayman Islands

[LauraLynnee]

My husband and I are looking to plan a dive trip to the either Turks & Caicos or the Cayman islands in late-May or Early-June and we were looking for some advice on which to go to. Both of us are comfortable up to 90' deep and we enjoy a variety of sea life, both the big and small stuff. We don't need to much in terms of night life or shopping but we would like to be able to do some walking/hiking when we aren't diving. Also, if you could recommend hotels & dive operations, we'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[sdwho]

We like them both. However, most of our T&C diving has been from a liveaboard, so I'm not as well-versed on land based operations. (A few years ago we did stay on Grand Turk and had a very nice time: stayed at Island House and dove with Oasis Divers).

I am a big fan of both Grand Cayman and Little Cayman. For Grand Cayman, we recommend Cobalt Coast Resort and Divetech. A bit away from the hubub of Seven Mile Beach, which we like. Very relaxing.No real beach to hike up and down,but you could always drive over to Seven Mile beach in the afternoon and take a long walk up and down the beach. One nice thing about Cobalt Coast and Divetech is that you have great shore diving available, both off the hotel dock and a five minute drive away at Turtle Reef. There's other attractions on Grand Cayman as well, including the Turtle Farm or you can drive over to the East End.

On Little Cayman, we stay at the Little Cayman Beach Resort. Nice dive operation, very cozy -- feels like a land-based liveaboard. Three boat dives a day. Shore diving not as convenient, but still a great spot. You can ride bikes, hike, go to the bird preserve.

All in all, I'd go with GC or LC over T&C, but I don't think you'd regret your choice if you went with T&C.

 

[daptonema]

I can't comment on Cayman (first trip there will be this easter) but myself and my wife got back from Grand Turk on Saturday and had a great time. Really laid back vibe. Not a great deal of exciting walking but if you like secluded beaches I can fully recomend it. Providenciales is the bigger island with more entertainment but Grand Turk is more our sort of place as it's quieter and more laid back from what I can tell. We're already contemplating our next trip back.

We dove with Blue Water Divers and can really recomend them. Mitch and JP really know their stuff and neither are the "dudes" often associated with dive companies (hopefully I'm not going to offend anyone but I've had my dude period and have moved on!). It's mainly wall diving and the wall is about 300 yards from the shore.

We stayed at the Grand Turk Inn. Probably not the cheapest option but well worth the money in our opinion as you get a lounge area and a kitchen and the owners are really helpful.

If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer the best I can.

 

[DougY]

daptonema,
When you went diving with Blue Water Divers did they make you stay with a group or could you go off with your buddy.
Did you use their hire equipment - if so was it any good.
How many people were on the dive boat ?


LauraLynne,
I was in Cayman Brac this year at the brac reef resort, it was great. Its owned by the same people as the little cayman beach resort.

The diving was excellent and the dive crew were very helpful, setup your gear, helped you into the water helped you back out and then switched your tank for the next dive.
I am considering going to Grand Turk this year or perhaps to Little Cayman.
In Grand Cayman I used divers down, I thought they were good and I would use them again.


cheers
Doug

 

[daptonema]

DougY,
Most of the dives were along the wall at max depth for half the dive then up to the top of the reef (8-10m) for the second half back to the boat. The vis was great (especially compared to the UK!!) so when everyone was back within sight of the boat everyone looked around in their own buddy pairs until they reached the pre-agreed amount of air then surfaced. As someone who likes going off with his buddy, not cattle train diving, it worked quite well as we got the benefit of a guided dive but also time to go at our own pace around the reef. On the other hand we were all experienced divers so we may have got more leeway than usual.
Based on what we saw above water, it looked like the other companies did the more guided option (which is good for some but not us).
We took our own gear (used their tanks and weights) so can't really comment on what their stuff was like but from a distance it looked in good condition.
The busiest dive was 8 divers plus 2 staff, the quietest was 3+2.
They also did the tank switch for you between dives (usually by the time you were out of the water - kit was passed onboard first).

 

[opalobsidian]

Hi Laura!

I've not been to the Caymans, but my husband and I went to Grand Turk in October, which I believe is the hottest time of the year. By hot I mean temperature-wise, certainly not as in the best time of the year! I prefer hot weather, but it was stiffling, paralyzingly hot! We stayed at the Island House, which is a nice enough place to stay, but it is away from the beach up on a hill and the trade winds were not enough to counter-act the relentless heat. If it were this hot when you visit we would definately recommend a beachfront hotel. All the action (diving, drinking) is down on the beach anyway. Our friends stayed at the Osprey Beach Hotel and enjoyed it.

The water temps were nice tho, in the low 80s. There's plenty of coral but as you would suspect with the high temps there's a LOT of bleaching. We saw gobs of turtles, immense crabs, lobsters, and dolphins. One dolphin even tried to "punch out" my husband- I guess he was irritated by all the divers around him! We dove with Oasis and they were good, not fantastic, but amiable and easy to work with.

As for hiking, not only was it way too hot to feel motivated, but also we didn't see anyplace to go. It was pleasant to stroll along the beach a bit and down along the historic oceanfront street in Cockburn town, but as far as a hiking destination I never saw one. The island is quite flat except for a rise or two, and scrubby; it is not my idea of beautiful, looking like a chunk of West Texas that broke off and floated away.

The attitude and the scene on Grand Turk is quite laid back and relaxing, perfect for a few days of diving, drinking and conch eating by the beach, and I'm glad we experienced it, but I can't imagine we'll be back.

 

[DougY]

daptonema,
Thanks for the info, it sounds good.

Cheers
Doug

 

[divingjd]

Cayman Brac could be a good choice for you. The Brac (Gaelic for "bluff"), for which the island is named, rises 150 ft. from the ocean at the eastern end of the island and slopes to the west. The Parrot Preserve and some other areas inland are good places to walk or hike. The island is very quiet. There are only about 1500 residents. There is only one resort, the Brac Reef Resort, left since the Divi Tiara closed in September. There are also some condos and vacation homes. You can find other places to stay, but the Brac Reef is the only full-service resort. It is run by the same people as the Little Cayman Beach Resort. The diving is great, but not quite as good as Little Cayman.

Little Cayman is a great diving option and Little Cayman Beach Resort is a good resort, with good food and an excellent dive operation. But there isn't much else to do and you won't have the same kind of hiking and walking options as the Brac

 

[mikerault]

On Grand Turk Blue Water divers is great, Sea Eye Diving is also good. Oasis has taken the cruise business so they will most likely have the largest groups. The places I would stay would be The Osprey, Salt Raker or Manta House. I haven't stayed at the GTI but it looks nice. The park at the north end of the island is nice for hiking.

Here is my report on diving in Grand Turk:

http://www.scubamage.com/files/Diving_Grand_Turk.pdf

You might also find this interesting:

http://www.scubamage.com/files/tropical_list.pdf

Mike

 

[scubalass]

I would highly recommend going to Turks & Caicos and staying on the main island of Providenciales. It is much more developed than Grand Turk but the diving is more extensive. The wall diving is at North West Point, West Caicos and French Cay, then there are the mini walls of Grace Bay and Pine Cay. All have different characteristics and some are weather dependant but are definately worth the visit. You are not always guaranteed the bigger life but I was very lucky in seeing eagle rays and reef sharks on most of my dives. I particularly love looking for the smaller life of which there was more than enough to keep me happy. My choice of dive centre has to be Big Blue Unlimited www.bigblueunlimited.com . They have small group diving (max 9) on a large 40ft boat and are the most professional dive outfit I have ever been with. They do not rush you in & out of the water...I love to get at least an hour in the water, my last one being 85 minutes of perfect relaxed diving conditions...and they also provide a great lunch. They are ideally located so the boats can go to any destination without you having to be bussed around the island to a different marina and rather than plan ahead where to dive, they make a decision that morning depending on the weather, tides and any guest requests.
They also do other trips for non divers...friends had a great time on the bike and kayak trip to North Caicos and we also chartered one of the smaller boats privately for a combination of diving, snorkeling and beach exploring. I will be visiting the islands again hopefully very soon and am looking forward to being part of the "Big Blue family" once again.