Westin Grand Cayman ??

[Tuckster]

I may settle for Grand Cayman in early Feb. even though I've heard the weather can get a little rough. My 1st choice is Curacao/Bonaire but I'm trying to use FF miles (USAirways) & it will be too costly to get there. We can fly free to GC, Coz, Aruba, DR or Jamaica. Anyone stayed @ the Westin GC?? I've heard they offer shore diving (Red Sail). If the winds are blowing too hard for the boat dives, can you still do shore dives ?? My wife & I have never been to GC. Other possibilities are Coz & Aruba. I know Coz has better diving but Aruba seems a little simplier for new divers. My wife just got certified. Does Aruba have decent shore diving ??
Thanks in advance for everyones help/advice.

S G Tuck

 

[Drew Sailbum]

While you could, in theory, go for a shore dive from the Westin, it is definitely not known as a shore diving spot. There are several shore diving places around that end of the island.

Red Sail Sports does have a dive shop on site, but that is primarily for boat diving and instruction.

 

[pammyk]

While you could, in theory, go for a shore dive from the Westin, it is definitely not known as a shore diving spot. There are several shore diving places around that end of the island.

Red Sail Sports does have a dive shop on site, but that is primarily for boat diving and instruction.

I am going to grand cayman on Nov 11 to the 15. We're going with the dive shop and staying at the seaview. Has anyone here heard of it or stayed there before? It's supposed to be small...15 rooms and very cozy with a good restaurant and shore diving also. How is the diving in Grand Cayman? I want to feed the stingrays and see alot of turtles. I'm really excited about this trip. I'm a new diver...16 dives...some in ft lauderdale and some in cabo san lucas. Diving has totally changed my life!!!!!

 

[The Goose]

If you are staying at the Westin, I would dive with Fisheye who is directly accross the street from the hotel.... All you need to do is drop your gear off the first day and they will store it and take care of it for how long you intend to dive... The crew is awesome and definitely make your diving very comfortable... here is their website... www.fisheye.com
I highly recommend them... 1st class service!

I am going to grand cayman on Nov 11 to the 15. We're going with the dive shop and staying at the seaview. Has anyone here heard of it or stayed there before? It's supposed to be small...15 rooms and very cozy with a good restaurant and shore diving also. How is the diving in Grand Cayman? I want to feed the stingrays and see alot of turtles. I'm really excited about this trip. I'm a new diver...16 dives...some in ft lauderdale and some in cabo san lucas. Diving has totally changed my life!!!!!

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I am going to grand cayman on Nov 11 to the 15. We're going with the dive shop and staying at the seaview. Has anyone here heard of it or stayed there before? It's supposed to be small...15 rooms and very cozy with a good restaurant and shore diving also. How is the diving in Grand Cayman? I want to feed the stingrays and see alot of turtles. I'm really excited about this trip. I'm a new diver...16 dives...some in ft lauderdale and some in cabo san lucas. Diving has totally changed my life!!!!!

The Seaview is pretty much as you've heard. It is a small hotel. It's nothing fancy at all, but it's clean and comfortable basic rooms.

There is a pretty nice shore dive right from on-site. The dive shop can arrange tanks to suit your schedule for shore diving or you can arrange boat dives too. Usually they drive you down to one of their other shops to board the boat.

The Naked Fish is the restaurant at The Seaview and it is really quite good. The bar there is usually pretty active one or two nights each week. Good food with good cheer makes for a good time.

Grand Cayman is considered to be one of the best islands for diving in the entire Caribbean. Start slowly with some easy dives before heading down the face of the Cayman Wall.

The Cayman Wall surrounds the island and provides dramatic undersea landscapes with sheer drops into the deep. Top of the wall varies from 45' to 80' with the bottom between 2000' and 6000'.

 

[Yazmeen]

The Seaview is pretty much as you've heard. It is a small hotel. It's nothing fancy at all, but it's clean and comfortable basic rooms.

There is a pretty nice shore dive right from on-site. The dive shop can arrange tanks to suit your schedule for shore diving or you can arrange boat dives too. Usually they drive you down to one of their other shops to board the boat.

The Naked Fish is the restaurant at The Seaview and it is really quite good. The bar there is usually pretty active one or two nights each week. Good food with good cheer makes for a good time.

Grand Cayman is considered to be one of the best islands for diving in the entire Caribbean. Start slowly with some easy dives before heading down the face of the Cayman Wall.

The Cayman Wall surrounds the island and provides dramatic undersea landscapes with sheer drops into the deep. Top of the wall varies from 45' to 80' with the bottom between 2000' and 6000'.

Sunset House is the next hotel up from the Seaview, and ottotally caters to divers. Rooms are very basic but clean and comfy, and "My Bar" is great, as is the Seaharvest restaurant. I love the "Naked Fish" at Seaview, its one of my favorite restaurants on Cayman. Both hotels are totally dive friendly and geared to divers and less costly than the fancier, seven mile beach properties.

 

[worlddiver]

See my reply to another diver questions about Grand Cayman in Feb. Have a great trip.

 

[nipi]

You will be unlucky if it is too rough in Feb for Redsails' boats but if it is there are hundreds of shore diving spots. I have dived the Oro Verde from shore near the Westin but it's a 30 min kick dodging the jetskiers so I wouldn't recommend it or SMB generally for shore diving.

 

[scubachris]

It's been a couple of years since I dove there but they wouldn't allow shore diving due to boat traffic in/about the Westin. We did some shore diving at Dive tech/cobalt coast, once.

chris

 

[CJ's]

It is extremely unusual at that time of year for it to be too rough to dive here.
Generally speaking if we do get any bad weather it comes in the form of "Nor'westers" as they are locally known. These are basically cold fronts that extend down from the good old US of A (thanks a bunch!) and bring stronger Northerly or North Westerly winds for a while.
"Cold" is of course a relative term here; temperatures have been known to hit the low sixties on a really bad day!!

Norwesters are not neccesarily all bad as they do mean that although the West and normally calm side of the island can get quite rough they also mean that the South and normally rough side of the Island gets calm. This gives us a great opportunity to dive some fantastic sites which are normally subjected to lots of surge.
The down side is that there is virtually no shore diving on the south side of the island as entries and exits are extremely difficult due to high ironshore, barrier reefs and swells.

CJ