Which dive in Grand Cayman

[Linthorn]

We're taking a cruise Aug 13 and will stop in Grand Cayman. My wife is letting me dive (she doesn't dive). I have reserved two dives through the ship and I'd like advice on which to keep. The first is a basic 2-tanker to a reef/wall and the second is to Stingray City and a reef. I'm AOW but have only logged 16 dives so I don't really need the freedom to wander about, and I'm usually the first to come up since I really like my air. Recommendations? Is Stingray City cool, or should I just skip it and go see fish?

Thanks!

 

[Damselfish]

I think Stingray City is pretty cool at least to do once. But the walls are really nice too. So that's a tough choice. Since you say you like your air, that might be an argument for doing the pair with Stingray City this time, you'll probably be able to do longer dives.

 

[Pamdiv]

We're taking a cruise Aug 13 and will stop in Grand Cayman. My wife is letting me dive (she doesn't dive). I have reserved two dives through the ship and I'd like advice on which to keep. The first is a basic 2-tanker to a reef/wall and the second is to Stingray City and a reef. I'm AOW but have only logged 16 dives so I don't really need the freedom to wander about, and I'm usually the first to come up since I really like my air. Recommendations? Is Stingray City cool, or should I just skip it and go see fish?

Thanks!

Are you limited to bookings with the ship? I believe there are a few dive ops in the downtown area that dive the North Wall and then do Stingray City as a second dive. That way you get some of the best diving available there. Stingray City is a must but don't miss some of the beauty that the North Wall offers.

 

[diversteve]

We're taking a cruise Aug 13 and will stop in Grand Cayman. My wife is letting me dive (she doesn't dive). I have reserved two dives through the ship and I'd like advice on which to keep. The first is a basic 2-tanker to a reef/wall and the second is to Stingray City and a reef. I'm AOW but have only logged 16 dives so I don't really need the freedom to wander about, and I'm usually the first to come up since I really like my air. Recommendations? Is Stingray City cool, or should I just skip it and go see fish?

Thanks!

Hi,

A lot of the wall off Cayman starts at around 80/90' so if you have an air issue it might mean a much shorter dive than you'd like. Since you said you don't want to wander about on top of the wall while everybody else is diving below you, you might consider the SRC option. It depends where the cruise operator takes you - it's
probably RedSail on Cayman if you wanted to ask them. This close to your trip, they may have it scheduled.

SRC is only in 15' of water so the dive usually gets called by time (45 min.) rather than anyone running out of air. And if you do, you can always get back on the boat, drop your gear and snorkel back down. It's really a Blast!! to get mauled by the rays while they're trying to separate you from the squid. Also you can get up close to a couple of semi-tame green moray eels once the rays decide you're no longer good for a handout. If you take a camera, take pictures first, once the rays start swarming the divers, the viz gets poor quickly.

Make sure that it's a divetrip to SRC and not Sandbar, Sandbar is for snorkelers and cruise ship passengers who stand up in the water, it's really shallow.

 

[DeputyDan]

CJ's on this board works there

Send him a PM.

 

[CJ's]

Thanks Dan, but I caught this one whilst browsing.

Check with your dive operator exactly what is involved with the Stingray city and Reef dive trip. Stingray city is located just inside the North wall and there are very few genuine shallow reef dive sites in this area which means that your first dive is very likely to be on the wall. You can dive the North wall either as a deep or a shallow dive. The top of the wall varies between 40ft on some sites or as deep as 70ft in others, either way you can get a great dive in by cruising the wall at around 70ft and then working your way shallower towards the end of the dive. This would be my recommendation of dive combinations. You certainly shouldn't miss diving Stingray city and the North wall in the summer is the place to be for great diving. On the Wall/reef option you will almost certainly be diving the West side which at this time of year cannot equal the North wall for excitement and big critter sitings.

It all depends on your dive operator as to how they conduct the dives. I'm afraid to say that if you are diving through the cruise-ship then your bottom time will be severely limited by the other divers on the boat anyway so don't worry about your air consumption! I'm sure that you are a pro compared to others!!

Just my thoughts, enjoy your dives,
CJ.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

Also you can get up close to a couple of semi-tame green moray eels ...

Uh... let's make this clear. Those eels are NOT tame, semi-tame, or anything else. Keep your fingers (and any other appendages) well to yourself.


As CJ's surmised, I think you're looking at one North Wall dive followed by SRC. I'd vote for that over two westside dives since I really enjoy the reaction our guests get from the stingrays as well as the North Wall.

In the interests of full disclosure, for some reason, the visibility on the North Wall hasn't developed into the normal gleaming summertime 150ft. Only around 60-80ft, with some spots near the channels being a bit worse. I suspect (read as guess, hypothesize, or whatever) that nutrients from decaying vegetation (from H Ivan) are not being flushed from the North Sound as easily as they are diluted by deeper water elsewhere around the island. Just my guess.

 

[diversteve]

Oops, bad choice of words on my part. I should have just said they're resident.

I did slowly move to within about 2' of one without his seeming to get too excited, but I don't recommend trying it.

 

[Linthorn]

I'm afraid to say that if you are diving through the cruise-ship then your bottom time will be severely limited by the other divers on the boat anyway so don't worry about your air consumption! I'm sure that you are a pro compared to others!!

Thanks for the info!! Sorry to say that I'm the one that would make everyone come up. I got certified last summer right before an Eastern Carib. cruise. My first certified dive was in Barbados to 80ft. Needless to say I couldn't stay long. When I surfaced the boat captain asked "what was wrong". I've only 16 dives under my belt so bottom time is at a premium.

You've all convinced me to play with the rays. I hope the second dive (or first, don't know) is a nice one, but a poor dive beats a good beach day!

 

[Linthorn]

Following the suggestions of the group, I took the Stingray City dive. As some of you guessed, the first dive was the North Wall. Amazing!

I booked the dive through the cruise ship and found it almost the opposite of what people say about cruise dives. This one was an 'Advanced' dive. We went to 110' (my max so far) for the wall (12' for the Rays). When I got to the meeting place for the excursion, it was swarming with people. Fortunately they had several dives scheduled and informed us that we weren't all on the same boat. Don't know how many boats there were all together. By the time we got to our busses I found that there were only 3 of us going on my dive. We had the whole boat to ourselves. Also, the DM wasn't too conservative and didn't cut the dive short, although she did monitor everyone's levels fairly well.

The dive lasted 40 minutes and I couldn't have stayed any longer. I notified her when I hit 500#. I hit the boat with 350lbs in the tank. We snorkeled back to the boat so that we wouldn't completely drain the tanks. One of the other divers was a confirmed air guzzler and brought his own extra air. He said that he does that as a courtesy to other divers so that he isn't the reason that we have to come up too soon. He sucked both tanks dry.

Stingray City was certainly an experience. I'm glad I did it, although I would agree with the folks here that I don't need to go again. If I get back to GC I would do the wall again though. Awesome. I've seen nothing like the view as you cross over the edge and look into the limitless deep blue nothing.

I have to admit that my air consumption has improved tremendously. I dove 3 times on my trip and was never the first to run low. Most dives ended by meeting the predetermined time limit. One ended when the DM hit 500 lbs, I still had 1100.

Managed diving in Ft. Lauderdale before the cruise, GC, and Cozumel during. GC was the best.

Thanks for your suggestions, they really helped my vacation.

Dave