Wondering - GC vs. Coz

[Sharksighter]

I haven't been to either Grand Cayman or Cozumel but have read rave reviews of both areas. I've done most of my diving in the Turks and Caicos Islands with some brief excusions elsewhere. I'm thinking of going in mid April 2005 or 5-6 days either to Spanish Bay Reef Resort (All Inclusive) on North GC or the Presidente in Coz. both places offer dive packages which look like they are saving me some big $$. My other thought is to spend the cash.

 

[pilot fish]

I haven't been to either Grand Cayman or Cozumel but have read rave reviews of both areas. I've done most of my diving in the Turks and Caicos Islands with some brief excusions elsewhere. I'm thinking of going in mid April 2005 or 5-6 days either to Spanish Bay Reef Resort (All Inclusive) on North GC or the Presidente in Coz. both places offer dive packages which look like they are saving me some big $$. My other thought is to spend the cash.

As far as diving goes, Coz is better than GC. I have not been to GC but I hear it is expensive, crowded and over-dove. Coz has 100 ft to 120 ft vis and is less expensive. Not sure about the El Presidente Hotel though, or it's dive op. Of the two, I would chose Coz. BTW, GC has PADI Total Submerson in late April so the place will be awash with divers then. 4/30 to 5/6

 

[sdwho]

You probably can't go wrong with either one. We've done Coz a half dozen times and GC a bit more than that. Coz, of course, is drift diving. We've used both Dive House and, more recently, Paradise Divers in Coz and Divetech in GC. I think Divetech's boats are more comfortable than any of the boats I've been on in Coz and the boat rides out the dive sites tend to be a bit longer in Coz than in GC -- you're often in a "race" with other dive ops for the best sites.

If you're able to dive the north side of Cayman, you'll be impressed by the health and diversity of the reef. The types of things you'll see in both places is not all that different. We've typically seen turtles, eagle rays, nurse sharks, etc etc. Some of the fish (particularly the angels and triggers) seem to be larger in Coz for some reason. And Coz has the splendid toadfish. But GC has some great shore dive sites if you want to go out in the afternoon (both Cobalt Coast and Turtle Reef are very nice sites with a good mix of juveniles as well as adult life -- just last week at Turtle Reef I had to decide in the course of two minutes whether to follow a pair of stingrays, swim back the other way to follow a peacock flounder, or stay where I was to watch a juvenile queen angel and an adult honeycomb cowfish. And that was after seeing a scorpion fish and a dozen squid and a sailfin blenny on swim from the ladder out to the drop off!

As I said, you can't go wrong. THe trick with the NOrth side of Cayman is that the best diving conditions are seasonal. Someone with more experience than I might be able to tell you how things are in April.

Bottom line: if you like drift diving, go Coz. If getting in some shore diving along with your boat dives is a biggie, try GC.

sdwho

 

[munkispank]

I have been to both and they both have lots ot offer. I personally prefer grand cayman as I found the dive sites there full of marine life and with great vis. The vis in Coz was reduced when I went due to bad weather though, but there seemed to be less marine life overall. I also did not enjoy the drift diving as much because I found it frustrating keeping up with a dive guide and swooshing past things that I wanted to look at- but thats me.

Grand Cayman can be expensive, but if you can find a good deal then it can be affordable (I went as a student and it wasn;t a problem). I found Coz to feel slightly more 'bucket and spade' than GC, but that might have been the resort and boats I was on. I also felt that coz felt more rushed and busy than GC - and I went to both destinations over holidat weekends, so they were both busy.

Overall- as posted above- GC can be good for the shore dives to add in- there are some on coz, but honestly I didn;t find them worth ethe effort.

 

[Rwhiting]

Hi Thad,
I've been to Cozumel several times and stayed a couple on nights on GC going to and from a liveaboard trip to Little Cayman. You won't be disappointed with the diving in either location. Cozumel is mostly drift diving and has some wonderful underwater topography - swim throughs, tunnels, canyons, walls etc. Cayman waters are calmer, usually with better vis. Both have very healthy reefs with great corals, fishes and the occasional pelagic.

What kind of top side stuff do you like? Cozumel, once you get away from the cruise ship tourist traps, has great combination of Mexican/Mayan culture, with great restaurants, so I skip the AI and get meals in town. GC (at least Georgetown) is more built up, has more nightlife, and also overall more expensive.

Choice of a dive op is important also - lots of cattleboats on both islands.
Have a great trip!
Rich

 

[smokey braden]

munkiespank,
what is 'bucket and spade' ?
regards

 

[munkispank]

munkiespank,
what is 'bucket and spade' ?
regards

sorry- using my British phrases again!!!

'bucket and spade' directly refers to people making sandcastles at a beachy destination, an area with more of a vacation atmosphere, by this I mean that Cozumel resorts have more things like volley ball areas, games for people, tourist shops, maybe a ping pong table- you get the idea. The town has all the tourist shops, and high-end duty free shops. Obviously it changes from resort to resort, but I visited a few and found this to be the atmosphere. Also out of the resorts I persoanlly didn't feel the Mexican 'culture', everyhting I experienced felt forced and trite. Definately not like mainland Mexico (perhaps with the exception of Cancun) so I wouldn't use this as a reason to go to Coz. Put it this way- when we weren't diving, we got bored.

I persoanlly found the island culture of Grand Cayman of the beaten path to be more interesting. Theres a rather nice country park with walking trails, some nice secluded beaches where you can be alone, and some nice small villages with friendly people. I didn't care for the town with cruise ship passengers and high end shops, but it is there if you want it.

Both destinations are dive spots, but I would argue Grand Cayman feels less like a 'vacation spot' than Cozumel. Just my POV

 

[scubawife]

There is great diving in GC. East End sites are best, North side is also great. Several East End sites start with a nice reef and then a cool swim through or cut for a very dramatic enterance to the wall. The walls are lush and really spectacular. North side is good too, but more boats and divers. The west and south are overrun by too many boats, divers and snorkelers and the sites are not all that good.

Sadly, Cayman Diving Lodge in East End was demolished by Ivan. Ocean Frontiers is back up and running and they've got Condos, but no all-inclusive. If you want the north side and an all-inclusive plan, check out Cobalt Coast. Very nice property.

 

[badassbill]

I have only been to GC...but really enjoyed it. I didn't think it was overly expensive. I did a few walls there...and I love those things now. There is something about swimming over a mile drop off that is pretty darn exciting. They also have a good mix of larger animals. Tarpan, Sea Turtles, Morays, nurse sharks, etc...all are seen pretty often.
Best of Luck

 

[ECPaul]

We just got back last night from our first trip to Coz - had a fantastic time. And we stayed at El Presidente. This is a beatiful hotel if you have a lot of $$$ to spend - but we think that next time we go we'll look for something much less expensive, like Caribe Blue, ScubaClub, Hotel Barracuda, or any of a number of other choices. After all, we ate most of our meals in town and away from the hotel, so we just needed a comfortable place to sleep each night. Despite a little wind last week we managed to get in 8 great dives with excellent viz (100' +) on 7 of 8. We followed the recommendation of other SB members and chose Blue Angel as our dive op - I know that there are many other excellent dive ops as well. Water temp was a balmy 79 degrees - saw more kinds of fish, coral, sponges, and invertebrates than I can list. [I'll be downloading some pictures that I took as part of a larger trip report within the next couple of days]. As relatively novice divers this was our first experience with drift diving, and we really enjoyed it. We'll be back to Coz again before long, maybe in July as part of a trip to Holbox (spelling?) that we are contemplating to check out the whale sharks.

Oh yeah, I head great things about the Caymans too, but having no first hand experience, cannot comment either way.